Cebu to Boracay on a Motorcycle

We have been riding as a family for almost 3 years now. We have been to the different islands of Visayas which includes our home province Cebu (obviously) to Camotes Islands and the Bantayan Islands, to Bohol, Leyte, even Samar and of course, the island of Negros. The one big island in Visayas that we haven't visited yet is the island of Panay located on the western part of Visayas. Panay has the famous Iloilo City that attracts you to visit however, 2 kilometers away from the west tip of Panay Island is 2014 the world's most beautiful island, Boracay, according to CN Traveler.

Wait! Cebu to Boracay on a Honda Scoopy? Yup, you read that right. So how did we get there? Was it expensive? Was it cheaper than plane? You can watch the video below for a brief summary on how we did it or continue reading and check out our itinerary and expenses.

Day 1 - October 22, 2016 (Saturday)

4AM - We woke up at the scream of our alarm clock on my wife's phone. The day before, my wife had already prepared our things for this 5-day trip. We had our traditional pampainit of chocolate drinks. We didn't have any pares of bread or sandwich because it was still too early. We then placed all our baggage to Mesha (our Honda Scoopy motorcycle scooter). We basically had 2 bags, a big bag placed at the floorboard of our scooter and a small backpack fitted on the GIVI top box. Plus our Bluetooth speaker was turned on playing while charging at the same time on a USB outlet on our Mesha. A few minutes before 5AM, we left from our home in Consolacion off to Toledo City Port.

7AM - We arrived at the port of Toledo City from Consolacion via the Transcentral Highway crossing the central mountains of Cebu province. I immediately bought the tickets and paid the necessary fees. The RoRo (Roll-On Roll-Off) was supposed to leave at 7:30AM but it actually left at 8AM already. We paid a total of Php1,008 detailed below:

Motorcycle Fare - Php480
Arrastre Fee - Php75
2 Adult Tickets - Php145 x 2
1 Child Ticket - Php73
3 Terminal Fees - Php30 x 3

10AM - The RoRo took almost 2 hours to reach the port of San Carlos City. We planned to have a late breakfast in San Carlos City. My daughter requested to eat at Jollibee however, we saw the lines were so long and we were already a bit behind the schedule. Our target was to arrive in San Carlos City at 9AM thinking that the RoRo would leave the port of Toledo at exactly 7:30AM and arrive 1.5 hours later based on my research. We decided to just go ahead without having breakfast and rode on since we had snacks we brought with us. I filled up Mesha's 3.5 liter tank at a Petron gas station near the port.

10:45AM - We rested a bit and appreciated the beauty of the roads of Don Salvador Benedicto. I don't exactly know if the photos below were already in Don Salvador but we stopped, took some photos and just enjoyed the vistas. Our target was a 3PM RoRo from Bacolod to Dumangas Iloilo so at that point, there was no sense of urgency. We would just not have much time in Bacolod City but that's okay because we have already been in Bacolod City in 2014 (which I still haven't blogged about).

 

11:45AM - We reached Bacolod City and it was incidentally the weekend of the Masskara Festival. It was enticing to stay but we were still far away from our destination. We found ourselves eating (again) at the Manokan Country but Aida's Chicken had so many guests on their waiting list when we arrived that we had to eat at the stall adjacent to it. We also ordered 2 servings of talaba. TIP: Eat talaba at the Manokan Country. It's the best talaba I have ever tasted bar none. Because we arrived a bit early in Bacolod City, we decided to take the RoRo before the 3PM RoRo on our itinerary. We have no idea what time that RoRo would depart but I have a feeling it would be 1:30PM.

1PM - After our lunch, we immediately went our way to Bredco Port, still in Bacolod City. The schedule of the RoRo before the 3:30PM RoRo was 2PM, 30 minutes more from my guess. So we paid all the fees with a total of Php798 detailed below:

Motorcycle Fare - Php384
Arrastre Fee - Php50
2 Adult Tickets - Php96 x 2
1 Child Ticket - Php82
3 Terminal Fees - Php30 x 3

2:15PM - The RoRo sailed a little over than 2PM. We again thought that we would arrive in Dumangas 1.5 hours later. The RoRo was relatively new or at least newly renovated. Seats were more comfortable because they were benches where you can lie down and sleep comfortably. There were only a few passengers so we were able to get some power naps. My daughter didn't sleep but played with her new flute we bought from a vendor in Manokan Country in Bacolod City and then she watched a movie on the LED TV of the RoRo. Just to note, the RoRos we had tried in this trip were definitely the slowest we have ever tried.

4:30PM - We arrived at the port of Dumangas, Iloilo but we noticed that the RoRo has not docked yet. We later learned that all docking points were occupied and so we waited until one will be available. It took more than 30 minutes before we were able to dock, very disappointing. So we officially stepped in the province of Iloilo a little later than 5PM.

5PM - We decided to proceed to Iloilo City, around 20 minutes from the port of Dumangas. We should head northwest so we can get closer to Caticlan but we wanted to taste Iloilo's original batchoy so we decided to head south to Iloilo City first and ride from there to Caticlan the next day.

5:30PM - We arrived at Iloilo City and immediately went ahead and looked for a place to stay. I had already scouted Ong Bun Pension House from online research. Their cheapest room was Php480 but when we went there, it was fully booked. I had a list of cheap pension houses in Iloilo City in my phone but after checking 3 of which, 2 were fully booked while the other one, Riverside Inn only had the matrimonial room of Php1,000 available and the front desk clerk also warned us that there was no signal inside that room. That was a big time deal breaker. One Lourdes Dormitel was also fully booked and I asked the guard if he knew another cheap pension house in the city. He pointed us to Centennial Hotel and then we dropped by at a Petron gas station to fill Mesha's tank, 2nd gas up for the whole trip.

7PM - We found the Centennial Hotel and asked for an available room. The front desk clerk told us that they had an available Twin Bedroom. The ambiance of the hotel was actually a bit posh but when I asked the price of the available room, she told us it was only Php888. For a "poshy-looking" hotel, that was a good deal already. We later found out that they currently had a promo so we checked-in even though it's almost double the price of what we actually wanted. In fairness, the room was large. There's a TV, a small fridge and their bathroom was very clean and spacious.

8PM - After we put our baggage in the hotel and rested a bit, we roamed around the city to look for a good place to eat. Our itinerary was to have dinner at Punot's Restaurant which was featured by Byahe ni Drew but when we asked a few locals where that restaurant is located, no one knew. We even asked policemen and they didn't know either. After almost an hour of asking and searching, we gave up and decided to have dinner at Deco's Batchoy but unfortunately, there was no proper place to park our Mesha. A couple of meters after a corner, we found Buto't Balat Restaurant with a good parking area and we had our dinner there. It's a bit pricey but hey, we're on a vacation. There are a lot of cheap restaurants in Iloilo for after all, you are in a city much like Cebu City. We would have loved to eat at Punot's Restaurant but I wasn't able to get the address online thinking it was very popular. It didn't seem so.

10PM - We hit the bed and called it a day!

Day 2 - October 23, 2016 (Sunday)

4AM - We woke up and prepared to ride. This ride will be the longest from Iloilo City to Caticlan, around 250+ kilometers. We planned to have pampainit at Deco's Batchoy because according to the hotel guard, it is open 24-hours. Wrong! No batchoy house was available at that time. Hahaha! So, we left Iloilo City without tasting its famous batchoy? Okay, I'm not that a fan of batchoy either and I was just intrigued because that is what Iloilo City is famous for and so we moved on.

5AM - We decided to just ride to Caticlan and have breakfast along the way if we can find a bakery. It's interesting to note though that after passing a couple of towns, we haven't seen an open bakery in the early hours of the morning. Going to Passi City, we rode a couple of kilometers in almost zero visibility. Very foggy but we don't remember we were riding very uphill roads. It's amazing! See our video above. Somewhere along the way, Mesha's tire pressure went a bit flat. Mesha's rear tire didn't have cycle seal anymore because it was recently punctured here in Cebu with a very large metal piece that pierced up to the sidewall and the cycle seal didn't work for that type of puncture. I should have changed the rear tire before this ride but this tire was still 5 months old. Anyway, since it was still tubeless, I just aired it up and continued on our way. Thankfully, it appeared like the puncture may not be that serious since the tire was able to hold the air.

8AM - We finally saw an open "establishment" where we can have our breakfast after we gassed up Mesha for the 3rd time in a small Petron station, a 7/11 store in Sigma, in the province of Capiz. We ate donuts, Pugo eggs paired with hot chocolate drinks. We rested a few minutes as well because as checked at that point, we were already halfway to Caticlan. Did I mention that we were to ride 250+ kilometers on this day?

9:30AM - We were getting closer as we reached the town of Kalibo, Aklan. This is where the nearest airport to Boracay is located. It's a lively town, it could be a city sooner.



10:30AM - Somewhere in Nabas, we gassed up Mesha for the 4th time.

11:30AM - We finally arrived at Caticlan Jetty Port. I would have loved to bring Mesha to the island of Boracay but I learned that the province of Aklan is very strict in bringing motorcycles to the island unless you are a resident there or maybe knew a resident there. You also have to get a permit from the office of the mayor which was closed when we arrived because it was a Sunday. We brought Mesha to a carpark where we can park her for 2 nights. Because it was off-peak season, they charged Php40/night. Not bad. Fortunately, I parked her in an enclosed area where there was a roof. We went ahead and bought our tickets and paid the fees which totaled Php525 detailed below:

Terminal Fee - Php100 x 3
Environmental Fee - Php75 x 2 (12 years old and below are free)
Passenger Fare - Php25 x 3

12:30PM - We arrived at the island of Boracay. A lady guide approached us at the port to offer cheap places to stay at Station 2. I told her that we were planning to stay at Station 3 because they have the cheapest accommodations. She told us, the fun is at Station 2 and besides, it's off-peak season so the prices are low and we have to stay where the fun is. She told us she could get us a room at Php1,000 per night. I thought that was a good deal, Php1000 per night at Station 2 right around D'Mall. We boarded a tricycle to Station 2 and paid Php20 each. The name of the place was JEJSELLENDS. We later found out that the Php1,000 room could reach up to Php4,000 during peak season.

We rested a bit then had a late lunch at Smoke Resto. There were a lot of restaurants at Station 2 around D'Mall ranging from cheap to pricey ones. I didn't have the energy to look for a cheap one so we opted to eat at Smoke Resto which is not that pricey by the way. Their food tasted okay as well. In the end, it was better that Mesha was left in Caticlan because we would stay in the beach front area of the White Beach at Station 2. The roads in the island of Boracay were also narrow. In fact, the first time we stepped into the island, we didn't quite like it because it felt tight and very crowded until we saw the White Beach.



2PM - We started one of the most fun part in Boracay, the outdoor activities. We were able to haggle 3 activities at Php1,800 per head, parasailing, helmet diving and the ATV buggy car. We thought that was a steal already. The activities were the best we ever had as a family plus you get to enjoy riding motorboats that leans like a bike. Hahahaha! A bit scary by the way. The best tip here is to HAGGLE, HAGGLE, HAGGLE and you'll get a good price!

The buggy car adventure on the way to the highest point in Boracay, Mt. Luho.

Helmet diving. Warning: Your ears are gonna get some pressure that would hurt a little bit. Just cover your nose and blow it.

This might be the best activity of them all. You get to see the islands of Boracay, Panay and Carabao among others.

Mt. Luho, the highest point in Boracay after a buggy car ride.

5PM - We finished all the activities and just enjoyed the sunset in the island afterwards. You get to enjoy a postcard-perfect view of the sunset. Boracay indeed is the most beautiful island we had ever set foot on.

7PM - We had dinner at Jeepney Stop right at D'Mall. Good food although a little bit pricey. After a sumptuous dinner, we roamed around D'Mall, checked some night parties and called it a day. Our first day in Boracay, we were blown away! :)

 

That bike though!

Day 3 - October 24, 2016 (Monday)

5AM - We woke up early for some early photo ops. We walked along the shore from Station 2 to Station 1 to get to the Grotto. After that, we rode a tricycle to Puka Shell Beach. We were not as impressed with Puka Shell Beach like we were in White Beach. The good thing about Puka Shell Beach was that, it was not crowded but take note that White Beach was not that crowded either because it was not peak season yet. We were able to get to Puka Shell Beach on a tricycle and paid Php50 for the 3 of us. To get back to Station 2, we have to pakyaw the whole tricycle for Php150. If you can find a group, you can share the fare.

The grotto of Mother Mary in Station 1

Puka Shell Beach

8AM - We went back to White Beach at Station 2 and had fun at the beach. Boracay has the best beach (White Beach) I have personally seen and experienced beating every beach that I have tried from Santiago Bay in Camotes Island, to Bohol's Alona Beach and even Bantayan's Sta. Fe beaches. The highlight is the shoreline. Boracay's White Beach's shoreline is just very beautiful. The waters are like swimming pools, no, probably way clearer than swimming pools. You can even find fishes banging on your feet on shallow waters. We also tried paddle boarding. It was so easy to look at but if you try it yourself, it was difficult to get that balance. Their fee was Php300 per hour but we haggled to get it at Php200 per hour. We have also rented beach benches with an umbrella. They were priced at Php300 and we haggled it halfway for Php150. So again, haggle, haggle, haggle and be firm! :)

11:30AM - We decided to save a bit and had lunch at Mang Inasal. Aside from Mang Inasal, Station 2 also has Andok's so you have a couple of cheap options for meals. If you are very resourceful, it shouldn't be that hard to find the cheap ones.

1PM - We decided to go back to the pension house to rest for a little bit. The fun at the beach that morning was quite exhausting. You just can't get enough with the beach. It's like it's always enticing you to come and have fun.

3PM - We woke up and roam around D'Mall to buy some pasalubongs to bring back home. There were a lot of stalls in D'Mall selling different types of goods for pasalubong. There were key chains, shirts, necklaces, bracelets and a lot more. Budget-friendly pasalubongs would be the key chains. For Php100, you can have 6 key chains and you can haggle even more.

 
 

4:30PM - We went back to the beach. Again, you can't get enough of the white beach. The sunset in Boracay was also beautiful. San Remegio in Cebu may have the best sunset I have witnessed. The colors are more poppy than in Boracay but maybe that depends on the weather and the environment.





7PM - We went back to our room and took a hot shower. Yes, I forgot to mention that the Php1,000 room we had had a hot shower. Isn't that a good deal? Hehe

8PM - I forgot the name of the restaurant that we dined in. Maybe because the food wasn't really that good but it is located in front of Boracay Uptown where Hukad Restaurant is also located. The reason we went with that restaurant was because they had a fire dance presentation and an acoustic performer. Food prices were a bit pricey yet the food didn't really taste that good but it's not bad either. It just felt like the taste was not worth the price.



 

10PM - We hit the bed and couldn't believe that we were done with Boracay. The next day will be a long day of riding back home.

Day 4 - October 25, 2016 (Tuesday)

6AM - We woke up but it was drizzling. We were so happy that the moment we arrived in Boracay, the weather was great. It was like, the weather was crying with us leaving Boracay, char! :) We left at around 7AM, bid goodbye to the clerk at the pension house then boarded a tricycle back to the port.

7:30AM - We arrived at the port, bought the tickets and paid the necessary fees which totaled Php525 detailed below:

Terminal Fee - Php100 x 3
Environmental Fee - Php75 x 2 (12 years old and below are free)
Passenger Fare - Php25 x 3

8AM - We went to the parking area, got Mesha and paid for the overnight parking of Php80 for 2 nights. Then I noticed Mesha's rear tire went flat after 2 overnight parkings. It was drizzling a bit and now we got a flat rear tire. The day didn't start good. There was a nearby Petron gas station but its air nozzle was long it can't fit Mesha's rear tire valve. I had to ride about a kilometer to reach a vulcanizing shop. They fortunately accept tubeless tires however, there were 5 vehicles in line. I decided to just have to air our rear tire up since it was tubeless. Then we rode. Mesha's rear tire still managed to hold the air. Having a tubeless tire is worth it. If this was a tubed tire, I would have to have her rear tire patched up at the vulcanizing shop.

9AM - The drizzle turned to rain and so we had to stop on the road side which happened to be a carenderia so we ordered foods. I ordered batchoy hoping that it's authentic Iloilo City batchoy and I was going to like it but nope. It was okay but it wasn't that good as advertised maybe because it's not authentic Iloilo batchoy and maybe also I am not really a big batchoy fan. They named it San Jose batchoy.

10AM - The rain turned back to drizzle and we decided to move on and decided not to put on our raincoats. After a couple of kilometers, the sky was clear. Apparently, the dark weather was only on the Malay and Nabas area and going southeast, the sky was clear. We gassed up at a Petron gas station somewhere in Kalibo where it was scorching hot.

11AM - The rear tire again bothers us because it lacked air pressure (again). I had to stop to a couple of vulcanizing shops just to air our rear tire up.

1:30PM - We passed by Passi City and I thought we were near in Dumangas so instead of stopping for a lunch, we decided to just move on and planned to have lunch at the port of Dumangas. Think about what hunger can do to your brain, lolz!

2:30PM - Dumangas was not that near as I estimated and then the inevitable happened. Mesha's rear tire again went flat. Totally flat that I couldn't move her easily. I looked around and fortunately, there was a vulcanizing shop just across the road where we were but unfortunately, when we filled Mesha's rear tire with air, we heard a familiar whistle. The rear tire was done and couldn't hold air anymore! Thankfully, it happened in a town center in Pototan and a very friendly local guided us to a nearby vulcanizing shop that caters tubeless tires. He was on a motorcycle and my wife and daughter rode with him as pillions because Mesha's rear tire was totally flat.

3PM - It took a while to have Mesha's rear tire patched up because apparently, the guys at the shop haven't had experience with a scooter. I had to teach them how to get the tire out without pulling out the wheel or the muffler. Then we moved on since we are near Dumangas. The locals also guided us a shorter route to Dumangas Port.

3:30PM - We reached the port of Dumangas and we learned there was a RoRo that would depart at 4PM so instead of having a very late lunch, we bought the tickets and paid the fees and decided to eat the RoRo. We paid a total of Php801 detailed below:

Motorcycle Fare - Php384
Arrastre Fee - Php65
2 Adult Tickets - Php96 x 2
1 Child Ticket - Php82
3 Terminal Fees - Php30 + (Php24 x 2)

6PM - We reached Bredco Port in Bacolod City. As it was before, it took a long time for the RoRo to dock because there was no available docking point. SMH! Now I was about to ride on Mesha when I found out that the rear tire (again) was flat. No Way! That was weird. I asked the locals where the nearest vulcanizing shop was and they all pointed at SM Bacolod, which is about a kilometer away from Bredco Port. We also could not ride on Mesha because it was totally flat. Even I don't want to ride on her. So, all 3 of us walked with Mesha up to SM Bacolod. Upon inspection by the vulcanizing shop guy, he told us that the puncture that was patched in Pototan Iloilo was not good and air was coming out of the old puncture and there was another one puncture also with the nail still in there. That's a lot of punctures for a new tire so I decided to buy a new tubeless tire instead because we were still far away from home. I bought a CST 80/90 because even in Bacolod, I couldn't find a stock spec size of 90/90 (rear) and 80/90 (front).

7PM - We dined again at Aida's Chicken in Manokan Country and feasted with 2 servings of talaba (again). Seriously, you should try the talaba in Manokan Country. The best I have ever tasted.



8PM - We found ourselves getting a room in Ong Bun Pension House in Bacolod City for Php520 per night. This was the cheapest room we had ever tried and although it was okay, I don't think it would pass a decent standard. The towels were old looking like rags. The water was suspicious because it was not clear. It was a big room though for Php520 but I wouldn't want to stay in it next time. Hey! You get what you pay for. :)

8:30PM - We roamed around Bacolod City to buy some pasalubongs at Merczi and some shirts from the recently held Masskara Festival.

10PM - We hit the bed and slept to prepare for the last day of riding back home.

Day 5 - October 26, 2016 (Wednesday)

6AM - We woke up and prepared to ride and decided we will, as usual, have our pampainit along the way. We gassed up at a nearby Petron gas station. We found ourselves eating pan de sal paired with chocolate drinks. It is interesting to note that the place has a lot of flies outside but when you go inside, you can't find a single fly on the tables. Even on their display of breads, there were no flies. It was surreal. We noticed this bottle of water on every table with a foil inside. Apparently, the lady there told us they use that to ward off the flies. It was amazing! There must be some scientific explanation to this but it was impressive.

7AM - We rode off from Murcia to Don Salvador and we dropped by a view deck with a lion statue somewhere in Don Salvador. The roads going to Don Salvador Benedicto has the most wonderful vistas and scenery in this ride. Roads planked with pine trees, rice terraces, beautiful mountain landscapes and the very awesome Mt. Canlaon, just WOW! The twisty roads are a bonus of this great ride. The steep parts of these roads are more or less the same with the Transcentral Highway in Cebu.





  

Mesha parked near the view deck.

Beautiful roads of Don Salvador Benedicto.

The background must be Mt. Canlaon.

9:30AM - We reached San Carlos City and immediately paid for the tickets and fees. There was a RoRo scheduled to depart at 10AM. We arrived at Toledo City at 12PM because again, there was no docking point even at Toledo City. So a good tip would be to put some buffer time in your itinerary when it involves RoRos. The RoRo was supposed to arrive in Toledo City 1.5 hours later but it actually took more than 2 hours. We paid a total of Php953 detailed below:

Motorcycle Fare - Php480
Arrastre Fee - Php50
2 Adult Tickets - Php145 x 2
1 Child Ticket - Php73
3 Terminal Fees - Php20 x 3

12:30PM - We had lunch at Toledo City at the place where we had lunch when we had the Biketoberfest ride sponsored by Honda. Then we rode off again after filling Mesha's gas tank full at a Petron gas station then to the Transcentral Highway and back to Consolacion around 2:30PM.

This would be at this point in our lives and by far our best vacation. Boracay is worth a visit. No! It is a must visit. Going to Boracay is not that expensive if you have a motorcycle. In fact, you can skip the rooms we tried and go all out on a tent for free or minor fees. So basically you would have to prepare somewhere around Php4000 for yourself which already includes gas to get you there and back home excluding rooms, foods and the activities. The off-peak season also helped us spend less in Boracay so best to get there from June to October, other months and the prices would skyrocket 3 to 4 times.

Hopefully this helps you go get out there and try this one. Cebu to Boracay on a motorbike? Heck, we used a scooter so go and try it for yourself. It's the best experience we had so far.

PS: Petron should be thanking me for gassing up ONLY on Petron gas stations. Hahahaha!

RIDE SAFE! RIDE SCOOPY! GODSPEED!!!