circa 2004. i didn’t own a decent digicam then. thus, my pictures of the trip to boracay were rather limited. not only were they limited, they were also of very poor quality. nevertheless, the experience was great if not for the hassles with our transportation arrangement. but then again, it’s what you could expect if you were traveling on a budget.

there’s the misconception that going to bora could dry out one’s coffers. this could only be true if one’s intention is to have a grand vacation. and i mean grand.. however, if one is intent on going there just to get the experience and feel of the place, then i don’t see why you have to part with several of your precious pesos.

transportation: go the long route [cebu as point of origin]
sure, this would take away much of your time; but hey - you want to save a few pesos, hehe… if you can endure 14 hours of traveling by sea; then hop on a trans-asia vessel bound for iloilo.

return ticket [iloilo to cebu... i lost my copy of the cebu-iloilo ticket. economy or 2nd class with dinner. NOT for the maartes [LOL!!] fare: PhP575 back in may 2004 ]

below is the fare rate as of this writing. for trip schedule, visit the trans-asia website.

to save time, however, i would suggest hopping on a plane via cebu pacific. i think the diff in travel time is more worthy than the few pesos you can save. just visit cebu pacific’s website and watch out for their promos. click on different sched until you come across a rate affordable to you. below is a sample round trip fare from cebu to iloilo [travel time: april 2008] this could get lower with their piso fare. in july 2007, i only paid PhP1,491.84. PhP 745.92 for my cebu-iloilo ticket and for my kalibo-cebu ticket.

from iloilo, one can either take a Ceres Bus or an L300 van to Caticlan. travel time from iloilo to caticlan is roughly 5 to 6 hours. there are L300 vans at sm iloilo. unfortunately, i can’t remember the name of the new iloilo bus terminal. was it tambak bus terminal??? perhaps this blog can help you out.

from iloilo city proper, i paid PhP110 as taxi fare to the new ceres bus terminal with the flag down rate of PhP 30 [in tambak???]. as to the bus fare, perhaps it’s around PhP250++. from the same bus terminal going to ibajay aklan [an hour away from caticlan], i paid PhP233 for the aircon bus.

for those who hate long bus rides, you may opt to fly directly to caticlan from cebu. cebu pacific also has a cebu-caticlan service route. below is a sample fare if you choose to go this way.

seair also flies direct from cebu to caticlan. although, i don’t have an idea how much their airfare costs. check seair’s website for their flight schedule.

asian spirit is also an alternative if you want to cut travel time. below is a sample fare.

once you arrive at the caticlan jetty port, you will hop on a banca/ferry and in 15 or 20 minutes, you’ll arrive in bora. check out this site to have an idea on the fees to expect.

terminal fee at the caticlan jetty port

accommodation and more on the next entries….

Your response: