Trans-Asia Shipping: Overnight Ferry to Mindanao, Western Visayas, and Bohol

Trans-Asia Shipping is the overnight ferry to take from Cebu when your destination is Mindanao’s northern ports or the western Visayas and you’d rather sleep across the crossing than fly. It runs nightly from Cebu Pier 3 to Cagayan de Oro, Iligan (Lanao), Ozamis, Iloilo, and Masbate, plus — on a short daytime run — Tagbilaran, Bohol. It is a working passenger-and-cargo ferry, not a cruise: book a cabin, manage your expectations on the cheap seats, and it does the job well.

Trans-Asia’s Tagbilaran run gets its own section below. It also runs a Cagayan de Oro ↔ Tagbilaran leg that doesn’t touch Cebu at all — covered further down rather than dropped, since it’s directly relevant to Bohol travelers even though it starts elsewhere.

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What Trans-Asia is, briefly

Trans-Asia Shipping Lines runs conventional overnight ferries on the long inter-island routes out of Cebu Pier 3, with a class ladder from 2nd Class (AC seating or non-AC lying) up through Tourist, Tourist Deluxe, and Cabin. The boats carry cargo and vehicles alongside passengers, which is why fares are low and the crossings run long.

The honest part: recent reviews skew critical on comfort. Riders report “central aircon not functioning, toilet had no water,” a “cabin type onboard didn’t match what I booked,” and “no pillows provided for an overnight trip.” The booking app gets praise (“easy to use, able to access”), but the onboard experience is variable by vessel. The practical takeaway: book a Cabin or Tourist Deluxe rather than 2nd Class for any overnight, bring your own pillow and a layer, and treat it as budget transport that saves a hotel night — not as comfort travel.

Cebu departures at a glance — verified schedule

All from Cebu Pier 3. Schedule valid as of 2026-06-23 — check 12Go for current sailings.

🚢 Check Trans-Asia Cebu sailings and cabins on 12Go

Cebu Pier 3 → Tagbilaran: the budget, slow-ferry option

The honest positioning here is comfort and price versus speed. Trans-Asia’s 12:00 daytime sailing to Tagbilaran takes roughly 4 hours — twice as long as OceanJet’s or SuperCat’s 2-hour fast-craft crossing on the same corridor — but at a lower fare and with the option of an air-conditioned 2nd Class seat rather than open-air seating. Choose it if the fast-craft price doesn’t matter as much as the savings, or if you’re carrying more cargo than a fast-craft counter easily handles. Choose OceanJet or SuperCat if the extra two hours matters more than the fare difference. Full terminal detail is at Tagbilaran Pier, and the wider comparison of Bohol’s four Cebu-facing ports is at Bohol to Cebu: which port to use.

Cagayan de Oro ↔ Tagbilaran — a real leg, thin on published detail

Trans-Asia also runs a Cagayan de Oro ↔ Tagbilaran service that doesn’t start in Cebu at all, connecting Bohol directly to Mindanao without a Cebu stopover. [FACT NEEDED: Cagayan de Oro–Tagbilaran schedule and frequency] — no departure time or crossing duration for this specific leg has been published in the source material gathered for this page; confirm current sailings on 12Go or with the operator directly before planning around it. This is a genuinely useful route for anyone island-hopping Bohol–Mindanao without detouring through Cebu, and it sits alongside Lite Ferries’ Jagna–Cagayan de Oro overnight run as one of two Bohol–CDO options; see Bohol to Cagayan de Oro for the comparison.

Cebu Pier 3 — getting there

Pier 3 is in the city port complex south of Pier 1. Tell a Grab driver “Pier 3 Trans-Asia.” The early-evening departures mean you’ll likely travel to the pier in the BPO-rush window, so build in time.

• From Cebu City (Fuente, Ayala area): 15–25 minutes by Grab, ₱150–250.
• From IT Park / Lahug: 25–35 minutes by Grab, ₱200–280, more in the 4:30–7 PM rush.
• From Mactan-Cebu International Airport: 35–50 minutes by Grab, ₱350–500.

Arrive 90 minutes before an overnight sailing — cabin assignment and cargo loading take time. For the daytime Tagbilaran sailing, 60 minutes is enough.

Class tiers — what you actually get

2nd Class (AC Seating / Non-AC Lying) — the cheapest tiers: a reclining seat in air-con, or a non-air-con lying space. Fine for a daytime run; a long night in either is the source of most complaints. Tourist / Tourist Deluxe — better seating or berth, the sensible mid-tier for an overnight. Cabin — private or semi-private, the tier to book if you want to sleep properly and reduce the chance of the facilities letdown that shows up in the reviews.

When this route makes sense

Choose Trans-Asia when you’re heading to Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Ozamis, Iloilo, or Masbate from Cebu and want to save a hotel night by sleeping aboard, when you’re on a tight budget for a long crossing, or when you’re moving cargo or a vehicle. For Bohol specifically, its daytime Tagbilaran run is the budget slow-ferry alternative to the fast craft, and its Cagayan de Oro–Tagbilaran leg is a direct Mindanao–Bohol option worth confirming before you rely on it.

Practical detail

Terminal fees: cash at Pier 3, small bills. Tickets: the Trans-Asia app and 12Go both work; print or save your confirmation. One honest caveat — comfort and weather: cabin quality is inconsistent vessel to vessel, so book up a class for overnights and bring a pillow and a warm layer; and the long crossings run later in the June–November monsoon window, so don’t schedule a tight onward connection. Motion sickness: lower-deck berths are most stable on the open-sea legs.

Booking

12Go carries Trans-Asia with the cabin ladder visible — book the overnight cabin classes ahead, especially around Sinulog, Holy Week, and the December holidays when berths sell out. Confirm the pier and sailing time on the day.

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Cebu’s city piers and terminal fees are administered by the Cebu Port Authority; confirm your pier and current port charges there.

Schedules and classes reflect operator-published information via 12Go as of 2026-06-23 — check 12Go for current sailings. This site earns a commission on bookings made through 12Go partner links at no cost to you.