By Scott Taylor · September 24, 2026 · Updated October 23, 2026
Cebu to Bohol Ferry: Schedules, Fares & How to Book (2026)
Every way to cross from Cebu to Bohol by ferry — OceanJet and SuperCat to Tagbilaran, the cheaper boats to Tubigon — with 2026 sailing times, fares, which pier to use, and the onward van to Panglao.
Cebu and Bohol face each other across a strait, and the fast ferry between them is the easiest island hop in the Philippines. No airport transfers, no overnight sailing, no ferry-plus-van combination of the kind that makes Palawan hard work. You walk into a terminal in Cebu City and about two hours later you walk out in Tagbilaran, a van ride from the beaches of Panglao. The catch is that there are two ports in Bohol, two piers in Cebu and half a dozen operators, and the timetables moved around during 2026. This guide lays it all out as of October 2026.
The 60-second answer
- Going to Panglao, Alona Beach or Tagbilaran? Take a fast craft to Tagbilaran from Cebu’s Pier 1: OceanJet (about a dozen sailings a day) or SuperCat (five). About 2 hours.
- Heading straight for the Chocolate Hills, or want the cheapest crossing? Take a boat to Tubigon, the north Bohol port, from Pier 3: Lite Ferries or FastCat, about 2 hours, roughly half the price.
- Fares: OceanJet about ₱880 tourist class and ₱1,320 business class as of July 2026; Tubigon boats from about ₱530 as of August 2026. Add a small terminal fee at each end.
- Book on the operators’ sites or an aggregator such as 12Go or Barkota, or at the pier for a weekday sailing. Weekends and holidays sell out.
- Check in at least 30 minutes before sailing with the ID that matches your ticket. Allow an hour for the port traffic in the morning.
Two ports in Bohol: Tagbilaran or Tubigon?
Tagbilaran is Bohol’s capital and its main port, in Barangay Booy about two kilometres from the city centre. It is the right port for almost everyone, because Panglao Island and its beaches are a short drive south. Tubigon is a smaller port on the north-west coast, nearer the Chocolate Hills at Carmen, about 38 kilometres away by road. The Tubigon boats are conventional ferries rather than fast craft, so they take about the same two hours for a shorter crossing, but the fares are roughly half, and if your first stop is the hills rather than the beach it saves a long drive back up from Tagbilaran.
Fast ferries to Tagbilaran: OceanJet and SuperCat
OceanJet runs the busiest timetable. From 24 April 2026 its Cebu to Tagbilaran departures were 05:10, 06:00, 07:00, 08:20, 09:20, 10:40, 11:40, 13:00, 14:00, 15:20, 16:20, 17:40 and 18:40, after a 12:20 sailing was dropped on 1 September 2026, and the crossing takes about two hours. Fares were about ₱880 for the tourist or open-air deck and ₱1,320 for business class as of 10 July 2026, when the operator cut a fuel surcharge that had pushed fares up in the spring. OceanJet sails from Pier 1 in Cebu City; its head office is on Pier 4, which confuses people, but the boat leaves from Pier 1.
SuperCat, part of the 2GO group, runs five fast-craft sailings a day each way (06:30, 09:00, 11:25, 15:00 and 17:25 from Cebu, as listed in September 2026) and asks you to check in 45 minutes ahead. Its fares were listed at about ₱1,040 tourist and ₱1,560 business in September 2026, a little above OceanJet. Lite Ferries also serves Tagbilaran with a conventional ferry that takes about four hours, and 2GO’s own big ship sails the route once a week, which only matters if you are bringing a vehicle.
Cheaper boats to Tubigon: Lite Ferries and FastCat
From Cebu’s Pier 3, with some sailings from the Ouano terminal in Mandaue, Lite Ferries had six Tubigon sailings a day and FastCat four as of August 2026, with fares from about ₱530. FastCat’s catamarans carry vehicles as well as passengers. Lite Ferry 17 moved to a new three-round-trips-a-day timetable on 15 August 2026, so confirm the departure you want when you book. Starcraft, the third operator on the route, was not selling tickets online in August 2026.
How to book
- Online with the operator. OceanJet sells on its own site, with a limit of ten passengers per booking, and takes bookings by phone and over the counter. Discounted student, senior and PWD fares are for Filipino citizens with ID.
- Through an aggregator. 12Go lists OceanJet, Lite Shipping and FastCat; Barkota lists SuperCat, FastCat and Lite Shipping. Both charge a booking fee and are the easy way to see every operator side by side.
- At the pier. Fine on a weekday morning. On Friday afternoons, Sunday evenings and around holidays the fast craft sell out, so book ahead.
Fees and rules. The ports charge a small terminal fee on top of the ticket, about ₱25 at Cebu Pier 1 and about ₱20 at Tagbilaran according to local listings (the port authorities publish no current table), paid in cash after check-in; the Cebu Port Authority waived its fees between 18 April and 17 June 2026 and then reinstated them. OceanJet requires check-in at least 30 minutes before departure, limits hand luggage to 10 kilograms, and allows refunds or rebooking for six months. Bring the ID whose name is on the ticket.
Getting to Cebu Pier 1
Pier 1 is in the Warehouse Building on the North Reclamation Area, beside Plaza Independencia and Fort San Pedro at the old end of downtown. From Mactan-Cebu International Airport it is 13 to 15 kilometres and 30 to 60 minutes without heavy traffic, with a metered taxi running to about ₱250 to ₱350 in mid-2026. The port area jams in the morning rush, so the local advice is to add an hour to whatever the traffic app says. If you are staying near the Business Park or Fuente Osmeña it is a short ride; from Mactan allow the full hour. The hotels on the city side of the strait are covered in our guide to where to stay in Cebu and on the Cebu hotel page.
Arriving in Bohol: the van to Panglao
Tagbilaran port is two kilometres from the city centre, and there is no Grab in Bohol, so you take a taxi, a tricycle or a pre-booked van. Alona Beach on Panglao is about 12 kilometres away, roughly 30 minutes by van, and most Panglao resorts will arrange a pick-up if you send your sailing time. From Tubigon, vans run south to Tagbilaran and east to Carmen for the Chocolate Hills in about an hour. For the full picture of where to base yourself, see the Bohol hotel page and the Bohol destination guide.
Bluewater Panglao Beach Resort
the long-standing Panglao favourite, a wide white beach and big grounds away from the Alona strip.
Henann Resort Alona Beach
the biggest resort on Alona itself, with several pools and the beach at the door.
Amorita Resort
the couples' pick on the cliff above Alona, with the infinity pool and the view.
Which crossing should you take?
| Route | Time | Fare | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tagbilaran, fast craft (Pier 1) | about 2 h | ₱880 to ₱1,560 | Panglao, Alona, Tagbilaran |
| Tagbilaran, conventional | about 4 h | lower | Vehicles, lowest fare |
| Tubigon (Pier 3) | about 2 h | from ₱530 | Chocolate Hills first |
Fares are the operators’ published figures from July to September 2026; operators and piers are in the sections above.
When the sea says no
The Visayas sits in the typhoon belt. PAGASA counts an average of twenty tropical cyclones a year entering the Philippine area, eight or nine of which cross the country, with the peak from July to October. When a storm is near, the Cebu Port Authority cancels sailings; on 10 July 2026, for example, OceanJet suspended its Tagbilaran trips and the Tubigon boats were cancelled for Typhoon Inday. If you are travelling in those months, keep a day in hand before any flight and watch the operators’ social media the evening before. There is no bridge to fall back on. The long-discussed Cebu-Bohol bridge has no feasibility study, and Bohol’s governor called it “a long way from reality” in August 2025.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the ferry from Cebu to Bohol? About two hours on the fast craft to Tagbilaran or the boats to Tubigon, and about four hours on the conventional ferry to Tagbilaran.
How much does the Cebu to Bohol ferry cost? OceanJet charged about ₱880 in tourist class and ₱1,320 in business class as of July 2026; SuperCat was listed a little higher. The Tubigon boats start from about ₱530. Terminal fees of around ₱20 to ₱25 are extra at each end.
Which pier in Cebu do I use? Pier 1 for the OceanJet and SuperCat fast craft to Tagbilaran; Pier 3 (or the Ouano terminal in Mandaue) for most boats to Tubigon.
Can I fly from Cebu to Bohol instead? Not usefully. No regular nonstop flight between Cebu and Panglao’s airport was listed in 2026, and the ferry is faster door to door anyway.
Do I need to book the ferry in advance? On weekdays you can usually buy at the pier, but the fast craft sell out on Friday afternoons, Sunday evenings and holidays, so book online a few days ahead for those.
Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only point you to places we’d be comfortable recommending. Ferry fares and times are the operators’ published figures on the dates given and change with fuel surcharges and the weather; check them when you book.
Photo credits
Hero photo via Wikimedia Commons: “SuperCat 38 at the Port of Tagbilaran” by Vincent Paul Sanchez, licensed CC BY-SA 2.0.