41/81 Puerto Galera
41/81 Puerto Galera
Just spent my 41st province on a weekend in Puerto Galera!!!
Finally, this place is like that song "so near, yet so far".. You know what I mean?! 😋😂
I have known Puerto Galera as a favorite place of our gay friends and frequently visited by Koreans. So when I first started travelling, I thought well.. Let us just leave this place to them...
But since I completing my #81ProvincesPH, I am compelled to visit. 😜 Puerto Galera is in Mindoro Oriental.
We didn't snorkel, island hop nor toured around. But the highlight of our trip is the walk to White beach from Talipanan beach while picking up some stones and pause for a quick swim. The most fun is passing through boulders rock along the way!
1️⃣ST DAY:
Arrived in Batangas port around 11:30 AM. Parked our car inside the port and then went to buy tickets.
💵 Ferry expenses:
Minolo Shipping fare: 350 pesos (fastcraft)
Environmental fee: 30 pesos
Travel time: 1 hour
Parking fee: 322 pesos for 2 nights (150 per 24 hours)
⛴ Batangas Port:
The port is nice. I am impressed. The waiting area is like an airport - airconditioned, with free WiFi too for 30 min! There is an xray terminal, thermal monitor (coronavirus related). If you go hungry, stores are there.
⛴ Calapan Port:
After an hour in the fastcraft, we arrived in Calapan port. Upon arrival, our temp was checked. Then staff ushered us to this booth to pay environmental user's fee which is expensive. Then we hired a tricycle to bring us to the resort.
What the hell is users terminal fee?... I had no idea. But googling it more, was able to learn that this Environmentas User's Fee (EUF) was formed to help protect and preserve Puerto Galera's natural resources especially the marine environment from further deterioration and destruction. The most critical is in Sabang area where coliform contamination is now at critical level and help the local government unit to fund projects. Instead of just applying the EUF in Sabang port, it is applied to the entire town.
Anyways..back to my story. 🤣
Environmental User's fee: 120 pesos!!!!!! 🤯
Tricycle fare: 200 pesos (25 min travel) from Calapan port to the resort.
🏖️ SUNNY BEACH RESORT. BarangayTalipanan, Puerto Galera.
Stayed here for 2 nights. Booked the Family room (good for 4 pax) with free breakfast. Family room has 1 double bed and 2 twin beds. Airconditioned and has hot and cold shower. With LCD cable TV. This is beach front and has their own pool. Free wifi.
🙋♀️ What I like about this resort that should be beyond what I paid for is.. is...🤔 Okay I really need to think hard. because overall, its just an average for me.... 😜
🔎 Cleanliness, should be part of the service and besides the room is not really squeaky clean. Customer service.. Staff are polite. Location, the resort is located at the the farthest side, which can also be an advantage. The short path from the main road to the resort itself is not paved, plus it is sloped. So if you are bringing a trolley, this is going to be a challenge..
🍳 Their free set breakfast is limited to only two choices - Pinoy and continental breakfast. Pinoy breakfast consists of longanisa or hotdog, egg, rice, banana and coffee. While continental breakfast consists of a butter and jam, 2 loaves of bread, egg, banana and cofee. All priced at 250 pesos.. There are other ala cart breakfast viand choices like corned beef, bacon, for 100 pesos. So if you have an extra person and don't want to pay 250 pesos, get a viand (100) + a cup of rice (30 pesos).
Well, it seems I have more dislikes than likes. 🙄😕
💷 How much? I used a voucher given by our company which is worth 9,000. I made a booking thru a travel agency partner and it wasn't disclosed how much was spent for this booking. But looking at expedia and Agoda, the same exact room costs around 2400 before taxes and fees a night.
🏡 That afternoon, we explored the neighborhood. People we encountered are super nice and courteous. We also looked for a cheaper dinner. I mean if the resort's simple breakfast costs 250 pesos already, how much more for other meals, right?
🥰 We spotted an eatery just near the resort, along the main road. They offer paluto, that means you choose what kind of meat and what type of cooking (stew, friend or grilled), and they'll cook it for you. We chose a fish thats around almost a kilo to stew the half with veggies and fry the other half, 3 pork liempo to fry, a hotdog to fry, plus of course 7 cups of rice for 5persons. All for only 720 pesos.
🌃 After our dinner, it was an open time for everybody. I personaly just slept early, around 8pm.
2️⃣ND DAY:
🍳Had our breakfast around 9AM. Afterwards we all explored the corner of the beach which has boulder rocks. Then around noon we walked towards White Beach..
🏖️ We can see White beach from our view in Talipanan beach. Going there we could ride a tricycle or walk along the shore. We were all in adventure and so we chose the walk. I am not sure how long the distance is, but it took us around 1 hour. The most challenging and fun adventure was climbing these rocks. It was an opportunity for photo ops as well. If not for the photo op and picking up some interesting stones, our walk would have been cut in half.
🛍️ In white beach is where we had our lunch. We took a short swim here as well. Souvenir shops, eatery, tattoo shop are lined up along the beach. 🏖
We headed back to the resort to quickly shower because we planned on visiting the Mangyan Village. Lucky for us, this is very near from the resort, just walking distance. It would have been nice if we arrived early so we could explore the community more and visit the Talipanan falls. Talipanan falls is just 20 min trek.
🏡 MANGYAN VILLAGE
This is a community located at the same area we are staying, Barangay Talipanan. This village shelters one of the 8 Mangyan tribes. Mangyans are the first people in Mindoro. This tribe used to live in the mountain and then after granting this community by the Ayala, some decided to live here but some decided to stay in the mountain. Exploring the village is like immersing in the lives. There is an elementary school, a basketball court, there is an area of where they display their handwoven nito vines into products such as bags, fruit baskets, pot holders, canisters, jars, tissue holders etc..
☑️ You can help the community by buying their products, get a tour guide or donate some goods or school supplies.
For dinner, we opted to look for an eatery again. We were able to find BBQ sellers. We ordered a total of 27 sticks of pork BBQ and 6 cups of rice for only 308 pesos. 👍
3️⃣RD DAY:
Our 3rd and last day in Puerto Galera was spent relaxing and taking in the last few hours. After breakfast, there only few hours left before our check out time - 11AM.
⛴ Instead of Calapanan port, we went to Balatero port because it is nearer to Talipanan. This port is smaller compared to the one in Calapanan. It is also airconditioned. The tricycle fare is just the same though.
Montenegro Shipping Fare: 340 pesos (fastcraft, 1 hr travel time)
Terminal fee: 10 pesos (travel time: 10-15min)
Tricycle fare: 200 pesos
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Itinerary summary:
Day 1:
Left Batangas port at 1PM. Travelled for an hour
Arrived in Calapan port at 2PM
Tricycle ride (30min)
Checked in at 3PM
explore the beach
Dinner
Day 2:
Breakfast at 9AM
Explored the beach
Walked to white beach (1hr)
Lunch in white beach
Swim
Back in the hotel at 4:20PM
Explored Mangyan Village at 5PM
Dinner
Day 3:
Breakfast
Check out at 11Am
Tricycle to Balatero port (10-15min)
Fastcraft ride (1hr) from 12noon
Arrived in Batangas port at 1PM
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