Going To Boracay By Sea
The "Nautical Highway" is a combination of overland highways and roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) vessels that allow you to bring your vehicle up to Panay Island and visit key cities like Kalibo. Taking your car all the way to Boracay, though, is not possible. Public transport also operates on the same route, and is the most cost-effective way of traveling between Manila and Boracay. Assuming good connections, the total journey time is around 12 hours.
The easiest way of arranging this is to book a van in Manila by contacting private operators such as Angel Star (02 783-0886 c/o Abner) and Gope (02 732-6891 c/o Cesar). This will enable you to book a straight trip from Manila to Caticlan at the cost of P930.00, more or less. Their group operates several passenger vans which can load 10-14 or 15-18 persons. You book the trip exclusively or share with fellow travellers. The Van leaves at 9PM daily from Manila, travelling through Batangas-Calapan-Roxas (arrives Roxas at 5AM or 6AM) to catch the 8AM or 10AM ferry/boat to Caticlan, where you are expected to arrive between noon to 2PM. Before proceeding to Boracay Island though, be sure to get your return ticket (Roxas-Manila) at the Caticlan Ferry Terminal (inquire about the updated schedule from the staff of the van operators). Take an early dinner before boarding the van and bring water and something to eat while on travel. Riding a van gives you a more relaxed pace to Caticlan because you wouldn't have to stop in many sub-destinations which lengthen your trip and therefore can be truly tiresome. Noted that the fee of P910.00 already includes two RORO fares.
The more challenging (but slightly cheaper) do-it-yourself version goes as follows:
1. At 01:30AM, take a bus at the G.Puyat (Buendia) bus terminal along Taft Avenue, Pasay City.
2. Get off at the end of the line which is the Batangas Port. Estimated arrival is between 4:00 to 4:30AM. Travel time actually only takes 2 hours maximum. The estimate is made to allow for other contingencies on the road.
3. At the port, get/buy a ticket for a private van bound to Calapan, Mindoro.
4. The van will be ferried by a medium-sized passenger ship. Estimated arrival time in Calapan, Mindoro is between 6:30 to 7:00AM.
5. The same van will travel by land towards Roxas, in the island of Mindoro and arrive at the terminal between 9:30-10:00AM.
6. Ride a ferry from Roxas to Caticlan. Travel duration is from 3 to 3.5 hours.
7. From Caticlan, take the "bancas" following the procedures stated above.
You can also start your journey with Philtranco, Alps, Dimple, Ceres, Rodastco coaches which leave at regular intervals throughout the day from Cubao, serving the Manila-Caticlan route for P1,050.00. Rodastco also offers a door-to-door service with pick ups anywhere in Metro Manila.
