Ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan

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We took the ferry from La Paz to Mazatlan. There are two options to get across to the mainland of Mexico. One is with Baja Ferries, which is the more luxurious option on an actual cruise ship and the other is the TMC Ferry, which is the truck ferry.

If you have a normal car, I do not think the prices are very different, it will be around 3000 pesos, without a cabin.

We do not have a normal car though, plus we have a dog. On the Baja Ferries, dogs must be in cages in the pet area and we heard several stories, from not being able to go and see them to being allowed once to give them water. 16 hours and only being able to give water once? We decided to go with the TMC ferry.

The advantage of the TMC ferry is that first of all, for us it was much cheaper. They calculated by the meter and we paid 5050 pesos, including two persons. Not too bad. Baja Ferries would have most likely calculated us as a motorhome which would have been around 15.000 pesos. Plus on the TMC ferry you have access to your car whenever you want. You can choose where you want to sleep. On the deck, in the lounge area (= sort of airplane chairs with a television) or in your car.

We wanted to sleep on the deck, but the stairs were quite narrow and high and we could not get Dunya up. It was quite hot inside the car with the doors open, so we decided to sleep in the car with the doors open and Dunya outside under the truck next to us.

Dunya sleeping under the truck

You are also allowed to walk the dog on the deck to do their business. Dunya did not want to go though. Did not really have her sealegs I think.

With the ticket, meals were included. Fajita’s for dinner and eggs for breakfast. Not bad at all.

Dinner on the ferry

We were told that the ship sails only on Saturday, which is not true if you look on their website. But, we did not mind to go on a Saturday, arriving in Mazatlan on a Sunday seemed like a good idea.

We did not need to make reservations. We just showed up at the ferry terminal by 11 am. Went through customs with the car (to the right after the fence). Had the car checked by customs and proceeded to the bascula to have Panda weighed and measured. With that information on a little piece of paper we went to the office to purchase the tickets. Since Panda did not fit in any of the normal categories, we had to pay by meter.

We received an invoice, two meal vouchers and a voucher to get on the ship. We then had to wait in line until loading (at 2 pm). The trucks with drivers go on the upper deck, the trailers loaded by the harbour personnel go on the lower deck.

Tiny Panda with her neighbours

The ship was supposed to leave by 4pm, ours left by 5.30. We hung around on the deck for a while, practised our spanish with some of the truck drivers and watched some movies in our car.

We arrived in Mazatlan by 10 am. Off the ship by 10.30. Passed through the militairy check who just peaked inside the car for a second and we were good to go.