Puerto Galera, Mindoro, Philippines

Mindoro, Philippines

In December, 1993, and again in June, 1994, I (I'm Glenn in case you just arrived) went down to Puerto Galera in the Philippines. The Philippines had never been high on my wish list of places to go, because I'd heard a lot of horror stories about travelers being robbed, kidnapped, and worse there. However, after hearing a lot of good about it from a co-worker, I decided to take the family down there for Christmas vacation. Since I went back again the following summer, I guess you can tell I liked it.

Puerto Galera is on the island of Mindoro, just south of the main island of Luzon. Mindoro is the island where the Japanese soldier staggered out of the jungle in like 1975, so that gives you a hint as to about how developed the rest of the island is. Since there's no airport, most people get to it by taking the bus, which leaves daily from the Sundowner Hotel in Manila, south to the port of Batangas. From there you board the Si-Kat ferry, and about 90 minutes later you're docking in Puerto Galera. The bus leaves at 9:00 a.m. and you get into Puerto at about 2 in the afternoon.

When most people talk about Philippines tourism, they're talking about Cebu and Boracay, not Puerto Galera. But what you'll find there is a lot of great diving (I got my license there), good food (the restaurants are almost all run by transplanted Europeans, it seems), and crazy night life, at least in Sabang. I had a great time.

You can see from the map that the area is a natural port. I've indicated the pier where the Si-Kat docks, in the town of Puerto Galera. No tourists actually stay in the town itself, but rather take a jeepney up to Big Lalaguna, Small Lalaguna, or Sabang Beaches. That is, when the roads are passable . . .

The pictures will be here any minute, if they aren't already.


To the right you see Small Lalaguna Beach. At its end is a little point, which now has a bar on it called, guess what, "The Point," and then Sabang Beach continues on behind. Between Small Lalaguna and Big Lalaguna is a headland that will take you a few minutes to climb up and over. I took this picture from the top of that headland.
As you come into the port of Puerto Galera, you see lots of banka boats lined up waiting for fares. As I said, it seems the road to the beaches is often unusable, so you may have to take one of these water taxis just to get to your hotel. After that, most of your beach hopping will probably also be aboard one of these.
	Both times I went, for better or worse, I stayed in Sabang. This is Sabang Beach from the far east end at high tide. I took the shot standing in front of Sonny's, the hotel I stayed in the second time down. I much recommend Sonny's buy the way, and the owner gave me the number 0912-304-9340 before I left. Sabang's beach is really not very nice for bathing, but it's an incredibly friendly little town with bars that go all night. Big Lalaguna or Coco Beach would be better for families.
On Christmas Day, Rudy the boatman, pictured here with me, approached us and asked if we wanted to take a little cruise, which we took him up on. It seems his son had just passed away, and he wanted to work on Christmas Day to keep his mind off his thoughts. Poor guy.
	Bankas are the boat in the Philippines, and if you do any diving, you'll probably go out on one for that, too. I'm one of the black wet suits in that little blob of humanity you can just make out. My wife took this picture while sitting in the restaurant that I used for the Puerto Galera banner at the top of the page. The second time I was down it was no longer a restaurant but a dive shop, and wet suits were hanging from that umbrella.
The area around Puerto is a type of marine preserve, which means that it's in pretty good shape underwater. Check out the latest in Puerto Galera and all the Philippines' dive news at Jake Taylor's Diving in the Philippines site, if you like. You'll find some hotel information in it, too. Although you can't tell it here in this shameless little bit of self-promotion, Coral Gardens, where this picture was taken by my divemaster, really does live up to its name. Hey, you're not supposed to hold your breath!
	We stayed at Gigi's, pictured here. The room was pretty basic, but we were unable to relocate since everywhere was fully booked. If you go at Christmas, make reservations before you go. The best thing about the place was that it was right on the beach, so I could watch the waves crash in while enjoying a cold San Miguel on the porch. Here my daughter Kelly wasn't quite two yet.
Here's a view from the porch above back at Gigi's restaurant. The atmosphere was nice, very tropical. The food, well, let's just concentrate on the atmosphere.
	When I was there the second time, in summer, I was there for Founder's Day or some type of local festival. It was a lot of fun, with music, a "foreigners vs. the locals" volleyball match, and even a parade, complete with brass band.
I don't love cockfights, however, but that's one legacy left by the Spanish. Still, looking at my photo album, the cockfights were what I took the most pictures of.
	So if you're looking for a good dive and party destination (especially for single men) that's a little off the beaten path, consider a trip to Puerto Galera. I've been there twice, and wouldn't have any problem with making it three times sometime soon. I'll leave you with this last image of a sunset on Sabang Beach.