About Puerto Galera

Puerto Galera is located on the northern coast of Mindoro island in the Philippines, just a 3 hour drive from the capital Manila. Over the past several years it has become one of the Philippines’ most popular tourist destinations with locals and foreigners alike. It has a stunning natural beauty, countless coves and beaches, and world class scuba diving with around forty listed dive sites. There are over thirty accredited dive operators in the area making it the perfect place to learn scuba diving with some of the lowest prices in the Philippines.

Puerto Galera’s coral reefs and nearby Verde Island boost more marine diversity than the Great Barrier Reef and Caribbean Sea combined and have been declared a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Marine Reserve.

In addition to its world class diving, Puerto Galera offers numerous other activities to keep its visitors busy. Snorkeling, mountain trekking, beach hopping, off-road adventuring, paintball, go-kart racing  and sea kayaking are just a few other activities in the Puerto Galera area.

Puerto Galera is actually the name of the entire province but is generally used to refer to the area between Sabang and nearby White Beach. The majority of visitors head straight for Sabang and the nearby beaches of Small La Laguna and Big La Laguna after the one hour boat ride from nearby Batangas pier. Between the three locations, they offer the best choice of accommodations, diving, restaurants and nightlife.

Sabang is the busiest beach where most of the diving boats depart. Sabang has a variety of accommodations to suit all budgets spread out along the shoreline and some above-average restaurants. Sabang is also where most of the night life takes place, whereas Small La Laguna and Big La Laguna are rather more laidback and family-oriented with a few beach front bars and pleasant seafront restaurants. Also suited to families are a number of mid-range resorts which sprouted up near the village of Palangan, about halfway along the road from Puerto Galera to Sabang.

Northeast of Palangan there’s a small, isolated cove at Sinandigan with a handful of very peaceful resorts. In the other direction, to the west of Puerto Galera, the nearest beach is the picturesque White Beach, where accommodation is strictly of the bamboo-hut variety and restaurant menus are more limited than at Sabang. Beyond lie Aninuan Beach and Talipanan Beach, which have affordable, comfortable places to stay, though no nightlife or diving.