Ferries from Boracay to Cebu (island hopping)

Our plan was to take an overnight ferry from Boracay to Cebu where we had a reservation for 2 nights and would then fly from there to Singapore. In order to do this, we took a ferry to Caticlan Jetty on the mainland. We then got in a van to Iloilo where the ferry leaves from on the south side of the island.  The vans are faster than the bus because they drive like maniacs passing cars and trucks and shooting narrow gaps to gain the lead. The van takes 4-5 hours and the bus takes around 6. Both were 350 pesos.

The van ride was cramped and hot. A bus would have been a lot more comfortable but we couldn't reserve ferry tickets online so we wanted to get there as early as possible. We got there at 4 (3 hours before the ferry was to leave) and it was already sold out. People began coming up to us providing us with diffferent options. It seemed like they were taking advantage at first but once we saw other Philippinos joining their van, we realized it was probably our best option. We needed to take a van from Iloilo to Damangas to catch a shorter ferry to the island of Negros which is in between our departure and eventual destination. The van ride was about 45 minutes and we then took a ferry to Bocolod which took 2 hours. i think we paid 400 pesos each for this part of the trip. At this point it was late so we decided to grab a hotel, cut our losses and continue the journey the next morning. 

We met two very cool Philippino men who helped us throughout this journey, Alan and Eugene. At Bocolod, we all headed to a bbq chicken dinner together. Alan made sure we were all safe on the tricycles (tuk tuks or moto taxis) and insisted on paying for everything. He  was so kind and generous and seeminly typical of the Philippino culture. Everyone we met along this journey was incredible.

The next morning we bought tickets for 560 pesos from Bocolod to Cebu at the bus station. We left at 9:30 am from Bocolod on bus to San Carlos which took almost 3 hours where we took a 2 hour ferry at 1 pm to Toledo. We traveled with Ceres bus company and the bus went on the ferry with us. After getting off the ferry, we got back on the bus for another 3 hours. We arrived in Cebu City at 6:30 pm where we took a taxi to the ferry port for Mactan/ Lapu-Lapu City. These ferries run constantly until around 10 pm. The ferry took about 20 minutes. We disembarked and hopped in yet another cab and were at our hotel within 10 minutes.

2 days, 2 vans, 4 ferries, 2 bus rides, and a few friends later, we finally made it. We saw just a little of the beauty of the Philippines on this trip and we need to come back.