Ecuador > Peru: Huaquillas
Apr 2026 |
Sharing details on my experience crossing from Ecuador to Peru at Huaquillas, which was the only border open to international riders in April 2026. Below is the suggested fast-and-easy way to cross, as well as my own slow and mind-numbing approach that took 3x longer - I made some time-consuming, frustrating errors. Hopefully this guide can help you make a seamless crossing. I made a short video describing my experience; the link is at the bottom of the page.
Recommended border crossing process (fast and easy)
One consideration to highlight before you read through the steps: the border and "no-man's land " are incredibly long, about 5 km. While riding through, you may start asking yourself if you are on the right road.
Steps:
CEBAF Ecuador (aduana). This is the customs/aduana office. It's about 1km down the long border road. Not sure why, but this compound/office is labelled "CEBAF", not "aduana", as you expect. Aside from the road sign, the easiest geographical marker to look for is the large water tower painted blue and white (there is also one at the Peru border office location), in a walled compound. Because the building wasn't labelled aduana, I rode right by it and then wasted about 1 hour looking for the aduana before I finally ended up back here. Once I found the office, the TIP cancellation process was about 15 minutes, super easy. The pic shows the tower and sign to look for.
Immigration for Ecuador and Peru: These two are in the same office (room), on the Peru side of the border, Ecuador on the left, Peru on the right. This part of the crossing process was fast and easy; it took me about 30 minutes to exit/enter. No fees involved.
CEBAF Peru (aduana): Conveniently located right next to immigration. Another fast and easy process; it took me about 30 minutes to complete.
Insurance: located near immigration and CEBAF Peru; look for a tent beside the parking area. Insurance is required in Peru. I bought a 2-month policy; I can't recall if I paid with a Visa card or cash.
Departing: to exit the border, you need to ride back to the north end of the immigration/aduana building and join a line of vehicles in a lane beside the building. An officer reviews you documents. Right after that, you ride through a gantry and then are in Peru.
My experience crossing the border (slow and mind-numbing)
Preparation
I actually planned to cross at La Balsa, south of Vilacabamba. In my online research, it appeared the border was open and the police in Vilacamba told me I could cross no problem. I posted a message in the South America riders WhatsApp group, and the response was negative - La Balsa was closed. Rather than ride to La Balsa and get turned back - making for 8 hours of futile riding (albeit through lovely scenery, I was told) - I dumped that plan and rode to Huaquillas.
Riding to Vilacabamba to Huaquillas
This involved some backtracking, and then a long but decent ride out of the mountains to the dry coast. I stayed overnight in Huiquilas at the X hotel; nothing special. Huaquillas seemed like a typical slightly grungy border town, and I know of riders who avoided it due to safety concerns.
Getting to the border
I first expected the border to be down the main street in Huaquillas, near my hotel. But it is outside of town, about a 10-minute ride to the junction.
The border layout
This was the most bizarre border I have experienced on my Pan-America ride (up to this point...). While most of the borders I crossed have a no-man's-land of varying size (usually short, even nonexistent) this one is about 5 kilometers. And while you expect to first come to Ecuador immigration and aduana, then proceed to the same on the Peru side, here the Ecuador aduana is on the Ecuador side, and the Ecuador immigration is located with the Peru immigration and aduana further down the road on the Peru side.
Immigration
This was easy. Ecuador exit and Peru entry immigration windows are side-by-side in the same office (though it is labelled as a Peru office). It took me 20 minutes to stamp out of Ecuador and into Peru.
Aduana / Customs (CEBAF)
This is when things got silly, and I wasted 1 hour looking for the Ecuador aduana office. Though you will see signs labelled "aduana", the name of the aduana here is "CEBAF", for some reason. I initially rode right by the CEBAF building on the Ecuador side (blue water tower and walls). Then 4km further down the road, I came to a building labelled aduana -- but it was abandoned. A guard waved me to a building nearby, Ecuador/Peru immigration, so I stamped out/in there. Beside immigration was a building named "aduana", but I was told I was in the wrong place, that I needed to go back 4 km towards Ecuador; the aduana office was there. Riding back, I stopped at the first official-looking building I came across and learned it was for trucks only (officers said they didn't know where I needed to go). I then rode by the walled compound with the water towers and back into Ecuador, to a govt building I had seen the day before, labelled aduana (note: I had already stamped out of Ecuador and into Peru on my passport, so technically I was illegally in Ecuador). The officers there told me to ride back to the border; the aduana was there. Things were getting a bit surreal at this point. I rode back and this time stopped at the walled compound labelled CEBAF, which indeed was the location of the Ecuador aduana office. It then took a brisk 10 minutes to cancel my Ecuador TIP. I then rode 4 km back to the immigration office, and the aduana was next to it, 30 meters away. It took me about 20 minutes to get a TIP for Peru.
Insurance
After getting the Peru TIP, I walked 100 meters to a pop-up tent selling insurance. I bought a 2-month policy, about $40.
Exiting by motorcycle
I had a series of final blunders with this process. From my bike, I could see the gantries where you exit Peru immigration/aduana. So I rode straight toward it. There, I was told by a guard that I needed to ride back around to exit. After a couple of extended circles on this route, I was directed to a line of vehicles, in the lane closest to the offices. This was a final checkpoint, where they review all your docs. Then you ride through the gantry and into Peru.
Documents
Ecuador: passport, license, registration, TIP document, email sent by Ecuador customs (remember this; you will need to show it)
Peru: passport, license, registration, TIP document, email sent by Peru customs (save a copy)
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