How to Get to Siquijor Island.

This is the way we did it to try to save money and spend some extra time on the island of Cebu.

• Take the airport MyBus from Cebu-Mactan International Airport to SM City Mall for 25 PHP ($0.50) each.

• From the mall, grab a cab to the Cebu South Terminal 150 PHP ($3 USD) where you can take an air-conditioned Ceres bus headed to Liloan Port in Santander (not to be confused with Liloan near Cebu) for about 200 PHP ($4 USD). These buses can’t be booked online, but you can check out the schedule here (see Cebu – Dumaguete).

• If you’re not in a rush, consider stopping in Moalboal to experience the Sardine Runs or visit Kawasan Falls. If you do want to add the stop, either take a Ceres bus from the same terminal for 156 PHP ($3 USD), hire a taxi from the airport, or hire a driver ahead of time using Klook for around $44 USD.

  • After a stop in Moalboal, take a tricycle back to the highway. Instruct the driver that you’re taking a bus to Liloan en route to Dumaguete. And your tricycle driver will know where to drop you off. Buses pass by every thirty to forty-five minutes and about every other one has A/C. If you get there early enough you can pass on the non-A/C bus or one that only has standing room. That’s what we did! Although, we have heard that the buses don’t get too hot, because the windows all stay down and the buses rarely slow down (yeah, it’s as nerve wracking as it sounds).

• The bus will drop you off at the end of the route in a bus terminal. Walk out of the terminal and to the street where plenty of tricyclists will be waiting for you. They’ll know exactly where to take you (and likely ask you if you’re headed to the ferry), but you can tell them you’re taking the ferry to Dumaguete.

• Once you get to the ferry terminal at Liloan Port, pay the ticket and fees. We took the standard pedestrian ferry, but we’ve been told that if you grab the right bus directly from the Cebu Airport to this port, you can get on a ferry that takes the entire bus across, but we were never able to verify that route. The standard ferry takes about 25 minutes to cross and costs 85 PHP (about $1.70 USD) per person.

• From where the ferry drops you off in Dumaguete, you’ll need to take a tricycle to another ferry terminal. Tell the driver you’re taking an OceanJet Ferry to Siquijor, and he’ll know where to go and you should be there in about 20 minutes. We recommend taking OceanJet, because they are much nicer and simpler to book with than other slightly cheaper options. Book ahead of time here. You’ll be dropped off at a ticket stand on the side of the road. It is near the ferry terminal. But you can’t see the ferry terminal, because it’s across the road behind a covered alley. 

• Go to the stand to buy or pick up your ticket and then you’ll head through the alley to the terminal. The most confusing and frustrating part about ferries in the Philippines is that they make you pay small fees in several different locations for the same trip. When you get to the terminal (after you’ve paid for your ticket), you’ll have to pay the terminal fee. Then you’ll enter and have to drop your baggage off and pay a baggage fee. In our experience, we were always a bit caught off guard and hesitant to believe people when they told us we needed to pay a fee. So we always asked to see posted rates. The people of the Philippines were generally honest with us, and we didn’t have any issues with attempted scamming.

• Board the ferry and either rent a motorcycle upon arrival or have a tricycle take you to your accommodations on the island. Prices for tricycles in Siquijor from the port are fixed and listed on a large board across from where all the tricycles are parked.

Option 2:

• If you’re interested in visiting the island of Bohol first, it makes the route to Siquijor a bit easier. You can get to Bohol from Cebu on this two hour ferry (skipping all the bus rides on Cebu), and then take this ferry from Tagbilaran on Bohol to Siquijor. It takes about 1.5 hours and costs $18 USD on OceanJet. Looking back, we probably should have gone with this option, but opted to do Kawasan Falls and the Sardine Runs instead of visiting Bohol.