Short answer: Balingoan in Misamis Oriental is the workhorse crossing to Benoni, running about one to one and a half hours at roughly PHP 300 to PHP 359. Benoni sits on the east coast, 30 minutes from Mambajao; Balbagon in the north is the port that lands you in the tourist hub. Routes from Bohol and Siquijor exist but run far less often.
Trip.comHotels in Philippines
Compare live prices via Travelpayouts — targeted for this guide.
Search on Trip.comFor travellers planning Camiguin as part of a Mindanao, Bohol or Siquijor route and choosing which crossing to build the day around. Route data compiled and last checked 30 July 2026 from operator schedule listings; fares are the reported passenger rates and schedules change without notice.
How we compiled the route table
We assembled every sea route into Camiguin that carries scheduled passenger service, recorded the departure and arrival ports, the operator, the published crossing time and the reported passenger fare, and then mapped each arrival port to its road distance from Mambajao, where most accommodation sits. Routes with no scheduled service, or served only by chartered bangka, are excluded. Fares are single adult passenger rates without a vehicle.
| From | Arrival port | Operator | Crossing | Reported fare | Road to Mambajao |
|---|
| Balingoan, Misamis Oriental | Benoni (Mahinog) | Super Shuttle Ferry | About 1h30 | About PHP 359 | About 30 min |
| Balingoan, Misamis Oriental | Benoni (Mahinog) | St. Benedict Ocean Shipping | About 1h | About PHP 300 | About 30 min |
| Balingoan, Misamis Oriental | Balbagon (Mambajao) | Super Shuttle Ferry | Around 1h30 | Operator dependent | Minimal |
| Jagna, Bohol | Balbagon (Mambajao) | Scheduled RORO | Several hours | Operator dependent | Minimal |
| Siquijor | Balbagon (Mambajao) | Super Shuttle RORO | About 3h30 | Operator dependent | Minimal |
Every sea route into Camiguin, compared
Camiguin has no bridge and a thin air service, so the sea routes are the destination's real access map. There are two working passenger ports, Benoni on the east coast in Mahinog and Balbagon in the north near Mambajao, and which one your boat uses changes your day more than the crossing time does.
The table above is the whole picture rather than the popular part of it. Four of the five scheduled options originate on Mindanao or in the central Visayas, and only the Balingoan crossings run with enough frequency to be treated as turn-up-and-go.
Two patterns come out of it. First, frequency and fare both favour Balingoan by a wide margin. Second, the routes that land you closest to the hotels - Balbagon - are the ones with the fewest sailings, which is the trade at the centre of planning a Camiguin arrival.
Balingoan is the workhorse crossing
Balingoan sits on the north coast of Misamis Oriental, roughly two hours by bus from Cagayan de Oro, and it is the crossing the island effectively runs on. Two operators serve Benoni from there: Super Shuttle Ferry at about an hour and a half for roughly PHP 359, and St. Benedict Ocean Shipping at about an hour for roughly PHP 300.
Having two operators on one route is the reason this is the reliable option. A cancelled or full sailing has an alternative within a short wait, which is not true of any other route into Camiguin.
The standard routing from Manila or Cebu is therefore a flight into Cagayan de Oro's Laguindingan airport, a bus or van to Balingoan, and the ferry. It is three legs, but each of them runs frequently enough to absorb a delay.
Balbagon and Benoni serve opposite ends of the island
This is the detail that costs people an hour. Benoni is in Mahinog on the east coast, about 30 minutes by road from Mambajao where most accommodation, restaurants and dive operators are. Balbagon is in the north, effectively at Mambajao.
Arrivals from Bohol and Siquijor dock at Balbagon, which is convenient. Arrivals from Balingoan mostly dock at Benoni, which is not, and the transfer is a multicab or motorbike ride that costs a little and takes a while after a crossing.
If you are arriving late in the day, the port matters more than the fare. A Benoni landing at dusk with no onward transport arranged is a worse outcome than paying more for a sailing that lands at Balbagon.
Flying in narrows your options more than it saves time
Camiguin has an airport at Mambajao, and it is worth understanding its limits before building a plan around it. The service is thin, the aircraft are small, and there is no meaningful redundancy - a cancelled flight does not roll onto a later one the same day.
Against that, the ferry from Balingoan runs multiple times daily with two operators. For most travellers the sea route is not the compromise, it is the resilient option, and the Cagayan de Oro approach also opens up onward travel through Mindanao that the air route does not.
The provincial government of Camiguin is the reference for current port and service information, and MARINA for operator accreditation.
Sailing days that vanish in the northeast monsoon
The Balingoan crossing is short but it is exposed, and the northeast monsoon between roughly November and February is when sailings get suspended. Suspension decisions are made by the coastguard on the day, and they apply to smaller vessels first.
The Siquijor and Bohol routes are considerably more weather-sensitive because they are long open-water crossings rather than a strait hop. A three-and-a-half hour RORO from Siquijor is the first service to disappear in a rough week, and it does not run often enough to catch up afterwards.
The practical rule for anyone routing Camiguin between other islands in those months is to keep the Balingoan crossing as the fallback and not to plan a tight connection off a long sea leg.
What most guides get wrong about getting to Camiguin
The most common error is describing the ferry to Camiguin in the singular. There are two ports, at least three operators and five scheduled routes, and the differences between them - an hour versus three and a half, PHP 300 versus a longer haul, a 30-minute transfer versus none - decide how your arrival day goes.
The second is quoting a Balingoan crossing time of one hour as though it were the standard. Two operators run the route at different speeds: about an hour on one, about an hour and a half on the other. Travellers timing a connection off the faster figure while booked on the slower vessel lose the margin they thought they had.
The third is treating the Siquijor and Bohol routes as ordinary options. They are genuinely useful for an island-hopping route through the central Visayas into Mindanao, but they are long, infrequent, and the first to be cancelled in the northeast monsoon. Listing them beside the Balingoan crossing without that context makes an unreliable connection look like a scheduled one.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to get to Camiguin?
The Balingoan to Benoni crossing, at about PHP 300 with St. Benedict Ocean Shipping or PHP 359 with Super Shuttle Ferry. Reach Balingoan by bus from Cagayan de Oro, roughly two hours away.
Which Camiguin port is closest to Mambajao?
Balbagon, which is effectively at Mambajao. Benoni is in Mahinog on the east coast, about 30 minutes away by road, and it is where most Balingoan sailings land.
How long is the ferry from Siquijor to Camiguin?
About three and a half hours on a Super Shuttle RORO into Balbagon. It is a long open-water crossing and the first service to be suspended in rough weather.
Is it better to fly to Camiguin?
Usually not. The airport at Mambajao has thin service with small aircraft and no same-day fallback, while Balingoan runs multiple daily sailings with two operators competing on the route.
When do Camiguin ferries get cancelled?
Most often during the northeast monsoon, roughly November to February. Suspension is decided by the coastguard on the day and hits smaller vessels and the long Siquijor and Bohol crossings first.
