 | Port Sudan Flights and Airline Tips | Tips 1 - 7 of 7 |  |
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Every two weeks, a big event happens in Port Sudan...a train leaves! The station, which is normally deathly quiet and deserted, suddenly comes alive with passengers struggling with enormous suitcases, screaming children, and entire extended families waving relatives off. If you want to travel by train and would like to have a seat for the 18 hour journey, then get there early...three days before the train, all seats had been sold. if you can't get a seat, you can still board the train, and sit in the corridors or on the roof, but don't expect to get much legroom or sleep. It is an experience though, probably not one I'm rushing to repeat, but it did have its moments...like climbing out of windows to buy food on station platforms, watching the sun set over the Red Sea Hills and seeing it rise again in the desert, waiting an hour in the middle of nowhere while a search party went off to locate an unlucky snorer who rolled off the roof, making jam sandwiches with no spoon, etc....Tickets cost 2400 for 3rd class or floor space, 2900 for 2nd and 3300 for 1st class, or you could just buy a ticket to Jebeit in the mountains halfway. Leave a Comment Theme: Train
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Buses arive in Port Sudan from Kassala, Gedarif, Medani and Khartoum. The road may be good, but distances are long. On an expensive air-con bus like Pan Express or Afras, Port Sudan is 8 hours from Kassala, 16 from Khartoum. Cheaper buses are less comfortable, and of course take much longer. For that trip, I'd definitely recommend an air-con bus, as the weather is extremely humid once you pass through the Red Sea Hills and into the coastal plains. All buses usually leave their starting points before midday, often at 8am, although you can be lucky and find a bus later on...just you might not have much choice what sort of bus.
The Khartoum-Port Sudan buses tend to stop overnight just outside Kassala, where there is a restaurant and a few wooden beds to park your bum for a few hours. The security police won't allow you to enter the city itself...you'll have to make do with the views from afar...but they don't have any objections to you travelling through Kassala.
There might also be services to Atbara, but I have no idea how often they leave. Local buses run to the mountain resorts of Arkawit and Gebeit fairly frequently, and down the coast to Suakin...see my Suakin page for details of how to get there. Leave a Comment Theme: Bus
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We went to Port Sudan by road.The road was fine, but the journey was slow due to camels who shared the road as well. There is an airport just outside the town and Sudan Airways has regular flights, but it is expensive. Theme: Car/Motor Home
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Not everyone is allowed in the dock but I had some work there took me along with him. People were working very hard under the hot sun.
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There are some wonderful coral reefs off Port Sudan, but the only way to get to them is to hire a boat.
When we went , it was because it was a bit windy and the boat we found had had a cancellation because of the weather. Since it would not be a full day's rental we managed to bargain and get a reasonable rent. there were 6 of us and we were given a meal on the way out to the reefs. Not everyone ate as two of the group were feeling sea sick. Once you reach the reefs the water is calm and clear, and the coral is brilliant. In shallow water be careful not to put your feet on the bottom as there are some creatures that could give a painful sting [stone fish?].
I did not take the underwater pictures myself. Leave a Comment Directions: in the Red Sea off Port Sudan
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on March 30, 2008
Port Sudan
on May 19, 2003
on December 12, 2006
