How to get on the Baku Ferry to Aktau.

Baku ferry.
First, you need to fill your empty tank of patience. Forget all the shit you went through with police and traffic trying to get to Baku. Take a deep breath. Ok now you are ready to start.
There are 2 ports in Baku, the “new port” and the “old port”. The ferry to Aktau can leave from either. There is no schedule. The ferry will leave when it is full of transport. If it is a rail ferry, you will not be able to go on it if there are petroleum cars or chemical cars. No passengers will. I am not sure about the ferry to Turkmenbashi and how to buy a ticket.

The link to Baku Port .::Baku Sea Port::.
(It won't be much help)

You need to find the lady named Vika. She is Russian looking in her 30s. Sandy blond/brown hair. Speaks some English and she is the ONLY person who can sell you a ticket. There are 2 ticket offices and its a crap shoot where she will be. Email me and I will send you her number. The old port ticket office is located near the Boulevard area of Baku. After you enter the main road from the Boulevard, you will drive between a wall on the right and a building on the left. You will cross railroad tracks and see a gate. The first building on the right after the gate is the ticket office. The door with moto stickers on it is the one you want.



Coordinates 40.376178277, 49.8650832704 (Old Port Entrance from Boulevard)
Coordinates 40.3744878209, 49.865611321 (Ticket office)


Ticket office on the right just past the gate.

The New Port (RoRo Port) is about 8 km east.
Coordinates 40.3691628766, 49.9352689035 (Ro Ro Port Entrence)
Coordinates 40.3628328103, 49.9344234767 (New port ticket office)


Left door is ticket office. Middle is passport control. right is customs.

The ticket office is the white building on the right side of the gate. There are 3 doors on the west wall. Left door is Ticket, middle door is passport control, right door is police/customs.

Call Vika every morning at 10:00 and ask if a ferry is leaving. She will probably say call back around 2 or no, there isn't one. When you call back around 2, the ferry will probably have chemical rail cars in which case you can't go. So you wait till the next day and call again.

Customs office.
When your 3 day transit import for your vehicle is up, you need to leave you vehicle or car at the customs office. Theoretically it is a “secure place” I had no problem with my motorcycle being messed with. I removed all luggage and locked my spare tires to the frame. You don't need to pay any money when you put your bike into custom. You will be able to remove your bike from customs when you have a ticket to the boat. They will let you ride to the new port if that is where the ship is leaving from. You should not have to pay any money to customs when you are leaving. You can leave your vehicle at customs in the new port also I think. But it will not be in a gated area.

Coordinates 40.3719194538, 49.865193405 (Old Port Customs office)

The ticket cost $200. I paid in USD.
Here are a few pictures from on the boat.



Beer was 2 manat. Most meals were 2 or 3 Manat.



Here is what you have to do for customs in Aktau.

Great info, I did it a few years back when there was no new port. Customs guy did not make a copy for the border guy so had to go back and get one. Probably their bit of fun for the day!
We berthed at 8am and did not get out of the port until around 3pm....
Same deal Baku end with the lack of schedule available ferries ended up having to stay there almost a week, made it tight to get back to work in Atyrau and had to ride from Aktau to Atyrau in 1 hit.

Great info Noah ... I will add the waypoints to the database.

co-ordinates in decimal format are the best ... thanks for those. But you only need 4 or 5 decimal places. 0.00001 of a degree has a maximum value of 1.1 metres (3.5 feet).

BTW mate ... I know you have been on the road a long time ... but its still only 2013 !!!

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Also added to OSM map.

Thanks for the detailed description.

KP

I fixed the the tile. Unless it was actually a message from the future....
Chris

Yeah, I just noticed that. And no.. it isn't a message from the future :P

What is Vica's mobile phone number please?

PM sent.

I wasn't sure If I should post her number on the web since it is a cell phone. Last thing we want to do is have her go change it and be back to square 1. I don't know.. what do you think?

I don't know if there is any particular etiquette regarding phone numbers but I would not want somebody putting mine up here, passing it on through a pm to people who actually need it sounds acceptable though.

Hey Noar great info!

I am in Tbilisi now so i will go this way once i am ready to leave after seeing all the small villages

Could you PM her number please and also where did you get you ABJ visa from was it Tbilisi?

Any info on this route from leaving Georgia to Kazak via ABJ would be great!

Maybe i will catch you up at some point

Azerbaijan visa in Tbilisi. It took about 1 week. Maybe longer.. PM sent.

Heh Snoah!! We are in Baku at the moment and are hoping to catch a ferry to Aktau ... in the next couple of days ...! Ish! Can you please send me Vika's number. The old port appears to be having a few re-structural amendments at the moment and will have to go to the new port 6km away hoping we can get info ...

Hope you can help!

Melissa

Noah may have limited internet for a while. Try the two ticket offices and ask for her. Or maybe Wesley or Tomos can PM you with it

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PM sent with phone number, i never took this ferry in the end as i went back up to Russia

Great (and detailed) info Noah! THX!!!



Jefe64

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Our best trips....haven't been done yet.....