Getting to Ascension Island by Sea

Excluding being a passenger on a cruise ship (see separate review – Arriving on a Cruise Liner) or yacht there are two ways of getting to or from Ascension Island – air or by sea. What makes life easy (if not cheap!) is that there is only one option for each – different and interesting though they are. Effective April 2017 it is no longer possible for civilians to fly into or out of Ascension Island. See my separate review, Getting to Ascension Island by Air for further details on air travel — now, in effect how it used to work!

There is only one option in terms for arrival by ship and in terms of where you must catch that ship if you wish to get to Ascension Island by sea.

The ship is the RMS St Helena (picture one, taken at St Helena) and you catch it in St Helena which by definition, because you can only get to St Helena by the RMS St Helena from Cape Town, means you must board in Cape Town.

I go into more details of the leg from Cape Town to St Helena in a St Helena entry which is very similar to this one – identical in the main.

Suffice to say at this point the passage from Cape Town to Jamestown, St Helena took 6 days (5 nights). On arrival in Jamestown we had to (of course we wanted to!) go ashore for 2 nights before returning to the ship for the remaining 2 nights trip to Georgetown, Ascension Island.

The very thought of going on a cruise did not appeal to me and it would certainly not be my first choice of holiday. That said, I absolutely loved the trip aboard the RMS St Helena and simply cannot recommend it highly enough for anyone. It was, in itself a major part of our trip and not a means of merely getting to Ascension Island or St Helena. My one and only negative comment on it was that unless we wanted to spend a month or so on St Helena we were limited to 2 nights there which equated to only 2.5 days sightseeing time. While I used my time to the maximum there and saw most things a couple of extra days would have been great.

You need to study the ships timetable carefully as routings and time in port do vary from trip to trip. You have a little bit more flexibility re time on Ascension given that flights out – your only option unless you limit your trip to less than a day – leaving on same voyage -or want to stay more than a month awaiting the ships return – are twice weekly.

I spent two nights on St Helena and four nights on Ascension. You can see everything on Ascension in 4 nights (equating to five full days) and there is no need to stay longer unless visiting friends or wishing to engage in extensive walking – see my ‘Letterbox Walks’ review.

The RMS St Helena is one of the last operating Royal Mail Ships in the world – which makes it something special in itself. It is a combined passenger / cargo ship and being the only mode of transport to and from St Helena it is the lifeblood of that Island. An airport was under construction on St Helena when we visited. It was expected to open in 2015, after many delays. While finished for some time now it still has not opened  (August 2017) and has become a major embarrassment to the British Government. No one thought to check wind speeds etc to ensure that planes could land before they built the airport. Well guess what? They can’t!

A large number of Saints (as the St Helenians are referred to) work on Ascension Island and the Falklands. Given this it will come as no surprise that the majority of passengers on the ship are Saints going about their business and external business people coming to the islands on business. Tourists comprised a very small minority of passengers on both legs of my trip to Ascension Island. On my trip there were around 100 passengers to St Helena and 80 to Ascension with around 60 crew. A most wonderful mix of people – and you get to know them all – the stories they have to tell. The maximum capacity of the ship is around 150 passengers.

Accommodation on board the ship varies from more basic internal cabins to luxury suites. Food on board (the same for everyone irrespective of accommodation choice) is abundant and of fantastic quality. On board entertainment is a credit to the small crew – ranging from movies, talks (including from passengers), quizzes, bingo, deck cricket, etc. There is no pressure to take part in any activity whatsoever. For those who eat too much there is a gym – though a sense of guilt afflicts very few – so no queues here. There is also small swimming pool, a shop and a free self serve laundry (byo powder) in addition to the ships paid laundry service.

There are two bars offering an excellent range of drinks at incredibly reasonable prices. The ship, while small compared to your average cruise ship, is fully equipped with stabilisers for a smoother passage so if you are staggering up and down the ship it is more likely to have been as a result of your visit to the bar than the effect of rough seas.

I am not going to detail all accommodation options/prices here nor am I going to go into the ships schedule as both are well long and documented on the ships website – http://rms-st-helena.com/. The website also contains a lot of other very interesting detail. Bookings are made via Andrew Weir Shipping in London or Cape Town (but you do everything online – though they do like to send via mail your tickets in a cute folder which contains baggage tags, etc). The service provided by Andrew Weir from start to finish was absolutely fantastic.

To give you an idea of cabin quality and cost (2013). We booked a T2H cabin (pictured above) with lower and fold away upper berths, large window, two wardrobe units, one armchair and dressing table with over-lighted mirror. En suite toilet, shower and wash basin. This was very satisfactory though a twin – as in two lower berths would have been better but I am not sure it would have been worth the additional cost. Cost per person (incl all food) Cape Town to St Helena – GBP1,103 and from St Helena to Ascension Island GBP623.

Interestingly, on a mile by mile basis the RMS St Helena costs significantly more than a trip of the Queen Mary 2 (in comparable class) – but the QM2 is not the RMS and it does not go to Ascension Island! Our departure from Cape Town coincided with the arrival of the QM2, an amazing ship.

A additional point worth noting for those prone to sea sickness, the south-north passage is much better than the north-south passage. The only discomfort I encountered was on leaving Cape Town but outside that the sea was calm to perfectly still for the whole voyage.

My last picture alongside – not aimed at putting you off – is Ascension Island’s official point of entry for all arriving by sea. You will, as we did, arrive in daylight hours when it is not quite so scary looking!

Of course prior to making any bookings to Ascension Island you need to be aware of Ascension Island Entry Requirements and those of St Helena.
Website: http://www.rms-st-helena.com/

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This blog entry is one of a group (loop) of entries on my trip to Ascension Island. I suggest you continue with my next entry – HERE.
To return to the beginning of this loop click HERE.

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