The Manila–Cavite Expressway, commonly referred to as CAVITEX among other names, is a 14-kilometer-long (8.7 mi) controlled-access highway linking Metro Manila to the southern province of Cavite in the Philippines. At its northern terminus, it connects to Roxas Boulevard in Parañaque. At the southern end, it splits into two termini along the northern coast of Kawit, Cavite. The first connects to the intersection of Covelandia Road, Tirona Highway, and Antero Soriano Highway. The second southern terminus is an exit-only ramp leading to Tirona Highway in Barangay Marulas. It is a component of Expressway 3 (E3) of the Philippine expressway network and Radial Road 1 (R-1) of Metro Manila's arterial road network and also one of the four expressways serving as the airplanes' northbound airway of domestic flights leading to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) coming from Visayas and Mindanao along with Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR Tollway), South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), and Metro Manila Skyway.

CAVITEX is operated and maintained by the Public Estates Authority Tollway Corporation (PEATC), a non-chartered government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC), a subsidiary of the Public Estates Authority (PEA), a government agency under the Office of the President, and is in a joint venture with the Cavite Infrastructure Corporation, a unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC).

The Manila–Cavite Expressway follows a mostly curving route on the southwestern shore of Manila Bay, and the Bacoor–Kawit extension is built on reclaimed land near the coastal barangays of Bacoor. The road uses a barrier toll system, which involves toll barriers at entry points and no toll collection at the exit points, except at the Kawit and Parañaque toll plazas. The expressway is a physical extension of Roxas Boulevard. The lane count typically consists of four lanes per direction in Segment 1 (Parañaque to Zapote, Bacoor), originally known as Coastal Road, and two lanes per direction in Segment 4 and its extension (Bacoor to Kawit), also known as the Kawit extension and forms part of R-1 Extension; it widens to 24 total lanes at the Parañaque toll plaza and 21 at the Kawit toll plaza.

The expressway starts at the traffic light intersection with NAIA Road, Roxas Boulevard, and New Seaside Drive in Barangay Tambo. Past the intersection is an eastbound entrance and westbound exit of NAIA Expressway. The only at-grade intersection of the expressway then comes at its intersection with Pacific Avenue, where southbound motorists are also carried by the Pacific Avenue flyover. The expressway then meets the western terminus of the CAVITEX–C-5 Link and widens on approach to the Parañaque toll plaza. Past the toll plaza, it meets a right-in/right-out interchange with the Circumferential Road 5 (C-5) Extension, accessible only for northbound motorists. The expressway then enters the province of Cavite and passes the Bacoor (Longos) Exit, the original end of the expressway at Bacoor, where the original alignment involved a curve that was changed to a full interchange with the opening of the Kawit extension. CAVITEX past Bacoor Exit becomes a four-lane dual carriageway on reclaimed land built on the shores of the seaside barangays of Bacoor. The expressway widens once again at the approach to the Kawit toll plaza. The terminus at Kawit is a box intersection with Tirona Highway, Covelandia Road, and Antero Soriano Highway, which is the physical extension of the existing expressway. The end of the expressway at Kawit will accommodate the Cavite end of the Cavite–Laguna Expressway.

Even before the conception of the expressway, the Cavite Boulevard was planned by Architect Daniel Burnham to connect the city of Manila with the province of Cavite as part of his plan to beautify the city. According to his original concept of the Cavite Boulevard, the bayfront boulevard would be built on reclaimed land from Luneta in Manila to Cavite Navy Yard, about 20 miles (32 km) away, as it follows the shoreline to Cavite. However, the present-day Roxas Boulevard, a part of this plan, was built up to Parañaque only.

In 1963, Republic Act No. 3572 was enacted to allocate funds for the extension of Dewey Boulevard (now Roxas Boulevard) to Cavite City, realizing the long-envisioned plan for the bayfront boulevard initially conceived by Daniel Burnham. In 1973, under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, they proposed a planned highway, dubbed the Manila Bay Coastal Road Project, and its route would be started at the CCP Complex near the Manila-Pasay Boundary to Bacoor. However, this was later converted into two boulevards: Macapagal Boulevard and Jose W. Diokno Boulevard. The Construction and Development Corporation of the Philippines (CDCP), now the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC), entered into a contract with the Republic of the Philippines, represented by the then Department of Public Highways (DPH), now the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), dated November 20, of that year, for the construction of the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road and the reclamation of some portions of the foreshore and off-shore lands along Manila Bay at the PNCC's own expense, otherwise known as the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road and Reclamation Project (MCCRRP).

In response to the daily traffic congestion in the narrow passage between Parañaque and Las Piñas leading to Cavite, the government later constructed a 6.6-kilometer (4.1 mi), four-lane (two on each side) asphalt reclaimed road from Roxas Boulevard leading to the then-municipalities of Parañaque, Las Piñas, and Bacoor which opened in 1985. In 1988, the final construction work was completed and conducted that year, and the road was expanded into four lanes. Originally named the Manila–Cavite Coastal Road, it was renamed Aguinaldo Boulevard in 1989.

The road deteriorated so fast that it needed to be upgraded to toll standards. This led to the Manila-Cavite Toll Expressway Project (MCTEP), more popularly known as "Coastal Road". It is a joint venture project of the Public Estates Authority (now the Philippine Reclamation Authority) and the Malaysian group of Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) and Renong Berhad (Renong).^{[failed verification]}