How do I get from Dauin to Tampi port for the boat back to Moalboal?
Short answer
Tampi Port in San Jose is about 30 km north of Dauin, usually 45 minutes to an hour by car. The road runs up the coast past Bacong, through Dumaguete, then about 15 km on along the coastal highway through Sibulan and Amlan to the pier, where the Maayo Shipping RORO crosses to Bato in Samboan, Cebu, in about 30 minutes.
This is the way home if your Cebu stay is on the west coast. Bato is the pier the Moalboal and Badian road reaches, so landing there saves the drive round Cebu’s southern tip from Liloan. A private car collects you and your dive bags at the resort gate and drops you at the pier in one run, timed to the sailing you want, instead of a tricycle up the beach lane, a bus into the Dumaguete terminal and a second bus north to San Jose.
All Saints’ Day, Sunday 1 November 2026: three sailings each way
Maayo Shipping runs a reduced holiday timetable on both of its Cebu crossings on 1 November, and the times differ by direction. The normal timetable resumes on Monday 2 November. Expect holiday crowds at the pier.
| Liloan → Sibulan | Sibulan → Liloan | Bato → Tampi | Tampi → Bato |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6:00 AM | 9:00 AM | 10:30 AM | 7:30 AM |
| 12:00 NN | 3:00 PM | 4:30 PM | 1:30 PM |
| 6:00 PM | 9:00 PM | 11:30 PM | 8:00 PM |
Maayo’s RORO only. The holiday notice does not cover the passenger fast craft, so check its times with the operator. Crossing on the 1st? Tell us which sailing you are aiming for and we time the pickup to it.
Step by step: Dauin to Tampi Port (Bato boat to Cebu)
- 1Choose your sailing
Seven departures from Tampi appear in every published schedule: 5:00 AM, 8:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 2:00 PM, 5:00 PM, 8:00 PM and 11:30 PM. There is nothing in that list between 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM, so check the pier board before relying on any extra boat, and send us the sailing you are aiming for.
- 2Collected at your resort gate
Your driver meets you at the resort itself, not the highway, and the dive bags go straight in the back.
- 3North through Bacong and Dumaguete
Up the coast road and through the city, about 15 km. This is the variable section, slow in the daytime and at the end of the working day, and quiet before dawn.
- 4On past Sibulan to Tampi
About 15 km more up the coastal highway through Sibulan and Amlan to the pier at San Jose. Tickets are sold at the counter, and the crossing to Bato takes about 30 minutes.
Ways to travel, compared
- Private transfer to Tampi Port (what we arrange)~45-60 min
Collected at your Dauin resort and driven straight to the pier with room for dive kit, timed to your sailing. One fixed price for the car agreed before you travel, request a quote.
- Tricycle + Ceres bus + Ceres bus (public)~1.5-2 hrs
A tricycle up to the highway at Dauin, a northbound bus into the Dumaguete terminal, then a second northbound bus that drops you on the highway at San Jose for the pier. Cheapest, but three legs and two changes with luggage, against a boat that will not wait.
- Tricycle direct (local)varies
Some tricycles will take you, but 30 km with dive bags is not what they are built for, and the fare is negotiated on the spot.
Dauin to Tampi Port (Bato boat to Cebu): FAQs
How long does it take to get from Dauin to Tampi port?
About 45 minutes to an hour for the roughly 30 km by private car: about 15 km up the coast road past Bacong into Dumaguete, then about 15 km on to the pier at San Jose. Traffic through Dumaguete city is the variable part, so a daytime departure needs more slack than an early-morning one.
Should I go back via Tampi or via Sibulan?
It depends where you are going on Cebu. Tampi crosses to Bato, the pier on the west-coast road through Moalboal and Badian. Sibulan, about 22 km from Dauin against about 30 km for Tampi, crosses to Liloan on the southern tip, which suits Oslob and the east-coast road to Cebu City. The two Cebu piers are only about a 10-minute tricycle ride apart round the tip, so if the Bato board has a gap at your hour, the Liloan boat is a fair fallback. Dauin to Sibulan Port has its own page.
What time is the last boat from Tampi to Bato?
The last departure in every published schedule is 11:30 PM, an hour later than the last Liloan boat from Sibulan. The first is 5:00 AM. Sailings can be cancelled in rough weather, so confirm at the pier or with Maayo Shipping close to your travel date. Our ferry guide carries the seven corroborated times and when we last checked them.
Do I need to book the ferry ahead?
For most crossings you can buy the ticket at the pier on the day. Booking ahead on Maayo Shipping’s portal is worth it for the first and last boats, or whenever a flight or a driver on the Cebu side depends on one specific sailing.
Is there room for dive gear and luggage on the run to the pier?
Yes - say how many sets of dive gear are coming in the "Anything bulky?" box on the quote form, with your bag count, and the car is sized to the load instead of the passenger count. You are going home with everything, kit packed wet, and the deadline is a sailing: the published Bato boats have nothing between 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM, so a car that cannot take the gear in one run can cost you three and a half hours at the pier and the Cebu road leg behind it. If your gear was rented on the coast and stays there, tell us that too and we send something smaller.
Can you arrange the Cebu side too?
Yes, through our sister site cebu.travel, which runs the Cebu road legs. Ask for both halves when you plan the trip, give us the sailing, and the Negros driver and the Cebu driver are timed to the same boat.
Can you do the return trip, Tampi Port (Bato boat to Cebu) back to Dauin?
Yes. The same private car and driver, Tampi Port (Bato boat to Cebu) back to Dauin over the same ~30 km. Ask for both legs in one quote request and we price the round trip together. If the way back ends somewhere other than where you started, say where in the Anything else? box on the quote form and we quote that leg instead of the reverse of this one.
How much notice do you need - can I still book this for tomorrow?
Usually yes. There is no minimum notice on this route and no cut-off hour, so a request for tomorrow, or for later today, is worth sending rather than writing off. What settles it is whether a vetted driver is free for the time you need, and you will have the answer and the price by email the same day, usually within a few hours. An early start is routine here rather than a complication. The part that gets harder with less notice is choice - holding a particular vehicle size or an exact pickup hour - not whether the journey can happen, so send the date and, if the timing is tight, the hour you need to be moving.
Do I pay anything up front, and when do I pay the rest?
Nothing to ask for a quote. Once you are happy with the price it is two steps, not a choice between two: a booking fee paid online (card, bank transfer or GCash) confirms the trip and is what gets you your written confirmation, then the balance goes directly to your driver at the end of the journey. The fee is part of the all-in figure you agreed rather than an extra on top of it, and your quote states it before you pay. Free cancellation more than 72 hours before pickup refunds the fee in full.
Do you book the boat, or do I?
You book the crossing, and the Cebu boats are settled at the port on the day - they are public passenger fares you buy from the operator, and we neither sell them nor mark them up. What we quote is the private road leg each side of the water, plus the waiting and the timing. This is the crossing where naming your boat matters most: four of the daytime gaps on the Liloan-Sibulan run are three hours each, so which sailing you aim at moves your pickup by hours rather than minutes. Put it in the "Ferry or boat" box - "not booked yet" is a fine answer - and we will work the drive around it.
Tampi Port (Bato boat to Cebu) → Dauin
We run this route in both directions, with the same car and driver. Ask for both legs in one request and we'll price the round trip together.
We'll pre-fill Tampi Port (Bato boat to Cebu) → Dauin on the form. Just add your dates and details.
Coming back to somewhere else - a different town, the airport, a pier for an onward boat? Say where in the Anything else? box on the form and we price the return to that instead of back to the start.
Starting somewhere else?
We also run to Tampi Port (Bato boat to Cebu) from these starting points. Each page has its own timing and a quote form already filled in for that pickup.