Bringing a Vehicle on a Cebu RoRo: Papers, Rates and the Clearance Nobody Asks For
Bringing your own car or motorbike onto a Cebu RoRo is mostly paperwork you already carry. The registration papers, a license, and a ticket. What catches people out is not the documents. It is arriving at the wrong hour, backing a vehicle onto a ramp in the dark, and discovering that the rate you read online was for a route the operator does not actually run.
This guide covers the three crossings people drive most out of Cebu, what the operators publish, and the two things almost every article on this subject gets wrong.
Who actually runs the routes
Start here, because the operator names attached to these crossings online are frequently not the ones on the pier.
- Hagnaya to Santa Fe, Bantayan. Super Shuttle Ferry and Island Shipping Corporation. There is no published evidence that FastCat serves this route.
- Danao to Consuelo, Camotes. Jomalia Shipping.
- Polambato, Bogo to Palompon, Leyte. EB Aznar Shipping. About two hours, with Bogo departures at 01:00 and 10:00 and Palompon departures at 06:30 and 14:00. Passenger fare ₱450. Checked September 2026.
Montenegro Lines publishes no Cebu routes at all. Its rolling cargo tariff covers Batangas, Lucena, Mindoro and Romblon. If a page quotes you a Montenegro rate for Bantayan, that page is guessing.
The documents
Three operators publish a document list and they agree on the substance.
- The vehicle’s registration papers. Certificate of Registration and the current Official Receipt. Montenegro accepts an original or a photocopy. Bring the original anyway.
- A valid driver’s license.
- A valid government ID and your ticket.
If the vehicle is not registered in your name, no operator publishes what it wants to see. A deed of sale or an authorisation letter from the registered owner is the sensible thing to carry, but nobody has written down that it is required, so treat it as insurance rather than a rule.
The PNP Highway Patrol clearance question
This one deserves a straight answer, because the internet gives two and neither is sourced.
A PNP-HPG Motor Vehicle Clearance Certificate exists, and “motor vehicle shipment” is one of the listed purposes you can apply under. The fee runs somewhere between ₱300 and ₱500 depending on whether an inspection is charged separately.
What is not established is whether that purpose covers a locally registered private car crossing from Cebu to Bantayan on a two hour ferry. None of the three operators that publish document lists asks for it. The HPG’s own citizen’s charter is not publicly readable. So the honest position is this: no operator requires it, and if you are shipping a vehicle unaccompanied, or moving one you have just bought, ask the HPG office directly rather than trusting anyone’s blog. Checked September 2026.
What it costs
Hagnaya to Santa Fe, Bantayan
Fares on this crossing rose in March 2026 and were rolled back in May after MARINA convened the operators and the Bantayan LGUs. The May figures are the current ones, and they are the reason to distrust any guide still quoting ₱180.
Super Shuttle Ferry, effective 12 May 2026: motorcycle 150cc ₱1,033. Motorcycle 200cc and above ₱1,247. Tricycle ₱1,647. Four-wheel vehicles ₱2,264 to ₱3,501 depending on class. Regular passenger ₱392.
Island Shipping, effective 11 May 2026: motorcycle up to 200cc ₱800. 650cc ₱900. 700cc to 1000cc ₱1,200. Tricycle ₱1,400. Sedan or hatchback ₱1,500. SUV, pickup or wagon ₱2,200. Regular passenger ₱370.
Island Shipping is the cheaper of the two on every line. Both run roughly eight crossings a day and take about an hour. The northern Cebu ferry guide has the passenger side of this crossing in full.
Danao to Consuelo, Camotes
Jomalia publishes no vehicle tariff. Reported rates for small vehicles sit around ₱1,800 to ₱2,500 one way, passengers charged separately, and the terminal quotes on the day. Four sailings daily, roughly two to two and a half hours. Full detail in the Camotes guide.
Longer crossings
Trans-Asia publishes an actual rate card, updated May 2026 and effective from April. Cebu to Tagbilaran runs ₱1,340 for a motorcycle up to 200cc and ₱10,460 for a van. Cebu to Cagayan de Oro is ₱3,161.15 for the same motorcycle and ₱13,898 for a sedan. Cebu to Iloilo is ₱3,819.51 and ₱28,516.33 for an SUV.
Those are sea freight only. Terminal fees are charged on top. Cebu Port Authority suspended terminal fees and RoRo wharfage between 18 April and 17 June 2026 under a fuel relief measure, then resumed regular charges on 18 June. All of that relief has lapsed, so budget for the full charge.
Does the driver travel free
Sometimes, and the rule is per operator.
- Trans-Asia includes one free convoy pass with a rolling cargo booking.
- Montenegro carries the driver free for a motorcycle or private car, and a driver plus two helpers for trucks.
- Cokaliong gives a free passenger ticket only when the bill of lading is at least ₱15,000. On a private car that threshold is unlikely to be met, so budget for your own ticket.
On the car deck
The rules that are actually written down come from MARINA Advisory 2017-26, issued December 2017.
- Cargo is stowed and secured in accordance with the ship’s approved Cargo Securing Manual. The crew does the lashing. On the smaller craft the tie-downs are rope, and they are competent with it.
- Passengers and non-operational personnel are prohibited from loitering on the ramp during loading and unloading. Get out of the way once you are parked.
- The forward ramp is not lowered during the voyage.
You will also be told to leave the car deck for the passenger deck and not sit on your bike during the crossing. Every rider repeats this and every crew enforces it. Worth knowing that the only Philippine rule anyone can point to covers ramp loitering rather than sitting in your cabin, so treat it as crew instruction rather than statute, and follow it either way.
Fuel level and LPG. No Philippine primary source publishes a fuel limit for vehicles on a passenger RoRo deck. Dangerous cargo generally falls under a 1996 Philippine Ports and Terminals circular requiring a permit and IMDG compliance, and that circular sets explicit quantity limits only for explosives. If you are carrying an LPG tank, declare it and expect to be refused.
Practical, from someone who has queued
- Handbrake on, valuables out, alarm off. Cars get bumped on a full deck and a shrieking alarm mid-channel makes you unpopular.
- Reversing on is normal. On the short Cebu crossings the marshal will often have you back on so you drive off forward at the other end. Practice before the queue, not in it.
- Arrive early enough to be irritated. An hour before departure on the short routes. 2GO wants rolling cargo 48 hours ahead, which tells you how differently the long routes work.
- Carry cash. Vehicle tariffs on Hagnaya and Danao are settled at the terminal window, not online.
- Check the weather before you drive to the port. A Coast Guard suspension strands vehicles as easily as people, and a car in a port queue is harder to walk away from than a backpack.
Do you need HPG clearance to bring a car on a Philippine ferry?
No ferry operator that publishes a document list asks for one. “Motor vehicle shipment” is a listed purpose of the PNP-HPG clearance, but no source establishes that it applies to a locally registered private car on a domestic inter-island crossing. Bring your OR and CR and ask the HPG directly if you are shipping a vehicle unaccompanied.
How much does it cost to bring a motorcycle to Bantayan?
Island Shipping charges ₱800 for a motorcycle up to 200cc and Super Shuttle Ferry charges ₱1,033 for a 150cc, both effective May 2026. Your own passenger ticket is separate, at ₱370 and ₱392 respectively.
Can you stay in your car during the crossing?
No. Crews move all passengers to the passenger deck once vehicles are secured, and MARINA rules prohibit loitering on the ramp during operations. Take what you need for the crossing before you park.
Does Montenegro Lines sail from Cebu?
Not on any route it publishes. Montenegro’s rolling cargo tariff covers Batangas, Lucena, Mindoro and Romblon. Cebu vehicle crossings are run by Super Shuttle Ferry and Island Shipping to Bantayan, Jomalia to Camotes, EB Aznar to Palompon, and Trans-Asia and Cokaliong on the longer routes.
Suroy Wear
The island you keep driving back to.
Every one of these crossings starts and ends on the same island. The Cebu Coordinates Tee puts its outline and its numbers on your back. ₱999.
