On many routes you can travel either as a foot passenger or drive your car aboard. The right choice depends on cost, what you'll do on arrival, and how flexible you want to be.
Travel as a foot passenger when…
- Your destination is walkable or well served by public transport.
- You want the cheapest and often most flexible ticket.
- You're on a fast service where vehicle space is limited or pricey.
Take the car when…
- You're exploring a region with sights spread out.
- You're carrying luggage, sports gear or shopping.
- Public transport on the other side is sparse — common on smaller islands.
The cost trade-off
A car fare can be several times a foot-passenger fare, so for a short visit a rental car at the destination is sometimes cheaper than shipping your own. For longer stays, or a family, bringing the car usually wins on both cost and convenience.
On busy corridors, half the timetable may not be available to you
Where several operators share a route, they often do not sell the same product. Batangas–Calapan in the Philippines carries 25 sailings a day from four companies — but only two of them take vehicles:
| Operator | Sailings | Type | Vehicles? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montenegro Shipping Lines | 12 | RoRo | Yes |
| FastCat | 6 | Catamaran RoRo | Yes |
| OceanJet | 4 | Fast craft | No |
| SuperCat | 3 | Fast craft | No |
A list of 25 departures looks like abundant choice. If you are driving, it is really 18 — and the fast, passenger-only sailings that look most attractive are exactly the ones you cannot use.
Speed is the trade-off, and it is real
Roll-on ferries carry vehicles but load and unload slowly; passenger-only fast craft skip that entirely. On the same Philippine corridor the RoRo crossing is scheduled at two hours while the fast craft do it appreciably quicker. As a foot passenger you are buying the faster half of the market.
Sometimes walking on is the only bookable option
On BC Ferries' Horseshoe Bay–Langdale route, vehicle space can be reserved but foot-passenger space cannot be booked at all — walk-ons simply turn up. Being on foot removes a planning step rather than adding one.
What the car actually costs
The vehicle fare is rarely a small supplement. Black Ball charges $25 for an adult on foot and $88 for a car and driver — and carries bicycles free. On short crossings a bike is often the cheapest way to have wheels at the other end.
Decide by what happens after you land
Arriving at a terminal in the middle of a city (Victoria's Inner Harbour, Nanaimo Harbour, Alderney Landing in Dartmouth) makes walking on sensible. Arriving at an industrial port several kilometres from town — Souda for Chania, Porto Vesme for San Pietro — makes the car, or a plan for the bus, worth its fare.
