Bolusao, E. Samar to Mandaue City, Cebu

November 24th - November 26th, 2025

Summary

Purpose: Return to Cebu.

Departure Date: November 24th, 2025 (Monday)

Departure Location: Barangay Bolusao, Lawaan, E. Samar

Arrival Date: November 26th, 2025 (Wednesday)

Arrival Location: Mandaue City, Cebu

Total Cost: ₱23,338.00

Narrative

As of November 24th, Arlyn and I had been at our Bolusao home for 30 days. We were in Bolusao to take refuge from the aftershocks from the 6.9 magnitude earthquake. However, while we were in Bolusao, we experienced full force of Typhoon Tino, a.k.a. Kalmaegi, and a glancing blow from Typhoon Uwan, a.k.a. Fung-wong. It was time to return to Cebu City.

November 24th, 2025

We loaded up the Fortuner and left Bolusao at around 9:15 AM. We needed to drive from Bolusao, E. Samar to Ormoc City, Leyte, via Tacloban.

We arrived in Tacloban at around 11:15 AM. We blew through Tacloban. We did stop at McDonald's in Alang-Alang, Leyte, for lunch at around 11:45 AM. It was raining heavily.

We had heard about a really nice resort in Ormoc that we needed to check out. It is called the Sabin Resort. On November 17th, I made reservations to stay at the Sabin Resort for two nights.

We arrived at the Sabin Resort at around 2:10 PM.

The lobby was large, spacious and airy. You can see the large swimming pool outside the lobby. A Christmas tree adorned the center of the lobby with lots of decoratons. There is a large wooden staircase that seems to go up to the second floor. The hotel does not have an elevator, not even one that is broken. There is a large restaurant on the property. After checking in, we were assisted with our bags to the second floor.

We were given two slips of paper that contained Wi-Fi passwords. The passwords are for two, and only two devices. Once you use the passwords, they are no longer usable. Once you log your two devices in with the passwords, that's it...no more. You cannot transfer the passwords to other devices when you are no longer using them. When I asked about the constraint, the management explained it was due to the limited technology available and they had to limit the number of devices that actually log into the their system.

The room that I booked was the Presidential Suite. It is room 208. The room was huge. There were two full bathrooms with hot water heaters in both rooms, king size bed, sitting area with a sofa and chair, a desk with a very uncomfortable chair and a TV. The floor was a smooth wooden floor that creaked when walked on. There were sliding wooden doors that separated the bedroom from the sitting area. The doors were adorned with capiz shells, a shell from the windowpane oyster.

At around 5:00 PM, we headed over to the restaurant on the property. The food was good, but a little pricey. After dinner, we returned to our room for the night.

Payee	Item	Cost	Form of Payment
McDonalds (Alang-Alang)	Lunch	₱471.00	Debit
McDonalds (Alang-Alang)	Lunch	₱144.00	Cash
Sabin Resort	Lodging	₱11,000.00	Debit
Sabin Resort	Luggage Tip	₱150.00	Cash
Sabin Resort	Dining - Dinner	₱970.00	Debit
Sabin Resort	Dining - Dinner Tip	₱200.00	Cash
Total		₱12,785.00

November 25th, 2025

Arlyn and I headed down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast, we took the car down to the Roble ticketing office to purchase a ticket to get back to Cebu on November 26th.

Map

We purchased the tickets needed for Arlyn and me to ferry from Ormoc City, Leyte to Cebu City. The VIP room was available. We also paid to have our Fortuner to join us as freight. The ship we booked passage on was the M/V Immaculate Star.

Itinerary

Date/Time	Event
November 26th, 2025 11:00 AM	Depart Ormoc Port
November 26th, 2025 6:00 PM	Arrive at Cebu Pier 4

We were informed by the Roble personnel that terminal and wharfage fees would need to be paid prior to boarding the ferry. In addition, a coast guard inspection sticker was required. These items cannot be acquired ahead of time. They must be obtained on the day of the travel. In other words, they must be procured just prior to departure.

After completing our business with Roble Shipping, we drove back to the Sabin hotel. We grabbed both lunch and dinner at the Sabin's restaurant.

Payee	Item	Cost	Form of Payment
Sabin Resort	Dining - Breakfast	₱720.00	Debit
Sabin Resort	Dining - Breakfast Tip	₱150.00	Cash
Roble Shipping	Freight cost for Fortuner	₱8,484.00	Debit
Roble Shipping	VIP Room	₱3,030.00	Debit
Sabin Resort	Dining - Lunch	₱630.00	Debit
Sabin Resort	Dining - Lunch Tip	₱100.00	Cash
Sabin Resort	Dining - Dinner	₱1,310.00	Debit
Sabin Resort	Dining - Dinner Tip	₱150.00	Cash
Total		₱14,574.00

November 26th, 2025

We got up earlier than normal as we need to get breakfast. After breakfast, we returned to our room, packed our gear and checked out from the Sabin and headed for the port.

Terminal and Wharfage Fees

While we were at the Roble ticketing office, we learned that we would need to pay for a terminal fee and wharfage fee. These would need to be paid on the day of travel.

A port terminal fee is a charge paid by passengers for using port facilities. It is a fee for the passenger terminal.

A wharfage fee is a charge for using a port's wharf or dock to load or unload cargo from a vessel. This fee is levied by port authorities or terminal operators and is typically calculated based on the weight or volume of the cargo to cover the costs of maintaining and operating port infrastructure.

After paying the two fees, a visit to the Coast Guard station is required. You need a stamp from the Coast Guard when using a roll-on/roll-off, or Ro-Ro, vessel in the Philippines to verify that your vehicle's documents (i.e., Original Receipt and Certificate of Registration) are legitimate and that the journey is safe. This stamp is part of the process to ensure compliance with maritime laws and to get clearance for boarding, as the Coast Guard has the authority to enforce laws on the water and inspect vessels for safety and legal requirements.

The following map of Ormoc port outlines the steps that we followed to fulfill the requirements. They are:

1. Park the car in the dedicated port terminal area.
2. Pay Arlyn's terminal fee.
3. Move the car to the inside of the first pier gate.
4. Pay wharfage fee
5. Walk to Coast Guard station to acquire stamp.
6. Return to car and drive onto the dock.

Click on image to enlarge.

With all the terminal fees paid and the coast guard stamp's ink drying, we drove through the second Ormoc Port security gate and drove to the loading area for the Immaculate Star. Once we were there, the ship's loadmaster reviewed our documentation. He then cleared us for immediate loading. Once parked and chocked, we exited our vehicle and headed to the VIP Room. We grabbed our backpacks and box lunches. We climbed some very narrow, steep stairs to the appropriate deck. We were directed by ship's stewards to the front of the ship to an air-conditioned section. We asked where our cabin was located. They escorted us to our cabin, the VIP cabin.

The cabin's key is provided to you when you surrender a piece of identification. I handed over my Philippine's drivers license.

The cabin is large with a queen-size bed. There is a seperate air-conditioner that you can control. There is a padded bench, small table with chairs. The bed does have a light blanket with sheets. There are also pillows included. The cabin also has a private bathroom. The bathroom has a shower, comode and sink. There is a bidet, but no toilet paper, so bring your own. There is also a television in the room, but we did not use it.

The ship left the dock promptly at 11:00 AM.

We arrived at the Cebu Port Pier 3 at around 5:15 PM. We gathered up our gear, returned the room key (and retreived my drivers license), and returned to our car. Most of the other vehicles were already gone. We placed our stuff in the car and headed off.

Payee	Item	Cost	Form of Payment
Sabin Resort	Dining - Breakfast	₱720.00	Debit
Sabin Resort	Dining - Breakfast Tip	₱100.00	Cash
Ormoc Port Authority	Terminal Fee	₱30.00	Cash
Ormoc Port Authority	Terminal Fee	₱129.00	Cash
Total		₱979.00