How do I get from Lakawon Island back to Bacolod?
Short answer
Bacolod is about 50 to 60 km south of the Cadiz Viejo mainland office, roughly an hour to an hour and a half by private car, after a 15 to 20 minute resort boat off Lakawon. It is the same road as the trip up, taken the other way, south past Victorias and Silay into the city.
The boat is the part nobody on the road side controls. The resort publishes its outbound day-tour departures from the mainland, but no simple fixed timetable for the boats coming back, and the regular boat runs on a minimum number of passengers per direction. So the driver is timed to the boat you are actually on, and waits at the port, rather than you waiting on the pier with wet bags hoping a car turns up.
Tell us where in Bacolod you are going. A city hotel is door to door. BREDCO port, where the Iloilo fast craft sail from, is in the middle of the city beside the Reclamation Area, while the FastCat RORO uses Banago, which is north of the city and so comes first on this road. If you are flying out of Bacolod-Silay Airport instead, it sits north of the city too, so say so and the car does not need to go into Bacolod at all.
Step by step: Lakawon Island to Bacolod
- 1Confirm your boat back
Overnight guests check out on the island, day trippers leave on a return boat assigned through the resort. Ask which one you are on at the mainland office and again at reception, and send us that time with your quote request.
- 2Boat to Cadiz Viejo
About 15 to 20 minutes back to the mainland port. The crossing is part of the resort package, booked and paid with them, not part of our quote.
- 3Your driver is waiting at the port
The car is at Cadiz Viejo before your boat lands, so the bags go straight in and you are not hunting for a tricycle out to the highway.
- 4South to Bacolod
Roughly 50 to 60 km down the coastal highway past Victorias and Silay, about an hour to an hour and a half depending on traffic. Silay heritage houses make an easy stop on the way if you want one.
- 5Dropped where you are going next
Door to door to your Bacolod hotel, BREDCO port for the Iloilo fast craft, or Banago for the FastCat. Send the address, or the boat, with your quote request.
Ways to travel, compared
- Resort boat, Lakawon to Cadiz Viejo~15-20 min
Run by the resort and included in its packages, so this leg is booked and paid with them, not with us. The regular boat has a passenger minimum per direction; ask which return boats are running before you settle in on the sand.
- Private transfer with the car waiting at the port (what we arrange)~1-1.5 hrs
A private car or van waiting at Cadiz Viejo when your boat lands, straight through to your Bacolod hotel, BREDCO or Banago, with a stop in Silay if you want one. Fixed price, request a quote.
- Tricycle plus Ceres bus (public)~1.25-2 hrs, plus waits
A tricycle from the port out to the highway, then a southbound Ceres bus to the Bacolod north terminal, then a taxi across the city to your hotel or the pier. Cheapest, and three separate waits after a day in the sun.
Lakawon Island to Bacolod: FAQs
How long does it take to get from Lakawon back to Bacolod?
About 15 to 20 minutes on the resort boat to Cadiz Viejo, then roughly 50 to 60 km and an hour to an hour and a half by private car to Bacolod. By tricycle and public bus the road half is more like 1.25 to 2 hours, plus the waits between them.
What time is the last boat back from Lakawon?
The resort does not publish a simple fixed return timetable alongside its 7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 AM outbound departures, and the regular boat runs on a passenger minimum. Ask which return boats are running when you register at the Cadiz Viejo office and again at island reception, and take a confirmed one rather than the latest you can find. That is the time to send us.
We stayed overnight. When should we book the car for?
For the boat you come off the island on, not for check-out. Overnight packages have listed a noon check-out followed by the boat back to the mainland, but confirm the time with the resort when you book. Tell us the boat and the car is at the port before it lands.
I am catching the boat to Iloilo. Can you take us straight to the port?
Yes. BREDCO port, where the Iloilo fast craft sail from, is in central Bacolod beside the Reclamation Area, so name it with the quote request and the car goes straight there. The FastCat RORO uses Banago instead, north of the city, which is on this road before you reach Bacolod. Leave real slack between the island boat and the ferry: the return crossing is the one leg nobody on our side controls.
Can we fly out of Bacolod-Silay the same day?
Possibly, but we would not plan a tight one. The airport is north of the city, roughly 35 to 45 km from Cadiz Viejo, so the road is short. The risk is the boat: if it waits for passengers or the sea turns, it lands late and nothing on the road gets that back. Tell us your flight time with the quote request and we will say plainly whether it fits. If it does not, a night in Silay or Bacolod and a short morning run to the terminal is the calmer shape.
What if the weather stops the boats?
Crossings and the floating bar are suspended in bad weather, and the Coast Guard has stopped trips to and from the island before. If your boat moves, tell us as soon as you know and we move the car with it, rather than leaving a driver waiting at the wrong hour or you waiting at an empty port.
Can you do the return trip, Bacolod back to Lakawon Island?
Yes. Your boat brings you back to the mainland jump-off, where your driver picks you up for the road leg to Lakawon Island. The boat is arranged and paid there, as on the way out. Ask for both road legs in one quote request and we price them 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 boat, and for Lakawon that has to happen before the day you travel. The resort does not permit same-day online bookings and asks for day-trip bookings at least one day ahead. Walk-in arrangements do exist at the mainland ticketing office in Cadiz Viejo, but they are subject to capacity, weather and the boat passenger minimum, which is a lot to leave to chance after an hour in the car. What we quote is the private road leg to the ticketing office and back, timed to the departure you are booked on - the last day-tour boat leaves at 11:00 AM, so the morning is tighter than it looks. Tell us the boat you are aiming for in the "Ferry or boat" box and we will work the pickup back from it.
Bacolod → Lakawon Island
Your boat brings you back to the mainland jump-off, where your driver picks you up for the road leg to Lakawon Island, with the banca arranged and paid there as on the way out. Ask for both road legs in one request and we'll price them together.
We'll pre-fill Bacolod → Lakawon Island 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 Bacolod from these starting points. Each page has its own timing and a quote form already filled in for that pickup.