The easiest way to cross the border between French Guiana and Suriname is by boat. And unlike with the border between French Guiana and Brazil, there is no bridge connecting Suriname to French Guiana. This article breaks down the best way to get between various countries in the Guiana region of South America. In addition, it explains the how to get to Suriname and French Guiana from around the world.
How to Get to French Guiana
The main airport of French Guiana is the International Airport of Cayenne-Rochambeau (CAY) and the only locations that fly directly into the territory are Paris, Belem in Brazil, and Fortaleza in Brazil. If you are an EU citizen, you will not need to go through immigration when flying into French Guiana. However, if you are international, you will need to stop by the immigration officer, who sits in a small kiosk to get stamped into the country. They will be right before baggage claim and are hard to miss. Make sure you also get stamped out of the territory when you fly out.
The airport is located about 25 minutes outside of the city of Cayenne. To get to the city center, you can take a taxi (50-60 euros in 2025) directly to your accommodations. The taxis should accept credit cards but make sure you ask them before getting into the cab. You can also take the Line 7 bus to the city center, which will take about an hour. The bus leaves from the airport every 30 minutes except on Sundays and national holidays. You can see the bus hours for the airport departure every day at this link and use the same website to see the hours of the bus returning to the airport.
You can also look into renting a car to explore French Guiana independently.
How to Get to Suriname
The main airport of Suriname is the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) and the only locations that fly directly into the country are the Netherlands, Guyana, Panama, Belem in Brazil, Curaçao, and Trinidad and Tobago. You will need to go through immigration and show them the forms that you will have filled out prior to your trip. Here is a link to these forms.
The airport is located about 1 hour – 1.5 hours outside of the capital city of Paramaribo. This is also the capital and main city within the country. To get to the city center, you can take a taxi directly to your accommodations or coordinate a car service with your accommodations or travel agent.
How to Cross the Border Between French Guiana and Suriname
The easiest way to cross the border between French Guiana and Suriname is by boat. Whereas the best way to get between Brazil and French Guiana is by car since there is a bridge unlike with Suriname. The French Guiana borders on both sides are formed by rivers that run between Oiapoque (Brazil) and Saint Georges (French Guiana) or Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (French Guiana) and Albina (Suriname). We will describe how to cross the border between French Guiana and Suriname using a small boat or pirogue.
From French Guiana to Suriname
In Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, you will need to go to the main port of the town. The port is only 20 minutes from the city center of the town but you can also use a taxi service to make your way there even faster. There are white vans that drive around the city center and will honk at you if you look like you need a ride, which you will if you have luggage on you. You can predetermine the price of the ride with the driver, and they will take you to your destination, the port. There may be other people in the vehicle with you going to destinations on the way or after your stop. Think of it like a shared Uber ride.
When you arrive at the port, you will be approached by people who are offering to give you a pirogue ride across the river and even some taxi drivers who will offer to drive you from Albina to Paramaribo (the capital city of Suriname). You can agree to ride with any of the pirogue drivers here and you can choose to use the driver or wait until you get to the other side of the river to find a driver. Prior to getting into the boat, you will need to go to the immigration office at the port and get your passport stamped out of the territory if you are not an EU citizen. (Typically, if you get stamped into a country, you need to get stamped out.)
The ride Across the Border
Then, you are ready for your pirogue ride, which takes about 15 minutes to cross the river to the port on the other side. There is also a car ferry which you can take to cross the border, but the most unique and fastest way is to travel by pirogue. When you arrive at the port, you will need to go to the immigration office to show them a few forms that you filled out prior to your border crossing and get officially stamped into the country. You may be approached by taxi drivers here who will offer to take you to Paramaribo. If you want a guaranteed ride at a negotiated price, you can pre-reserve a transport to take you to Paramaribo after your border crossing.
From Suriname to French Guiana
The process is the same but in reverse if you are crossing the border from Suriname to French Guiana. First, go to the immigration office of the country you are leaving (Suriname), then take your transportation across the border, and finally go to the immigration office of the country you are entering (France). It is up to you to go to the immigration office and make sure to get your passport stamped.
