el toro bumingo: My First Time To Ride The Pasig River Ferry

Sunday, May 11, 2014

My First Time To Ride The Pasig River Ferry

I finally tried riding the Pasig River Ferry from Nagpayong (Pinagbuhatan Station) to Plaza Mexico (Intramuros Station) and back. It took me roughly 3 hours for the back and forth trip – so that’s roughly 1.5 hours one-way. The trip from Pinagbuhatan to Guadalupe is only 20-25 minutes – but again, you have to be in the right time for the ferry. Otherwise, the wait time will add big time to your travel time.

Out of the original 11 stations, only 5 are currently operational – Pinagbuhatan, Guadalupe, PUP, Escolta and Plaza Mexico (Intramuros).

This is actually the second Pasig River Ferry service that I knew. The first one was opened sometime in 2007 and it has air-conditioned boats. It also has a lot of stations. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to ride it since it ceased operations.

Now that the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) revived the Pasig River Ferry this summer 2014, I finally tried it – and I did enjoy it. It’s more of a leisure trip for me. I gained different point of view of the buildings located along the Pasig River. Too bad it’s not allowed to photograph the Malacañang Palace.

I do have one comment though – and I believe that a lot of people who tried the ferry have the same sentiment – the ferries don’t leave at scheduled time. I ride the ferry at Pinagbuhatan Station early this morning and the schedule was 6:00 AM but the ferry arrived around 6:45 AM. That’s already the 2^nd trip according to their schedule.

Other than that, the ferry service is good. The ferries are fast – although it’s no longer air-conditioned – and smaller (around 30 capacity), which is a good thing. We don’t have to wait very long for us to fill one ferry. Today, there were a lot of MMDA Summer OJTs and on PUP Station, there were more personnel than passengers. The personnel were polite and accommodating to criticism about the late schedule.

Right now, there were only 5 stations operating – Pinagbuhatan, Guadalupe, PUP, Escolta and Plaza Mexico (Intramuros). I asked for the price in the future and that would cost P50 from Pinagbuhatan to Intramuros. From Pinagbuhatan to Guadalupe it’s P25. I did some computations if I’m going to ride a tricycle from Pinagbuhatan to Pasig Palengke, then jeep from Pasig to Quiapo and another jeep from Quiapo to Intramuros, it would cost me roughly P92 back-and-forth, as compared to the more comfortable ferry ride at P100 back-and-forth. I really believe it’s feasible if only the public would support it.

I actually pity the drivers of the ferries since during the entire back-and-forth trip from Pinagbuhatan to Intramuros, we have to stop 4-5 times (briefly) because some garbage slowed down the ferry. The other hassle to the trip was the required “escort” from a member of the Philippine Coast Guard to accompany the ferry from PUP Station to Mabini Bridge (along the Malacañang Palace) and vice-versa. They also prohibit the use of camera in this area.

I’m planning to ride again the ferry soon, probably in the afternoon. I congratulate the MMDA for reviving the Pasig River Ferry and I wish them success with this. I hope the public would support this project and I hope that we’ll do our part in reviving the Pasig River.

I’ll post more pictures of my Pasig River Ferry experience soon. By the way, people have different levels of tolerance against the smell of Pasig River. I highly suggest wearing face mask specially for children.

I arrived at the Pinagbuhatan Ferry Station before 6:00 AM – supposed to be the first trip. However, the ferry arrived around 6:45 AM.

A woman telling the MMDA personnel about her last ferry experience – the boat was more than 1 hour behind schedule.

The new ferries are smaller in size and is open-air. So have your handkerchief or face mask ready. It also has less than 30 person capacity.

I’ve seen a lot of these huge depot along the Pasig River.

I love seeing construction on-going.

One of the ferry stations that are not in use – I guess this is the San Joaquin Station.

It’s a bit hard to take pictures since the ferry is fast.

I love to see tall buildings along the Pasig River.

I believe this is Kalawaan Bridge in Pasig City.

Guadalupe Ferry Station

The famous billboards of Guadalupe, Makati

Rockwell Center, Makati

All ferry personnel are wearing yellow shirts – with the words Pasig River Ferry Terminal 2014.

The Makati City Hall

Valenzuela Bridge Ferry Station. Not in used.

Depot Stations.

PUP Station. This is where a member of the Coast Guard will ride the ferry up to Mabini Bridge. It’s prohibited to take pictures from this Station to Mabini Bridge.