Suriname Holidays BV
The Dutch specialist who has been quietly stitching together tailor-made Suriname trips for two decades
Why Go
Owner Suzette Eeltink runs this small Haarlem outfit the old-fashioned way: no cookie-cutter packages, no hard sell, just a long phone call, a map of Suriname, and the black book of local guides, riverboat captains and jungle lodge owners she has built up over 20+ years.
The Experience
Tucked into a narrow gable house on Spaarnwouderstraat, a five-minute walk from Haarlem's Grote Markt, the Suriname Holidays office feels more like a living room than a travel agency. Bookshelves are stacked with battered guidebooks and Marowijne field notes, the walls carry photos from Palumeu, Kabalebo and the Bigi Pan lagoon, and there is almost always a pot of Surinaamse koffie on. This is where every itinerary starts, either in person or on a long, unhurried video call. What sets the agency apart from the bigger Dutch tour operators is that nothing is off the shelf: you tell Suzette and her team how you travel (with kids, on a bike, chasing birds, on a tight budget, or with time for a three-week jungle immersion), and they build the route around you. Because they work directly with local Maroon and Indigenous partners in the interior, plantation guesthouses on the Commewijne, and a trusted network of drivers and guides in Paramaribo, they can also fix problems in real time once you are on the ground. As Dutch SGR and VvKR members, your money and return flight are legally protected too, which quietly matters more than most travellers realise when they are heading off-grid in the Amazon basin.
What to Try
Ask them to design a classic two-week combo: a few days getting your bearings in Paramaribo (with a walking tour of the UNESCO wooden centre and a Javanese warung crawl), a Commewijne plantation loop by bicycle sleeping at Frederiksdorp or Peperpot, and then a flight into deep interior lodges like Palumeu, Anaula or Kabalebo for jungle hikes, dolphin-spotting and Trio village visits. Birders should specifically ask about their Kabalebo and Brownsberg extensions, and families should mention ages up front so they can slot in the sea-turtle nesting trips at Galibi in season.
Insider Tip
Contact them at least 3-4 months before you want to travel, especially for June-August and the Christmas holidays. The best jungle lodges in Suriname have very limited beds and a single small aircraft schedule dictates when you can get in and out; Suzette holds soft options with lodges that solo travellers cannot access directly, but only if you give her enough runway. Mention any dietary needs or mobility limitations on the first call, not later.
The Practical Stuff
Office at Spaarnwouderstraat 68, 2011 AE Haarlem, roughly 20 km / 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam Centraal (Haarlem station is a 10-minute walk away). Consultations are by appointment; most planning happens by phone, email or video call, so you do not need to be in the Netherlands to book. Communication in Dutch and English. Payment in EUR with SGR guarantee-fund protection included. No walk-in ticket sales, this is a planning agency, not a shop.
Pair It With
- Paramaribo historic inner city — Almost every itinerary Suriname Holidays builds starts or ends with a couple of nights in the UNESCO-listed wooden centre, so read up on it before your planning call.
- Commewijne plantation route — Their signature cycling-and-guesthouse loop through Frederiksdorp, Bakkie and Peperpot is the easiest way to see colonial-era Suriname at a human pace.
- Palumeu or Kabalebo jungle lodge — These fly-in interior lodges are the agency's specialty and where their local network really pays off, especially for wildlife and Indigenous village visits.
- Galibi sea turtle reserve — A seasonal add-on (roughly February to August) that Suriname Holidays can bolt onto a coastal itinerary when the leatherbacks are nesting.