Boats from Batangas to Mindoro, Caticlan/Boracay

Early last month, I travelled by RORO (roll on, roll off boats) from Manila to Iloilo then Negros. Plane fare Manila-Bacolod one way that weekend was something like P4,300 cheapest. I estimated that via RORO and multiple transfer would take about 26 hours but the cost would be only around P2,000 or less.

So I just took an air-con bus at Buendia-Taft in Makati going to Batangas and from there, would decide what boat to take going to Calapan, Or. Mindoro, or straight to Caticlan, Aklan.

Here are the boats from Batangas port to Calapan (Or. Mindoro), Abra de Ilog (Occ. Mindoro), other destinations in Mindoro island. During the vacation season, I think some shipping lines field more boats or they make their boats take extra trip per day whenever possible.

The RORO boats that ferry both people and vehicles, Batangas to Mindoro, Romblon, Panay (Aklan, Capiz, Antique), other island-destinations.

 I took the Batangas-Caticlan boat of 2GO, 9pm and arrive Caticlan around 7am with stopover at Odiongan, Romblon (perhaps around 3am). Tourist class aircon, P1,150 per head one way.

Passengers form two lines, one each for males and females, their bags and luggages beside them. This is for security inspection. Instead of making passengers go through an X-ray inspection, a bomb-sniffing dog just checks all bags, then passengers get their bags and go inside the boat.

So if one wants to go to Boracay from Manila, the fastest route of course is to take the plane (direct to Caticlan or via Kalibo, Aklan, then bus to Caticlan, 2 to 2 1/2 hours trip), then short boat ride to Boracay.

Another option is to take any bus from Manila/Makati/QC, etc. to Batangas, take 2GO's boat to Caticlan, 10 hours ride, just sleep and wake up at Caticlan port.
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See also:

Oriental Mindoro to Caticlan, Aklan, December 31, 2014

Caticlan to Boracay boats, December 12, 2016

Oriental Mindoro to Caticlan, Aklan

We left White Beach, Puerto Galera (PG), last December 22, Tricycle ride to PG town proper is P150 per trip. Jeeps and air-con vans going to Calapan, the provincial capital of Oriental Mindoro, share the same terminal. Fare to Calapan is P80 for jeeps, P100 per head for aircon vans, P80 for seated children. 

From PG to Calapan is a scenic ride, lots of zigzag and rolling hills, the sea on the left and forested mountains on the right. Good road too, ideal for road bike riding. At Baco  town, roads become flat and generally straight. Travel time of the van is about 1+ hour.

Calapan is bursting with many tricycles, cars and structures. Our van from PG stopped at a terminal near the public market. Aircon vans going to Roxas and other towns south of the province are also in the same terminal.

Fare for aircon vans from Calapan to Roxas port is P180/head, 3 hours travel time. This is the port going to Caticlan, Aklan, near Boracay island.

We reached Roxas port before 5pm, December 22. There were so many passengers, buses, cars and trucks waiting for a ride to Caticlan. There are three shipping lines plying the Roxas-Caticlan route, Montenegro, Star Lite and Super Shuttle. 

It was very difficult to get a ticket as the ticket offices of Montenegro and Starlite were already swarmed with people, queuing perhaps as early as 2 pm, or even earlier. They don't issue tickets until about 6pm. Super Shuttle has a sign in its office that it is fully booked already for the trip that night.

Montenegro's boat is supposed to leave Roxas around 8pm, the boat arrived before 7pm. The ticket office opened before 6pm, I joined the fray. Lots of pushing but no fights, some shouts, some laughter, some expression of disgust and disappointment. I persisted and stayed. Just when I was in front of the lady giving the tickets, around 7pm, she closed the window and entertained the bus conductors, each bus would have 50+ passengers, so the counting  of tickets and  money was time consuming.

After she gave tickets to  the bus conductors, about 8-10 of them, she kept the window closed. I showed the ID of my 4 yrs old daughter Bien hoping that she would open the window and give me tickets, she did not. Other passengers were getting angry because she and other staff of Montenegro inside were not responding if they would still issue more tickets or not. I kept calm and did not utter bad words. Until we have boarded a boat, I would not say bad words towards them despite my anger and disappointment. I left the ticket office before 8pm, yes, almost 2 hours standing and pushing, and have no ticket yet.

I talked to the port guard and asked for the name/s of any high official of Montenegro in the area. The guard gave me his name, I looked for him, I went back to the ticket office, but I went to the back door. The door opened, I entered and I saw the lady issuing the tickets, she just finished her dinner. I talked to  her and begged that I have two girls with me, 4 and 8 years old. She immediately recognized me and  said yes, then I gave her the money. I waited outside, after a few minutes she went out and gave me four tickets, 2 for adults and 2 for children. I was very happy and  gave her a tip; she refused to take it but I pushed it in  her hand, she laughed and  said thank you.

Whew, it was really good that I did not say bad words towards her or other staff of the boat earlier despite my anger and disappointment. Patience and good human relations pays.

The Montenegro boat scheduled to leave 8pm finally left before 10pm. Only the passengers of buses, cars and some trucks were allowed to board. I learned later that some of those buses have been there by 6am, 4am, or even earlier.

Another boat came around 10:30pm. By 11:30pm, we boarded it. People were rushing and walking fast, hoping to get good seats as it is a free seating boat. We got good seats, with a long table. The boat finally left Roxas port around 2am. Some buses and their passengers also came. The passengers said their bus from Manila going to Iloilo arrived Roxas port around 6am of December 22, and the boat left Or. Mindoro 2am of December 23, wow.

It was a good ride, some big waves were encountered but it's a big boat so we were fine. Our boat arrived Caticlan port shortly before 7am. The two girls were still sleeping, they slept almost 2am, playing and talking inside the boat.

Finally we were in Panay island (composed of  four provinces -- Aklan, Capiz, Antique and  Iloilo). Then we went to the ticket office for a short boat ride to Boracay, our 2nd destination.

The last time I took the bus-RORO ride from Manila to Iloilo was about five years ago. I traveled alone as it was also a Christmas season, my wife and lone daughter that time, Elle Marie, went home to Iloilo earlier on a plane.

There is a boat plying the Batangas-Caticlan route (hence, no more land trip in Mindoro island), 2GO (www.2go.com.ph), about 8-9 hours travel time.

The three shipping lines plying the Roxas-Caticlan route (4 hours) are:

Montenegro Shipping Lines, 4 AM, 10 AM and 8 PM

Tel. Nos. (043) 722-18-73,  043-723-89-89, 723-89-89

Starlite Ferries, Inc.  2 AM, 11 AM and 2 PM

Tel. (043) 722-01-62

Super Shuttle Ferry (AMTC), 12am and 12pm

Tel. 6219519, 6210519, 6431507

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See also:
Manila-Mindoro-Iloilo, 2003, November 20, 2005
Going to Boracay, January 16, 2008
Roxas Port, Oriental Mindoro, April 17, 2009

Philippines' Biggest Hotel in Aklan Soon

I got this story from one of the facebook walls of my friends. Originally from the fb page of "Province of Aklan". This is good news, reposting, below.

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Once the Boracay Airport complex spanning Caticlan and Nabas in Aklan becomes fully operational over the next few years, some of its structures will set Philippine records for sheer size. And for environmental friendliness.

The most imposing structure in this $300 million airport complex will be its mammoth 5,000 room budget-hotel. When completed, this hotel will be the largest budget hotel in the Philippines. It will also be the largest hotel in the country, and probably in all of Southeast Asia.
In comparison, the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, considered the largest Philippine hotel, has only 562 rooms, or an eighth of the number in the soon-to-be-built budget hotel at the Boracay Airport complex.

Room rates at the budget-hotel are expected to range from P1,000 to P2,000 per night. The rates compare favorably to budget room rates on Boracay and are, therefore, clearly affordable for inbound tourists. The budget-hotel is intended to help decongest Boracay, which will be flooded with about a million tourists this year and probably up to three million in the next few years.

The budget-hotel will be developed by San Miguel Properties, Inc., a San Miguel Corporation subsidiary. It will be run by local businessmen since the company expects more budget conscious tourists to visit Boracay once plane fares are slashed.

The planned dome-shaped convention center will be able to seat up to 25,000 persons, or 10,000 more persons that the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City in Metro Manila. It will become both the country’s largest convention center and its biggest indoor arena.
The new terminal building will be the “greenest” terminal building in the Philippines. Its large windows will allow the free flow of fresh air throughout the building thereby reducing the need for massive air conditioning.

It will derive part of its electricity from solar panels; will install a rainwater collection system and will have its own wastewater treatment plant.

And, of course, the new Boracay Airport will set records of its own. Once fully operational, it will be able to accommodate some three million Boracay-bound tourists annually or 10 times the capacity of the old airport.

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The last time I went to Boracay was more than four years ago, sometime in mid 2008 I think. The airport in Caticlan was indeed small, only small planes could land and take off. The bigger planes have to land in Kalibo, the provincial capital of Aklan, and it is nearly two hours away from Caticlan by car. 

With this projected big volume of tourists in the coming years, one problem will be the disposal of solid wastes. A good alternative would be to use the compacted, dried wastes for land expansion and reclamation on the Antique side of Aklan. Using previously solid wastes as filling materials for a land reclamation project by the sea was successfully done in Tondo, Manila, using mountains of wastes from the previous "Smokey Mountain".

Anyway, modern technology keeps improving and "big problems" today would be easily addressed tomorrow.

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See also:

Going to Boracay, January 16, 2008

Manila-Mindoro-Iloilo, 2003, November 20, 2005