Ferries from Cebu bound for other islands, such as Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Negros, Mindanao, and also for the ports of Manila, Cagayan de Oro, and Butuan operate from the Port of Cebu and extensively use this channel.

Various ferry companies operate out of this channel, some of which include: Weesam Express (SRN Fast Seacrafts, Inc.), 2GO Travel, OceanJet FastCraft, SuperFerry (Abotitz Shipping Company), Cokaliong Shipping Lines, & Sulpicio Lines.

The South Road Properties in Cebu City is a 300 hectares (740 acres) development reclaimed from Mactan Channel.

Since the 2000s, the channel has suffered from pollution, exacerbated due to its position off of Metro Cebu, a large metropolitan area.

[1] The pollution has also caused siltation, which has caused the channel to get shallower, with studies claiming the channel, at its shallowest parts, is only 8 metres (26 feet) deep, barely enough for ships navigating the waterway which must at least also have a draft of the same depth.