Travel to Puerto Galera, this delightful town on the island of Mindoro, starts at the Philippines capital city, Manila. The trip consists of the combination of two forms of transport, by road and ferry.
There is no airport at Puerto Galera, so you are unable to fly.
Quickest way to Puerto Galera?
If you do not want the hassle of public transport, then your best option is to arrange for a private minivan or car to pick you up from either your hotel in Manila or the airport as you get off your plane. The minivan, which is air conditioned, will take you the 2 ½ to 3 hours from Manila to Batangas, where your own banca boat will take you directly across to your resort in Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro. This is the easiest, hassle free way to travel to Puerto Galera. Talk to your resort or hotel, they will be able to arrange private transport for you and give you an idea of costs.
I mentioned above that planes do not fly to Puerto Galera, this is true there are no direct fights from any airports in the Philippines.
You can however take a seaplane. Whilst the cost may be prohibitive for most, if time is of the essence and you can share the cost with others, then a 1 hour flight from Manila directly to the doorstep of your resort in Puerto Galera is perfect. Talk about feeling like a rock star!
Bus and Ferry from Manila
For the majority of us, travel is part of the experience, so don’t fret if you cannot afford your own personal transport.
There are a number of busses that will take you from Manila, mostly they are in Pasay City, to Batangas. The trip will take you about 3 hours, but if whether and traffic is against you then it has been known to take 6 hours. The worst time to travel is Saturday mornings and coming home try not to travel on Sunday’s. This is mainly due to the inhabitants of Manila getting out of the city for the weekend.
From Batangas there are any number of ferries that will take you to Puerto Galera.
The most common way to travel to Puerto Galera, is to purchase a bus – ferry return ticket with Si-Kat. The Si-Kat bus leaves at 09:00 am from the City State Tower Hotel, on Mabini Street, Ermita. Please note the Si-Kat does not leave from the Centerpoint Hotel any more.
The air conditioned buses, usually there are two if them will take you directly to the Batangas Pier, where the connecting MB Si-Kat ferry will be waiting for you. Once the buses have offloaded there passengers and they have boarded the Si-Kat, it will leave for the 2 ½ hour journey to Puerto Galera.
Puerto Galera – What Now?
The majority of the coves, beaches and resorts are out of the port area of Puerto Galera. The Si-Kat and other commercial ferries dock at Muelle Bay in Puerto Galera.
From here, if you have made a booking at a resort,
have a look here for recommended accommodation in Puerto Galera,
they will have arranged for someone to meet with you to take you directly to your resort. This will usually be a 15 minute trip by Banca boat.
If you have not arranged for any accommodation in Puerto Galera, then you have two options, you can either catch the jeepney to Sabang Beach or take a banca boat to the beach of your choice.
Catching a jeepney, like everywhere else in the Philippines, do not stick by a timetable, they leave when they are full and I mean full. They will have everything on board from other holiday tourists to locals and there produce, both inside and strapped to the roof. My preferred option is by banca.
Travel to Puerto Galera is not difficult, in fact it is very straight forward, the views are astonishing, entering the Manila channel at Puerto Galera for the very first time, is a memory that is imbedded in my mind for ever.
