If you have ever been to Mactan Cebu International Airport before, you know that its location is quite far from Cebu City Proper. Unless you are pick up by your friends and relatives or have arranged in advance with your hotel for an airport to hotel transfer then you wont have a problem with transportation. Before I continue on how you can travel from Mactan Airport to Cebu City proper for only P25.00, let me just emphasize that you can always take a taxi from there. Airport and regular taxis are available 24/7 and you may spend around P200-300 depending on which taxi you take and where you intend to go.
Now for the good part, for only P25.00 you can go from Mactan Cebu Aiport to Cebu City. Travellers coming in to Cebu can now ride the My Bus which travels from Mactan Airport to SM City Cebu and vice versa.
(c) Google
The My Bus terminal is located just outside the arrival door when you exit Mactan airport (same location where the taxis are waiting). The bus leaves every 30 minutes and service starts at 6AM up to 8PM. For you to hop in the bus, you need to have a My Bus Card (powered by SM's eplus card).
The My Bus card is available for only P200 and it comes with a P100 load already. The My Bus card is available in all SM branches, so for your convenience, buy in advance a My Bus card or an eplus card since SM malls are all over the country. One advantage though if you buy a MY BUS card in SM City Cebu is that for only P200, you only not get the card with the P100 load but you get a lot of freebies as well. Your P200 will include: (1) My Bus card with P100 load, (2) Free Rides vouchers in MY BUS, (1) Free Ice Skating Voucher and (1) Free Bowling Voucher.
With your new card, all you have to do is tap your card in the My Bus scanner which is located inside the bus beside the bus driver. For those with the "free ride"voucher, you simply surrender your "free ride" ticket and hop in, so your P100 load is still intact.
Do not worry, you can use one card for different passengers. So you can tap it multiple times depending on how many you are. Remember that the My Bus' route is from Mactan Airpot to SM City Cebu. Though it has a stop over in Park Mall too. Travel time is approximately 1 hour. My Bus is air- conditioned, clean and new. It can accommodate up 90 plus passengers at a time. Once you are in SM City Cebu terminal, they offer free shuttle transfer to the new SM Seaside for passengers coming in from the airport. Likewise, if you are from SM Seaside and plans to go to Mactan airport, you can avail of the free shuttle from SM Seaside to SM City where you can transfer for the bus heading to the aiport by tapping your MY BUS card.
The My Bus Terminal in SM City is located at the parking area. You have to exit in the North Wing and proceed to the parking lot where the MY BUS Terminal is located. In there, you can purchase a MY BUS card if you still dont have one. They also have other routes, please check the picture above.
The My Bus services is a big help to both locals and tourists alike. It offers a cheap, easily accessible, convenient and a comfortable option for travellers. The only negative thing I noticed when I availed this (both from airport then from SM City), was the security issue.
They have guards and personnel both in SM City and Mactan airport. The problem is they do not really check the bags and other stuffs brought in by the passengers. The guards and the other personnel are there to make sure that passengers tap their cards before they can enter. When I was there, the guard was the one collecting the "free ride" tickets and didn't even bother to check my bags and so with the other passengers. Passengers don't pass by a security check, there is no table for passengers to lay their bags for the guards to check. If you look at the picture above, the terminal is an open area. It is accessible to everybody from all sides.
Aside from this, I would still give My BUS a thumbs up. For a traveller like me, who travels solo most of the time, My Bus is a really big help whenever you're in Cebu. I will definitely ride the My Bus again! I will be back in Cebu again this August, who knows maybe by this time, the concerns I have now has already been resolve.
I will review their other routes and services if MY BUS can arrange a schedule and if I have the free time too.
For inquiries, contact: 09396399253.
