I recently took the Aqaba Nuweiba trip by ferry. There are so may tales of and different versions of it around the internet I decided to start this thread hoping that it may help future travellers.
I had toured Jordan for 5 days and ended the trip in Aqaba. I wanted to move on to Egypt for a 4 night stay at the Hilton Nuweiba. So the ferry crossing was the best direct route to reach it.
Some facts:
There are 2 ferries a day in each direction. 8am and 1pm from Aqaba.
Ferry is operated by ABmaritime (AB). website
here
One way ticket 70 USD or the equivalent at day exchange rate in JD (~50 JD in my case).
This includes the departure tax from Jordan, so ignore the tax departure desks on the ground floor in the port as you'll not need it.
The advice is to be there 2-3 hours in advance which may be advisable if you have not bought the ticket in advance as it can get packed and with some queues with people who want to do so for the next departure.
You can buy the ticket in advance (I bought mine the day before)
The tickets can be bought either directly at port (7 km south of Aqaba) or in the reservation office in the center of Aqaba ( Al-Petra St, near Humam Supermarket). Ask around as it's not that easy to find (feedback from fellow passengers that took the same boat).
With ticket in advance 1 hour should be enough (recommended by AB person).
As you arrive at the Port there is a large tow away container where you can drop your luggage just before the guardhouse where your taxi/transport will drop you off. Consider this the act of faith of the trip.
After you arrive at the Port and before you board you have to make your way to the immigration desk on the first floor (almost opposite the AB desks) to stamp you out of Jordan. Took me 3 minutes for 5 travellers with EU passports.
There is a duty free shop (small but with with a good stock and offer of wine/spirits and tobacco) and a restaurant as well on the first floor.
After this you come back down or stay on the first floor and wait.
Boarding will be done to a bus (with AB logo) that is either in front of the main door or towards the left at the entrance of the quay. Keep your eye on this bus and follow the locals. All announcements are in Arabic, so I took the follow the locals approach.
There will be a passport check inside the bus to ensure your passport carries the Jordan exit stamp.
Drive 1 minute into the quay and dropped off right next to the boat.
Board and drop the luggage you're still carrying and make your way upstairs.
You'll be given an Egypt entry form you have to complete before the boat leaves. There was a long queue but foreigners bypassed this queue and you have your passport stamped for Egypt entry right there. For Sinai visa only it was free. A couple of other passengers managed to buy the full Egypt visa (do not know the cost) in this process.
Boat departs and arrives in Nuweiba 1 hour and change after.
You pick up your luggage and exit the boat. between boat arrival and exit it was a long 30 minutes wait for buses and cars to exit the ferry.
Board a bus again for another minute or so ride
Now, if you had dropped the luggage on the containers in Aqaba be prepared for a twilight zone of luggagespotting at the bus arrival area as there will be hundreds of luggages that were picked up from the containers and are scattered around in smaller carts compliment of handlers seeking
Baksheesh . Be sure your luggage has a distinctive colour or something that can make you spot it easily. If I were to repeat the trip I'm not sure I would have done it again. Those 10 minutes were pretty long, although the locals were very friendly and trying to help.
Once luggage is retrieve and you've stopped laughing hysterically and high fiving you're travel mates about the all thing make your way to the exit.
Go through the x-ray for the luggage. Foreigners are pushed to the front of the queue again here.
Turn right and walk 300 mts to the exit.
You'll be approached by the taxi drivers (they have their own queue system), state your destination, haggle the price and that's it. FWIW I paid 40 EGP (5€) to the Hilton which is a 5-7 minute drive.
I kept the contact of the driver and it was him that in the end took us for a side visit to St. Catherine's monastery and the ride to the Eilat border.
I noticed as I wrote along I became less factual, but it's all there
Hope this helps future travellers.
GBM