Being a Christian nation, it's a long weekend holiday in the Philippines that falls on April 5 to April 9 to celebrate the Holy Week, or Semana Santa in the local dialect! Part of the Catholic tradition are some religious activities held on this day and each place/parish has its own way of performing these Holy Week Filipino customs.
Bantayan Island is just one of those popular places that observe the solemnity of the Holy Week and have drawn a lot of faithful not only in the island province but also in the many parts of the country.
I'm just one of those devotees who find this town's celebration fascinating and with the invitation of a good friend who happened to live in the town of Bantayan, I and the family headed to this beautiful island on our motorbike!
And our First Family Road Trip to Bantayan Island shall be the content of today's blog!
Bantayan Island is an island located in the Visayan Sea, Philippines. It is situated to the west of the northern end of Cebu island, across the Tañon Strait. Source: Wikipedia
The Road Trip
On our motorbike on a Good Friday, the family left home at around 20 minutes past 8 with our backpack and some stuff and clothes good for 2 days and a night stay in Bantayan Island.
Not used to taking long trips, the son was experiencing motion sickness that we had to stop for a while to give him comfort and relief from his dizziness and feeling of nausea.
After about 45 minutes from home, we reached the municipality of San Remigio which meant we were close to Hagnaya Port where we could take a ship/ferry to reach the island.
When we reached the port, we were welcomed by a porter who volunteered to help us in securing our tickets and our motorbike to be accommodated on the ship.
Of course, this meant you have to give him a tip for his effort. In case, you just have to negotiate with the porters for a fair price.
I heard from a neighbor who's a rider of a famous courier and was assigned to Bantayan Island, passenger rates at 5:00-5:30 in the morning are much cheaper compared to the other ferry schedules from Hagnaya port to Bantayan Island and vice versa.
As we took the 11:30 schedule, we were able to pay a much higher ticket cost. The regular fare for adult passengers was ₱320.00 or $5.86 (₱20.00 or $0.37 for the terminal fee). For a child 10 years old and below, the ticket costs ₱170.00 or $3.11 (terminal fee included).
If you travel to Bantayan Island and you're a Student or a Senior Citizen, you can get a discount. Just show your ID card and you're good.
For accountability and insurance purposes, you should not miss writing your name and some information about your identity on the manifest!
As we took our motorbike with us for our island tour convenience, we were able to pay a total of ₱680.00 or $12.86 (wharfage fee included). Cars and other much heavier vehicles cost double or higher! My bad I was not able to take a picture of the actual rates posted in front of the ticket office.😌
With the beautiful and calm weather- a perfectly fine day to cross the sea going to the island, I was a little relaxed and never felt anxious about this sea voyage not to mention the gigantic size of the ferry that would take us there safely.
As we arrived a little earlier than the next ferry schedule, I enjoyed taking photos while at the Hagnaya Port.
Since Bantayan Island is one of those very popular tourist destinations here in Cebu especially because of its fine white sand beaches, a lot of local and international tourists visit this isolated paradise on holidays or during summer!
This group of local tourists manages to sit at this spot waiting to board the ship as the waiting area inside the port terminal is already full of passengers on hold to take the next ferry to the island.
With two available ferry companies that travel to Sta. Fe port from Hagnaya port and vice versa, the Island Shipping and the Super Shuttle Ferry, you should not worry you'll miss a trip but you'll surely reach the island in no time on a perfectly fine day.
On Board Island Shipping
When the right time came to board on the ship, all staff and crew members got busy ushering the passengers as well as the vehicles and some cargo ready to be transported to the island.
The first level is where the group of vehicles, big and small, are lined up to go across the sea. Buses from Cebu City also boarded on the ship to transport their passengers to the island of Bantayan.
Photo grabbed from the friend's Facebook album who took the Super Shuttle Ferry while we took the ferry from Island Shipping.
The second level is where seats are made available to passengers boarding on the ferry with small snack bar that sells cup noodles, chips and drinks for hungry or thirsty guests. The toilet is also situated in this area in case of discomfort while inside the ship.
If you wish to take a quick nap while traveling to your destination, the third level is the best place for you as it offers double decks to relax and rest along the way.
As it was the kids' first time crossing the sea boarding on a ship, I was a little worried the son especially would experience motion sickness again. But thankfully, he was able to manage the trip well and was just asleep up on the upper deck until we reached the island.
The last level also offers comfortable seats for guests who wish to enjoy sightseeing while on board.
As the ship departed from Hagnaya Port, I and the daughter settled at the left side of the ship to enjoy and take some quick snaps of the beautiful sight along the coastline.
These are just some local fishing boats silently floating along the coastline of Hagnaya, San Remigio, and Cebu waiting to sail for a day's abundant catch.
I didn't know there's this mosque, a place of worship of the Muslim community in San Remigio until I was able to see this next photo.
After a few minutes, we lost sight of the shore and was in the middle of vast ocean never feeling any drowse but alert of any possible commotion.
While others including the husband and son were peacefully sleeping and resting waiting to reach the island!
Welcome to Bantayan Island
It has been 10 nine years since the last time I came to Bantayan Island and all were just strange and unfamiliar again.
After about 45 to 50 minutes, Hurrah! We finally reached our destination. The long white coastline seemed sparkling in the scorching heat of the sun from the ships' view was a beautiful signal that we were close!
The magnificent view of the shore is perfect! The clear blue seawater is calling waving happily to the approaching guests!
This lovely sight is way irresistible but we couldn't say "No!" to our starving stomachs and the children were already whining as it was already lunchtime.
So when the docking procedures were already set, we got off the ship hastily and off on our motorbike to find a place to dine in.
When you arrive at Bantayan Island, your first stop is the Municipality of Sta. Fe. where a lot of beautiful beaches and resorts are situated and ready to accommodate local or international tourists.
When you reach this spot, expect to pay a terminal fee of ₱10.00 or $0.18 per person/vehicle.
Unfamiliar with the way, we asked a few locals where we could have some lunch until we found this place called MJ Square.
There are a lot of restaurants to choose from in this area that serve delectable local cuisines such as sizzling seafoods as well as grilled pork, chicken and other rice meals.
We chose Stix Smoke House not only because of its ambiance and accessibility to the road as it was the first restaurant on the left when entering MJ Square but also because many customers were dining there which meant their food must be yummy and delicious.
The interior design looked very native with decorations made of bamboo, wood or rattan such as the winnowing baskets, the baskets hanged on the ceiling and the wall decors.
As it was about forty minutes past twelve and we were already starving, we immediately ordered 1 sizzling squid that cost ₱300.00 or $5.50, 2 chicken rice meals for ₱185.00 or $3.39 per order and 1 pork barbecue rice meal for ₱155.00 or $2.84 with glasses of iced tea and 2 bottles of softdrinks.
Many island souvenirs are also sold in this area from accessories, t-shirts, dresses, native colorful hats and bags to dried mangoes and many others.
As this is a 2 day island adventure, you may assume my next blog shall be about our family tour of the magnificent beauty of Bantayan Island.
Let me end this blog with a photo of this sign that welcomes you to the Municipality of Bantayan!
I'm glad you went with me on our First Family Road Trip to Bantayan Island. Thank you everyone for reaching this far and see you again in my upcoming blogs. Until then.....
Lead image edited through Canva.
All photos are mine unless stated otherwise.