Bucquebus Ferry To Colonia

[argsteve]

yes seacat is the only way to go to colonia..... i bought a round trip for next month 680 pesos or so... look it up ..works great...

 

[PhilipDT]

I went to colonia today on buquebus, I booked through seacat and it was 600 pesos round trip with the return half being in business class (that also includes a 55 peso surcharge for being on the weekend). I payed in cash at the office on Cordoba at 930 am stopped for a big american breakfast on my way to the boat and was in colonia by 1pm, and back in BA by 915 pm

 

[mateus1976]

I went to Colonia last Friday. Went to SeaCat office on Cordoba office. The price was 60 USD and I was told that I could only pay in USD and not pesos.

I paid with a 100 dollar note and was given the change in pesos in the official rate. So a big loss. Make sure you have the correct amount in USD if you can.

I felt like I was in Cambodia where scams of this type are normal and I hate that.

It seems that from the posts here you can also pay with credit card, which I was not told about it.

The annoying thing is that my Argentine friend went to Colonia last week and paid only 500 pesos.

I was also shocked with the price and quality of the food. 400 pesos for a bide that chorizo that was hard and tasteless.

One thing that I didn't know is that they give you a new 90 day visa waiver on your back. I went to colonia to get dollars and did t need a new visa waiver, but got a new 90 visa anyway. So that was a bonus.

I hope this post help others to make their trip less painful.

 

[maydesantelmo]

On thing that nobody really has mentioned, when you go to Uruguay you should take all your credit/debit cards and withdraw as much as you can in Dollars at the ATM's there. Last time I went to Montevideo I took my 6 debit cards and was able to get 300 U$D per card, per day. In two days I had 3,600 U$D. Certainly made the trip wothwhile

 

[PhilipDT]

Most banks will raise your daily extraction limit if you're a good customer and ask them to do so. No need for 6 different cards.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Or, raise your extraction rates on all 6 cards.

 

[caradoc]

Hi all. Thanks for all your advice concerning my day trip to Uruguay. I was at the offices in Av Cordoba today and these were the best prices quoted for me for a day trip to Colonia from Buenos Aires from Monday to Friday.

Buquebus
Best Price $79 USD
Departure (Mon-Fri) 12:15 BA
Return (same day) 20:00 URG
Positives: includes city tour and snack
Negative: Must pay in US dollars or by credit card

Seacat
Best Price 60.30 USD ($495.02 ARG)
Departure (Mon-Fri) 08:30 or 14:00 BA
Return (same day) 16:30 or 20:00 URG
Positives:
Negative: Must pay in US dollars or by credit card

Colonia Express
Best Price $562 ARG
Departure (Mon-Fri) 08:15 BA
Return (same day) 18:45 URG
Positives: You can pay in local currency
Negative: Ferry leaves from Pedro de Mendoza

Just a quick observation on the different attitudes of the sales personnel (which I always think reflects the deeper culture and service of an organisation). All the agents spoke English.

Buquebus
Evasive. I originally went to their ticket office at the port and they quoted me 98USD best price. In the Cordoba office, they had no transparent prices (no leaflets etc.); everything was written down on bits of paper from computer screens. When I stood to rise the agent ‘suddenly’ found a better deal for me.

Seacat
Professional. Fully prepared literature. Professional and informative agents in smart dress.

Colonia Express
Couldn’t be bothered – “Computer says no”. The agent ignored me when I first arrived. I had to squeeze answers from her. She was very unhelpful when I asked questions about the location of the port. She was scruffily dressed. Little Britain “computer says no” sprung to mind.

I am tempted to take the Colonia Express because I can pay in local currency and it is the cheaper option… but boy was I turned off by the attitude of their agent.

Does anybody know which departure point in BA is better in terms of immigration (ie.. which departure points spends less time scrutinizing your passport.

Thanks all…

 

[glasgowjohn]

Immigration is about the same at both departure points in Bs As. Time spent on individual passports depends very much on the official you get on the day . Sometimes they can spend 10 seconds and other times they spoend 10 munutes.. The last time I used Col Exp , the immigration official refused to let an Argentine lady travel as the photo on her DNI was nothing like the way she looked - she asked if she had to renew her DNI every time she died her hair and she was told that, that indeed was the case.

 

[PhilipDT]

I am tempted to take the Colonia Express because I can pay in local currency and it is the cheaper option… but boy was I turned off by the attitude of their agent.

Does anybody know which departure point in BA is better in terms of immigration (ie.. which departure points spends less time scrutinizing your passport.

Thanks all…

I once watched a Colonia Express manager get down on his knees in front of an entire crowd of customers and look to the heavens, ironically begging for help from God while mimicking the voice of the 70+ y.o. lady who was complaining to him about the fact that they had canceled the boat due to weather, and were not giving any sort of answer about when they might be able to take us home.

I ended up buying a one way ticket on buquebus to get home and colonia express offered us a voucher for half off our next purchase of a round trip ticket.

I never used the voucher.

 

[Rich One]

HE who travels with Colonia Express is a masochist