Our plan to visit Puerto Galera was sudden. Just few days before Labour day weekend , few of  our friends proposed to visit this place.  Puerto Galera is famous for ‘World’s Class Coral Garden‘ , Beaches . Other places to visit are  water falls ,Mangyan Village for Handicraft. In this digital age – the mobile apps Airbnb , whatsapp make the things easy . Most of our discussion and synch up happened on whatsapp . Airbnb app helped in going over the staying options and discussion with the owner. So, install these apps and make life easy .

We were three families and all have infant and toddlers. So the obvious choice was to rent a AIRBNB house. we decided one on Muelle Island, on top of the hill. The view from Villa was stunning , overlooking the island & beach. Summer morning  is hot and humid in the Region and Puerto G was no different. However, a view of sea with yacht and private boats from bedroom balcony  gives the feeling of holiday .  I would strongly recommend people going to Puerto G to try the Airbnb listing and enjoy the view from hill top.

The approximate journey from Manila is 5 and half hours. Around 3 hours on road to Batangas and 1 and half hour boat ride. For people going out from Manila , Taxis can be rented out for drop and pick-up to Batangas  and General ferry  or Private boat are available. Details about ferry is available at Puerto Galera Website: Click Here.

PLACES TO VISIT IN PUERTO GALERA

We planned for 3 days to visit main and famous attractions in Puerto Galera. After a good night rest , we started the first day with Island Hopping which include visit to World’s famous Coral Garden.

WHITE BEACH

White Beach is one of the most visited place in Puerto Galera. It is famous for water sports activities – Jet-skiing, Para selling, Banana boat, Dragon boat and many more.  The places is full of people enjoying the sports , relaxing , eating  and not for people looking for quiet beach .

It is also very lively beach, there are many Mini Cafe’s and Small eat hubs on the beach.

I wanted to do ‘Para Sailing’ and ‘Jet-skiing’. People interested in doing Para Sailing should plan ahead as this beach is crowded and if you are not reaching early the queue is long. Due to our time limitation , i didn’t try my hands on Para Sailing here but  did Jet-skiing. Charges are  1500 PHP for half-n-hour of Jet-skiing.

GETTING THERE: White Beach is very well connected to road. Tri-cycle is one of the best mode of transport. You can also reach by Boat and it is one of the stop point during Island hopping.  For Island Hopping , Maximum hold time would be 2 hours at one point and only one or two activities can be tried. But, if you plan to do all the water sports then you need one full day.

Note: Our Boat Man did not had permission to go to White Beach, so he dropped us to Tamaraw Beach which was just next to White Beach. Then we took tri-cycle for white beach and came back as same to board our boat.

GIANT CLAM SHELLS AND THE CORALS

This place is also included in Island Hopping tour package. If you do not wish to go for Island Hopping, you can simply book Boat to watch Coral garden. It is ‘World’s Famous Coral Garden‘. The Beautiful and Amazing fish and breath taking corals are available here.

There are two Places of snorkeling. At first point they will show you the Giant Clam Shells and some corals. And at second point they will show you amazing corals, rocks and fishes. When I was doing Snorkeling, there were more than 1000 small fish. One of our  friends  even watched big Turtle. It was truly amazing experience at Puerto Galera.

Only 2 seater smalls boats can go to Coral garden. The great thing is, they will ask you to jump in water and hold the rope attached to boat. They will run the boat in very slow speed and you enjoy watching Coral Garden. Awesome experience and a must do for people visiting .

TALIPANAN BEACH

Talipanan is also among highly visited beaches. There are many mini cafe’s on beach side for hangout. It is also famous for ‘Italian Restaurant‘ named Luca’s Cucina. I think this is best restaurant in Puerto Galera. We had lunch there for first day during our Island Hopping and then again on second day when we had planned to leave Puerto Galera.

MANGYAN VILLAGE

Mangyan Village is known for its Handy Crafts items. It was in our hit list too, and we planned to visit Mangyan village on second day. It will give you a feel of village life , away from the amenities of city life.

The items are made on order and for spot selling. Various small shops are lined up for selling these items. Bargaining is not an easy option here they will tell you same price for the items, no matter which shop you visit.

GETTING THERE: Mangyan village is in Talipanan and it is very well connected with road. You can take tri-cycle to reach there. They charged PHP 600 for one tri cycle from Muelle to Mangyan village and back.

Overall our experience was very good. Puerto Galera is a great place to visit for any long weekend. On our way back , we even got the chance to watch Dolphin .