LAGALAG: MASBATE'S BEST BEAUTIFUL BEACH

Thursday, March 24, 2016

MASBATE'S BEST BEAUTIFUL BEACH

HOW TO GET TO MASBATE?

By bus

There's a daily trip going from Manila to Masbate via RoRo bus, the terminal is located at Cubao in Quezon City. This is part of the Nautical Highway, the bus will be carried by the RoRo boat from Pilar to Masbate City port. It costs ₱1,150 one way for a/c buses, ₱850 for one way for ordinary buses. There is a trip in the opposite direction leaving Masbate Pier at 11:30am.

A RoRo bus also departs Masbate City daily at 8:30am bound for Cebu City, using the Montenegro Lines boat to Polambato. Fare is ₱800.

By plane

AirPhil Express, flying daily, is now the only carrier from Manila to Masbate as Zest-air ceased flying to Masbate in May 2013. Cebu Pacific also flies four times weekly from Cebu, having taken over the vacant Zest air slot. Please be aware that both airlines can and do cancel at very short notice, and it is not unusual to be returning to either Manila or Cebu when in flight due to poor weather conditions at Masbate. Both airlines leave from their respective terminals during early morning. UPDATE, May 2014: Cebu Pacific no longer lists Masbate in any of their timetables, so flying direct to/from Cebu is not currently an option.

By boat

Several boats per day depart Pilar in the province of Sorsogon on Luzon to Masbate City. By Fast craft, it is a 1.5-2hr crossing and costs ₱400, much longer if using other cheaper ferry options (3hours+, ₱250).

Two RoRo ferries leave daily at midnight from Polambato Port (just north of Bogo on Cebu Island), bound for two different destinations on Masbate. Montenegro Lines crosses to Cataingan on the western side of Masbate, while Super Shuttle Ferry operates a boat to Cawayan in eastern Masbate. Fare is ₱365 for Montenegro, ₱380 for the Super Shuttle. Both crossings take about 6hours and the return trips leave their respective ports at midday,

Asian Marine Transport Corporation runs a weekly ferry from Batangas (departs 9pm Tuesdays, ₱555) and Cebu (departs 12pm Sundays, ₱555). The ferry actually runs all the way from Cagayan de Oro on Mindanao via Cebu, (₱960 all the way to Masbate).

There are also boats from Lucena in Luzon.

Trans Asia Ferry Company runs a ferry to Cebu city on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:00PM (arriving 8:00AM). It was also running on Sundays, but that no longer seems to be the case as of May 2014. Their schedules can be found here

Montenegro Ferry Company runs a daily RORO ferry to Cebu, leaving from the port in Cataingan (south of Masbate city) at 12:00 noon. Montenegro buses leave from the port in Masbate at 8:30AM to connect to this ferry. Cokaliong shipping depart from cebu port at 7pm arrive at Masbate port at 6am ( fare php720 ). 2GO shipping ( cebu via ormoc via Masbate ) depart at Cebu port 6pm arrive at Masbate port 8am ( fare php680 ).