Short answer
Dauin is about 30 km south of Tampi Port, usually 45 minutes to an hour by car. You come off the Bato crossing in San Jose, run about 15 km down the coastal highway through Amlan and Sibulan into Dumaguete, then about 15 km on along the shore road past Bacong to the dive coast. The car goes pier to resort gate in one run, with no stop in the city.
This is the leg divers need when they come over from Moalboal or anywhere else on Cebu’s west coast, because the west-coast road reaches Bato and Bato’s boats land at Tampi. A private car meets your sailing at the pier with room for dive bags, instead of a bus into the Dumaguete terminal, a second bus south and a tricycle down the beach lane.
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: Tampi Port (San Jose) to Dauin
- 1Cross from Bato to Tampi
Maayo Shipping runs the RORO crossing between Bato Port in Samboan, Cebu, and Tampi in about 30 minutes. Seven departures each way 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. Some schedules add more, so check the pier board before relying on an extra boat.
- 2Meet your driver at the pier
Tell us your sailing and we track it. Your driver is waiting as you walk off with your name, and the dive bags go straight in the back.
- 3South through Dumaguete without stopping
Down the coastal highway through Amlan and Sibulan into Dumaguete, about 15 km. The city is the slow section, especially at the end of the working day.
- 4Down the coast to your resort gate
Out through Bacong and on along the shore to Dauin, about 15 km more, and dropped at the resort itself rather than the highway junction.
Ways to travel, compared
- Private transfer from Tampi Port (what we arrange)~45-60 min
Met at the pier, timed to your sailing, and driven straight to your Dauin resort with space for dive kit. One fixed price for the car agreed before you travel, request a quote.
- Ceres bus + Ceres bus + tricycle (public)~1.5-2 hrs
A southbound bus on the coastal highway into the Dumaguete terminal, a second southbound bus that drops you on the highway at Dauin, then a tricycle to your resort. Cheapest, but three legs and two changes with luggage.
- Tricycle from the pier (local)varies
Local rides wait outside the pier gate. Fine for a short hop up the coast, but 30 km with dive bags is not what they are built for, and the fare is negotiated on the spot.
Tampi Port (San Jose) to Dauin: FAQs
How far is Dauin from Tampi port?
About 30 km: roughly 15 km south from the pier into Dumaguete, then about 15 km on down the coast road past Bacong. By private car that is usually 45 minutes to an hour, with traffic through Dumaguete city the variable part.
Would landing at Sibulan be quicker for Dauin?
By road, a little. Sibulan pier is about 22 km from the dive coast against about 30 km from Tampi, so it saves you roughly 15 minutes in the car. But Sibulan is the Liloan boat, not the Bato one, and the two Cebu piers are about a 10-minute tricycle ride apart round the southern tip, so the sailing board decides it rather than the drive. Bato has nothing at all between 10:30 AM and 2:00 PM; Liloan runs nine boats between 4:30 AM and 10:30 PM, but its daytime ones are three hours apart (9:00 AM, then 12:00 NN, then 3:00 PM). Take whichever boat leaves first for your arrival hour, and send us that sailing so we meet the right pier.
Can you meet the last boat of the day?
Yes. The last Bato to Tampi sailing in every published schedule is 11:30 PM, landing around midnight. Send us the sailing you are booked on, the driver tracks it and waits if it runs late, and tell your resort you will check in late, since many Dauin resorts close reception in the evening.
Can the same driver take us to Apo Island later in the stay?
Yes. Apo Island is a barangay of Dauin, reached by your resort boat or by the public bancas at Malatapay, about 15 km further south. Ask for the pier transfer and the Apo Island day in one quote and we price them together.
Do the Dauin sanctuaries charge a fee on top of the diving?
Yes, on top of your dive package and separate from the ferry ticket and the car. The Dauin sanctuaries are protected areas with a municipal user fee for diving or snorkelling, charged per dive rather than once for your stay, and it is usually not inside the price your dive shop quotes: it is settled in cash at the dive centre. Ask your resort for the per-dive figure when you book, so a week of shore diving is budgeted properly.
Can you do the return trip, Dauin back to Tampi Port (San Jose)?
Yes. The same private car and driver, Dauin back to Tampi Port (San Jose) 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.
Dauin → Tampi Port (San Jose)
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 Dauin → Tampi Port (San Jose) 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 Dauin from these starting points. Each page has its own timing and a quote form already filled in for that pickup.