Puerto Galera beach, Oriental Mindoro in 2014

* Originally posted on December 31, 2014.

Last December 21, more than a week ago, me and my family took a bus and went to Puerto Galera, among the famous white beach resorts in the Philippines. Here are  some pointers going there by bus. First three photos are from the web, not from my camera phone.

1. We took Ceres aircon bus at LRT Buendia station in Makati. Fare is P157 per head, students with discount P125/head. The bus stops at Batangas pier about two hours travel, passing by three expressways (SLEX, SLEX extension, and STAR). 

2. Boat fare, Batangas to White Beach is P275/head, students P200. Children (maybe below 6 yo) free. Terminal fee about P40/head. It's a big boat with outrigger, can seat perhaps 100 people. Travel time today was around 1:20 hour.

3. Boat stops at Muelle, near the Puerto Galera town proper. There are air-con vans to take passengers to White beach, free, part of the fare. About 15 minutes ride. Sometimes the boat goes to White Beach after unloading passengers at Muelle, but I think this is seldom done.

4. The provincial government of Oriental Mindoro charges P50/head environmental fee for tourists/visitors; locals are free. Children visitors below 12 yrs old are also free.

We have no reservation in any hotel in Puerto Galera. Our plan was to walk around and see various resorts to compare prices and facilities. But at the Departure lounge of Batangas Pier, a lady from Sea Jewel beach resort befriended us, said that their hotel is nice. two beds room to accommodate 4 people is P2,500 but she can give it to us for only P2,000. I haggled for a bigger discount, we settled at P1,800. I paid right there, got the receipt. When we got off the van right in front of the resort, a staff was already waiting for us with a plackard of my name.

Nice room, but no swimming pool, no breakfast. The beach resort is about 250 meters away.

White Beach, PG. Thickly forested hills and mountains at the background. The island and its two  provinces (Mindoro Oriental and Occidental) generally have thick  forest cover.

The resort hotels and their restaurants at the ground floor. There are few beach front hotels there. Restaurants, bars and shops mostly occupy the beach front. So there are many places to eat and hang around there.

Elle Marie doing her favorite activity when visiting a beach resort -- building a sand castle.

We stayed only for one night in PG, then moved to Roxas, Oriental Mindoro, to catch a boat going to Caticlan and Boracay. Tricycle ride from White beach to PG town proper is P150 per trip.