The Strong Republic Nautical Highway

Our Route was from Cagayan de Oro to Caticlan and Return.

The distance from our house in Balingasag to Boracay where we had been invited to spend the week as guests of an American friend is not, by Australian standards, very far.

It is probably 400 klms as the crow flies and even on the far less direct route by road it is about 700 klms. The only problem is the Philippines has more than 7000 islands and our journey would involve crossing 3 islands. The Resort island of Boracay would make it 4 but you can’t take a car to Boracay anyway, in fact one of Boracay’s charms is the lack of traffic.

So why were we thinking of driving? I had read about a new road system called the “Strong Republic Nautical Highway” which is designed to link Manila with the Western Islands of Mindoro, Panay, Negros to Mindanao, with a system of RollOn RollOff ferries between the Islands. We would need to drive west from Cagayan de Oro to Dapitan and then it’s just a 40 mile sea crossing to Dumaguete in Negros. Our sailing boat, Sea Feather, is currently in the natural harbour of Bonbonon 40 klms west of Dumaguete. It’s a safe and inexpensive spot to moor our boat, the only disadvantage is the only way down to the harbour from the highway is 10 klms of rough road and the only public transport is by the local Habel Habel motorcycles. I love motorcycles but being a pillion on a small motorcycle over rough roads is not my idea of fun or safe travel… So if we could take our trusty 4×4 Rocsta we would have our own transport.

Looking across the harbour at Bonbonon, Sea Feather in distance.

And then we could have the adventure of driving up to Caticlan to join our friends in Boracay. So we decided we would try the Strong Republic Nautical Highway.

Detailed information about the Highway is frustratingly hard to come by which made planning our trip difficult. I knew for example, that on our way from Cagayan de Oro to Dapitan to catch the first ferry to Dumaguete, there was a short ferry trip across a river mouth to Ozamis to avoid a 150 klm detour inland along poor roads, but where exactly did it go from? How often did it run? In was in fact easy to find, inexpensive and ran every half and hour… we know that now but we only found out by doing it!

The journey through Mindanao was pleasant and trouble free. We had a few concerns as we headed west towards the part of Mindanao that tends to be in the news, bad news that is, but the coastal road we followed was through strongly Christian areas and we felt perfectly safe. The roads were the best we have ever found in the Philippines. When we arrived at the RoRo port of Dapitan we easily bought tickets for a ferry leaving at 2.00 pm.

One important piece of information, if you ever use these inter island ferries you must have your car’s current registration and ownership papers with you… they have to be shown before you can get aboard.

The RoRo Ferry which took us from Dapitan to Dumaguete.

 

The crossing to Dumaguete was calm and only my carelessness, leaving my cell phone on top of the bunk, spoiled an otherwise trouble free journey to Sea Feather. Arriving at 6.00 pm gave plenty of time to travel the 45 Klms to Bonbonon; we arrived tired but safe and happy.

We stayed on Sea Feather for a couple of days and then headed north through Negros to Bacolod to catch the ferry across the Straights of Panay to Iloilo. The journey north was enjoyable although the conditions of the roads seemed to get worse the further away from Dumaguete we got. Bacolod has a very frustrating one way traffic system… we knew where we wanted to go, left to the port, but every street seemed to be one way, the wrong way! A new SM Mall had just opened and it means a new system of one way streets is needed…but unfortunately they haven’t yet quite decided on the new system! We ended up in a poor residential area, and were told we should go “That Way”… we did but the street was so narrow we had to wait for numerous elderly citizens to move from their doorways before we could get past.

We arrived to find the regular RoRo ferry had just left with the next one at 8.00 in the morning. We saw a landing craft style vessel, one big ramp at the bows, big vehicle deck and accommodation at the stern. Enquiries revealed that this left in less than an hour and was going to the special RoRo port of Dumangas east of the city of Iloilo, so we followed several large trucks and buses onto the ferry. They all turned around and reversed on so we thought we had better do the same even though it was a bit intimidating as there was quite a gap between the ramp and the dock and the boat was rolling gently. Glad we did as departing the vessel at the other end involved a dark concrete ramp and it is much easier to see with the headlights pointing ahead!

I engaged 4 wheel drive and eased the car up and over the ramp with no problems but a girl driving a small hatch-back got herself stuck with the front wheels spinning helplessly on wet rope mats placed between the ramp and dock. Luckily the car was small and the deck crew big so they just picked it up and heaved her aboard!

A more Utilitarian Vehicle ferry from Bocolod to the Island of Panay.

It did take us three days to travel to Boracay, a journey that would have taken just a few hours had we flown there via Manila, but then we would have missed out on so much. We also missed the endless security checks, lugging suitcases around (And/or fighting off the hoards of waiting porters who want to carry your bags, with the associated stress of deciding a fair fee for such services) and sitting around in airport lounges. We felt to be in charge of our own destiny which is a satisfying feeling.

There are so many things that come to mind about our journey and I will describe some in my next few articles. Let me just say that the Highway is a great conduit for a safe adventure for those who like experiencing new places and the rewards of completing a journey. We met many helpful and friendly people along the way and experienced beautiful coastal and mountain scenery. The ferries are clean, punctual, in good order and professionally operated. The condition of the roads leaves much to be desired in many places but there is a lot of road building actually in progress and I am sure the highway will improve a lot over the next few years. There are few private vehicles traveling the highway and so your experiences will be ones not shared by many people and that has an appeal of its own.

You don’t need a new or fancy vehicle, something tough and simple is best. Our Korean ‘Jeep’ is more than 10 years old but has an economical diesel engine, a surprisingly roomy and comfortable interior, an excellent Air Conditioner and good ground clearance.

In fact you don’t need a vehicle at all as modern, comfortable Air Conditioned Buses run along the whole length of the Highway. You can catch one which will take you all the way from Manila to Cagayan de Oro but of course you can stop and take a break anywhere and then catch the next convenient bus to continue your journey.

If you have the time, travel the Strong Republic National Highway and see another fascinating aspect of these beautiful Islands.

Journey’s End… Beautiful Boracay.

Colin and Gina in Cagayan de Strong Highway.

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