How to get to Puerto Galera

Here's my simple tips on how to go to Puerto Galera.

From Manila you can get on a bus to Batangas Port. Almost all major bus lines in here in the Metro have regular trips to the Batangas Port. You can take the commercial buses the likes of BLTB, JAM and TRITRAN. The JAM Bus Terminal is located along Edsa-Kamuning but its actually closer to Edsa-Timog. The schedule varies but normally a bus takes off every 30 minutes even in off-peak dates. The trip costs around 175 pesos per person, (so its 350 per person if you include the return trip in your computations if your in a budget) the trip is about 2 hours

(I would advise you to take the bus with the sign "Calabarzon" because it takes less time to be at the pier than the other buses because the one with the calabarzon route would simply pass through the star tollway while the other buses would go through many provinces. )

There is also a bus terminal at Buendia, you can take the LRT 1 and get off at the Gil Puyat station. And if you want to go there in a hurry you can also take the passenger vans (FX) that are located on the other side of bus terminal near the Gil Puyat LRT station. The passenger vans (FX) uses the Star Tollgate route directly to Lipa Batangas making the trip a lot faster than the other buses, the fare is almost just the same with that of the air-con buses.

The fastest way to Puerto Galera is to take a Ferry or outrigger boats directly to your beach of choice. There are a lot of shipping lines to choose from the prices range from 450 per person to a more discounted one when you buy a round trip ticket. When you arrive at the port, there will be a lot of people who will approach you and ask you where your going or if you already have a ticket for the ferry ride. Do not be afraid, from my experince these people are there to actually help you and not just plainly there to extort you.

Inside the terminal there are also people who will approach you and offer you places to stay, they have stalls inside the terminal where they have pictures of the hotels so you can have an idea on how it looks like.

If you are going to White Beach, I recommend staying at the Hollywood Palm Beach Hotel, they have amenities such as a swimming pool, a function room, a billiards hall and a restorant that can seat about 300 people. The hotel is not beach front so they offer a free 24hour shuttle service to and from the beach. It is only about a 5 minute walk from the beach to the hotel though.

Here are some tips:

• Bring enough drinking water to last your whole stay at the beach, drinking water here is a little expensive and most restos only offer bottled water and no tap.
• Bring cash as there are no ATM machines in White Beach.
• There are people who will approach you the moment you get down the boat and offer you places to stay. This is good if you still do not have any reservations. You can choose places near the beach but may cost more because they are very accesible, but you should also consider the noise if you will be staying very near the beach front.
• Try to haggle with everything, even for the island hopping tours, you can get a cheaper rate if you ask around.
• Make sure you have reservations for the boat ride back to Batangas a day before your scheduled trip.
• White Beach is a place with very steep beaches where it can get very deep easily, so be careful.

Public Buses from Manila to Batangas Port:

BLTB Bus Lines: EDSA, Pasay. Tel. nos. # 833-5501 , 833-5508 and 913-1525

PHILTRANCO Bus Lines: Cubao, Q.C. Tel. nos.# 851-8079

JAM Transit: Taft Ave., Pasay. & New York St., Cubao. Tel. # nos.541-4409 and 924-7712

TRITRAN Transit: Edsa, Quezon City. Tel. nos. # 925-1758 and 925-1759

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