While some islands are now reachable by plane or are connected to the mainland with a bridge, ferries remain the only way to reach some of the most beautiful and amazing islands, hidden beaches, or other seaside destinations. Larger and slower car ferries carry vehicles and passengers around the world, but in certain cases, you will need to opt for a smaller yet faster express high speedboat or catamaran to reach your destination. While the latter does save you time, caution should be taken if you are prone to seasickness. When the sea is, rough high-speed boats which actually cut the waves are a better option than catamarans that ride the waves instead hence turning your journey into a rock-and-roll trip. To prevent or beat motion sickness, we recommend taking a special medication – consult your doctor prior to the journey. While on board, grab a seat on an open-air deck wherever possible.
Ferry trips offered by Starlite Ferries can be booked online – in an easy and hassle-free manner, without wasting your time visiting the booking office.
Starlite Ferries Main Piers
Here is a list of some of the main piers you can reach with Starlite Ferries ferries. Check the complete station guide before you go:
Calapan Pier
Bogo
Odiongan Port
Romblon Pier
Dapitan Pier
Cebu Starlite Ferries
Nasipit Seaport
Surigao City Ferry Terminal
Roxas Dangay Port
Bacolod
Estancia
Caticlan Jetty Boracay
San Agustin Port
Fort San Pedro Iloilo Pier
Batangas Terminal
Roxas City Capiz Port
Sibuyan
Starlite Ferries Popular Destinations
The most popular shipping routes covered by Starlite Ferries include but are not limited to:
High-speed fast ferries always hit the hardest on your pocket. If you need to save money, check whether some slower options are available on your route – usually the rates are much more affordable. It is a rule of thumb to check the length of the trip before booking. On longer routes, the difference in travel time can be huge. Note that not all ticket fares or classes are always available on any route. During peak seasons it is a good idea to make your booking in advance as the availability of more expensive private cabins is often limited. Opting for walk-in tickets on the most popular routes during these periods can result in long waiting queues. Some destinations have more than one pier or different piers for different ferry companies hence goes the recommendation to check the pier you leave from/dock at before your trip. Leave enough time before the departure to find your boat and check in. These procedures may take up to a couple of hours on international routes. Last but not least, some piers impose their own ‘pier fee’ on all arriving passengers. This fee is normally not included in your ticket price – keep this in mind.
Travel by Ferry: Pros & Cons
Pros of Ferry Travel
Taking a ship allows you to get to some of the islands, beaches, or seaside destinations which otherwise cannot be reached. While ferry travels can be time-consuming and sometimes make you suffer from sea sickness, the possibility of visiting the most paradise, secret, off-the-beaten-track destinations they bring you to usually compensates.
Ferry tickets can be booked online. It saves you time and secures your travel itinerary goes as planned. The advanced booking option is especially convenient when travelling during peak season periods, national holidays, or long weekends when there is high demand for tickets and on routes served by a limited number of vessels.
On some routes, you are able to choose the class of the ticket or cabin. There are private compartments or standard cabins with a number of extras included or not. Always check the conditions of your fare to take most of your trip.
Ferry travel is always fun. It allows you to see the places you visit or just pass by from a different angle. The majority of places look terrific – and totally different! – when viewed from the water. Sailing provides a great opportunity to shoot nice and unique pics and videos – do jump at it!
Cons of Ferry Travel
The major concern while travelling by water is motion sickness, which is a very annoying and unpleasant thing. Even if you have never experienced it before, there is no guarantee that the next ferry trip will run smoothly as well. Rough seas and speedboat journeys can make even the strongest stomachs beg for mercy. Follow our recommendations above and take your medicine half an hour prior to your trip. Taking a light meal before travel also helps – more chances to get seasick with an empty stomach.
Delays and cancellations are common for ferry trips as they highly depend on weather and sea conditions. It especially concerns travel during shoulder months or off-season. Rains, mossy seas, and stormy weather may interfere with your travel itinerary – try to keep it flexible and do not plan tight flight connections even during the ‘usually-good-weather’ season.
Calapan PierBogoOdiongan PortRomblon PierDapitan PierCebu Starlite FerriesNasipit SeaportSurigao City Ferry TerminalRoxas Dangay PortBacolodEstanciaCaticlan Jetty BoracaySan Agustin PortFort San Pedro Iloilo PierBatangas TerminalRoxas City Capiz PortSibuyan
Starlite Ferries Company Reviews
L R
Liam R
It was a great way to avoid the late booking of a flight which would have been 5x this. I had a comfortable and safe journey - recommend you come tired so that you can sleep, and bring earplugs and an eyemask. Totally safe and viable if not long alternative to get around PH.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Mar 5, 2024
P J
Princess J
Paid an additional 91 pesos for the "text alerts/notification" before the trip but did not received any.
Ferry Tourist Class, Starlite Ferries, Jan 13, 2024
H T
Henry T
Someone should remind passengers if they already paid terminal fee, not on the time of boarding, specially early morning trips, every one are not familiar with the process.
Ferry Tourist Class, Starlite Ferries, Jan 12, 2024
A Z
Aillen Z
Time of departure is 1PM but the Ship left around 2:10PM.
Ferry Business Class, Starlite Ferries, Jan 5, 2024
M J
Maricon J
Overall, it was great.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Dec 10, 2023
T
Triencia
The trip was delayed by 1 hr and 30minutes and there was no announcement of the cause of delay
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Oct 30, 2023
L C
Lyle C
CR disgusting both areas.
Bunks in tourist old need recovering.
Other ferries better in cleanliness.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Oct 19, 2023
C M
Carmen M
the only thing to improve are the instruction to get to the port ( pier4 does not say anything if everybody need to go to gate 3 first, hard and confusing also for the taxi driver
Everything else was very good
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Oct 12, 2023
R K
Rolando K
Your tourist cabin airconditioning is not functioning creating a very warm to hot place.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Oct 10, 2023
R
RUFINO
Had difficulty changing online ticket to physical ticket better if instead use QR code scanning
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Oct 5, 2023
J F
Jose F
the trip was ok. it was a little late when it left batangas city pier but still arrived on time in Caticlan
Ferry Economy Bed, Starlite Ferries, Sep 30, 2023
C G
Camilo G
Comfortable trip
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Sep 1, 2023
D M
Diane M
The vessel crew were not so accomodating.
No alternative provided for charging areas.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Jun 23, 2023
K E
Kin E
No shower room and other toilet available
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Jun 20, 2023
D
Dhycie
Should improve proper gesture.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Jun 17, 2023
A B
ariane B
Ferry on time, took AC tourist bed and they were comfortable with clean sheets, decent showers and toilets. Definitely worth the price instead of flight
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, May 27, 2023
D P
Dennis P
Fast travel time good accomodation.
Problem is charging electronics although it cost but always no available coins onboard
Ferry Economy Bed, Starlite Ferries, May 25, 2023
N B
Niccolo B
Everything perfect, clean sheets but they kept the lights on all night
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Apr 30, 2023
R F
Rosielyn F
They have 3 women toilet, but only one was open but the flush didn’t work. So u need to use timba. No tissue, no soap to wash your hands. I asked the crew, she said they are out of stock. I hope next time they make this right before ferry leaves the place.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Apr 28, 2023
N M
Nikita M
Arrived more or less on time. Cheap alternative to flying.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Mar 7, 2023
R R
Racel R
You have free meal .BUT you don't have free bootle water.....and you will wait for almost 2hours for the meal to be claim...
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Feb 27, 2023
B F
Brian F
Good and Fastest
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Jan 11, 2023
K L
Kyle L
Satisfied
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Jan 10, 2023
J O
Josephine O
Great accomodation
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Dec 28, 2022
R R
RENILYN R
Already bought a ticket online but has to line up for hours as the printed copy is not accepted
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Dec 28, 2022
A T
Arnel T
It was my first time to travel going to Nasipit and I must say very worth it. The vessel is very nice and clean as well as the staff are very accommodating and courteous together with their warm smiles. Kudos to all the team of Starlite and of course to our Captain for bringing us safe to our places. I do hope you will keep it up and exceed more the standards of local shipping industry.
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Dec 2, 2022
A
Anthea
It was really good!
Ferry Economy Bed, Starlite Ferries, Oct 5, 2022
A
Anthea
It was really good!
Ferry Economy Bed, Starlite Ferries, Oct 5, 2022
S R
sadegh R
The waiting room crowded and all indoors during Covid season. The port does not allow waiting in outdoors area.
The seating area was much nicer than the bunk bed areas jammed with people. There were only ten of us in an area for 150! I guess people did not want to pay a bit extra for the reclining seating. Many seats were in bad repair, the Co. does not seem to care about the maintenance. The charging stations where you had to pay for charging your cellphones (Absurd) were mostly broken and no cables. The ones supposedly working, you dropped the money and your phone got no juice! waste of time and effort with people crowding the charging stations areas. Not a good idea for Covid era.
I don't know why the company cannot have plugs everywhere for people to charge their phones. They have them in buses that cost 200, 300 pesos for 60 to 100 kilometers. You paid close to 1500 here and no charging free?
Cafe was nice but once it closed it never opened for morning coffee.
I WILL SAY THIS I LIKE THIS COMPANY BETTER THAN 2GO WHICH TREATS PEOPLE LIKE ANIMALS. MY LAST EXPEIRENCE WITH 2GO FERRY WAS THEY DELAYED THE FERRY FOR 5 HOURS WITH 1000 PASSENGERS SO THEY COULD LOAD A FEW MORE TRUCKS ON THE WAY. THE TIME FOR 1000 PEOPLE WAS DISPOSABLE FOR A FEW MORE PESOS FOR THE TRUCKS COMING!
I like the staff, they are all accommodating and friendly. The bunk beds are great specially in tourist area. The comfort rooms in ladies are great except that there are no tissue in the room, may be if you ask the staff they can provide, but who have time for that.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Sep 3, 2022
H A
Hofmann A
The ship left in time Surigao and arrived even earlier than expected in Cebu. The weather, the sea and the meal were fine.
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Aug 25, 2022
A R
Abbey R
The free linen provided was the fitted bed sheet. We had to rent and pay 60 pesos for a blanket to use in a cabin that was fully air conditioned & the temp was fixed. The free food did not include any type of beverage not even service water.
Ferry Cabin, Starlite Ferries, Aug 1, 2022
M G
Mary G
Starlite: 2 dirty CR .
12Go: misleading information. I thought there was a free food
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, May 12, 2022
S M
Sarah M
We booked the Tourist option to have the food (dinner) & snack included in the payment. But during the trip, they informed us that those traveling to odiongan (8-10hr trip) do not have that option, even though it was reflected in the website.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, May 6, 2022
C
Crisam
no blankets/ramp was not passable so we had to carry our luggages with our kids thru the stairs, crew members are rude. ticketing office crew in caticlan starlite was soooo rude. would not recommend
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, May 5, 2022
J H
Jeffrey H
Not really clear if needed spass or no
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, May 2, 2022
M A
Marrah A
It was a great travel, arrived at expected time...☺️ Till next travel...
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, May 1, 2022
R N
Realiza N
We are supposed to be in tourist then you emailed us that the tourist slots are full already, so you came up with the solution that we have to book in cabin, so we did. Then when we were on board already, the crew said that their are no cabin available for us so they transferred us to tourists again and refund the money that we added for cabin. Your system is so poor and the crew had a hard time to fix the problem we encountered.
Ferry Cabin, Starlite Ferries, Apr 20, 2022
H N
Hanna N
Unorganized crew, bathroom lock in the beginning
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Apr 19, 2022
V M
Vincent M
We experienced a lot of delays before and during on board. The crews had a hard time to fixed the problem and led to confusion.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Apr 19, 2022
J R
JOHN R
The ticketing outlet in culasi port is very slow.. A lot of passengers are already in the line but the one who is in charge of releasing the ticket keeps on calling, lying in his chair and talking to someone.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Apr 1, 2022
M A
MAY A
Super fast trip to iloilo city yung estimate time of arrival 8am pero naka dock na yung barko 630am. Kaya 10 star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ kayo sakin.
Ferry Economy Bed, Starlite Ferries, Mar 12, 2022
J A
John A
There is this crew at the Starbite Counter that is so rude to every passenger when he answered questions and provide service. His name is JAYVEE btw. He doesnt deserve a position in the hospitality industry. I am a waiter in a cruise ship and what he showed to every passenger is not tolerable for me. If he has a problem in private, he must hide it and not show anger and disrespect passenger at all. I observed him the whole time until he was changed by another crew that is better than him.
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Jan 7, 2022
F I
Fernando I
T’was a good experience. Thank you.
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Jan 7, 2022
O B
Oliver B
It was very good
Ferry Economy Bed, Starlite Ferries, Jan 1, 2022
J J
Jammy J
Starlite Management has no coordination with Port personnel. 6pm schedule was delayed of 3 hrs. and we were advised that it was resched to 9pm. We were not allowed to enter boarding due to overloaded passengers inside. We were advised to wait until they have called that vessel is ready for boarding and that was the time we will go inside. We were called to enter around 9pm, only to be disgusted that the vessel have left already. You have no idea of our struggles outside the boarding area. We have our online bookings and you're not checking if those who have booked were there inside before your captain left. SO UNPROFEESIONAL! Your crews don't even bother to offer a hand for passengers upon entering the vessel for their baggage. You should be checking your passengers list before boarding just like 2go travels. Make sure you have made a final call of your passengers. Comfort rooms are not comfortable. Nobody's cleaning from time to time and other doors were locked. Only 2 is operating.
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Dec 27, 2021
M A
Mike A
The free meal is not that good,and the water is not included on the free meal. But over all, its nice experience.
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Dec 26, 2021
M C
Mary C
thank you for your Excellent customer Service Work
Ferry Tourist Bed Bunks, Starlite Ferries, Dec 24, 2021
C O
chalton O
nice trip everythings is excellent from crew to the place .
Ferry Reclining Seats, Starlite Ferries, Dec 21, 2021
4.3
651 customer reviews
5
53%
4
27%
3
14%
2
6%
1
0%
94% of 651 travelers were presumably happy with Starlite Ferries as they left good or no review