Caspian sea ferry updates & questions

[Jdm817]

American. I crossed on the 12 or so of August from Alat to Kurik. Notes below:

Waited in Baku for 3 days as they told the people via telephone that 'there's a ferry today, but passengers are not allowed' - which seems to be some method of covering their asses. The correct thing to do is to show up anyway.

The mythical Ilgar had made it seem all so easy when I asked him from afar, but when I asked him up close if passengers were allowed he said no, not until October - unclear what the deal is. When I went to the window a few times, fearing they had forgotten me, they seemed to check a Whatsapp screen on their computer for updates. This may be connected to Ilgar/that phone number.

There wasn't another ferry for two days after that, according to the phone. On day 3 I was told (by the hostel who made the phone call) there would be a ferry around 1pm.

I got there at 1pm, was told the next ferry was in the morning. The waiting room is comfortable, especially if you have a sleeping bag. Good AC. Shout out to the Turkmenistani gentleman who tolerated my Russian for the next 30 hours as we discussed everything under the sun.

The ASCO website told me a couple of ferries left during the time I was sitting there. I have no idea if it's true but would say that their ferry departure page is not a reliable indicator of when a ferry is leaving, or at least not one that they let you board. I suspect they may not let tourists on the old ones anymore.

The cafe has some stuff but limited hours. Bring snacks!

Eventually they came and got me, took me in a bus to the ferry, and passport control. Save a copy of your e-visa of applicable, may make things easier. I didn't have mine but we worked it out.

On board was fine. The host ladies run a tight ship. Meals were decent and regular. Collection of Ukrainian truckers were friendly. We arrived at 7am and then sat waiting to dock until after dinner.

My passport didn't scan on the first go. Kazakhs asked if it was fake, told me it wasn't me, asked for other ID, didn't like my NYS driver's license, it was a whole thing. Brought me to the bigger customs gate and the passport scanned. The lady I had originally interacted with told me to come around back to collect my passport. In the back the final boss stood there intimidatingly telling me it wasn't my passport and then that I would be deported. Didn't give an opportunity for a bribe, so I don't think it was that. I told him to arrest me and call the embassy if he had to. I had enjoyed the boat but no way was I getting back on. Eventually he flipped through my passport again and I started matching photos on my phone to passport stamps and dates to prove myself real. He gave in. I think when an American shows up at the cargo port in the middle of the night speaking Russian it's hell on their nerves. This chapter was hell on my nerves.

Stayed at the port hotel which was fine. Got totally G'd up on the taxi to Aktau, for 20k. The hotel desk guy told me this was the price, and I still don't believe him, but there was no one to hitch with and no other way to get a cab that I could figure out.

Good luck! And let me know if you have any insight to the several mysteries here in.

[Woody]

Hello everyone,

we took the ferry at the beginning of September from Alat (Baku) to Kuryk (Aqtau). First we tried to contact ASCO via Telephone, we asked at the reception of our Hotel, if they can call them and ask when the next ferry departs. Meanwhile we successfully booked online tickets for 70 US$ per Person, just passengers, no car, motorbike, bike or whatsoever (https://public.acsc.az/online/). We also sent a message via WhatsApp, but never got an answer (Telephone numbers are in this thread). Next day the hotel again tried to reach them but no one picked up. So we took a bolt (about 30 manat) to the port in Alat. There was an English speaking guy, he gave us the tickets and told us to be back at 8pm. Side note: we saw our WhatsApp Message on the computer screen, but we didn’t asked why they didn’t answer.
We also got the invitation to stay at one of the port-workers house, but since our luggage was back at the hotel, we needed to take a taxi from Alat to Baku. It was of course more expensive than the Bolt and we did a bad job at bargaining, so we paid 50 manat.

At 19:30 we again took a bolt to Alat. We got some cancellations, since it was Friday night and no one wanted to do the trip to Alat. The poor driver who didn’t cancel was very upset but drove us to Alat anyway.

We arrived a little bit late at 20:30. They scanned our luggage and showed us the way to the waiting room. Two other backpackers were already waiting there. Bring water and some snacks, at the evening there is nothing open, no shops, nothing. After one hour someone showed up and asked us to follow him. With a minibus we were brought to a container for checking luggage (x ray) and the passports and (!) the Azerbaidschan eVisa. We got our stamp and could enter the ship (the Azerbaijan) at about 23:00. We were the first ones entering the ship, the lorries and their drivers weren’t on the ship yet. Since we were four tourists we got a 4 person cabin with 2x2 bunks and a toilet with shower. The cabin was quite good. The ferry departed about 2am.
Breakfast is at 7:30, lunch at 11:30, tea at 15:30 and dinner 19:30. The food was okay, just don’t expect at four course meal. Again, bring some water and snacks.
The sea was calm and quiet as well as she ship. Surprisingly you would almost not hear the ship’s engine.

We arrived the port of Kuryk after about 25 hours. At 4 am someone knocked at the cabin doors and we had to get our things together and put off the bed linen. Customs and immigration took almost 2,5 hours. First there were some problems with my German passport, after scanning it 3 or 4 times it did work. We left the ferry same time with the trucks at about 6:30 am.

They asked us to call a taxi, which should cost 60US$. Kuryk is about 90 kilometers away from Aktau, but still 60$ seems way too much. One of the two other backpackers asked someone in a car if he could take us with him, and so we landed in Aktau at about 9:00.

We were very lucky, that we got the ferry that day. One day later there was a big storm and we probably couldn’t have left the port. Also there was no other ship in the port of Kuryk when we arrived, so the port was not blocked and we wouldn’t need to wait.

So, everything went very smooth and easy.

[serialchiller]

Tried in October to get on the ferry Kuryk (Aktau) to Alat (Baku).

No chance.
Land/sea exit from Azerbaijan yes, but NO entry.

[serialchiller]

Alat-Kuryk Ferry schedule:

There is no fixed schedule, but this this website of the ASCO (the Azeri ferry company servicing Kuryk-Alat) shows the status and location of all their ships:

https://ships.asco.az/en

[Lagerfeld]

One hour ago I called the AZ - embassy in Astana - no answer. Than I called the AZ - consulat in Almaty and a nice man with good English knowledge told me on my question: Nobody knows - when the land borders will be open - NOBODY knows !
That's all what I could find out.

[agshin]

Updated 11 DEC 2023: In Azerbaijan, quarantine due to pandemic has been officially extended until 2 April 2024. Land (sea) borders will still be closed for entry of individuals, only be open for leaving foreigners

[sebhoff]

What a surprise!

[steven]

I cleaned up this thread after people complained it was veering off-topic. Please keep all messages in this thread just about the boat journey.

Thank you!

[shron]

Wanted to post my winter experience taking the ferry from Alat (Baku, Azerbaijan) to Kurik (Aktau, Kasakhstan).

Tl;dr ONLY GO IN WINTER IF YOU HAVE A VERY FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE. That being said, it can be very enjoyable otherwise.

I started waiting for a boat on Dec 20 and had local friends call everyday. It took 6 days until the weather was good enough for a boat to arrive/depart. I went to Alat port on Dec 26 bc they said there'd be a boat. The boat was delayed to 4am the next day, and then we actually got on at 8pm. The waiting room is rather new and quite nice. There are big AC/heating units too, so I was okay when I slept the night even without a blanket or sleeping bag.

I rode the "Azerbaijan" which is apparently a state ship. The interior is a bit dated and looks and sometimes smells like a retirement home but is quite comfortable. All rooms are 4 person rooms with private bathrooms but since I was the only female passenger, I had the room to myself. There is heating and cooling in every room too.

The ship departed at midnight, but we stopped at 4am due to windy weather. We were then anchored for 33 hours(!!!) and didn't move until 1pm the next day. We made it near Kurik on day 3 but didn't get permission to dock until around 2pm.

Me and two other foot passengers were shuttled through customs by a van. The x-ray machine wasn't working, so I just promised the Kazakh official that I wasn't bringing in heroin into the country, and he let me through. One of the truck drivers promised to drive us to Aktau/Shymkent, but they took forever to go through customs. I waited about 4 hours before getting a different ride, and the other two passengers decided to wait. It may seem convenient to hitch a ride from a trucker from your boat, but it may be more hassle than it's worth. I got a ride to Alat from the owners of the convenience store at the port, and they totally ripped me off. Next time, I would just try to hitchhike with the people leaving the port.

All in all, I paid $70 for 3 nights accomodation and all meals included, so I'm satisfied. It was a fun exp, but I don't recommend if you're on a tight schedule

[jayflyer]

Trying to plan for this trip.
where do you exactly hop on this shuttle bus from Baku to Alat?
and for the bus option, the distance between where you get off from bus 20 or 6 seems quite far from the place where you take the bus 195.
Am i missing something ?