Mactan Channel

The Mactan Channel also known as Opon Channel is the strait between main island of Cebu and the smaller Mactan Island. The body of water is located within Metro Cebu separating Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan Island from Mandaue City and Cebu City in mainland Cebu. It is one of the three channels that connect the Cebu Strait to the Camotes Sea — the other two being Olango Channel and Hilutangan Channel.

Mactan Channel
Mactan Channel
Location within the Philippines
Mactan Channel
Mactan Channel (Philippines)
LocationCentral Visayas, Philippines
Coordinates10°18′45″N 123°56′22″E
TypeChannel

Overview

It is the main passageway for ships navigating between Cebu and Bohol. Several ferries to the other islands, Samar Island, Leyte Island, Bohol Island, Negros Island, Mindanao Island, and also to the ports of Manila, Cagayan de Oro, & Butuan City operate from the Port of Cebu and they extensively use this channel. The various ferries that operate out of this channel are: Weesam Express (SRN Fast Seacrafts, Inc.), 2GO Travel, OceanJet FastCraft, SuperFerry (Abotitz Shipping Company), Cokaliong Shipping Lines, & Sulpicio Lines. Also, there are various other small local ferry lines (Catamaran) that operate and go to the various small islands of the Camotes Sea as well.

Infrastructure

There are also various hotels on either side of the channel, both in Mandaue and Cebu City, and on Mactan Island as well. The Mactan–Cebu International Airport is on the north side of Mactan Island, near the north end of the channel, and the Marcelo Fernan Bridge, should be used as the easier route to get there. There are two bridges that cross the channel, the Mactan–Mandaue Bridge, and the Marcelo Fernan Bridge, both of which connect both of which connect Mandaue on the Cebu mainland and Lapu-Lapu on Mactan Island. A third bridge, the Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX), will connect Cordova in Mactan Island to Cebu City on the Cebu mainland.

Marcelo Fernan Bridge, as seen from Mactan Island)
Mactan–Mandaue Bridge, as seen from Mactan Island

History

The Port of Cebu — the second largest port in the country — is located along Mactan Channel and has been used since the Spanish Colonial Period. It was organized as a Channel in Cebu on March 1, 1958. The channel was first spanned by the Mactan–Mandaue Bridge in 1971 and then by the Marcelo Fernan Bridge in 1999.

See also
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