Filled with Spanish colonial architecture since the 16th century, Cebu City has an appearance that feels more like a South American city than an Asian one. It is the oldest city in the Philippines and was the first Spanish settlement. Today, in addition to these colonial attractions, Cebu City is also a good place to escape to fantastic beaches, nightclubs and great hotels with a good diving offer. If you are looking for a quieter environment and paradise beaches after walking through the city streets, do not miss the island of Siquijor. Siquijor has stunning beaches, caves and waterfalls and is known as one of the islands with the best diving options in the country, as well as being famous for its folklore and healing spot. Read on to find out how to get from Cebu to Siquijor.
OceanJet Ferry at Cebu Passenger Terminal © Valentin Ayupov / Shutterstock.com
Travel options from Cebu to Siquijor
Siquijor is an island south of Cebu, so to get from one place to another it is necessary to cross or fly over a stretch of water. There are several options for traveling between these destinations. You can travel by plane, ferry or bus and ferry. If you choose a direct flight, the distance is only 130 kilometers. However, if you decide to take the ferry or bus and ferry, the trip will be longer depending on the route the bus takes, but it will be between 170 and 200 kilometers.
Cebu to Siquijor flights
Cebgo ATR aircraft. Cebgo operates Cebu Pacific propeller plane for short-haul inter-island flights © Rainier Ampongan / Shutterstock.com
Flying from one place to another is generally the quickest travel option, although it is often also the most expensive. However, to get from Cebu to Siquijor, a flight and ferry crossing is necessary.
To get from Cebu to Siquijor, you need to drive to Dumaguete Airport. There are several options per day on this route CebGo. The flight takes about 50 minutes so it’s quite short, but then you have to go to the ferry terminal and take a boat to Siquijor. This makes the trip longer and more expensive, so it’s not as practical an option as you might think.
From Cebu to Siquijor by ferry
Tagbilaran Harbor on the island of Bohol
Since the plane is not the best solution, almost all tourists decide to take the ferry from Cebu to Siquijor. It’s important to know that there aren’t many direct ferries from Cebu to Siquijor, but the boat trip is easy, relatively quick, and cheap. You can buy tickets for both legs of your journey, so you don’t have to worry about buying them on the way. It is possible to purchase combined tickets via the travel website 12Go.asia with Oceanjet ferry company. It operates modern and fast boats equipped with bathrooms, air conditioning and TV sets. Ferries depart from Cebu Pier 1 and arrive at Tagbilaran Pier on Bohol. The only downside to traveling by ferry is that it’s not very flexible. There is only one ferry per day from Tagbilaran to Siquijor, departing at 10.20 am. This means you would have to catch the 7am ferry in Cebu to get to Tagbilaran in time to catch the other ferry. Assuming the scheduled times are met, the waiting time at Tagbilaran will be 1 hour and 25 minutes.
If you add up the cost of the two ferries, you’ll see that the whole trip isn’t particularly cheap, but it’s still cheaper than flying from Cebu to Dumaguete and the ferry from Dumaguete to Siquijor. Still, the total duration shouldn’t exceed 4.5 hours, so it’s not overly long either.
You can save some money if you take a third-party ferry from Cebu to Dumaguete. There are other daily departures with other companies, but the ferries are slower because they are not fast. Once in Dumaguete, you would have to wait to take another boat to Siquijor.
From Cebu to Siquijor by bus and ferry
Ceres bus on a street in Cebu © Atevern / Shutterstock.com
If you are looking for the cheapest way to get from Cebu to Siquijor, you need to be prepared for a very long journey, most of which will be done by bus. The bus departs from Cebu South Bus Terminal and is from Ceres Liner. Departures are approximately every two hours and the tour includes a ferry crossing to Dumaguete. This part of the tour takes approximately 7 hours. Once in Dumaguete, you will need to walk 15 minutes (or take a taxi) to Dumaguete Port where you will wait for the Ocean Jet ferry to Siquijor. There are five daily departures from Dumaguete to Siquijor, and the boat trip takes approximately 50 minutes.
When thinking about traveling by ferry across Asia, be sure to consider the weather. Boat trips can get quite busy and can even be canceled when the weather is bad. In the Philippines, typhoon season usually occurs between September and October, so it’s best to avoid traveling at this time of year. If you are going during these months, it is best to avoid traveling by sea. Given the uncertainty that can be associated with traveling by boat, it is usually better to choose an airplane. Note that you can book any of these options to go from Cebu to Siquijor by 12Go.