This Tiny Miracle Island is just 200 meters in length & 20 meters in breadth approximately.
This is a must read "step by step guide", article cum review for every traveler and adventure lover.
Step 1 :
If your are coming from outside of Philippines than either arrive @ Manila (Ninoy Aquino International Airport ) or Cebu (Mactan Cebu International Airport).
Step 2 :
From Manila you can take domestic flight to either Bacolod Airport or Cebu Airport. (If you takes flight to Bacolod than read Step no. 6 & onwards till end)
Step 3 :
From Manila you can take domestic flight to either Bacolod Airport or Cebu Airport. (If you takes flight to Bacolod than read Step no. 6 & onwards till end)
Step 3 :
If you take flight to Cebu Airport, than Get a Taxi / Cab or Jeepney just from outside of Cebu airport to reach Cebu North Bus Terminal.
CONTINUE Reading Below: Step by step guide on "How to reach Carbin Reef "
Now you have two option (a) & (b)
a) Take a Ceres Liner Bus with or without Air-con from Cebu North Bus Terminal to Bacolod (via Tabuelan Port). If you select this route than go to Step 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & read till end (skip step 5 & 6)
b) Take a Ceres Liner Bus with or without Air-con from Cebu North Bus Terminal to Balcolod (via Toledo Port) If you selecting this route than follow Step 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & read till end (skip step 4 & 6)
Bus Schedule Ceres Liner Buses
Step 4 :
If you select option (a) than buy a ticket from the conductor of the bus by asking that you want to get down at Sagay City near Sagay old port but if suppose he refused to give ticket for middle stops than you have no choice but to take ticket till Bacolod and get off the bus in the middle at Sagay City.
This bus will move towards the north east direction from Cebu and you will find interesting route because it will go total off the city and even touching the coast line of Cebu island via SoGod beach and many small villages in between & you will be able to see some interesting places while sitting in the bus, recommend you to sit on the right side window by sitting on right side windows, you will be able to see the nice views when the bus run on the coastal roads.
The bus will stop few times to pick and drop some passengers etc.. The buses of Ceres Liner are well maintained as far as these routes are concern and the driver are nice, as I get opportunity to talk to him in between as I was sitting just opposite side of the driver on single seat at the entry door of the bus, he was driving nicely and reasonably good speed, the highways were nice without any potholes, looks like it built newly & made of concrete.
Depend upon the time the bus driver will stop the bus to some local restaurant for meals etc.. You will not find much or vegetarian options in these small household kind of restaurant. You can get Filipino cuisine daily routine Filipino food many Pork & Seafood and even Beef, and very rare chicken dishes, and absolutely no Lambs meat here, may be because Lambs meat is too expensive compare to Pork & Beef (as these routes are normal traveled by Filipino local travelers who do trips in between Cebu and Bacolod etc..)
Anyways, once you reach the Tabuelan Port, you need to buy tickets for ferry boat which goes to Escalante Port, they have two option air-con sitting area and normal open sitting area, I would recommend you to take normal sitting area ticket which is also cheaper, I advising normal area because during my traveling I taken air-con option but the air-conditions where not working and almost no cooling in this area, so later I had no choice but to open all the windows to get fresh air from outside and besides that there was a TV on which some movie was running with high volume not to mention that it was really disturbing, as a foreign traveler I am in no mood to watch movie (do I spent so much money to visit here from Foreign to watch movie ? hehehe) but anyways it is okay as there were many local travelers who are going up and down on this route daily, so it is okay no complaints :) but for me it is a big no as I was not here for TV movies etc.. and soon I came out of this Air-con hall and enjoyed the breeze direct from the sea in the middle of the sea, these ferry boats are old and not in very good condition either, but there was a life jackets under the seats if in case anything goes wrong. These ferry takes around three hours to reach Escalante Port.
If you select option (a) than buy a ticket from the conductor of the bus by asking that you want to get down at Sagay City near Sagay old port but if suppose he refused to give ticket for middle stops than you have no choice but to take ticket till Bacolod and get off the bus in the middle at Sagay City.
This bus will move towards the north east direction from Cebu and you will find interesting route because it will go total off the city and even touching the coast line of Cebu island via SoGod beach and many small villages in between & you will be able to see some interesting places while sitting in the bus, recommend you to sit on the right side window by sitting on right side windows, you will be able to see the nice views when the bus run on the coastal roads.
The bus will stop few times to pick and drop some passengers etc.. The buses of Ceres Liner are well maintained as far as these routes are concern and the driver are nice, as I get opportunity to talk to him in between as I was sitting just opposite side of the driver on single seat at the entry door of the bus, he was driving nicely and reasonably good speed, the highways were nice without any potholes, looks like it built newly & made of concrete.
Depend upon the time the bus driver will stop the bus to some local restaurant for meals etc.. You will not find much or vegetarian options in these small household kind of restaurant. You can get Filipino cuisine daily routine Filipino food many Pork & Seafood and even Beef, and very rare chicken dishes, and absolutely no Lambs meat here, may be because Lambs meat is too expensive compare to Pork & Beef (as these routes are normal traveled by Filipino local travelers who do trips in between Cebu and Bacolod etc..)
Anyways, once you reach the Tabuelan Port, you need to buy tickets for ferry boat which goes to Escalante Port, they have two option air-con sitting area and normal open sitting area, I would recommend you to take normal sitting area ticket which is also cheaper, I advising normal area because during my traveling I taken air-con option but the air-conditions where not working and almost no cooling in this area, so later I had no choice but to open all the windows to get fresh air from outside and besides that there was a TV on which some movie was running with high volume not to mention that it was really disturbing, as a foreign traveler I am in no mood to watch movie (do I spent so much money to visit here from Foreign to watch movie ? hehehe) but anyways it is okay as there were many local travelers who are going up and down on this route daily, so it is okay no complaints :) but for me it is a big no as I was not here for TV movies etc.. and soon I came out of this Air-con hall and enjoyed the breeze direct from the sea in the middle of the sea, these ferry boats are old and not in very good condition either, but there was a life jackets under the seats if in case anything goes wrong. These ferry takes around three hours to reach Escalante Port.
After
the boat reached the Escalante Port you need to get down from the ferry and wait in the open area
so that the bus will also get unloaded from the ferry ( ohh I forgot to
tell that the Ceres Liner bus in which you travel from Cebu North Bus
Terminal to Tabuelan port the same bus will also came with the same
ferry in which you came to Escalante Port) once the bus gets offloaded
from the ferry than you can ride the same bus for your further journey
to Sagay city as you have tickets to travel till Sagay City after about 15-20 minutes you will reach the sagay city there you get down and
get the tricycle to reach the Old Sagay Port.
Step 5 :
If you selected option (b) than buy a ticket from the conductor of the bus by asking that you want to get down at Toledo Port, better is take a bus till Toledo Port and from there get a tickets for next Ferry to reach San Carlos Port. The Ceres Liner bus from Cebu Terminal to Toledo Port goes via city and you will see the Cebu city roads, buildings and daily life of cebu peoples with some traffic jam in peak hours, once you reach the Toledo Port buy a ticket for San Carlos Port and ride the next ferry (you have two options either buy ticket for air-con cabin or normal sitting these Ferry's are looks much better, new, fresh and well maintained and Air-com also working well compare to Tabuelan route ferry.
This ferry take about 1 to 1.5 hours to reach San Carlos Port, from there you can take tricycle to reach San Carlos bus terminal it take just 10 minutes ride by tricycle and just around 8-10 peso per person. From bus terminal get into the bus which is going to Sagay City and it takes around 2 to 2.5 hours to reach Sagay City by bus.
The bus will stop at many times in the route to pick and drop passengers. The buses of Ceres Liner are well maintained as far as these routes are concern, driver was driving nicely and at reasonably good speed, the highways was a mixed bag there was nice road in between but towards the San Carlos side the roads are really bad and have many potholes and sometimes really big and in some long stretch of the road was like the bus was running on stones road, I think it is may be because the road construction was going on (so better don't sit in last rows of seats of the bus if you don't want to get hurt by these potholes jumps & bumps hehehe).
Anyways, once your bus reached Sagay City get down and take a tricycle from there to reach the Old Sagay Port.
Step 6 :
If you landed at Bacolod airport than take a Taxi/Cab or jeepney (Jeepney & Tricycle are cheapest option for commuting in Philippines) to reach bus terminal. Take Ceres Liner (yellow color buses) to reach Sagay City, get down at bus terminal and take a tricycle to Sagay City Old Port you will get tricycles just outside of bus terminal.
At Old Sagay Port you will find a Marine Reserve Office on the left side from here you get your ticket of small boat this ticket includes your ride on boat for both sides (to & from) and also life jacket, if you are interested in snorkeling than you need to shell out some extra money for that, so they will provide you snorkeling equipment also. Before ride you can even use the wash room and sitting area of this office.
Step 8 :
Don't forget to buy lots of water, cold drinks, instant coffee mix, beer, some snacks and food etc.. from the near by shops in the Port, because you will not get anything on sand bar "Carbin Reef " island
Step 9 : Important List -- Do's & Don't
Don't forgot to take your drinks & snacks food etc... ( you will not get anything to eat there NOT even water, as it is not commercial spot)
Don't forgot to take a plastic bag, as you are not allowed to throw your waste on the island, so use your plastic bag as your trash bag.
Don't try to take any corals or stones etc. with you as it is illegal to take any natural resources out of this tiny island.
Don't try to show-off or flash your valuables specially if you are foreigner and never disrespect the locals, must understand that you are in different country, culture and it is not your country, so be happy what you get and keep smiling face all the time, though the Filipino's are very friendly and supportive and they keep smiling all the times, you just respect them, that's it.
Do bring lot of sunscreen with SPF of above 60+ as it is very hot there as it is in the middle of the deep sea and also no tree for natural air-con.
Do must bring lots of water for you to keep hydrate all the time.
Step 10 : Very Important :--
Please do bring your camera's to shoot pictures and videos of such a nice location with limited public around and white sand surrounded by clear sea water. (please keep 2-3 cameras mobile camera etc.. for back up, this I am telling you on my own experience where I lost my high end mobile in this place as it falls into the sea water and by the time I reached back to the port in the evening my Mobile stopped working due to salty sea water which goes inside the phone & malfunctioned the mother board of the mobile phone and finally it stopped working & I lost all my pictures & videos which I have taken by this device, so my personal advice always keep 2-3 back-up options and always shoot everything with at-least two different devices, so you will not loose your memories just because for some device fails).
Step 11 : Note down some of the important & related contact details of this place.
(please do cross check these below details, as it may be changed from time to time)
TOURISM OFFICE :
Sagay City Tourism Office
Helen A. Cutillar
City Tourism Officer
Telefax: (34) 488-0649
Fax: (34) 488-0649/435-8571
Email: sagaycityinfo@yahoo.com
Sagay City police Station
Address : Sagay City, Philippines
Telephone: +63 34 488 0429
Hospital :
Lopez District Farmers Hospital, Inc.
Address: Hospital Road, Sagay City, Philippines
City Healt
Address: AE Marañon Street, Sagay City, Philippines
Telephone: +63 34 722 9160
Pharmacy / Medicine Store :
The Generics Pharmacy - 50
Address: 50, Nichol's Aguilar Mall, Poblacion II, Sagay Public Market, Sagay City, 6122 Negros Occidental, Philippines
Mercury Drug Store - Sagay City
Address: Sagay City, Philippines
My Advise :
I recommend this destination to all the adventurist who wants to enjoy different places, on this world, It is a must visit for them experience something different.
Click on below links for more information, Pictures & Videos on this great destination : ---
1) A Tiny Miracle Island, Carbin Reef, Sagay City, Philippines
2) Video of Carbin Reef
3) Short Film "Trip to Carbin Reef Philippines" (this link will take you to YouTube to watch this great video in full size screen)
I welcome Comments and feedback's from all the readers. Please post & share your experiences & information on the topic, so travelers can make use of your experiences & valuable information on Carbin Reef & more.
Please do support this blog & my hard work, by becoming registered member of this blog & writing comments & also reviews of your own travel experiences. If you are interested to be a part of this blog and want to have rights of Author, than please message me.
Bus Loading in Ferry
CONTINUE Reading Below: Step by step guide on "How to reach Carbin Reef "
Step 5 :
If you selected option (b) than buy a ticket from the conductor of the bus by asking that you want to get down at Toledo Port, better is take a bus till Toledo Port and from there get a tickets for next Ferry to reach San Carlos Port. The Ceres Liner bus from Cebu Terminal to Toledo Port goes via city and you will see the Cebu city roads, buildings and daily life of cebu peoples with some traffic jam in peak hours, once you reach the Toledo Port buy a ticket for San Carlos Port and ride the next ferry (you have two options either buy ticket for air-con cabin or normal sitting these Ferry's are looks much better, new, fresh and well maintained and Air-com also working well compare to Tabuelan route ferry.
This ferry take about 1 to 1.5 hours to reach San Carlos Port, from there you can take tricycle to reach San Carlos bus terminal it take just 10 minutes ride by tricycle and just around 8-10 peso per person. From bus terminal get into the bus which is going to Sagay City and it takes around 2 to 2.5 hours to reach Sagay City by bus.
The bus will stop at many times in the route to pick and drop passengers. The buses of Ceres Liner are well maintained as far as these routes are concern, driver was driving nicely and at reasonably good speed, the highways was a mixed bag there was nice road in between but towards the San Carlos side the roads are really bad and have many potholes and sometimes really big and in some long stretch of the road was like the bus was running on stones road, I think it is may be because the road construction was going on (so better don't sit in last rows of seats of the bus if you don't want to get hurt by these potholes jumps & bumps hehehe).
Anyways, once your bus reached Sagay City get down and take a tricycle from there to reach the Old Sagay Port.
Boat from Old Sagay Port to Carbin Reef
Step 6 :
If you landed at Bacolod airport than take a Taxi/Cab or jeepney (Jeepney & Tricycle are cheapest option for commuting in Philippines) to reach bus terminal. Take Ceres Liner (yellow color buses) to reach Sagay City, get down at bus terminal and take a tricycle to Sagay City Old Port you will get tricycles just outside of bus terminal.
Boat from Old Sagay Port to Carbin Reef
CONTINUE Reading Below: Step by step guide on "How to reach Carbin Reef "
Step 7 :
Once you reached Sagay City, take a tricycle to reach the Old Sagay Port they will ask for anything between 30 to 60 pesos per person so here you can use your bargaining tactics or skills if you find the charges are on higher side. At Old Sagay Port you will find a Marine Reserve Office on the left side from here you get your ticket of small boat this ticket includes your ride on boat for both sides (to & from) and also life jacket, if you are interested in snorkeling than you need to shell out some extra money for that, so they will provide you snorkeling equipment also. Before ride you can even use the wash room and sitting area of this office.
Carbin Reef is visible
CONTINUE Reading Below: Step by step guide on "How to reach Carbin Reef "
Step 8 :
Don't forget to buy lots of water, cold drinks, instant coffee mix, beer, some snacks and food etc.. from the near by shops in the Port, because you will not get anything on sand bar "Carbin Reef " island
Clear sea water & White Sand
Step 9 : Important List -- Do's & Don't
Don't forgot to take your drinks & snacks food etc... ( you will not get anything to eat there NOT even water, as it is not commercial spot)
Don't forgot to take a plastic bag, as you are not allowed to throw your waste on the island, so use your plastic bag as your trash bag.
Don't try to take any corals or stones etc. with you as it is illegal to take any natural resources out of this tiny island.
Don't try to show-off or flash your valuables specially if you are foreigner and never disrespect the locals, must understand that you are in different country, culture and it is not your country, so be happy what you get and keep smiling face all the time, though the Filipino's are very friendly and supportive and they keep smiling all the times, you just respect them, that's it.
Do bring lot of sunscreen with SPF of above 60+ as it is very hot there as it is in the middle of the deep sea and also no tree for natural air-con.
Do must bring lots of water for you to keep hydrate all the time.
Carbin Reef view from arriving boat
Step 10 : Very Important :--
Please do bring your camera's to shoot pictures and videos of such a nice location with limited public around and white sand surrounded by clear sea water. (please keep 2-3 cameras mobile camera etc.. for back up, this I am telling you on my own experience where I lost my high end mobile in this place as it falls into the sea water and by the time I reached back to the port in the evening my Mobile stopped working due to salty sea water which goes inside the phone & malfunctioned the mother board of the mobile phone and finally it stopped working & I lost all my pictures & videos which I have taken by this device, so my personal advice always keep 2-3 back-up options and always shoot everything with at-least two different devices, so you will not loose your memories just because for some device fails).
Enjoy Carbin Reef ( Nature's Beauty)
CONTINUE Reading Below: Step by step guide on "How to reach Carbin Reef "
Step 11 : Note down some of the important & related contact details of this place.
(please do cross check these below details, as it may be changed from time to time)
TOURISM OFFICE :
Sagay City Tourism Office
Helen A. Cutillar
City Tourism Officer
Telefax: (34) 488-0649
Fax: (34) 488-0649/435-8571
Email: sagaycityinfo@yahoo.com
Sagay City police Station
Address : Sagay City, Philippines
Telephone: +63 34 488 0429
Hospital :
Lopez District Farmers Hospital, Inc.
Address: Hospital Road, Sagay City, Philippines
City Healt
Address: AE Marañon Street, Sagay City, Philippines
Telephone: +63 34 722 9160
Pharmacy / Medicine Store :
The Generics Pharmacy - 50
Address: 50, Nichol's Aguilar Mall, Poblacion II, Sagay Public Market, Sagay City, 6122 Negros Occidental, Philippines
Mercury Drug Store - Sagay City
Address: Sagay City, Philippines
Click to watch this above video
My Advise :
I recommend this destination to all the adventurist who wants to enjoy different places, on this world, It is a must visit for them experience something different.
Click on below links for more information, Pictures & Videos on this great destination : ---
1) A Tiny Miracle Island, Carbin Reef, Sagay City, Philippines
2) Video of Carbin Reef
3) Short Film "Trip to Carbin Reef Philippines" (this link will take you to YouTube to watch this great video in full size screen)
I welcome Comments and feedback's from all the readers. Please post & share your experiences & information on the topic, so travelers can make use of your experiences & valuable information on Carbin Reef & more.
Please do support this blog & my hard work, by becoming registered member of this blog & writing comments & also reviews of your own travel experiences. If you are interested to be a part of this blog and want to have rights of Author, than please message me.
by,
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