Douala airport transfer: prices, routes and how to book

You land in Douala and the first question is not where to sleep, it is who is picking you up. Douala International is about ten kilometres from the centre: 20 minutes when traffic is light, 30 to 60 at busy times. Here is what the trip actually costs, what happens at arrivals, and how to arrange the transfer before you board.

What an airport transfer costs

These are observed ranges, not an official tariff. Douala taxis have no meters and the price is agreed before you get in.

• Taxi negotiated at the exit: often quoted around 5,000 XAF, realistically 5,000 to 15,000 depending on the neighbourhood, the hour and how well you negotiate.
• Shared taxi or minibus: 200 to 500 XAF per person. Cheap, awkward with luggage.
• Private transfer booked in advance: 15,000 to 30,000 XAF for a sedan, price fixed beforehand, driver waiting with your name.

Two things push the price up without warning: night arrivals, where the premium runs 50 to 100%, and being visibly foreign or not speaking French, which changes the opening price.

What arrivals is actually like

Expect 30 to 60 minutes at immigration and 20 to 40 for bags. Trolleys are scarce. At the exit, unofficial porters and unlicensed drivers approach travellers, and that is exactly where a trip gets negotiated badly.

Only one rental company keeps a desk inside the airport. For anything else, the trip has to be arranged before you arrive.

Three habits: agree the price before getting in, check the driver's identity before leaving the hall, and pay nothing until you arrive.

Booking from abroad, before you fly

This is the real diaspora problem, and it is not finding a car once you land. It is booking and paying for one from Paris, Brussels or Montreal, weeks ahead, from an agency you do not know.

Most Cameroonian agencies work in cash on arrival and cannot take a payment from abroad. Hence the usual workaround: send money to a relative who pays locally, or pay nothing and hope the car turns up.

Worth settling before you confirm anything:

• Is the price firm, or “from”?
• What happens if the flight is late, and how long does the driver wait?
• Is fuel included?
• Do you get the driver's name and number before you land?
• What happens if nobody is there?

If any of those is vague now, it will be vaguer at 11pm in the arrivals hall.

If you are staying several days

For a stay, an airport transfer on its own often costs more than a car with a driver taken by the day, especially if you have trips planned around Douala. Budget from 35,000 XAF a day for a sedan with driver, around 70,000 for an SUV, with fuel on you.

To book a transfer at a price fixed in advance, see our Douala airport transfer page, or a car with a driver by the day if you have trips planned around town.

And if the accommodation is not settled yet, start there: look at verified furnished stays in Douala before fixing the transport, because the neighbourhood decides the trip.