Cheap Flights Cebu to
Catarman 🌊
The only direct CEB → Catarman flight is on Philippine Airlines, 3x a week. We track every fare so you don't have to keep refreshing PAL's website on a route this thin.
Cebu → Catarman, Philippines
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Land + sea alternative: Cebu → Catarman by bus and ferry
Not flying, or the Mon/Wed/Fri schedule doesn't fit your dates? You can reach Catarman overland, though it takes most of a day. Take a Cebu North Bus Terminal coach toward Tacloban or Calbayog (a ferry crossing is included on most routes), then transfer to a Calbayog–Catarman van for the final 70 km. Total travel time runs 10–14 hours depending on connections, versus 55 minutes by air. Total cost is typically ₱700–₱1,200 all the way — roughly a third of the PAL fare, but it eats your entire travel day. Most Cebuanos only do this if PAL is fully booked or the fare has spiked above ₱6,000.
CEB → Catarman flight deals today
Cheapest one-way fares from Mactan-Cebu International (CEB) to Catarman National Airport (CRM) · Prices in PHP
📅 CEB → Catarman Price Calendar
With only 3 flights a week, the "cheapest day" question matters less here than which day actually has a flight. Click any date to book at that price.
Best time to fly CEB → Catarman
Month-by-month price guide for Cebu to Catarman flights
Real costs for Cebu travellers
Here's what ₱5,000 vs ₱13,000 all-in actually gets you in Catarman for a long weekend — flight included
Things Cebuanos always get wrong about Catarman
Five mistakes first-time Cebu-to-Catarman travellers consistently make
Unlike CEB–MNL or CEB–DVO, this route only operates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with a single Philippine Airlines flight. There's no Tuesday backup and no second carrier to switch to. If your meeting or event falls on a Thursday, you either fly out Wednesday and wait a day, or you're looking at the 10–14 hour bus-and-ferry overland route instead. Plan your dates around the schedule, not the other way around.
Catarman proper has ATMs near the municipal hall and university, and GCash works fine in town. The moment you head to Biri Island, Lavezares, or any of the beaches, it's cash-only — tricycle drivers, banca operators, and homestays don't take digital payments. Withdraw what you need in Catarman before heading out; there's no ATM on Biri.
Biri's rock formations are the main reason most Cebuanos make this trip, but getting there is tricycle (₱100) → jeepney to Lavezares (₱50, ~1 hour) → pumpboat (₱50–60, ~45 min) — each leg waits for the last. Boats also don't run well in rough weather or after dark. Budget a full day each way and don't plan a same-day return from Biri if your flight back is early the next morning.
Ride-hailing apps don't operate in Catarman. The airport is only about 6 km from the town center, so this isn't a crisis — tricycles wait right outside and a town-center ride runs roughly ₱100–150. But don't waste time checking your phone for a Grab car that will never arrive; just walk to the tricycle line.
The Embajada Festival hits Catarman and nearby Catubig in the second week of January, and it's a real province-wide draw, not a sleepy local event. With only 3 flights a week to begin with, seats disappear weeks ahead and fares can hit ₱7,000. If you're not specifically going for the festival, shift your trip a few weeks either side and you'll pay roughly half the fare.
Airlines flying CEB → Catarman
One of the thinnest domestic routes in the Visayas — a single carrier, three flights a week
💡 Reality check: PAL is the only carrier on this route, and there's no Cebu Pacific, Cebgo, or AirAsia alternative to compare against. Without competition, fares stay higher and seat sales are rarer than on routes like CEB–MNL. PAL Economy Saver includes a checked baggage allowance — confirm the exact kg at booking, since fare classes vary.
Catarman travel guide for Cebu visitors
Everything you need to know before you fly from CEB to CRM
🚌 Overland & sea alternatives
- Bus from Cebu North Terminal toward Tacloban/Calbayog (ferry crossing included), then van to Catarman
- Total journey: 10–14 hours, ₱700–1,200 — a third of the PR fare but most of a day
- Best for: travellers with flexible time, oversized luggage, or when PR seats are sold out
- No direct ferry from Cebu Port to Catarman — it's bus-and-van, not boat-and-boat
- Realistically only worth it if the PAL fare has spiked past ₱6,000
🛺 Getting around Catarman
- Airport is ~6 km from town center — tricycle costs roughly ₱100–150, no ride-hailing apps exist here
- Tricycles and pedicabs (padyak) handle in-town trips; jeepneys and vans connect to other Northern Samar towns
- For Biri Island: tricycle → jeepney to Lavezares (₱50, ~1hr) → pumpboat (₱50–60, ~45min)
- Habal-habal (motorbike taxis) fill gaps where tricycles don't reach, especially on Biri itself
- Agree on the fare before boarding — meters aren't standard here
💰 Budget in Catarman
- Budget: ₱800–₱1,400/day covers a fan room, market meals, and tricycle transport
- Mid-range: ₱2,500–₱4,000/day for an air-con room and sit-down meals
- Cash is essential — ATMs exist in the town center only; bring enough for Biri and beach day trips
- Catarman is one of the most affordable provincial capitals in the Eastern Visayas
- The flight is usually your single biggest expense on this trip, not the ground costs
🪨 Where to go from Catarman
- Biri Island — seven wave-carved rock formations (Magasang, Bel-at, Caranas, and more); the main draw of the province
- Calicoan Island — surf spot and white-sand beach in neighboring Eastern Samar
- Lavezares — the jump-off port town for Biri, worth a stop for its own waterfront
- Tamburusan Beach — closer in, good for swimming and a sunset without leaving Catarman
- UEP Campus — Eastern Visayas' largest university, with a lively eatery strip at night
🏨 Where to stay in Catarman
- Town center / poblacion: closest to the market and transport terminals, best for first-timers (₱700–1,500/night)
- Dalakit (near the airport): quieter, ideal if you have an early flight (₱700–1,200/night)
- Near UEP: cheapest lodges, dormitory-style, surrounded by affordable eateries (₱500–800/night)
- Biri Island itself: basic homestays and dive resorts, electricity often limited hours (₱800–1,800/night)
- Book ahead during Embajada Festival (2nd week of January) and the August town fiesta — Catarman has very few rooms total
🍖 Must-eat in Catarman
- Sagmani — sweetened grated taro (or cassava) with coconut milk wrapped in banana leaf; the province's signature snack
- Fresh seafood at the Catarman Public Market — grilled or sinugba fish, ₱100–180 per meal with rice
- Binagol — taro and chocolate pudding dessert shared with Leyte; sold by market vendors
- Carenderia rice meals near the transport terminal — ₱80–120 for a full plate, the local default
- There's no real "restaurant scene" — eat where the locals eat, at the market and along the main street
Catarman trip budget from Cebu
Typical costs for a 3-night Catarman trip — all amounts in Philippine Peso (PHP)
| Item | Budget | Mid-range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ✈ Flight (one-way) | ₱2,878–4,000 | ₱5,000–7,000 | Low season vs Embajada/Holy Week/Christmas peaks |
| 🏨 Hotel (per night) | ₱700–1,200 | ₱1,500–2,800 | Fan room near town vs air-con near the airport |
| 🍖 Meals (per day) | ₱250–400 | ₱600–1,200 | Public market carenderia vs the handful of sit-down spots |
| 🛺 Local transport/day | ₱100–150 | ₱2,500–3,500 | Tricycle hops vs a private van and driver for the day |
| ⛵ Biri Island trip | ₱225 one-way | ₱1,500–1,800 | Shared jeepney+pumpboat vs private banca charter |
| 🎁 Pasalubong / shopping | ₱150–400 | ₱500–1,200 | Sagmani and binagol from the public market |
| 📊 Total (3 nights) | ~₱5,000–6,500 | ~₱13,000–20,000 | Excludes flights. The flight, not the destination, drives the cost. |
7 tips for the cheapest CEB→Catarman flights
A thin, single-carrier route needs a different playbook than MNL–CEB or CEB–DVO
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Book around the Mon/Wed/Fri schedule, not your ideal date
There's no flight on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday. Decide your travel days from the three available options first, then build the rest of your trip around them — not the other way around.
Book 4–6 weeks out, not 3 weeks like on CEB–MNL
With only 3 flights weekly and a small aircraft (Dash 8), seat inventory is genuinely limited. The "book a week before and find a deal" trick that works on busy routes doesn't apply here — fares climb steadily as each flight fills.
Avoid the second week of January entirely if you can
Embajada Festival demand plus post-holiday travel compounds on this specific route harder than almost anywhere else in the Visayas, simply because there are so few seats to begin with. If your trip isn't about the festival, shift it.
Have a backup plan if your flight gets cancelled
Small turboprop routes to regional airports are more weather-sensitive than jet routes to major hubs. If PR2653 is cancelled for weather, the next direct flight could be 2 days away — know the bus-and-ferry overland option exists before you're stuck at the airport.
September and October are genuinely the cheapest months
No festival, no Holy Week, and the typhoon-season reputation keeps casual travellers away even though flights mostly operate normally. If your schedule is flexible, this is when CEB–CRM gets closest to budget-route pricing.
Confirm your checked baggage allowance at booking
PAL fare classes on this route vary in what they include. If you're bringing dive gear or surf gear for Biri, check the kg allowance before you pay — there's no AirAsia-style cabin-only option to fall back on if you're overweight.
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Cebu to Catarman flights — what to know
Anyone searching for cheap flights Cebu to Catarman runs into the same surprise: there's only one airline and three departures a week. Philippine Airlines is the sole operator on this route, flying a Dash 8 turboprop on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. There's no Cebu Pacific or AirAsia alternative to shop against, which is unusual if you're used to the competitive CEB–MNL or CEB–DVO routes. The people who fly this route are mostly Northern Samar residents working or studying in Cebu, government and NGO staff with business in the province, and a smaller, steady stream of travellers headed for Biri Island's rock formations. It's a route built for necessity, not tourism volume — and the pricing behaves accordingly.
The cheapest time to book this route
We track this fare daily, and the pattern is consistent: September and October sit well below the rest of the year, often in the ₱2,878–₱3,800 range, because there's no festival pulling demand and the early rainy-season reputation keeps casual travellers off the manifest. The worst time to book casually is the second week of January, when Catarman's Embajada Festival stacks on top of the usual post-holiday travel rush — we've seen this specific week push fares to ₱7,000 one-way, which is steep for a 55-minute flight. Because there are only three departures a week, a sold-out Monday doesn't just mean a pricier seat on Wednesday — it can mean no seat at all until the following week. Book 4–6 weeks out if your dates are fixed, longer around January and the August town fiesta.
What Catarman actually costs a Cebu traveller
Once you land, Northern Samar is inexpensive. A fan room in town runs ₱700–1,000 a night, a full carenderia meal at the public market is under ₱150, and a tricycle anywhere in Catarman rarely exceeds ₱150. The expense that catches people off guard isn't the destination — it's the flight. Because PAL has no competition on this route, a one-way CEB–CRM fare can cost more than a round trip to Manila on a budget carrier. If you're budgeting this trip, treat the airfare as the line item to plan around, not the daily spend.
Why this route exists for Biri Island, not for Catarman itself
Most leisure travellers on this route are headed past Catarman to Biri Island's rock formations, reached by a tricycle-jeepney-pumpboat chain that takes most of a day each way. That chain runs on tide and weather, not a fixed timetable, so we'd rather a reader know this before booking than discover it after landing. If your dates are flexible enough, pairing your trip with one of the dry-season months (November through April, excluding Holy Week) gives you the best odds of actually reaching the rock formations rather than waiting out rough seas at the port.
How piso-fare.com tracks this route
We pull live PAL fares for CEB–CRM daily through Travelpayouts and log them against the historical baseline shown above, so the "deal score" on this page reflects this specific thin route rather than a generic domestic average. Given how few seats exist on each of the three weekly flights, our practical advice is simple: if you see a fare under ₱3,500 for dates that work, take it — on a route this constrained, waiting for a better price rarely pays off the way it does on busier domestic routes.
Frequently asked questions — Cebu to Catarman flights
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