Ferries from Balingoan

Balingoan is a small coastal town in Misamis Oriental, Northern Mindanao, and its port — in Barangay Bauk-bauk, about 84 kilometres east of Cagayan de Oro City — is the main mainland gateway for two very different island trips. For most travellers it is simply the jumping-off point for Camiguin, the volcanic island province just across the strait, but it also carries a longer weekly RoRo run north to Bohol.

The workhorse route is the short crossing to Benoni port on Camiguin. Roll-on/roll-off ferries and fast craft shuttle back and forth for much of the day, taking roughly one hour to 1 hour 30 minutes depending on the vessel. Several operators share the run — Super Shuttle Ferry and St. Benedict Ocean Shipping Lines among them — so departures leave frequently through the morning and afternoon rather than to a single fixed timetable, and foot-passenger fares are famously cheap (a couple of hundred pesos). Because boats go often, most travellers simply turn up and take the next available sailing, though vehicles and peak holiday periods (Holy Week, Christmas, the October Lanzones Festival on Camiguin) are worth planning around.

The longer link is Lite Ferries' RoRo service across the Bohol Sea to Jagna on the southeast coast of Bohol, a crossing of around five hours that runs on a limited weekly basis (typically a few fixed days such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday) rather than daily. This is the practical car-and-passenger route between Mindanao and Bohol, and schedules shift seasonally, so confirming the current sailing days before travelling is essential.

Reaching Balingoan overland is straightforward but takes a little patience. From Cagayan de Oro, head to the Agora bus terminal and board a Butuan-bound bus; the ride to Balingoan takes roughly two to three hours along the coastal highway, and the pier is a five-minute walk from where the bus drops you. The port has seen recent expansion work to handle growing traffic. Keep in mind this is a functional provincial ferry terminal — simple facilities, cash fares, and departures that can be affected by weather in the Bohol Sea — so build in buffer time when connecting onward to Camiguin or Bohol.