Sao Tome and Principe is made of two islands, Sao Tome the most visited and the capital of the country and Principe the gem which is largely unexplored. While researching before my trip, I had difficulty getting information on how to travel from Sao Tome to Principe and thought to put this out there for anyone who might be headed there. If you find this and it was of use to you, do not hesitate to let me know in the comment section.
There are only two options if you are ever headed from Sao Tome to Principe. The flight or by ferry.
Sao Tome to Principe Flight
The flight is the more popular and regular means of travel from Sao Tome to Principe. There are two airline companies that operate the Sao Tome to Principe route. STP Airways which is the national carrier and Africa’s Connection. A return trip on these airlines cost between 150 -240 Euros, however during off peak season, there are promotion tickets offered by STP Airways for 120Euros. Africa’s Connection runs daily flight to and from Principe and bookings can be made here. STP Airways operates 4x a week and the relevant information can be found here.
Sao Tome to Principe Ferry
As I learnt during my time in Sao Tome, there are 3 passenger boats headed from Sao Tome to Principe, the others being for cargo and materials transportation. They are called Amfrititi, Principe and Ekvador. Principe and Ekvador are a bit faster and takes about 8-10hours while Amfrititi which I was told was a safer and larger boat would take between 10-12hours. Bookings cannot however be made online. This has to be done at their offices at the city center, through your travel agent or hotel.
It should be noted however that he ferries are quite inconsistent and do not have schedules. The Amfrititi ferry I was to depart from Sao Tome with was headed to Gabon from Principe and the staff had no idea when it would return so I would advice that if you get on a ferry to Principe, its best to prepare to take a flight back just in case there are no scheduled ferries to Sao Tome from Principe before you leave the country.
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