Hello, all. I meant to post this months ago, but anyway, I managed to successfully travel from Egypt (Safaga) to Saudi Arabia (Duba) last December. The whole process was very simple, though I will say that I did not travel with a vehicle. I imagine that would make everything more complicated.

Basically, I just showed up at the Namma Shipping office near the port in Safaga and said I wanted to go to Saudi Arabia. They asked if I had a visa, and I said yes (it took about 10 minutes to get online).

After examining the visa and making several phone calls, I was finally told that I could board the ferry which was to depart the following night. I told them I did not plan to travel so soon, that I would need a couple days for the PCR test and to get everything in order.

I was told that they called Saudi Arabia and got permission to let me on the ship departing that night, but they couldn't garauntee that I would be allowed any other day; they said I should have enough time to get my PCR test done and get the result back in time (it normally takes 24 hours).

I was escorted (on foot) to the local clinic where I had my PCR test done. This was about 4 PM. The cost was 630 EGP (about $40). Normally they charge only 450 (about $30). The explanation I was given was that the cheaper test is only good for air travel, not sea travel.

I was then escorted to a nearby cafe where I spent the rest of the evening. At about 9 PM the same employee from Namma Shipping came to issue me my ticket and collect the fee, 950 EGP (about $55) for a "Pullman" seat, not a cabin. I think the cabin may have cost around 1,200-1,300.

I expressed my nervousness that I still didn't get my PCR test back and was afraid I wouldn't have it in time for departure, which was supposed to be "after 12". The employee told me not to worry about anything, that he will make sure I have my (negative) result in time.

I was then escorted to the ferry terminal. I had to run my bags through metal detectors. Nothing was taken out or otherwise inspected. I then had to take a bus to the other side of the terminal, for which I was charged 25 EGP (about $1.75), though it turned out I could have walked. I was then left in a large dark room for about two hours.

Finally an official came to escort me to another room. I had overstayed my visa by two months and knew I would have to pay a fine of about $100, as I had done on my last trip to Egypt. Unfortunately, though, while the Cairo Airport has someone there 24/7 to handle these matters, the ferry terminal in Safaga did not. I had to wait another two hours for "the man from the bank" to show up and formally charge me the overstay fee and collect it.

During this time I was sort of interrogated, asked everywhere I had been over the past three months, why I overstayed my visa. I told them I tried to get a visa extension in Suez but was asked for a rental contract, which I obviously did not have as a tourist. I was told it would have been easier to get an extension in Sharm el Sheikh.

At 2 AM I was escorted (by car) to the ship. They were serving food in the cafeteria but I was completely out of Egyptian pounds at this point and card was not accepted. Fortunately, one of the officials on the ship was nice enough to offer to buy me dinner, a pretty good chicken and rice dish with soup. The ship was pretty much all sailors, very few travelers.

After my meal, at about 3:30 AM, I went downstairs to the "Pullman" seating area, basically your run-of-the-mill train/bus/airplane seats. It's also important to mentional that the bathrooms also had shower stalls; I managed to take a shower.

As I got comfortable and started to fall asleep, I was awoken by a crew member and informed that I had been upgraded to a small private cabin. I hurriedly packed up my stuff and moved into the cabin upstairs. It was pretty nice-- twin bed, blanket, sink, air conditioning. I finally went to sleep at about 4 AM. We hadn't left yet.

I woke up at 9:30 AM. I wanted to go back to sleep but as it was evident that we were moving, I wanted to take a look outside. We were in the complete middle of the sea, a very surreal sight.

I went back to sleep and was awoken at about 11:30 by a crew member, presumably warning us that we'd be reaching land soon. I had breakfast on the deck, still no sight of land. At about 12:30 I got my first glimpse of Saudi Arabia in the distance. I made it.

To make a long story short, we disembaked at around 1:30 PM. It took about two hours to go through immigration despite me being the only one there, supposedly due to confusion about my COVID vaccine card. Fortunately they eventually decidied it was OK and stamped me into the country.

In summary, there seems to be daily ferry service between Safaga, Egypt and Duba, Saudi Arabia (though I was told the route alternates each week, Safaga-Duba, Hugada-Duba). The cost was 950 EGP for a Pullman seat, a few hundred more for a private cabin. It seems that the departure time is not exact, presumablly around 5 AM-ish, arrival around 1:30 PM-ish. I think that's everything. Oh, and they said there get almost zero Western travelers-- it's almost always Egyptians and Saudis.

Great information, thanks for sharing.

I read somewhere that the Egypt - Saudi ferries were not open for foreginers, so it's good to know that that is not true.

Now someone needs to try with a vehicle...

EO

__________________
EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Hey Ccandelario430, would you happen to have any cotnact info for Namma Shipping Service? thanks

Doesn't anyone use Google anymore?