Short answer: for most arrivals the sensible choice is a pre-booked transfer: a shared bus seat from USD 18 per person return, or a private car from USD 40 one way, with a driver waiting at arrivals. A taxi centrale works if you want to phone on landing, a hire car if you want the road for the whole trip. There is no metered taxi tariff, no Uber, and no ATM in the terminal. Everything below was read at source between 21 August and 2 September 2026.
The comparison
| Option | Price we could verify | Time | Book how | Good for | What we could not verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shared bus transfer (Does Travel & Cadushi Tours) | from USD 18 per person, return | ~1 h plus hotel drops | Online, before you fly | Solo travellers, couples on a budget | Whether the bus meets every flight |
| Private car transfer (Does Travel & Cadushi Tours) | from USD 40 one way up to 2 persons; USD 45 up to 3 | 45 min–1 h | Online, before you fly | Night arrivals, families, luggage | — |
| Hotel-arranged car | Not published; ask when booking the room | 45 min–1 h | Through your accommodation | Removing the negotiation entirely | The price, which varies by hotel |
| Tourtonne's Taxi & Airport Service | Not published; ask when you call | 45 min–1 h | 1690 locally, +597 422 429 from abroad, WhatsApp, app | Phoning on arrival; 24-hour dispatch | The fare |
| Ride (app) | Fare estimate shown in the app before you confirm | 45 min–1 h | iOS/Android app, Greater Paramaribo | Travellers used to ride-hailing | Whether enough drivers are active in 2026 |
| Avis (terminal counter) | Not published on the station page | Your own pace | Book the PBM station page; counter open 24 h | Independent travel, Commewijne and Para trips | Rates and insurance terms |
| Hertz via Realcar N.V. | Not published | — | City office, not at the airport | Longer rentals | Whether international Hertz terms apply |
| NVB night bus | Not published | Not published | No booking; route towards Zanderij 21:00–02:00 from Heiligenweg | Nothing with luggage after a long flight | Fare, stops, whether it serves the terminal door |
| Roadside taxi | Negotiated; figures online range from USD 25 to 45 and are anecdotes | 45 min–1 h | At the kerb | Not recommended by the UK FCDO | Everything |
Reading the table
The two published prices come from one operator, Does Travel & Cadushi Tours, whose transfer page we read on 24 August 2026. We quote them because they are published, not because we rank that operator above any other. They set the order of magnitude: under twenty dollars for a seat, around forty for a car.
Tourtonne's is a taxi centrale, the telephone dispatch model that is the normal way to get a taxi in a city without ride-hailing. Its own site advertises round-the-clock service, more than 25 years in the business and more than 100 cars; those are its figures. The short number 1690 works from a Surinamese line, so it is a number for after you have a local SIM, or for your hotel to call.
Tourtonne's Taxi & Airport Service
Tourtonne's is a Paramaribo taxi dispatch company offering city rides, airport transfers and organised trips into the surrounding districts. It advertises round-the-clock dispatch and more than twenty-five years of operation.
Ride is the local app. It works the way the global ones do, fare estimate first, ratings both ways, private and licensed taxi drivers, but its site described a 2019 pilot and we found no independent confirmation of how many drivers are active now. Install it before you fly and keep a centrale number as a backup.
Ride (Ride Technologies N.V.)
Ride is a Surinamese ride-hailing platform that matches passengers in Greater Paramaribo with screened private drivers and licensed taxi drivers through separate passenger and driver mobile apps. Fares are shown before a trip is confirmed and both sides rate each other afterwards.
Hire cars. Avis has the only 24-hour desk in the terminal, with a key drop for after-hours returns; the airport's own facilities page also lists Budget, Ross Rental Cars and Europcar. Hertz is represented by an independent licensee at a city address, so loyalty terms and roadside assistance may not work the way they do elsewhere; ask before you pay.
Avis Car Rental — Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport
Avis operates a car rental counter inside the terminal at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, the main international gateway roughly 45 km south of Paramaribo. The Avis site lists the desk as open 24 hours every day with an after-hours drop-off facility.
Hertz Car Rental Suriname (Realcar N.V.)
Hertz is represented in Suriname by independent licensee Realcar N.V., which runs a car rental and leasing operation in Paramaribo and is listed by Hertz under the Paramaribo city station. A separate Hertz station code is listed for Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport.
The night bus exists, and we list it because nobody else does. The government describes NVB's night service as running 21:00–02:00 from Heiligenweg on routes towards Zanderij. It publishes no fare and no stop list, and it is not a way to arrive with luggage after ten hours in the air.
Nationaal Vervoer Bedrijf (NVB) — Suriname public bus and boat service
NVB (Nationaal Vervoer Bedrijf), Havenlaan West 2, is Suriname's state bus and boat company: more than sixty bus routes across eight districts, boat services in Marowijne, Commewijne and Brokopondo, daytime buses and a night bus 21:00–02:00 from Heiligenweg. Route timetables are not published online; nvbnv.sr.
Two things the terminal does not solve
Cash. The airport's facilities page lists De Surinaamsche Bank among its tenants but no ATM and no currency exchange. Carry US dollars or euros for the first day; the reliable machines for a foreign card are Republic Bank's, in the city. Withdrawals cost SRD 17.60 flat since 1 August 2026, so make one large one. Details in money, ATMs and paying.
A SIM. Digicel and Telesur both have outlets in the terminal, but the better plan is Digicel's 30-day tourist eSIM (SRD 400 for 5 GB, SRD 600 for 10 GB, SRD 800 for 15 GB on 21 August 2026), activated in the app before you land. Details in SIM cards and eSIM.
Do not confuse the two airports
Johan Adolf Pengel (PBM) at Zanderij is the international airport, 45 km south. Zorg en Hoop is the airfield inside Paramaribo from which small aircraft leave for the interior lodges. A lodge booking that says Zorg en Hoop does not send you back to Zanderij.
Gum Air
Gum Air N.V. is a Surinamese airline based at Zorg en Hoop Airport in Paramaribo, flying scheduled and charter services to airstrips in the interior of Suriname as well as international charters to Guyana and French Guiana. Its fleet is made up of Cessna 206, Cessna 208B, Twin Otter and Beechcraft 1900D aircraft.
Leaving
The airport publishes that check-in for Amsterdam flights opens five hours and closes two hours before departure. With an hour on the road and Paramaribo traffic, leave your hotel about four hours before a long-haul flight. And make sure your Entry Fee voucher was bought before you flew in: it is checked at the departure airport, not on arrival (do you need a visa).
Prices from the operator's own page and airport facts from N.V. Luchthavenbeheer, read 24 August 2026; Tourtonne's and Ride re-read 2 September 2026; car rental and bus details 21 August 2026. No taxi fare is printed because none could be sourced. Available in Dutch: luchthaventransfer Paramaribo vergeleken.
Common questions
- How far is Johan Adolf Pengel Airport from Paramaribo?
45 km south of the city at Zanderij, according to the airport operator. Operators quote 45 minutes to an hour by road; no official journey time is published.
- Is there Uber in Suriname?
No. Uber, Bolt and Grab do not operate in Suriname. The local app is Ride; taxi centrales such as Tourtonne's are booked by phone or WhatsApp.
- What does a taxi from the airport to Paramaribo cost?
No official tariff exists and no figure we found survives contact with a source, so we do not publish one. Agree the price before you get in, or book the car through your accommodation.
- Is there an ATM at the airport?
The airport's own facilities page lists no ATM and no currency exchange. Carry some US dollars or euros for the first day.