Agency Porto Cai n' Agua | Vehicle Shipping

May 16th, 2023 by dougsurfspr

EXCUSE THE LONG WRITE-UP:
After checking all the options in town we came here and booked a passenger balsa with the company hmnavegacao.com through an agent named Tiago. Like everything else, prices have gone WAY up since the pandemic. We paid 4500 reales in total. We have a big pickup camper. We basically went for the first class stateroom with a private balcony, on suite bathroom/shower and A/C. We also have all meals included. You can save maybe 1000 reales by not including a cabin or meals. The other balsas were full of cargo trucks, had no amenities, and much slower. 5-8 days instead of only 3 for passenger one. The cargo barges also weren’t much cheaper. They allowed us to sleep on the pier with our vehicle the first night. Then they loaded us the next day and we spent 3 nights sleeping in our cabin on the vessel. So we saved a lot of money on hotels. I would say it’s almost impossible to get on a barge at the last minute unless you’re very lucky. Plan on staying in Porto Velho for at least a few days waiting for deck space if you have have a larger vehicle. We will update after we get to Manaus.

UPDATE FROM MANAUS:
So I took a few days to process the trip before writing this review. It took 3 days almost exactly like they promised, so that was good because any longer would have been unbearable. So let’s start with the food. It was really horrible and almost inedible and they really had no set meal times. They promised us a BBQ steak lunch on Sunday. It was good meat but not nearly enough available and we left hungry still. So bring your own food and avoid getting sick. The cabin we had was with A/C that worked great. Once out on the river the breeze is refreshing so it’s not bad sleeping in your vehicle if that’s what you plan on doing. About sleeping, we didn’t do much of that. This is a working boat and as such they made many stops along the way to drop/pickup passengers and freight. Every square inch of the vessel was loaded to capacity and then some. We were so overloaded that they swamped their little dingy tied to the stern and it sank. Then we started taking waves over the bow and the bottom deck got flooded and they were forced to slow down. Some of the stops were in the middle of the night and were very noisy. There was a bar/discoteca on the roof with VERY loud music from about 10am to 10pm. Lots of bright lights so no star gazing after sunset. I don’t think the passengers in hammocks slept at all. There was tons of onion bags on board so between that and the people who didn’t shower for days, it got pretty stinky. And the showers used muddy river water so don’t plan on feeling squeaky clean, but it’s better than nothing. The scenery was nice, but there were lots of farms, houses, gold mining house boats, etc. So not really a jungle experience. Between that and the price to travel up here, you really have to ask yourself if it’s worth it. I definitely wouldn’t do it in rainy season. We are now looking at ferries to Belem..

May 10th, 2023 by Nox_aroundtheworld

This is where we took the ferry to Manaus. We arrived on monday and the guys insisted for us to pay and park our van on the ferry, which was not possible for us. We ended up embarquing on Vovo Naza II on tuesday night which was necessary because the water level began to decrease and there was only one place left. We left on wednesday night and arrived in Manaus on saturday night, disembarqued sunday morning. For 2 people living in our van, and a dog, showers, toiles and meals included we paid 3.000R. We tried to negociate but could not go lower, the captain said it was the only ferry boat and we could not see any other boat, at least in this harbour.

November 23rd, 2019 by It's not a slow car, it's a fast house

We talked to these guys as one option. There are many different companies leaving from various docks. Walk around d and gather prices and departure dates. Then trust your gut. See our other posts, nothing goes as planned. Be flexible and prepare for the heat and long delays. Stock up on food and water! Have fun.

August 1st, 2018 by welt-erleben.ch

Wanoel organizes passenger and freight shipments to Manaus. For us (7 meter motorhome, 2 people), he organized a grain balsa as a ferry to Manaus (5 days, 2'500 Reais). We paid half after discussing the loading procedure with the captain. Second half we payed once we were on board.
We spend 2 nights on the ferry before the travel began. Because water levels were low and it seemed too dangeres to navigate, we stopped each night. In the end, the voyage took us not 5 but 8 days. Because the ramp was to steep for cars, we had to wait 2 additional days until disembarking. So don't choose this kind of transport unless you have plenty of time :o//