I ♥ Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro 04/09/2011

I always love travelling and adventure but the experience that I had with Batangas Port Shipping lines made me think that personal safety and hassle free journey is the most important thing in travelling. It all happens late summer of July. My cousin (Dhen) invited me to go with her co-workers in Puerto Galera to unwind. 

I heard a lot of good reviews about this place and the people that have been there compared its beauty just like in Boracay. I said yes immediately and didn’t think twice, from then on, I already imagine myself partying on the beach. 

We planned to go there during weekends and will meet at four in the morning. We haven’t eaten breakfast yet so we just ordered from a fast food chain and ate it inside the bus. We arrived in Batangas Port around nine in the morning and we were welcome by a packed of tourist and long lines. I was really excited at first but then I immediately notice the disorganized system that made me realize that this travel would be a stressful one.
The fastest way to go to white beach is riding a ferry boat in station 3. You can buy a round trip ticket in any shipping lines but we still need to line up in three separate ticketing office which was a big head ache. There were a lot of fixers and their system is really fucked up. I was so stressed out because its the first time I experience a very disorganized and chaotic system. I even curse and swore that I won’t be coming to Puerto Galera again after this experience. We we’re lucky enough because we were able to board a ferry before 12 noon.
One thing you will notice when you ride the ferry is their overloading of passengers. The ferry don’t have any warning signs or any instruction if an emergency will happen. The ferry was lacking of life vest and I can’t also see any inflatable life boat. You will also get annoyed about the boarding time .The ferry was late on its scheduled time. The journey going to White beach was a smooth three hour ride. 
We reached White Beach and I was disappointed with what I’ve seen. I’ve been in several beaches before and white beach just looks ordinary for me. We first scouted for a cheap hotel and found a good deal in Bakawan resorts. The hotel have one king size bed, showers, air conditioner, T.V with cable, extra bed and towels. It is just two blocks away from the shore. You won’t hear the loud music of bars and restaurant while staying there. 
The first thing we did was to eat lunch at a restaurant in beachfront. It was just a typical Filipino dish but eating your dinner in front of blue sea makes it special. We rested for a while and prepare for our next activity which is strolling at white beach. I was surprised to discover a Hidden Lagoon located at the right end of White beach. My cousin told me that people can access the hidden lagoon by going inside a cave connection but because of the recent typhoon the cave became inaccessible . We’ve decided to climb the hill to go to the hidden lagoon.

 I was in amazed when I saw the rocky limestone formation. At the center it has a swimming pool like lagoon which people can enjoy . I really fell in love with the place because it’s nothing like I’ve seen before. After swimming and taking tons of picture ,we went back to our hotel to rest for a while. 
My cousin talked to a boatman for our island hopping and snorkeling activity . We roughly paid 1500 for the five of us. We thought that snorkeling is already included in the package but we were asked to pay an additional 200 pesos for an assistant that will guide us in the snorkeling area. I was really disappointed because the boatman didn’t have told us that snorkeling is not included in the package. We just borrowed snorkeling gear and swim in the dive site. Puerto Galera dive site is quite scary.

 There are a lot of sea urchins in the area and their tentacles were a meter in length. We were really careful not to get close with them. When were done in the snorkeling activity we went to a private resort in one of the island and watched the sunset. We were promised to ride a banana boat but its already getting dark so the boatman just brought us back to white beach.
 
We cleaned and rested from a very exhausting activity. We ate dinner at one of the restaurant in beachfront and went back to our hotel and sleep. It rained that night so I wasn’t able to see the fire dancers and party goers. My cousins friends already sleep but my cousin and I stayed awake , drink a beer and talked for the longest time I ever know. We feel sleep after four hours of talking. 
I woke up early in the morning and drink coffee while watching the morning sun. I went back to the hotel and wake up everyone to stroll on the beach. We ate breakfast after that and talked to a banana boat operator to try it. We had a great time riding the banana boat and then swam a little more. We’ve decided to go back to Manila around 3pm.
We were scheduled for the 3pm trip back to Batangas. The problem with the transportation in Puerto Galera is their lack of system. They don’t have enough boats to accommodate the group of people waiting to be boarded. We were lucky to be scheduled on the last trip but I strongly suggest to take the boat ride before 12 noon because the waves going to batangas port is very strong during afternoon.  
We boarded to Minolo shipping line returning to Batangas. The maximum capacity of 95 passenger was already reached, probably over. Just before departure time a lot of people were already complaining and ranting because it is already the last ship to board. We really felt that something was wrong that time. The ferry boat eventually departed overloaded. Some passengers were having a great time laughing and taking pictures. There was even a commotion where one foreigner don’t want to be near a co-passenger. Some of the gay passengers even scream and laugh while the waves were hitting our boat.

 When we were in the middle of the ocean, everything went serious. The people became anxious during the rough ride. What made matters worse, the irate foreigner already panicked and shouted at the captain and asking if he is in a hurry. My cousin also panicked and shouted at the foreigner to shut up. Some passengers were already crying and someone collapsed. I hugged my cousin and told her that everything’s going to be alright and we will be able to reach Batangas port. We eventually arrived safe in 
 
Batangas, but this was a very scary ride. It is obvious that this shipping line values a few additional pesos more than the safety of passenger. I really hate the people working in the port area because you really experience greed and corruption. An example of it is when we need to piss and met a man who is willing to assist us to the restroom. After we paid the fee and do our thing, this man pressured us to buy gift products in their store which were too expensive. I’m really pissed off because greed always annoys me. Puerto Galera is party people paradise but going there is one hell of a ride.
How do we get there


From Makati

Go to LRT-1 Gil Puyat Station along Taft Ave. corner Gil Puyat Ave. (Buendia).

Ride a Tritran bus to Batangas City/Batangas Pier (leaves every 30 minutes, PHP149 fare).

From Batangas Pier, ride a boat to White Beach,   The first ferry to Puerto Galera typically leaves around 7:30 AM and the last ferry typically leaves before 4PM.