Take a cruise with your friends and family at Ilog municipality’s Balsa River Cruise! This very popular riverboat cruise has the entire Negros Island lining up to try it! We visited Ilog and took the cruise. Did we like it? Read more below.
To get to the river cruise, it is a two hour drive out of town to Ilog and the Malabong Bridge. From the bridge you can already see the brightly colored flags and the dock where you can take the cruise.
Once you get to the destination, there is a waiting area where you have to purchase your tickets. It’s just 450 pesos with a discount for seniors. Once you’ve purchased your tickets you are assigned a seat number and you can board the boat.
PROTIP: Ask the saleslady to assign you seats towards the front of the boat. That’s where all the selfies are being taken and having a table there makes it super easy and convenient.
There is no need to rush – all of you have assigned seats.
The interior of the boat is very spacious and nice. The ceiling is a light blue with painted clouds on it. In the center there is a long table with chafing dishes where the food is.
Once the boat starts, sit back, relax and enjoy the cruise down the Ilog river. You will see some a lot of terns – aquatic birds darting and swooping above the water, catching fish. Occasionally you will see a fisherman pass by on his little raft, nets full of fish.
The food is 100% native dishes and they also offer refills. There’s an assortment of seafood, meats and simple filipino desserts that will satisfy the hungriest traveler.
There’s one rule that you have to observe while on the boat – don’t throw your trash overboard. They don’t have paper napkins because the tour operator doesn’t want to mar the beauty of the river.
The Balsa River cruise has live entertainment on board. When we visited there was a very talented duo who could play and sing a lot of songs. You can listen to them perform, you can request songs and also borrow the microphone and SING.
Overall, The Balsa river cruise is a good experience for any family or group to try. It’s fun in big groups and it’s a great bonding experience. If you’re coming from Bacolod City, it is a 2 hour drive out of town so we suggest making a day filled with activities to do before and after the Balsa river cruise so that your trip down to the south of Negros will really be worth it.
Here’s our video of the Balsa River Cruise!
The Bacolod Food Hunters 
hahaha
not many expats on this one
native foods!
health and hygiene
singing and guitar playing not conducive for a pleasant relaxing ‘cruise’! 😂😂
Think I will give this one a miss
450 pesos give me a beer and a decent feed at Gunny’s! 🤣🤣 not including petrol and the drive
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.