Feedback and Experience for 2Go Ferries?

[mulla]

Hi All,

Anyone has any experience to share for the 2Go ferries? Thinking about taking the Manila to Coron trip in a ferry instead of flying.

Some old posts on this board has some recommendation for people to take the 2Go ferry but not much on the experiences and feedback.

Main concern is safety for a tourist and anything that I need to be mindful of? Are they normally on time to a reasonable level?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[eagerbeaver]

In general the Philippines does not have a great reputation for the safety of it's ferries. There's a lot of them on the bottom of the ocean. This is often a result of storms, combined with ferry companies/captains not following standard safety protocols regarding whether to leave port when the weather is bad, or whether to turn back when bad weather approaches.

So, if the weather is not bad, or not forecast to be bad, then you should be fine. However, having said that last year did see the sinking of a 2Go vessel after a collision with a cargo ship.

I have personally ridden many of these inter-island ferries of various sizes and have never felt unsafe. But you might want to assess the risks first and see whether the benefits are worth the risks for your personal group.

 

[mulla]

Thanks Matt for your balanced opinion. Your first hand experience onboard is definitely appreciated. Not planning to book anything yet, will research a bit more.

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

 

[diver 85]

Hi All,

Anyone has any experience to share for the 2Go ferries? Thinking about taking the Manila to Coron trip in a ferry instead of flying.

Some old posts on this board has some recommendation for people to take the 2Go ferry but not much on the experiences and feedback.

Main concern is safety for a tourist and anything that I need to be mindful of? Are they normally on time to a reasonable level?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Could always wear your scuba stuff while on board............Seriously, what IS their track record, certainly you can find how many 'sinkings' have happened in the past.....good luck...

 

[mulla]

diver85, yes I shall sleep with my BC strapped on, SMB inflated and ready to go!!

According to Wiki the recent sinking was an "other party at fault" incident. Weather wise, we may have some control over (just don't board if bad weather is forecasted) etc. Other than that, if your time is up, your time is up really. As long as they don't operate in a grossly negligent manner, which they don't appear to be, then I'm comfortable in using their service.

 

[kwhkg]

Have travel this route many times in the past. @go (formerly Aboitiz transport) is the only viable vessel going to Coron. It;s ideally a good alternative to flying since the schedule is convenient dep mnl Friday 4pm eta Coron 6am sat and dep sunday 3,30pm and eta manila 5.30am

Some things to consider. spend the extra money and get a stateroom. I think round trip is about 8,000 peso for 2 in stateroom. The vessel , St Agustine of Hippo is formally Cebu Ferries 1 , old vessel but maintained well.

Departure and arrival in Manila will be at new terminal in North Harbor. Arrival however can be rather intimidating if you are not used to local style of "barkers" trying to direct you to certain taxis and the seemingly chaotic environment. As long as you stick to metered taxis you will be ok

 

[mulla]

Thanks kwhkg for sharing your experience. Yer we were planning to go for the stateroom anyway, it's still extremely cheap when comparing to western standards why skim on luxury when in the Philippines.

Thanks for the tip about arrival at Manila, do you just ask if they are metered before getting on any taxi? Or would it be easier to see if the hotel can do a pickup from the harbor?

 

[kwhkg]

"Luxury" has many levels, I would classify its "old world charm" definitely NOT Love Boat but the best is still stateroom

re arrival ..it will be chaotic but just expect that. once you disembark you will pass thru the new terminal to a small parking lot. there should be taxis there . Do NOT go outside parking lot and get taxi on the street/ also remember you are arriving at a container terminal so lots of trucks will be around. If you can arrange pick up from hotel so much better