Port Sudan

Introduction

Port Sudan is a port city in Sudan, and the capital of the state of Red Sea. It has about half a million inhabitants. Located on the Red Sea, it is the Republic of Sudan's main port city.

Sights and Activities

Port Sudan is known among tourists for its excellent scuba-diving and beaches.

Weather

Port Sudan has an arid near-desert climate with very hot summers and moderately hot winters, requiring the acquisition of fresh water from Wadi Arba'at in the Red Sea Hills and from salt-evaporating pans. Temperatures can easily exceed 30 °C in winter and 45 °C in summer. Over 90% of the annual rainfall falls between October and January, mostly in November, with the wettest month on record being November 1947 with 182 millimetres, whilst the wettest year was from July 1923 to June 1924 with 231 millimetres. Average annual rainfall is 76 millimetres, and no rainfall occurred between January 1983 and June 1984. The average temperature is 28.4 °C. Port Sudan receives about 3200 sunshine hours annually.

Getting There

By Plane

Port Sudan New International Airport (IATA: PZU, ICAO: HSPN) has flights to/from Khartoum, Dubai, Jeddah and Cairo.

By Train

Port Sudan has a rail link with Khartoum, trains leave every Monday at 8:00pm and arrives about twenty hours later.

By Car

Since 2009 a new highway linking Port Sudan via Atbara has been opened, reducing the travel time between Khartoum and Port Sudan drastically. This road passes through great scenery and passes the pyramids of Meroë Meroe.
Make sure you don't take the old road via Kasala, it's 400 kilometres longer and is reported to be dangerous due to ongoing tribal conflicts and bandits.

By Boat

There is an international ferry from Jeddah, but these are usually used by locals from both countries, for example during the Hajj.

Getting Around

In Port Sudan you can get around the city using rickshaws, taxis and buses. The rickshaws seem to be the best option as they only cost an average of 2-5 Sudanese pounds for journeys up to 15 minutes and take you exactly to your destination.

Keep Connected

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

Sudan's international direct dialling code is 249.

Prepaid mobile phone packages are easily available in Sudan. The two telecommunications companies in Sudan are ZAIN (Tel: +249 91 230000) and MTN (Tel: +249 92-1111111). Zain has a cheaper prepaid package (SDG10) than Mtn (SDG20).

Post

Sudanese postal services tend to be slow, cheap and fairly reliable. Your post will eventually arrive in the country of destination.

External Links