The Amazon River
Years ago, I don’t know exactly how I stumbled upon it, but I heard about a ferry that goes all the way down the Amazon River across Brazil. It’s a cargo ship that delivers goods and mail to little villages along the Amazon River that is otherwise inaccessible for the people living there. Locals will string up their hammock and pack in tightly on the cargo ship, and is used as transport all across the region. This ferry has been a bucket list adventure of mine for a long time, so I finally decided to go for it, combining it with an overland trip through the Guyanas.
Where to Start?
There are so many places you can start from! You can start from all the way in Peru, or even on the border of Tabatinga, Brazil — funny enough one of my good friends, Peter, decided to do this trip after seeing mine but started in Tabatinga and ended in Manaus. I’m linking his page here because it compliments my trip since I started in Manaus and ended in Macapá.
I included both Peter’s journey (blue) and mine (from the green marker to the red marker) in the map above, starting in Manaus all the way to Macapá. You have to change ferries in Santarém as there are no boats that go all the way to Macapá, but people most commonly take the boat to Belém. I went to Macapá since I was continuing north towards the Guyanas.
One thing to note is going downstream is much faster. So if you go upstream (Macapá to Santarém, for example) the same boat ride takes double the time — something to consider when choosing your route. Anyways, let’s get to the nitty gritty!
Manaus
I flew into Manaus, Brazil and spent the night in a hostel near the port (Local Hostel Manaus was a great spot close-by). At about 8 AM the next morning, I walked over to the port to find someone near the entrance selling tickets to Santarém for about $25 USD (they accept US dollars). Nearby I found a hammock in the local market with the cords for about $10. Make sure you stock up on snacks, water, and any other food just in case.
The boat leaves at noon, but come early to get a good hammock spot. The bottom floor seems to have the most air flow, and most people seemed to flock to the sides with AC. I picked a spot towards the middle and had an outlet next to me. It wasn’t too hot and there weren’t really any bugs so I honestly felt like I had a great spot.
The boat was called “Regional,” and the amenities vary per boat — there are bathrooms with showers, a bar on the second floor, and a cafeteria that serves food at certain hours of the day, and overall wasn’t too crowded so I felt like I lucked out.
They said it would take 36 hours but actually took 31 hours to arrive to Santarém. Upon arrival I immediately went to the ticket counter to find out when the next boat to Macapá would leave and they said there wouldn’t be another boat until Saturday evening at 6 PM (2 days later). I bought a ticket for R$220 ($40 USD) and stayed in a hotel nearby.
How much does it cost?
I explained a bit on the pricing above, but to be clear, I bought my tickets spontaneously and haggled a bit. There are “tours” and tickets you can buy online in advance, but they’re so much more expensive than buying them when you arrive. It made me a bit nervous to have a flight booked and fly all the way to Manaus not knowing if I’d get on this ferry or not, but just go early and take a leap of faith.
Santarém
I had a full extra day in Santarém so I took a taxi to Alter do Chão (R$150 or $30 USD). It’s really a lovely town if you have the time! You can take a canoe all the way across to Ihla de Amor for R$10 / $2 USD and hang out at the beach.
On the way back to Santarém I discovered there was a bus, so I took that back to make it to my 6 PM boat to Macapá. They said the bus leaves every hour, but it didn’t end up departing until an hour and a half later. I got off as close as I could to the DER port of Santarém; the boat to Macapá isn’t in the main terminal — you have to go around the side to board.
The Amazonas boat is smaller and much more crowded; this one I definitely recommend arriving a couple hours early to get your hammock spot. Extension cords with a power strip are also extremely helpful. The boat left at about 6 PM and was told we’d arrive the next night, but I think the total was actually about 36 hours. I really liked the scenery on this boat since it drops off goods to small villages on the Amazon.
Macapá
At about 3 AM we docked at Santana, the last stop before Macapá. I happened to be awake with all the commotion of people getting off the boat, and a local man approached me and asked, “Oiapoque?” which is the border town I was trying to get across to French Guiana. I replied in my hybrid Spanish / Portuguese, “yes, I was planning on going to Oiapoque from Macapá. Are you going right now?” He replied, “yes, right now. R$300 ($60 USD),” which was the price I had read was the same from Macapá. In a matter of a few minutes I threw everything into my bag and packed my hammock and we were off. It was perfect because I also read that transport from Macapá doesn’t leave til 8 AM. If you want to arrange transport, Souza’s whatsapp is: +559684180778 [updated October 2024].
The roads were great until around the town Carnot. I had read that the road was one of the worst, but honestly we were in a small Chevy Onix and made it fine. Bumpy with potholes, but I think overlanding from Djibouti to Somaliland or South Sudan still takes the cake for me in terms of bad roads. I still would probably not recommend taking the bus; my driver was highly skilled and I definitely recommend him if you need transport in this region!
When you arrive to Oiapoque, don’t forget to go to the immigration building to get stamped out, which is open from 8 AM - 8 PM. The drove to Oiapoque takes about 10 hours, so even if you arrive before they close you should stay the night to get stamped out the next morning since transport options dwindle later in the day and there’s not much on the Saint George side. Also, another item to note is that the immigration building is not located anywhere near the water taxi launch to Saint George, French Guiana.
Anyways, I hope this helps anyone trying to find info on the Brazilian Amazon ferry from Manaus to Macapá! If you’re interested in reading more about my overland journey all the way through the Guyanas to Georgetown, Guyana, check out the post here.
