TMC and Baja Ferry | Vehicle Shipping

TMC Mazaclan To LaPaz

Entrée: (23.1881838, -106.4209325)

Voila les prix en date du 29 février 2024.
Il circule plein de fausses informations sur le prix de la traversée.

Premièrement, le prix fonctionne seulement avec la longueur du véhicule même s’il le pèse.

J’ai un Ram Promaster 3500 ext 159. La version la plus longue. Avec ma barre de Led à l’avant et l’échelle à l’arrière je mesure 21 pieds.

Le prix est de 6430 pesos incluant de chauffeur et une longueur de 6m maximum (19,8 pieds).

J’ai du payer 1m supplémentaire. 1850 pesos
Et, un passager de plus. 1400 pesos. (deux personnes en tout)

Total: 9680 pesos pour un Promaster 3500 Ext et deux personne.

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Here is how to handle the TMC ferry as best as I know how. Expect a DMV-like experience wherein no one speaks English, nor will they slow down their Spanish to assist your comprehension.

Get in line to drive through the yellow gate thing. Stop by the little building at the end and give the employee all requested info (name, phone, age, vehicle make, model, year, etc.). The employee will measure and weigh your rig here. Go park in front of the office. 

Go into the office. There will be lots of employees and lots of people sitting around, but there is no real line. Go stand by the desk to the right and say you need to buy a ticket. This is probably not the right thing to do, but it will get the process started. Get told to come back a couple of hours later.

Come back into the office for a second time. stand around and look lost. Eventually, someone from the desks on the right will call your name and give you a piece of paper with all the information you gave the employee at the little hut.

Take this piece of paper to the employees behind plexiglass. Stand around for a while until someone helps you. Give the piece of paper to an employee. Watch them write down a lot of numbers in the thousands. Hand over a credit card and receive a small receipt.

Stay in the office. Be puzzled about what to do and what you are waiting for. Eventually (30 min later?), the person who took your card will hand you your ticket, meal tickets, and a detailed receipt. The receipt will not add up to the total you paid. Just take the L and move on. 

Take the packet of information with you and drive to the right of the building. An employee will take your ticket and tell you what time boarding starts. They will tell the passengers to get out and wait and beckon the driver in.

From here, the driver moves forward and is asked a bunch of questions in Spanish by another employee down the line. It is possible to nod your way through them. Park somewhere, hope it's fine.

The passenger(s) should have some pesos for the bathroom, a book, a charged phone, etc. Because it's not apparent what they are waiting for or where they should wait. Or, you can simply befuddle every employee and security guard as you make your way on foot back to your vehicle. If you are confused enough, no one will stop you.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Get motioned to drive on and receive detailed instructions on how to parallel park your rig between cargo trucks.

When asked, 2 out of the 5 employees we encountered slowed down their Spanish enough so we could comprehend, but none took follow-up questions. 

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5900 pesos for Van and 1 people + 1700 pesos for 1 meter (Sprinter 6.9 m) + 1300 for other person.
8900 pesos total.
Dog: Emotional Suport is free.
You can to sleep in your car, but you need stay in second floor.
We need arrive before 12am for to buy a ticket.
Is cheaper than Ferrybaja. (Difference was 2900 pesos).

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Nous sommes arrivés au port le mardi à 15h30. Nous sommes allés nous faire peser et mesurer en face de la boutique TMC puis ont débuté de longues heures d'attente, le temps que tous les camions aient embarqués. Les véhicules de tourisme sont sur liste d'attente jusqu'à ce que les autres véhicules aient embarqué. La responsable de la liste d'attente de TMC nous a annoncé à 18h30 que nous n'embarquerons pas ce jour-là mais de revenir le jeudi. Nous sommes revenus le jeudi matin, elle nous a alors montré la liste de documents devant le nôtre en nous disant qu'on n'embarquera à nouveau pas ce jour-là, nous pouvons revenir samedi. Le samedi, nous sommes là à l'ouverture. Elle ne retrouve pas notre dossier! Nous commençons à hausser le ton (elle prend tout juste la peine de détacher ses yeux de son WhatsApp pour nous repondre) et elle finit par nous délivrer les fameux documents pour l'embarquement!
Nous avons été vraiment mal accueillis par le personnel administratif de TMC qui n'avaient vraiment aucune considération pour nous mais nous tenions à faire la traverser avec eux afin de pouvoir rester dans notre véhicule avec notre chien durant celle-ci plutôt que l'avoir pendant 15h en cage de transport. Le personnel a bord du ferry était, par contre, adorable.
Pas de problème pour notre chien et nos deux enfants ( 9 et 14 ans).
Notre ferry est parti à 18h30. A 19h, quand nous avons trouvé la salle à manger pour la prise de repas, nous étions déjà les derniers.
Le petit-déjeuner est servi entre 6 et 8h.
Omegasfamily2022

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We took TMC ferries, thanks to the helpful comments below that helped us navigate it. What wasn't clear to us from the comments is to join the waiting list, you join the queue of trucks going through the weigh station. They will measure your vehicle and collect some details. Worth asking about tickets at the office too in case there isn't a waiting list that day I suppose. We got there around 9am, after asking around joined the waiting list queue and then came back around 3pm. Then we just waited in the office until at 5pm they randomly handed us a ticket and next thing we were boarding. Throughout, office staff barely spoke to us, gave us minimal information, and would give us instructions then walk away before I could ask them to slow down or speak into Google translate even though they were very aware we do not speak Spanish well. The rest of the process was smooth and ferry and customs staff were friendly.

Pricing was length based, not based on vehicle type necessarily - they rang our 7m Class C up under the truck without a trailer category (7m, ~11000p) rather than a motorhome (up to 10m, ~15000p). We could actually shorten our vehicle by removing bikes and tanks off the back so maybe would have had a chance of being a van (6m, 5900p)? We tried asking about what category they were going to charge us before we did all that work but staff would not really engage with us so the price was just a fun surprise at the end. If you can shorten your vehicle at all it's worth a shot, before you join the waiting list. All in all, worth it compared to an estimated 20k+ pesos on Baja Ferries and staying aboard our vehicle on the ferry was awesome but be prepared for a long day.

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Be careful with children, we have had the opposite experience of the description : we came to Mazatlán, and because of high traffic, we had to wait 3 days (but no problem for childrens). As the description says childrens a accepted in Topolobampo, we decided to drive to the north to catch a ferry earlyer (and cheaper), but in topo, they refused our children (9 years old for the youngest). Even after negotiating, asking the boss of the boss, they did not accept. So we have to reverse to Mazatlán, were they told us no problem for the kids.

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No problems with TMC ferry and great for vanlifers and dog owners - you can't book a reservation, but we showed up at 9am and got on the boat that same day. The staff are really nice and the food (dinner and breakfast included) is actually pretty good. Yes it's the trucker ferry but there are showers and bathrooms and you can stay in your van. $7200 for 2 people and an extended ProMaster. It's our second time riding and have no complaints.

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TMC says they have no availability for a Ford Transit van for 4 weeks from Mazatlan. Baja Ferries does have availability within two days.

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The decided to go with TMC, they just charged you the van. You can ONLY stay in the car if you park on the upper section.

Reservations are always full, so we were on waitlist. We arrived first time in the morning, around 8am, and we have to wait until 1 pm to get our tickets ( yes, you’ll spend your whole day in this )

Restrooms and dining rom are not clean at all, but it is what it is. Not sure the quality of these rooms in Baja Ferry.

This ferry gets stacked with many trucks. Don’t come here if you’ve claustrophobia. You might have narrow corridors to move around. You’ll choose to just stay in your van during the 16 hours trip ( download movies, music, everything! )

We departed around 8pm and arrived around 1 pm next day.

The check-out is easy, military inspection and you are free from this chaos.

And we paid around 400 dollars for our 19 ft van.

Plan ahead!

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I paid 5100 pesos from Mazatlan to La Paz with TMC (5,80 meter Van plus 1 person).

You can make a reservation in advance (via whats app) or just go to the office. Pay in cash or with creditcard.

I went to the office the day before the ferry was leaving Mazatlan. They told me they are booked out for the ferry leaving the next day.
But they put me on the waiting list.

The next day I went to the office at least 5 times but the employees told me to come back later.
Around 4 pm I got my ticket and at 5 I was on the ferry.

Ferry left around 8 pm. We made it to La Paz around 12pm the next day. Made it off the boat and through the checkpoint around 2pm. You pay 185 pesos for the custom check and I waited in line for more than an hour. Only got asked for my ID thats it.

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'baja ferrys' allows small children. we just bought tickets.

price: 9050 pesos (with taxes) for a VW vanagon (4000), two adults (1400 each), 7years child (700) and a clean cabin (1400) with a bathroom and 4 beds for a night.
Take the cabin on the leftside, to see the sunset. (the ferry departs at 17h)

we saw many big turtles and birds from the cabin window.

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Inportant note: children below 11 years are not allowed to board in Mazatlan. That is valid for both companies. From Topolabampo it is ok

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Websites of both companies had ‚no hay salida‘ for the next three months. I went to the baja ferries office on Sunday to get a ticket for Wednesday with my motorcycle. They needed two hours to check the availability (there’s always space for a motorcycle!).
After paying 2800mxn they said it’s a replacement ferry without cabins, restaurant, bars, etc... I went with Baja Ferries because I wanted a cabin :(
And I had to bring my own straps to secure the motorcycle!
The ferry took 20h! We arrived at 11am and could unload at 12am. It was a cargo ferry, no space to lay down to sleep, not even outside on deck. Some locals even slept in the toilets. We got dinner and breakfast, in groups of 20, as there were not enough seating possibilities.
In total with loading, unloading and the military check in La Paz it took 23h!
Oh, and the harbour fee of 88mxn is not included in the ticket!
I strongly recommend the ferry from/to Topolobampo!

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Checked both there websites 2 weeks ago and of corse ‘No hay salida’. As from previous comments experience we thought we’d try our luck when we got there.

First we tried baja ferries, the lady in the office told us to line up in the weigh in station line and wait to get our ticket and go in to the big red building to see if we could get on. We waited a good hour to weigh in, got our ticket and went into the red building for an answer... the lady tells us they are no taking tourist till August, It’s June! Could of told us that before we weighed in. 3 other Mexican cars got turned away too. The staff were nice just not very helpful...

TMC ferries told us if we come back in 2 days there might be a cancelation or the next available was 4 days time. Didnt want to chance the 2 days so we ended up booking with TMC In Topolobampo 5 hours north to get the ferry the next day. We were able to book in Mazatán then and there and the lady was also really nice. Dreadful drive to Topolobamp and expensive if you take the 15D, a good 500mxp I think it added too... ouch! I’d say it was one of the most boring drives we’ve done in Mexico.

Anyway i hope it works out for everyone else, not sure what we could of done to prevent this, maybe called ahead but hour Spanish is not too hot. On the bright side the boat from Topolobamba to la Paz is a lot faster, good luck to all!

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MAZATLAN - LA PAZ
Very cheaper with TMC but the staff is rude with customers (they are not nice with any customers, not just us). We can't have any answers to our spanish questions. The others customers explained us what to do. Tks to Ioverlander for the tips! If we had had the money, we would définitely go with Baja Ferries who gave good informations with smile.
The departure is at 5PM. They told us to arrive at 1, then 3, then 4PM. We arrived at 2. We got on the boat at 5:15 and the boat finally left at 8h30PM (we still dont know why that late ). Trip took 15 hours. In La Paz the driver is the only allowed in the car. The others passengers have to get through the customs, even if it's in the same country.
They then charged us 176pesos for the car and 30P for fulmigation.
They opened the trunk twice (1rst at the customs and 2nd for à military check point).
Dont speak Spanish, try anything language even if you create one. They dont speak other language, we spoke French. They couldn't ask anything.

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We crossed with TMC from Mazatlán to La Paz. For a VW T4 Eurovan with two persons we payed 5497mxn.
We coudn‘t stay on the top deck, and the guys from the boat weren‘t willing to discuss with us. They said there is no space at the top deck. At the end there was plenty of space, filled with normal cars.
But at least the food and the weather was good. We were on the old ferry, because it took us 20h to La Paz.

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Our sprinter van is 7.1m long, so we were worried about getting a motorhome price. They didn't do that, instead we got the "commercial pickup 6m" rate of $4300, and they added an "extra meter fee" of $1300. With a second person fee of $1197, we paid $6797 total. Weight didn't factor into the price (3750kg). Tip: when entering, the second person is required to walk around to the ferry, you can't go in your car as a passenger. Bring your passport and ticket with you. We asked the men if we could go on top and they said no problem, but we were near the last to board. Arrival in La Paz: the passenger again needs to walk through security and meet up with the vehicle later. I might have misunderstood the la Paz security, but I straight up exited the premises and was picked up on the side of the road by my boyfriend. He said the vehicle inspection wasn't super thorough but they do still charge $176p.

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March 2019 rates with TMC from Mazatlan to La Paz are 4300 for pickup or vannette less than 6 m, 11300 for motorhome to 10 m including driver. Passergers are 1197 p. Port fees in La Paz were 176 p for our pickup size camper.
Rates from Topo ti La Paz are 2900 for pickup and 7300 for motorhome and 954 for passengers.

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Took the TMC ferry to La Paz. On the website they said „no hay salidas“ but the office was open and we got a ticket one day before. Price for a 5.80m Sprinter (3100kg) and 2 Persons was 5097 Pesos. We got a place on the roof and could sleep in the van. Price includes dinner and breakfast. You can take a hot shower on the ferry. The arrival in La Paz was a bit exhausting. Several controls from migracion and military. They searched our van with a dog and 4 people completely, we had to open everything! Keep an eye on these guys, i would not trust them. Tip: There is no need to arrive too early at the port in mazatlan if you already have the ticket. They choose the cars and trucks by size and not time of arrival. If you have a ticket for the 5pm ferry, 1 hour before is enough.

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TMC was full because of Christmas. So we took Baja Ferries a day later. No reserved seats left, but place for the van.
Paid 4960 pesos for 5 metres van and two people.
Boat ride was smooth but because of the crowd it was hard to find a comfortable spot for the night.

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Passenger service is not available until further notice. The ferry is out for service.

Cargo service for vehicles is available. Air fare from Mazatlán to La Paz can be had for ~$84US

Alternative service is through Topolobompo.

The staff at BF was very friendly and helpful.

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Important update: Baja Ferries are currently in maintenance between Mazatlan and La Paz. Baja Ferries only operates from Topolobambo to La Paz (until further notice). TMC does still operate every other day but after waiting about 6 hours we were told it was full. Makes sense since Baja Ferries isn't running. Now going to drive up the coast 350km to Topolobambo. Make sure you take this into account when planning your travels.

We should have clued in earlier because the Baja Ferries website had no available sailings and the TMC website also said: "no hay salidas" for at least the next week.

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If you want to go with TMC without a reservation make sure you’re ready to wait. We arrived at 12pm, the rude staff kept telling us to wait « just a little more » when they already knew we’d have to wait until the very last truck got inside the boat.
At 6:30 pm (boat supposed to be leaving at 5pm) we were finally allowed to pay for our ticket after I went to check with the van if there was still room for it..... Oh and if you feel like every other Mexican without a reservation is allowed to go in before you, it’s probably because it’s true.
The other good news was we were in the lower part of the boat which means we couldn’t stay in our van. The trucks leave their engine on so if you want to wake up the next morning, get your stuff and hurry up to the seat room to get a spot. We pretty much enjoyed the trip from La Paz to Mazatlan but this trip was horrible.
Try to book in advance and try to know if it’s the old boat or not to avoid a terrible experience !

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The previous trip from La Paz to Mazatlán took about 13 hours on a newer ship. (Can’t remember the name) This trip from Mazatlán to La Paz took about 20 hours in good weather on the M/V San Guillermo. Much older, slower ship. We got lucky and they squeezed us in the top. If you were on board this ship on the bottom you can’t stay because of fumes. My opinion is if the weather looks bad and your rig is on the bottom and you have to squeeze in the stanky communal room it will be a long unpleasant ride. But “hey” it could always be worse and you’ll get there eventually.

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For Baja Ferries:

We booked online. Worked very well for the next day and we even got a cabin which I would recommend.
Things to add here:

- Smuggle your food deep in the backpack or wherever. They checked our backpacks and found our food. So we had to eat the included meal. It wasn’t good. So diet for us.

- In the reservation it said we would arrive at 9:30. we arrived at 6:30 and woke up by the announcement that we are there and have to return the keys. So set your alarm early

- it is very cold in the ship. AC works very well. So bring a Pullover and warm cloths for the night.

- cabin was surprisingly clean and the shower nice and warm

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Those coordinates got us on the wrong way with Maps.me.
So here are the coordinates to the entrance of the ferry terminal (23.18835,-106.42084) and the ones for the TMC and Baja Ferries offices (23.1867,-106.4215).
TMC was opened at 8:30am. Very nice staff.
The lady entered our 7m long van as a commecial vehicule (doble rodador) instead of a motorhome much more expensive.
The van + driver cost 6280pesos. Passager (ayudante de operador) cost 1197pesos. Total cost was 7477pesos.
There is an average wifi at the office. Ask for the key.
The driver enters the terminal with the vehicule with the big paper sheet (see picture). Vehicules begin to board at 1pm and goes through military control. The passager enters the terminal through the passenger gate with the long ticket bill (see picture) and his/her passport. Passagers begin to board at 3pm.
On board the ferry, there are hot showers and WC. Dinner was OK. They also serve breakfast but we had it in the van. You can access your vehicule whenever you want and sleep inside it. We were on the top deck.
At La Paz terminal, there is an extra 176pesos to pay for weighing the vehicule. Police and military controls OK. Fruit control took our lemons and pears and our trash because there were pieces of apples in it.
The boat left at 6pm and arrived at 11am.

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Tip: Carry ID if you are not the one driving the vehicle onto the ferry. I had no idea it was required and no one mentioned it when buying a ticket. It was messy but I made it into the ferry with a photo off my passport on my phone! Oh and the ferry got to La Paz at 1pm and we weren't offloaded until 2:30pm. Bring snacks!

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No Ferry on Wednesday...! We had a Internet Ticket for today, booked 5 days ago. As we arrived in the Harbour, they said no Ferry today! We have to try it again tomorrow .

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Tec Mazatlan-la Paz. Paid 5950mx for our truck camper, two people and one dog. Would have been 4747mx but we were just over 6meters long. Top row with all the truckers

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We used Baja Ferries, 4100 for 2 people, our 4WD and a cabin (not the cheapest cabin because it was last minute). You can book online for cheaper rates. Two meals included, very smooth crossing...BUT don't rely on the schedule. Our 5.30pm ferry left at midnight and arrived about 12.30 pm, and then it took us about 3 hrs to get off and through all the immigration and customs stuff. A bit different from the 6.30am arrival time on the ticket!

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Literally waited 4 hours on standby with TMC to see if there was space for us on the ferry. Very frustrating to see many other passenger vehicles get on before us, also with no reservation. Our Spanish is basic but when we asked if there was space or if we could pay, they kept telling us to wait, wait, wait... All fine but why does everyone else get to go on but not us? We were the only ones left in the waiting room at 4:30 and still no guarantee we were getting on.... Finally at 4:45 we were allowed to board, but unfortunately were on the lower deck, which meant we couldn't sleep in our vehicle, like we thought. We brought up our air mattresses and pillows to one of the passenger rooms, but in our opinion, Baja Ferries is more economical if you don't have a big rig. We paid $4520 mex for our Toyota pickup and 2 passengers.

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opted for tmc because they were ok with my dog not being in a crate. nice peoe. had to get there at 12 but didnt get on the ferry until almost 3 because they load the trucks first.

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There are two companies operating ferries between Mazatlán and La Paz: Bajaferries and Transportación Marítima de California TMC. Ferries leave the Mazatlán harbour daily at 4 p.m. Bajaferries on mondays, wednesdays and fridays, TMC on tuesdays, thursdays, saturdays and sundays. The big difference between the two companies is: On TMC ships you can sleep in your camper, on Bajaferries ships you cannot. We went with TMC. The cost for our Toyota camper (less than 6 m length) and two people was 4.520 Pesos. Meals on board are included. The TMC ships are no passenger ships, i.e. there are no cabins for passengers. Only truck drivers and few tourists with cars are on board.

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We paid for our Mercedes van (6.2m) 3'380 peso for the journey from Mazatlan to La Paz with TMC. On the ferry we could sleep in our van and you have always access to your vehicle. Nice journey! In the pictures you can find prices and shedules from TMC.

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TMC and Baja Ferry office. You can buy tickets here and getting you vehicle on the ship Mazatlan to La Paz

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