How to Travel from Malapascua to Boracay

How to Travel from Malapascua Island to Boracay: A Step by Step Guide

ByJulia

If you’re trying to get from Malapascua Island to Boracay, it will take almost a whole day to make the journey. I recommend booking a late afternoon flight out of Cebu City to Kalibo to give you time to get back to the city. It will take a lot of types of transportation but is definitely doable.

Here are the steps of how to travel from Malapascua Island to Boracay.

Disclosure: Some of the links below may be affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase.

Figuring Out Your Timing: Hello Early Morning!

With a long day of travel ahead, I woke up before my alarm and started packing. All packed and ready to go, I sat down to have breakfast and waited for reception at Thresher Cove Dive Resort to open at 8:00am to pay my bill and head out to make my 5:25pm flight from Cebu to Kalibo. If all goes well, I should make it with plenty of time, but there are a lot of steps have to fall in place to make that happen.

Pay Your Accommodation on Malapascua Island

Checking out actually took half an hour as they worked to tally my dive shop, restaurant, and room bills. Malapascua island has no ATMs so to get cash you have to cross back to the mainland and drive for about an hour. Due to this and the cost of diving, my dive resort accepts credit card which makes everything easier… Until I actually went to pay with it.

The lady pulled out their credit card machine and went to stand in the middle of the nearby field holding it up over her head to try to find signal. After about ten minutes of waving it around, she suggested going to the top of the hill to aid her search for the credit card machine signal. Fortunately, eventually it found it, and I could start my long trek.

Read more about exploring Malapascua Island and diving on Malapascua Island.

How to Get from Malapascua to Boracay

Step 1: Take a Motorbike to the Malapascua Pier

First step, taking a motorbike to the Malapascua pier. Over the past week I’ve gotten quite comfortable riding motorbikes but riding it with my backpack on is still a special challenge as my body weight shifts a bit different. But a quick ride through the fields brought us to the pier where I would catch the ferry to the mainland.

Cost of the Motorbike Ride: 20 PHP

Step 2: Take a Boat from the Malapascua Pier to Maya on Cebu Island

The next boat was at 9:00am so I sat down and waited patiently for the 23 minutes. Of course it was low tide which means you can’t get directly into the ferry, you have to take a small flat boat out to the bigger outrigger boat and then switch back to a small flat boat to get to land. Switching boats is not a huge problem, but once again jumping boat to boat with my backpack on my back means saying a little prayer that I won’t end up in the water.

Cost of the Boats: 120 PHP

  • First small boat: 20 PHPย 
  • Ferry: 80 PHPย 
  • Second small boat two: 20 PHP

Step 3: Catch a Ride from Maya to Cebu City

Arriving at Maya on the mainland, it was time to catch a bus or van that would take me to Cebu City. Fortunately, there was an air-conditioned van, an air-conditioned bus, and a normal bus waiting.

The van tried to sway us for 180 PHP leaving at 11:00am (over an hour out) and taking three hours – which I doubt, but having had a marginal at best van ride to Hagnaya, I continued on to check the time, cost, and length of ride on the air-conditioned bus.

It was leaving at 10:00am taking 4 hours and costing 180 PHP – Winner! Realistically the idea of taking a bus without air conditioning in the heat and humidity in addition to the dust from the roads and exhaust from other cars sounded less than pleasant.

Cost of the Air-conditioned Bus from Maya to Cebu City: 180 PHP

Step 4: Taxi from Cebu City to Cebu Airport

Eventually arriving in Cebu after a 5.5 hour bus ride, I was on the final step to make my flight: taxi to the airport. A lady was eager to hail me a taxi (of course for a tip) and eventually I had a taxi.

Cost of the Taxi from Cebu City to Cebu Airport: 120 PHP

  • Tip for hailed taxi: 10 PHPย 
  • Taxi ride: 95 PHPย 
  • Taxi tip: 15 PHP

Step 5: Fly from Cebu City to Kalibo

After my motorbike to small boat to big boat to small boat to bus to taxi, I finally made it to the airport by 3:45pm for my 5:25pm flight. Check in and security were smooth, and it was on to the flight. I was pleasantly surprised by the domestic departure terminal food choices, and grabbed something to eat during my break along with using the wifi.

Then I boarded my flight and we were off, for a solid 35 minute flight. I was given an exit row seat and no sooner had we reached altitude than we started our descent.

Cost of Flight from Cebu City to Kalibo: Will vary on when you are traveling and when you purchase it.

Step 6: Find a Ride from Kalibo Airport to Caticlan Port

Upon arrival, it was time to find a ride to the Caticlan Port. There are a large number of providers with private rides to shared cars and buses to van and boat packages. I ended up grabbing a van and boat package and was packed into an air-conditioned van for immediate departure.

The ride to the port is about two hours and pretty painless. It was dark already so I have little idea what we passed besides many basketball courts surrounded by people watching the game of the night. Filippinos love basketball!

Step 7: Take a Boat from Caticlan Port to Boracay Island

Arrival at the port was a bit confusing as I had my boat ticket included in the price which is between 25 to 30 PHP, but then there is an additional 100 PHP terminal fee and 75 PHP environmental and admission fee. That’s right, you need to purchase 3 separate tickets from 3 separate windows to get on the boat.

The ten minute boat ride was a bit rough as a large storm was brewing, and it was just a large outrigger boat, not one of the larger ferries. I believe it might have been due to the time of night and lower demand.

Cost of Van and Boat Fees from Caticlan Port to Boracay Island: 425 PHP

  • Van to Caticlan Port plus boat ticket: 250 PHPย 
  • Terminal fee: 100 PHPย 
  • Environmental and admission fee: 75 PHP

Step 8: Find a Ride to Your Accommodations on Boracay

In any case, we arrived to Boracay and it was what I would call “monsooning”. Fortunately a quantity of tricycles sit and wait for boats to arrive so it is easy to grab a ride to your hostel/hotel. Even more fortunately for me there was another guy going to my hostel, Frendz, so we were able to split the cost.

The ride proved fascinating as the roads were completely underwater and it was continuing to pour down rain. Riding a tricycle in such conditions means, despite their attempts to keep you dry with a plastic covering, the wheels splash up water, and I ended up being a bit damp.

The other interesting part of the ride? The guy I shared the ride with was a Seminole too! (We had both gone to Florida State University!) It gave us plenty to talk about, especially since he had been traveling for 3 years and been to 125 countries.

Cost of the Tricycle from Boracay Pier to Boracay Hotel: 100 PHP for the whole tricycle or 50/50 if you can share

Step 9: Arrival at Your Hotel in Boracay

The tricycle arrived at the end of a dark flooded alley and pointed us down it to reach the hostel. This was the point where I was glad not to be alone. A short walk down the alley and I had arrived!

12 hours, 10 different types of transit, and I had arrived to Boracay!

Total Cost of Traveling from Malapascua Island to Boracay

Figuring out how to travel from Malapascua Island to Boracay is an adventure. From Motorbike to small boat to big boat to small boat to bus to taxi to plane to van to boat to tricycle… You’ll get to your end destination: Boracay just a few pesos lighter: 915 PHP + a plane ticket to be exact.

  • Motorbike from Malapascua hotel to the Malapascua Pier: 20 PHP
  • Small Boat from the Malapascua Pier to the Ferry: 20 PHP
  • Ferry to Maya on Cebu Island: 80 PHP
  • Small Boat to get from the Ferry to Land: 20 PHP
  • Air-conditioned Bus from Maya to Cebu City: 180 PHP
  • Taxi from Cebu City to Cebu Airport: 120 PHP
  • Van and Boat Fees from Caticlan Port to Boracay Island: 425 PHP
  • Tricycle from Boracay Pier to Boracay Hotel: 100 PHP for the whole tricycleย or 50/50 if you can share

Learn more about how expensive the Philippines is and how to better budget for your trip.

Explore More of The Philippines

Need additional resources to help you get around the Philippines? Here are a few posts that will help make your journey go smoothly.

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How to Get from Malapascua Island to Boracay

Julia is the founder of The Cure for Curiosity, a North Carolina-based traveler with experience across 100+ countries, from the pyramids of Egypt to Everest Base Camp to the Blue Hole in Belize. After years of fast travel and slow travel, solo journeys and road trips, she now helps curious travelers understand how to choose destinations wisely, pace trips intentionally, and experience places beyond the surface.

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