Ferries from Matnog

Matnog is where Luzon ends. Every vehicle travelling the Philippine Nautical Highway from Manila to Mindanao crosses the San Bernardino Strait from this port — a road system that uses ferries as bridges, and this is the first and most important of them.

Where the boats go

• San Isidro in Northern Samar — about 1 hour, 3 sailings.
• Bogo and Maya — around 9 hours, no active departures in our data.

6 active sailings in our timetable. The heavier traffic across the strait goes to Allen, a short distance from San Isidro, and we do not currently hold those schedules.

The Nautical Highway

The route runs Matnog to Samar, on to Leyte and Ormoc, then Liloan in Southern Leyte, and finally Lipata at Surigao on Mindanao. Buses and trucks drive on at one end and off at the other, and the ferries are treated as sections of road rather than as journeys.

A bridge across the San Bernardino Strait has been proposed to replace this crossing. Until it exists, the ferry is the only way south by land.

⚠ The strait has a reputation

San Bernardino is a narrow channel between two seas with strong tidal currents, and it sits in the main typhoon corridor. Crossings are suspended regularly and without much notice, and when they are, the queue at Matnog builds into hundreds of vehicles.

Anyone travelling this route on a schedule should treat the crossing as the point where the schedule breaks, not as a one-hour hop.

Where the port is

Matnog is at the southern tip of Sorsogon province in Bicol, roughly twelve hours by road from Manila. The port is the town's entire reason for existing.

Season

Year round; typhoon season from roughly June to November is when suspensions cluster.