Thirty days is a long trip, and it is still not enough to see the whole Philippines. If you try, you spend the month in airports and ferry queues. This plan does the opposite: one loop, four bases, and every move made by bus or boat.
The loop runs through the Visayas: Cebu, Negros, Siquijor and Bohol, then back to Cebu. Times and fares below come from published 2026 sources, but schedules change, so treat them as a guide and check on the day.
Days 1 to 2: Cebu City. Land, sleep and get some cash. Keep these days empty, because jet lag eats plans.
Days 3 to 10: Moalboal. Go to the Cebu South Bus Terminal on Natalio Bacalso Avenue, next to CityMall, not the north terminal. Take a Ceres bus marked "Bato via Barili" and never the one marked "via Oslob", which goes up the other coast. It is about 89 km and takes 3 to 4 hours. Reported fares are around 170 pesos non-aircon and 209 to 210 pesos aircon, with buses roughly every 30 minutes. A tricycle from town to Panagsama Beach is usually 150 to 200 pesos for the whole tricycle. Kawasan Falls in Badian is a short ride down the same coast road.
Days 11 to 18: Dumaguete. From Moalboal, take a southbound Ceres bus to Liloan port at Santander. By car this is 2 to 2.5 hours, by bus allow 3 to 4. Then cross to Sibulan: Maayo Shipping lists nine sailings a day from 4:30 AM to 10:30 PM as of July 2026. The daytime boats are three hours apart (9:00, 12:00, 3:00 and 6:00 PM), so aim for a named boat. The crossing takes 20 to 30 minutes on the fast craft, and a tricycle or jeepney covers the last 6 km into Dumaguete. Count on most of a day.
Days 19 to 24: Siquijor. Fast craft from Dumaguete take about 40 to 50 minutes, and there are several a day. Published fares run from about 260 pesos on the slower boats to 455 pesos and up on the fast craft. The island has one 72 km ring road and no useful public transport. Most people rent a scooter for roughly 350 to 500 pesos a day, so bring your home driving licence. A tricycle for a full day costs around 1,500 to 2,500 pesos. Three days is the minimum, and six lets you slow down.
Days 25 to 29: Bohol. OceanJet runs Siquijor to Tagbilaran in about 2 hours, with two sailings a day (08:20 and 14:30 on the schedule we found, about 880 pesos). From Tagbilaran, go to the Dao Integrated Bus Terminal. Buses to Panglao Island take roughly 30 to 60 minutes and cost very little (sources disagree between 25 and 75 pesos). Buses to Carmen, the town nearest the Chocolate Hills, run about once an hour from around 6 AM and take 1.5 to 2 hours. Go early and do it as a day trip.
Day 30: back to Cebu. OceanJet fast craft from Tagbilaran to Cebu take about 2 hours. There were twelve sailings a day between 05:10 and 17:40, and the tourist-class fare read on 29 September 2026 was 960 pesos, plus about 25 pesos terminal fee in cash. If you fly out the same day, take the first boats and leave a big buffer.
A few things to check before you go. Many nationalities can enter visa-free for 30 days, with a possible 29-day extension to 59 days in total. Rules depend on your passport, so check the Bureau of Immigration or your embassy. You need an onward ticket and a passport valid for at least six months. Fast craft can be cancelled in bad weather, and fares rose about 10 percent in late September 2026. Keep one spare day around each ferry.
We could not verify exact bus departure times on every leg, and tricycle prices are always a negotiation. Ask your guesthouse the day before, and write the next move down before you fall asleep. A slow month works because you only do one thing each day.
