⌛ Am I nuts trying to take my Bike to Siquijor

Have a few days lined up over Xmas at Siquijor and would really like to take my motorbike over to explore a bit with the family. (I am assuming that all the rentals will be gone by now ..)

Question .. Is there a RO/RO that goes there and how much hassle is it to get a bike on. I guess I am comparing to the landing barges going over to Cebu which are dead easy ..
Question .. If it is worth the hassle, where do I start. Any idea of the cost and requirements? (read: mountains of paperwork as I assume it is Philippine Ports Authority run ..)

Went to the port yesterday and drew a blank .. Probably asking the wrong questions

Thanks

 

Montenegro shipping lines :

Bicycle (.5) 170.00
Bicycle with Side Car (1) 340.00
Motorcycle (2) 680.00
Motorcycle with Side Care (2.1-3) 1,020.00
3.1 - 4 meters 1,360.00
4.1 - 5 meters 1,700.00
5.1 - 6 meters 2,040.00
6.1 - 7 meters 2,380.00
7.1 - 8 meters 2,720.00
8.1 - 9 meters 3,060.00
9.1 - 10 meters 3,400.00
10.1 - 11 meters 3,740.00
11.1 - 12 meters 4,080.00
12.1 - 13 meters 4,420.00
13.1 - 14 meters 4,760.00
20 footer with prime mover 7,480.00
40 footer with prime mover 12,920.00
HEAVY EQUIPMENT
Light (Php 800/NM) 13,600.00
Medium (Php 1,000/NM) 17,000.00
Heavy (Php 1,200/NM) 20,400.00

 

Better to rent one while you are there or make a deal with the friendly pedicabs and hire one for the day. Beautiful place and best ever people , all smiles and peace, Merriest Xmas ever went there last year and loved the gorgeous beaches. Town closes down after 6pm so find a resort to relax and play the evenings away in comfort.

 

not really, i enquired at delta, 250 for an XR one way, but they probably carry it with 5 people on deck so definately no roll on roll off. no paperwork involved.

dont know the rental bikes on siquior but probably half worn out 125's so why bother when for the same money you can ride your own well maintained bike?

 

Now, I was NOT nuts, actually relatively painless, compared to Batangas

Montenegro Lines ..

Copy of Rego and OR, no one even looked ..
Buy the Ticket on morning of travel, BUT you can book earlier and they will sticky tape your name on the window so they do not forget.

You can ONLY buy the ticket on the day

Bike driver travels as part of bike fare, P 540 to siquijor, siquijor ..

Once you get ticket and Bill of Lading (issued same time as ticket) go around to entry road of wharf. NO, it is NOT the same road you buy the ticket on.

Show the Bill of lading and ticket to the Guard, he will let you in the main gate

NOW, you also need the following once you are in side ..

Coast Guard Clearance .. Free .. It is opposite the departure Terminal
PPA Fee (Thats Philippines Port Authority) .. Not Free but less than P 100.00. Buy this between the Coastguard and the Exit Gate
Terminal Fee .. For the dummy riding the bike .. Less than P 20.00 .. buy that inside the Departure terminal

Go to the Inner Entry gate, they will take you paper work, scratch their heads, say Merry Xmas, look at you wisely, record some thing in their log book and let you in.

Look confused and say Siquijor and someone will point you to where your boat is

Ride over to the boat, park you bike out of the way of trucks backing into the ro/ro vessel (no refunds if you end up being able to fit your bike in your knapsack if a truck rolled over it) and go sit inside the aircon terminal. Keep an eye out for loading time, generally less than 30 minutes before departure, BUT, not guaranteed ..

Once there, ride it off the boat, they will look for your PPA ticket as you go out the gate, no problems ..

SMILE A LOT, helps enormously ....

NOW, on the way BACK, when Montenegro decided that the boat was not gong to run ..

Hmmm...

Another night on Siquijor, or ..

GL Shipping Lines .. Thats right, the ones with the Pontoons that look like over sized Bangkas.

believe it or not, they can take ONE bike .. maybe two small ones ..

Pay 300 at the Office near the Siquijor main port entrance, plus P 300.00 for the bike

Pay the terminal Fee .. P 14.00 next door to the GL Office

No PPA Fee this time as they had no receipts, they just said to pay it when I got there

Go inside, ride up to the end, look dubiously at the gang plank and wonder how the hell they will get a bike onto THAT ..

Ask around and every one looks at you like you have a bolt coming out of the side of your head

Finally figure out where the coast guard is, sad to actually wake him up, he never even looked at the bike. One stamp secured ..

Scratch my head again, how to get it loaded. Boat crew nods head vigorously when asked.

Passengers start to load up, I am getting wide eyed, but still smiling. Eventually one of the boat crew points over to the Arrastre Office and says, see them. Ahhh... Now I get it

Go and pay P 100.00 (receipted), everyone is happy. 6 guys literally pick my bike up and carry it down the gangplank .. wow .. I seriously wonder if the fish could ride it if they dropped it .. Not to worry, gets on safely, in the same cabin as the passengers.

Hmmm .. all the expat passengers are looking at me if I have TWO bolts coming out of the side of my head .. The Filipinos seem to take it all in their stride.

The crew safely secure the wheels to the floor with two bits of string. I head up front out of the way in case it falls over and hits some one ..

Now we depart and find out why the Montenegro Ro/Ro is not there, man it was choppy .. Filipino Captains only know three speeds, flat out forward, flat out reverse and stopped .. Guess what ..

People barfing up all around me, I am reading a book right up the front trying to hide in case the bike falls over. I sneak a look back and see 4-6 crew hanging onto the bike to stop it crushing passengers ..

hey, everything seems normal ..

One hour and 20 minutes later we pull into dock, lots of partly digested rice rolling around the floor .. Cannot help wondering what happens to it when they clean it up ... Naaah .. They wouldn't, would they??

Wait until everyone slips and slides their way off the front ..

Porters start salivating at the bike and want to know the owner. I cautiously stick my hand up and their eyes twinkle with delight, ohh no ..

I desperately search to see if I can get it off by my self. The initial price is P 1,000.00 then they take pity on me and suggest P 500.00. I walk off and leave the bike there and crew gets a bit concerned
Lots of huddling and I start to walk off to the other side of the port and lo and behold I get an yell "Sir, last price is P 200.00"

Cool, ok lets go, thumbs up, before they change their mind ..

4 guys pick it up and simply carry it off .. 2 minutes .. wow.

Damm, no change and the Porter guy with the receipt book is there for his P 132.00, now what is THAT for?? who knows .. so P 500.00 gets sent off for change .. 20 minutes later, viola, change, P 132.00 to the receipt book, 200.00 to the guys who did the work, plus 50.00 for beers (They were pretty good guys) .

Oh, d*mn, cannot get out without the PPA fee, on other side of dock .. no worries, P 20.00 to guard and out I go the passenger gate .. No worries ..

Still smiling .. Nice little adventure ..

My advice .. Wait for the Montenegro Ro/Ro, but, if you are stuck, you now have another way ..

By the way, I strongly do not advise the return trip method for anyone owning a bike actually worth anything ..

 

hahahaha....great story!!!

after reading all of this im still wondering if its worthwhile to bring your own bike if you only stay two days........