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If you have been to Puerto Galera before, please share your experiences, ideas and feedback (Hotel, Excursions, General Feeling,…) in the comments section below, by doing so you will help fellow travellers to plan their next trip
Puerto Galera is a small city on the Coast of Mindoro Island. Actually most people refer to Puerto Galera but the main tourists centers are actually the nearby small towns of Sabang Beach and White Beach. It is a popular scuba diving and snorkelling destination, also famous for its beautiful “pocket” white sandy beaches. The interior is worth exploring too with lush tropical jungle and beautiful waterfalls.
In addition, Puerto Galera still holds a lot of its charm and isn’t too over developed (yet!) as with some other diving destinations in the world.
In this page you will find practical information to plan a scuba diving trip to Puerto Galera:
Table of contents
Where to stay?
I usually use this website to book in advance my hotels in Puerto Galera as they usually have the lowest rates I find. I like it because it's free to cancel and change the dates.
Most foreign visitors stay in Sabang Beach. White Beach is more for the nightlife with many bars and restaurants and is also more popular for Filipino tourists. In Sabang you will find a whole range of accommodation from basic Guesthouses to luxurious beach resorts. Many resorts have also their own dive centres attached.
The room rates greatly depend on the season and prices can even double during the peak season in April and May.
Activities and excursions in Puerto Galera
Puerto Galera is primarily a scuba diving destination but there are also many activities for non-divers. If you want to let your hair down, White beach is famous in the Philippines for its nightlife where you can party all night long in the many bars and clubs. In addition, you can for example:
- Go Trekking in the Jungle or on a volcano
- Discover Tribal settlements in the forest
- Try sailing, windsurfing and kayaking around the Islands
- Enjoy a deep sea fishing day trip
- Relax on the beautiful white sandy beaches
- Snorkelling the Coral Garden and Island hopping
- Play Golf on a very scenic golf course
Best time to visit Puerto Galera
Tourist Season
- November to March is the High Season with a peak for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
- April and May is the Peak Season so you should book well in advance as accommodation room prices do increase substantially.
- June to October is the “low” season.
Health and Safety
If you are planning an upcoming dive trip or travelling to Puerto Galera, it is a really good idea to invest in travel insurance for scuba diving, because you never know what could happen and when you might need it (because accidents do happen!). I recommend this diving insurance as they offer worldwide coverage and focus on providing scuba divers a quality insurance and medical assistance service.
Where is Puerto Galera located in the world?
Puerto Galera is located on the North Coast of Mindoro Island in the Philippines. It is about 130km South of Manila.
See the map below.
Puerto Galera Map
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acullador/2554968401/
How to get to Puerto Galera?
It is quite simple to get there.
Step 1: Take the bus from Manila to Batangas. It takes between 2 to 3 hours depending on traffic and costs about P200.
Step 2: Take the ferry boat for 1 hour from Batangas pier to Puerto Galera Ferry Terminal. You will have to pay P250 for the ferry plus P50 for the Environmental User Fee and P30 for the Terminal Fee at Batangas.
Hot Tip:
- The last ferry leaves Batangas at 5 pm so be there in advance or you will have to stay overnight to take the first boat in the morning at 7:30 am.
- If you take the “Sikat” tourist service, it will cost you P1400 for the round trip Bus + Ferry.
- If you need to, dive operators can arrange your transfer from Manila airport to Puerto Galera by private mini-van and charter boat.
Getting Around
Like anywhere in the Philippines, for short distances trips, tricycles are the main form of transportation. Be careful as they can be sneaky and try to over-charge tourists. It is also possible to rent a scooter which will cost you around P500.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/acullador/2777309779/
Puerto Galera Photos
Scuba diving
You will find all information about sea life, best time to visit, top dive spots, etc. in our review: Puerto Galera Diving
Diving Reviews for this region
Puerto Galera
Great spot for Macro Underwater Photography, to take a diving course and for amazing Drift Diving.
Liveaboard Reviews in Puerto Galera
Fantastic place, people, cheap rates
Highly recommended great for scuba but not so much for family vacation.
this is so nice. Miss going there..
So many dives to choose from in the Sabang/Puerto Galera area. They are all fantastic. Plenty of walk out dives just out front of many hotels in Puerto Galera as well. Definitely stay in Sabang. It’s a bit seedy and not too family friendly directly in Sabang town. But if you walk just up to Big Laguna or Small Laguna you can find some nicer hotels with a better family experience. Otherwise there are family friendly hotels in White Beach or the very best would be Coco Beach — which is a sort of theme park paradise.
ARE BOATS RUNNING NEW YEASR DAY FROM BATANGAS TO SABANG??
We stayed at La Laguna Beach resort with children(ages 8 & 10)and it was a great experience for all. The resort is reasonable priced(food a bit pricey) and the diving is super inexpensive. My husband and I were able to do some amazing dives and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the pool and beach. They offered a bubble makers class for the kids and the instructor(Leo) was really good with them. I would highly recommend a a trip out to Verde Island. The reefs and the amount of sea life are absolutely stunning. One big factor is it has not been overrun with careless tourist. For a small fee the resort sent us over to the island with a cook and a waitress to prepare a delicious meal while we went diving at the Pinnacle. I felt comfortable enough to leave my children with the waitress who offered to watch them. My husband got his advanced divers cert. and the dive instructor(Bad Dave) was phenomenal! He was extremely knowledgeable and very big on safety. Dave was a wealth of information on the history and dives in the area. We plan to go again real soon!
I dove there this April. I really enjoyed my stay there. The food was good. The dive master was one of the best I have had. I had a disability and they treated me really well. Helped with getting set up and then helped me get out of my gear. The only complaint was the location of the hotel. It was very nice, but you could not get near it by vehicle. You had to walk and it was not a real fun walk. Highly recommend diving there. We are going back in December.
If you don’t mind sharing, how much was the scuba diving trip and how long?
I arrived at Manila airport rented a scooter through Book2wheel.com. The owner delivered me the scooter at the airport. I paid I think 500 for the delivery at the airport. scooter per day cost me 500 pesos. I put my bag back between my legs And went to Puerto Galera.
Book thing I order Honda clicks 150cc it had good space. 2nd I order a mobile holder. Which made my life easy.
Took me 5 to hours I went slow on the highway. It was hard to find a way through google Maps to used Waze. I arrived at the port of Batangas. Port guys what to cheat me with money. I said no thank you. you can do your search on my scooter.
Arrive at the port of Puerto Galera in 2 hours. Then it was fun. love the island. It is really nice and clean, please.