Two operators carry almost all the daily traffic between Cebu and Bohol. OceanJet runs fast craft to Tagbilaran in about 2 hours, twelve sailings a day, first at 05:10 and last at 17:40, for 960 PHP in tourist class. Lite Ferries runs the slow, cheap RORO to Tubigon from a different Cebu terminal, from 396 PHP. A third line, Trans-Asia, calls once a week, but it opens a door neither of the others has.
The decision that actually costs you time is not the operator. It is the Bohol port you land at, because the road that follows adds anything from forty minutes to two and a quarter hours to your day.
Which ferry runs between Cebu and Bohol?
Two companies split almost all of this crossing with opposite philosophies. One sells speed and frequency, the other sells volume and a low price. A third turns up once a week and is worth knowing about for a different reason.
OceanJet, the fast craft to Tagbilaran
OceanJet runs air-conditioned fast catamarans out of Pier 1 in Cebu City. Tagbilaran is its main Bohol route. Queried on the operator’s own booking engine on 29 September 2026, it showed twelve sailings for Tuesday 6 October, the same grid as in mid September: 05:10, 06:00, 07:00, 08:20, 09:20, 10:40, 11:40, 13:00, 14:00, 15:20, 16:20 and 17:40. Two hours each, an hour fifty on the last two. The return grid matches it almost exactly, twelve sailings from 06:00 to 17:40.
Tickets go through the official OceanJet site, which also posts its sailing advisories when the weather turns. One thing worth knowing before you plan around a vehicle: OceanJet fast craft carry passengers only, never cars or motorbikes.
Lite Ferries and the slow boats to Tubigon
Lite Ferries, operated by Lite Shipping, runs RORO vessels, the ramp-loading type that takes vehicles and cargo alongside passengers. Its Cebu to Tubigon line leaves from Passenger Terminal 2 (Pier 3), a few hundred metres north of Pier 1. Departures were listed every three hours around the clock in mid-2026, starting at 01:00.
The two hours versus three hours you see quoted for this route is not an error in either figure. Two different vessels work the line, and they do not take the same time. The operator’s own schedule, read on 18 September 2026, splits them cleanly.
| Vessel | Crossing and departures from Cebu |
|---|---|
| LITE CAT 2 | 2 hours. Leaves at 01:00, 07:00, 13:00 and 19:00. |
| Lite Ferry 17 | 3 hours. Leaves at 00:30, 10:30 and 17:30. |
Seven departures a day in each direction, round the clock. Back from Tubigon it is 04:00, 07:00, 10:00, 14:00, 16:00, 21:00 and 22:00, with the same vessel split. If the hour matters to you, check which boat you are booking rather than which route.
Schedules sit on the operator’s own schedule page, which lists the vessel against every sailing.
Trans-Asia, the third operator nobody lists
Trans-Asia Shipping Lines appears in no Cebu to Bohol comparison, and that is almost fair. Its published weekly grid for 7 to 13 September 2026 carries a single Cebu to Tagbilaran crossing, Monday at 12:00 arriving 16:00, as a RORO, with a Sunday return at 22:00. Against twelve fast craft a day, that changes nothing about your plan.
What does change something is the same operator’s other line. Trans-Asia links Tagbilaran directly to Cagayan de Oro on Mindanao, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 19:00 arriving 06:30, and back on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. You can leave Bohol for Mindanao on one night at sea, without doubling back through Cebu.
Trans-Asia publishes its grid a week at a time and the routes change between weeks: the Cebu to Tagbilaran crossing was on none of the August 2026 grids. Check the week you are travelling before you count on it.
Fast craft or RORO: what the hull changes
The fast craft is quick but slams in a swell, and it stays closed with the air conditioning at full blast. The RORO is slow, rolls less, and lets you sit outside. If you get seasick, the cheaper boat is also the kinder one.
The RORO is the only option if you are moving a scooter or a car between the islands. That single constraint decides the choice for a lot of people before price ever comes into it.
OceanJet fast craft take passengers only. If you are bringing a scooter or a car to Bohol, the RORO to Tubigon is not the cheap alternative, it is the only one.
Cebu to Bohol ferry schedules and fares
Below are OceanJet’s fares, read on 29 September 2026 in its own booking engine for departures between 29 September and 20 November. They are about ten percent above the grid read on 18 September (880 PHP in tourist class then). Treat them as an order of magnitude for planning, then confirm your own date on the booking engine.
Departures from Cebu to Tagbilaran
Tagbilaran is the busiest of the three ports and the one with the widest service window. The first boat leaves at 05:10 and the last at 17:40, twelve times a day each way. It is also the pier you transit through for the onward crossing to Siquijor, which has no direct fast craft from Cebu.
The crossing takes about 2 hours. Aggregators quote bands because they copy old readings across. The operator’s own engine quotes a single figure.
| Class | Fare read on 29 September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Tourist / open air | 960 PHP |
| Business | 1 450 PHP |
| Terminal fee, cash at pier | about 25 PHP |
Departures from Cebu to Getafe and Tubigon
Getafe sits on the north east coast of Bohol and is the fastest crossing of the three, at 1 h 15. OceanJet showed four daily departures for 6 October 2026: 06:30, 10:00, 13:30 and 18:45. The fare was 540 PHP in tourist or open air and 960 PHP in business on 29 September 2026, which makes Getafe materially cheaper than Tagbilaran as well as quicker.
The catch is on the way back. Getafe gives you four return sailings, at 06:30, 08:15, 11:45 and 15:15, and nothing after mid afternoon. Tagbilaran gives you twelve, running until the early evening. If you have a flight out of Cebu, that is three times the margin for error.
Tubigon, on the north west coast, is the cheap door. Lite Ferries listed economy at 396 PHP, tourist class at 468 PHP and business at 540 PHP, roughly half to a third of the Tagbilaran fare.
One option the fare tables hide: Lite Ferries also runs a RORO to Tagbilaran itself, out of Pier 1 rather than Pier 3, in four hours, at 13:00 and 22:00. It is slower than the fast craft and it is the only way to land a vehicle at Tagbilaran instead of at Tubigon.
Why the published fares keep moving
Philippine ferry fares are not fixed for a season. Operators applied fuel surcharges more than once during 2026, and aggregator pages update at their own pace, which is why two sites can show a 40 PHP gap on the same route on the same day.
The practical consequence is simple. Budget the top of the range, carry the difference in cash, and never treat a fare you read in a guide as a quote.
Which Bohol port should you land at?
This is where most itineraries lose half a day. The three ports are not interchangeable, and the right one depends entirely on where you are heading once you step off the boat.
Tagbilaran, the default for Panglao and Loboc
Tagbilaran City port sits about 30 to 40 minutes from the Panglao beaches by road, and it is the natural entry point for the Loboc river and the Chocolate Hills circuit. It also has the most sailings, so a missed boat costs you an hour rather than half a day.
Unless you have a specific reason to land elsewhere, this is the port to book.
Getafe and Tubigon, an hour saved at sea
Getafe wins on water and loses on land. The crossing is the shortest of the three, but the drive down to Panglao runs roughly two hours, so the total door-to-door time is longer than via Tagbilaran.
Tubigon has the same geometry with a cheaper ticket. It makes sense if you are watching the budget closely, if you are moving a vehicle, or if you are heading for the north west of the island rather than the beaches.
Anda and the south east: the maths flips
If your first night is at Anda or Ubay, in the far south east, the calculation reverses. Getafe puts you materially closer than Tagbilaran, and the short crossing stops being a false economy.
This is the one case where the fastest boat is also the fastest journey.
Booking and boarding
Booking online is worth it in high season and around Philippine public holidays, when the mid-morning Tagbilaran sailings fill. Outside those windows you can usually buy at the counter on the day.
At the pier in Cebu, and how early to arrive
OceanJet’s own rule is check-in at least 30 minutes before departure, and it states that missing it can forfeit your confirmed seat. Treat that as the hard floor rather than the target: 60 to 90 minutes is the realistic figure at Pier 1 in the morning, because you need time for three separate steps.
- Ticket collection or purchase at the counter, which is a different queue from boarding.
- The terminal fee, paid in cash, at its own window.
- Security and the walk to the berth, which is longer than it looks at Pier 1.
Pier 1 and Passenger Terminal 2 are not the same building. If you have booked Lite Ferries and turned up at Pier 1, you have a walk of a few hundred metres and a good reason to have left early.
What you are allowed to carry, and why business class is not just a seat
This is the rule nobody mentions and the one that decides your fare. OceanJet allows one piece of hand baggage per passenger, and the allowance depends on the class you booked.
| Class | Hand baggage allowed |
|---|---|
| Tourist | One piece, maximum 10 kg, maximum 25 x 35 x 40 cm. |
| Business | One trolley bag or one backpack, without those dimensions. |
Read the tourist line again: 25 by 35 by 40 centimetres is smaller than an airline cabin bag. A 50 or 60 litre backpack does not fit inside it on paper, which is the real reason the 490 PHP gap to business class exists on the Tagbilaran run.
In practice enforcement varies and plenty of backpackers cross in tourist class untroubled. But the rule is the operator’s own, so if you are travelling with a full pack and would rather not argue at the gate, business is the fare that covers you. Anything beyond the hand allowance goes as checked baggage, where the carrier’s stated liability is 100 PHP per passenger unless you declare a higher value and pay the supplement.
The refund ladder, which is steeper than most people expect
Refunds are graded by how far along you were when you gave up, and the operator publishes the percentages.
| Your situation | What comes back |
|---|---|
| OceanJet cancels and cannot carry you another way | The full ticket value. |
| You cancel, not checked in, vessel has not sailed | 80 percent. |
| The vessel sailed and you never checked in | 60 percent. |
| You checked in, the vessel has not sailed | 50 percent. |
| You checked in and then missed the boat | Nothing. |
| Ticket lost, or bought on promo or at a discount | Nothing. |
Three conditions attach to all of it. You need the ticket and a valid ID to claim, the refund right expires six months after issuance, and the ticket is non-transferable: the name on it has to match the ID you present at check-in, so you cannot pass a sailing you will miss to a friend.
When the coast guard suspends departures
The Philippine Coast Guard can suspend sailings when the sea state deteriorates, and it does so several times a year on this strait. It is not a commercial decision and no amount of asking at the counter changes it.
Two things follow from that. Never plan a same-day international connection out of Cebu on the back of a morning ferry, and check the operator advisory page the evening before during the June to November window.
- Suspensions are usually lifted within the day, so the practical cost is hours rather than a night.
- Refund and rebooking rules differ by operator, and the counter that sold you the ticket is the one that handles it.
Taking a car or a scooter across
Fast craft carry passengers only, so a vehicle means a RORO and the crossing changes nature. You are no longer buying a ticket, you are declaring rolling cargo, with its own counter, paperwork and timings. The booking engine makes no secret of it: the vehicle search button reads Cargo Trips.
The category sets the fare, not the length
Where European operators charge by the metre, this booking is made by vehicle class. Ten categories were offered on 10 September 2026, and you pick yours before any amount appears.
| Family | Categories offered at booking |
|---|---|
| Two wheels | Motorcycle 100 to 200cc, Motorcycle 250 to 350cc, Big bike 400cc and up |
| Cars | Small or light cars, Sedan, AUV, SUV |
| Utility | Multicab, Pick-up, Van |
A standard rental scooter, a 110 or a 155cc, falls in the first row. If you are unsure which class your vehicle belongs to, the engine lets you search by brand instead of category.
One caveat before you compare prices: the operator publishes no vehicle tariff on its site, and the amount only appears once the crossing and the category are filled in. Treat any page quoting a vehicle fare to the peso without a date with suspicion.
What the counter asks for
The operator asks for a copy of the vehicle’s original receipt and certificate of registration, the pair everyone here calls the OR/CR. Add a government issued ID for every person named on the ticket.
Rentals are where this bites: the OR/CR is in the rental company’s name, not yours. Ask them for the copy and a written authorisation before you drive to the port, or the counter will refuse to load the machine.
The driver travels with the vehicle
The vehicle booking includes the driver by default. Anyone else is declared separately, in a passenger field that explicitly excludes the driver, so two people on a scooter count as one vehicle plus one passenger.
The e-ticket has to be exchanged for the official ticket at the designated booking office, and on the day of travel that means at least one hour before departure. Boarding gates close thirty minutes before sailing, with no stated exception.
Plan to be at the terminal an hour before departure, two if this is your first time loading a vehicle. And keep the southern crossing in mind: the operator started in 1990 on Argao to Loon, far shorter from southern Cebu, worth checking against current sailings if you are coming from that side of the island.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the Cebu to Bohol ferry?
About 2 hours to Tagbilaran on OceanJet fast craft, and roughly 1 h 15 to 1 h 30 to Getafe. The Tubigon RORO was listed at 2 hours by the operator in mid-2026, though several guides still quote 3 hours.
Do you need to book the Cebu to Bohol ferry in advance?
In high season and around Philippine public holidays, yes, particularly for mid-morning Tagbilaran sailings. Outside those periods the counter on the day is usually enough, given how many rotations run.
How much is a Cebu to Tagbilaran ticket?
960 PHP in tourist or open air class and 1 450 PHP in business, read on the operator’s own booking engine on 29 September 2026, after a fare rise of about ten percent in late September. Add the terminal fee of about 25 PHP, payable in cash at the pier. The bands you see on comparison sites come from older readings, and the 500 PHP figure some of them quote is the old Getafe fare (540 PHP since late September), not an out of date Tagbilaran one.
How much luggage can you take on the Cebu to Bohol ferry?
One piece of hand baggage per passenger. In tourist class it is capped at 10 kg and 25 x 35 x 40 cm, which a large backpack exceeds; business class allows a trolley bag or a backpack instead. Anything bigger travels as checked baggage, with a stated carrier liability of 100 PHP.
Can you take a scooter or a car on the ferry?
Not on OceanJet, whose fast craft carry passengers only. You need a RORO, which in practice means Lite Ferries, to Tubigon or to Tagbilaran, booked as a separate vehicle reservation priced by category rather than by length.
What happens if the ferry is cancelled for weather?
The Coast Guard suspends departures and they typically resume the same day. If OceanJet cancels and cannot carry you by another reasonable means, its published rule is a full refund of the ticket value. If you are the one giving up rather than the operator, the refund drops to 80 percent before the vessel sails and 60 percent after, and to nothing once you have checked in.
Is there a night ferry between Cebu and Bohol?
Yes, on Lite Ferries, which runs around the clock: to Tubigon at 00:30, 01:00 and 19:00, and to Tagbilaran at 22:00. OceanJet stops at 17:40 out of Cebu, its fast craft do not run overnight on this crossing.