the Philippines

 

Manila, Luzon

 

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Domestic Air and Sea transport 

 

Banca, the traditional pumpboat

 

 

 Transportation from one island to another

 

Most of the time Filipinos will take the boat to travel from one island to another island in the Philippines . The relative short distance between islands and the price of the ticket makes that understandable. For this reason even tourists will make use of the boat. Moreover, for tourists travelling by boat from one island to another island, "island hopping", is attractive because it offers more possibilities to communicate with Filipinos and Filipinas. 

Once decided  to make a trip through the Philippines, the choice has to be made which boat and which company  (or still airplane?) you want to make use of! 

 

Island hopping by boat

There are three types of boats. The traditional type is the pump- boat. Nowadays most bigger pump-boats are motorized. The pump-boats are normally used for the shorter distances. The price of the ticket is cheap. For really short distances between islands close to each other, the smaller un-motorized pump boat is used.  These un-motorized boats are mostly used for fishing. 

The second type  of boat is the ferryboat, the most comfortable possibility for 'island hopping'. There are several companies who have regular trips between the bigger islands. 

 

The third type of boat is the fastest, the modern hovercraft. In the Philippines it is known as the Super Cat. This ferry is a real Catamaran with two keels joined by a frame. 

The Super Cat travels between some bigger islands, not a too big distance between them! 


 

More information about Catamaran? 

 

Click me to enlarge

The pumpboat (Banca)

Ferry boat

The SuperCat

Pictures, left: © E.C. de Schoolmeester, center: © Cebu Ferries

 

Domestic  flights

There are several Philippine companies which have flights between  the bigger islands Luzon, Palawan, Mindanao, Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, Panay, Negros and Samar. The most known companies are Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Air.

 

 

Transportation costs by airplane, one-way, per person

..

from

to

Pesos, 2001

Domestic flight

Economy Class

Cebu City (Mactan island) Manila (Luzon) 2608
Cebu City Bacolod (Negros) 1598
Cebu City  Davao City (Mindanao) 2238
Cebu City Puerto Princesa (Palawan) 2798
Davao City Manila 3218
Manila Cagayan de Oro (Mindanao) 3218
Manila Roxas (Panay) 2478
Manila Puerto Princesa 2998
Manila Iloilo 2498
Manila Tacloban (Leyte) 2718
Iloilo (Panay) Cebu City 1798
Iloilo Puerto Princesa 2328

Source: Philippine Airlines

 

Peso-Dollar Rate       01-2004: Pesos 55.275 = 1 US$


     Transportation costs by ferry, one-way, per person

Ferry Company from to Rate Rate
cheapest class tourist class

SuperFerry

company

Manila Bacolod (Negros) 1325 1560
Manila Cebu City (Cebu) 1265 1540
Manila Cagayan de Oro (MIndanao) 1610 1845
Manila Davao City (Mindanao) 1680 1920
Manila Iliilo (Panay) 1325 1560
Manila Puerto Princesa (Palawan) 1200 1500
Manila Tagbiliran (Bohol) 1265 1620
Cebu Surigao (Mindanao)  445   585
Davao City Iloilo 1280 1640
Cagayan de Oro Iloilo 1270 1410
Cagayan de Oro Bacolod 1270 1410

CebuFerries

company

Cebu Cagayan de Oro  350  460
Cebu Tacloban  290  390
Cebu Ormoc City  210  330
Cagayan de Oro Tagbiliran 370 430

Supercat

company

Cebu Ormoc*

discounts:

Senior citizen 20%

Students 15%

 480
Cebu Tagbiliran  380
Iliilo Bacolod 260

Sources: Supercat, CebuFerries, SuperFerry

* The "Super Cat" carries passengers in a two hours lasting trip
between Cebu City and Ormoc City

 

Means of transportation

Click the pictures to enlarge, click the titles for more information