Philippine Canadian Inquirer (National)
New fast craft makes Caluya island more accessible
SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA, ANTIQUE — The operation of an additional fast craft to the island municipality of Caluya in Antique province will make it more accessible to tourists.
Caluya’s pristine, white-sand beaches show a lot of promise for tourism, Provincial Information Officer Galileo Magbanua said in an interview on Friday.
The island, however, is not accessible to tourists due to the lack of sea transport.
On March 20, the Fastcat ferry will start its soft voyage to the island with three trips a week, coming from Bulalacao in Oriental Mindoro to Caluya to Caticlan, Aklan, Magbanua said.
“Many tourists would like to go to Caluya because it is also a beautiful place to visit,” he said.
Magbanua said with Fastcat, tourists, especially those from Caticlan, would be encouraged to take the ferry to visit Caluya before they proceed to Bulalacao and vice versa.
The ferry will depart Bulalacao for Caluya at 8 a.m. and sail to Caticlan at 11 a.m. every Monday, Friday and Sunday.
From Caticlan, the ferry will leave for Caluya at 2 p.m. and sail back to Bulalacao at 5 p.m.
Caluya residents with transactions with the provincial government of Antique have to disembark in Caticlan and take a bus to the provincial capital town of San Jose de Buenavista.
The fare to Caluya from Bulalacao has been set at PHP350 for economy, PHP425 for premium economy, and PHP500 for business class.
From Caluya to Caticlan, fare rate will be PHP312 for economy, PHP408 for premium economy, and PHP480 for business class.
“As of the current, there is just (a) once a day trip from Libertad Port to Caluya by a passenger,” Magbanua said.
Travel time for the whole trip used to take five hours but with Fastcat’s mono-hulled vessel, it is reduced to just two hours. ■