going to bantayan island

When we booked our flight to Cebu, our initial plan was to just visit the historic landmarks in Cebu City then go to Bohol via ferry to hit the beach there since we had fun last year at Bohol, but then changed our plans when we learned that there are beautiful beaches in Cebu. We have decided to go to Bantayan Island after seeing its beautiful beaches from the internet. We were not deterred by the fact that it is far from Cebu - a 3 hour bus ride and an hour ferry ride just to get to Bantayan Island. i will tell you all about Bantayan Island and its beutiful beach in my next posts but for now let me tell you how to go to Bantayan Island from Cebu City.

As mentioned in my previous post we planned to wake up early in order to catch the first trip of the bus going to Hagnaya Wharf in San Remigio, but us being sick and lazy waking up early, though we actually tried waking up every time the alarm strike we have over slept and was just able to leave the Pier Cuatro Hotel at past 8AM, we didint have the chance to eat breakfast at the hotel since we wanted to be early and we're not really sure when is the bus next trip (coz all we know is that as early as 4AM there are buses leaving for San Remigio from the North Bus Terminal)
Anyways we arrived at the North Bus Terminal past 8 and we found other "tourist" also bound to Hagnaya, there is already a bus waiting when we arrived which is aobut to leave in 15 minutes (well according to the people at the terminal buses are coming and going at 15-30 minutes interval) so we are quite lucky that we didnt have to wait that long. We just bought donuts at Dunkin and we just ate it at the bus. now, aint this bus cool?

Oh there are no airconditioned buses going to Hagnaya but dont worry even if the buses are non-aircon it is still okay since ordinary buses travel with open windows. The bus fare is Php 80 per head. Actually there are airconditioned vans for rent good for about 16 persons for Php 1,800... its a great offer if you are traveling by group but since its just me and che, we opted to ride the bus.. titipid kami noh!

Dont get intimidated by the 3 hour trip from the North bus terminal to hagnaya, you wont really feel it especially if you're sleeping during the trip anyways :) and besides you will enjoy the nice scenery along the way, from the beaches and ports that you passed along it will then turn into view of mountains then fields so its really like sight-seeing.

there is a stop over, i forgot which city is it... we went off the bus to go to the restroom, in fairness the restrooms are clean and not smelly, after that i bought coffee and chorizo which is Php 8 each and it is delicious.
yummy chorizo... kanin na lang ang kulang :)
we arrived at Hagnaya Port in San Remigio at 12 noon and bought our tickets for the MV super Island Express which is about to leave at 1230.
The ferry fee is Php 120 per head, with port terminal fee of Php 10 per person. Nothing much to show what's inside the roro ferry, i guess you all know that most of these roros are old but still we were comfortable in our seats and i really love riding boats or ships.
it is an hour ride from hagnaya wharf to port of sta. fe
i slept the whole one hour on the ferry, it always felt like being in a duyan whenever i ride boats
as soon as the boat hit the dock, there are kargadors waiting for passengers and asking if you want you baggage carried by them
at last we're at bantayan island!
picture taking muna :)
we have confirmed our reservation at Kota Beach resort when we were at the boat, and we just gave miriam the time the ship left at hagnaya and she confirmed that their driver, mang dodong, will pick us up at the port.
am not sure what these kids are doing on the pathway from the dock to the port entrance
the pathway from the dock to the port's main entrance or where our sundo is is kinda long, i think we walk for about 5-10 minutes not really sure if its that far or it was just that my bags are heavy and it seems that
finally, after an hour or so we have arrived and we saw our sundo, Mang Dodong, from Kota Beach
this is meow posing beside the bantayan island map (btw this bantayan island map is found can be found at ogtong cave beach resort, ill post more about the beach soon

***my other bantayan island, cebu pictures and posts:

• trip to cebu
• going to bantayan island
• kota beach - bantayan island
• virgin island
• exploring bantayan island