Puerto Galera during COVID: Day 1 Itinerary – RORO from Manila, Badladz, Fridays
April 26, 2022
After 2 years of COVID lockdown, my family really wanted to get out of the house and just chill by the beach. We desperately needed a change in scenery. But, we also weren’t gutsy enough to fly yet. This meant we were stuck visiting places near enough to Manila that we could get there by car alone.
Honestly, our first choice was Anilao because we wanted to try diving. But lo and behold, apparently, everyone had the same idea as us because all the resorts we wanted to book at were full. The next choice? Puerto Galera, just a hop and a skip away from Anilao, but made a lot farther because of it’s piss-poor infrastructure (which we would come to realize).
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. After a 2 years+ hiatus, I can finally use my blog to actually write about TRAVEL. So this post will really be a detailed breakdown of what we did at Puerto Galera and my honest assessment on whether or not it was worth it. Also because, quite frankly, despite being a fairly popular tourist attraction, we couldn’t find much resources online as we were planning our trip, which added a layer of stress that I so didn’t need. So, here’s to hoping my blog will help YOU as you plan your trip to Puerto Galera.
How to get to Puerto Galera via RORO
We were coming from Quezon City and we wanted to bring our car with us to Puerto Galera. This meant we would need to take the RORO. Horror of horrors, apparently on weekdays (despite this being Holy Week), only ONE RORO (Montenegro line) would run between the Batangas Port and the Puerto Galera Port. We were told that only 10 cars would fit into the boat, and the rest would be for passengers only, which sent us into another tizzy (this was a lie though. I counted, around 40 cars fit into the RORO…)
Anyway, bottomline, if you want to take the RORO on a weekday (with your car), make sure to arrive at the Batangas Port between 5AM to 6AM to ensure you get a slot. It’s easy to get here. Just indicate Batangas Port on Waze. My family really wanted to make sure we got on that RORO though, so we ended up leaving our house at 2:30AM, and arrived at the port around 4:30AM.
When we got there, there was a very long queue to Calapan Port, which gave me a mini-heart attack because I thought that was the queue for Batangas Port. So make sure to keep asking the guards and the port personnel to make sure you’re queuing on the right lane.
So first, you queue to pay the arrastre. They charged us PHP 129 for the car, then PHP 30 per passenger (excluding the driver)
From there, they directed us to the inspection area. At this point, they got our plate number, checked the number of passengers, as well as the contents of the car (a cursory check of the trunk). They then informed us that the queue to Puerto Galera was at Lane 17. At this point, it was already around 5:10AM. At that early hour, we had the dubious honor of being 2nd in line for the RORO.
It was time to tuck in and wait (and nap if possible!). If you need to pee or just want to grab breakfast, there’s also a bathroom and a canteen of sorts within the port premises.
Around 7AM, a port marshal came over and told us to pay for the RORO fee. This came up to PHP 2125 for the car, and PHP 306 for each passenger (excluding the driver). Finally, at 7:20AM, we were now allowed to enter the RORO.
Supposedly, the RORO was set to leave at 8AM but it ended up leaving at 9AM. The cars enter first, so we got to choose the seats we wanted. It’s really really hot inside though, sweltering! But I quite liked this RORO because they had tables, so we got to eat breakfast (cup noodles for PHP 60 each), boiled eggs (PHP 35 for 3), and delicious potato cake which we brought with us.
Finally at around 11:30AM, we arrived at Puerto Galera. The first one out are passengers, followed by the cars.
Once the car leaves the RORO, you have to queue again and a representative needs to enter the terminal to pay the Environmental User Fee – PHP 120 per tourist. You also have to show your tourist QR code – so make sure to register at the Puerto Galera Tourism Registration app beforehand!
Once this was done, we showed the guards our paid fee and we were off!
Lunch at Badladz Beach Resort
This was a random find. I was just searching which restaurants to eat at, and this one popped up, where people were raving about the AMAZING Mexican food. Well, I like Mexican so why not? Plus, they’ve got ample parking space – pretty important since we had a car with us.
The place itself is pretty nice as it has its own private beach – we sat outdoors so you could really hear the waves crashing into the sea and experience the sea breeze. There was also a hammock that we used while waiting for the food.
The food itself I thought was rather meh however. Are my standards too high? My overall assessment is the food here is pretty good value for money – huge serving size, they don’t skimp on the ingredients, but a bit lacking in flavor. Of the dishes we ordered, the Steak Fajita was pretty good as it made use of good quality beef tenderloin. I also quite liked the Fried Tortilla Apple Pie dessert – delicious! It’s like turon but with caramelized apple chunks instead. The halo halo was also chock full of fillings so good value for money.
Walk along Sabang Beach and White Beach
We couldn’t check into our villa until 3PM, so we decided to check out Sabang Beach and White Beach first while waiting. There’s really not much to say about Sabang Beach – the sidewalk was under construction and I thought it was a rather sad place to stay because you didn’t even get a beachfront (since the sidewalk was under construction!). Maybe it’ll be better once the construction is done?
Anyway, Sabang Beach is really where you stay if you want to go diving etc because most of the dive resorts are here. Otherwise though, I’d suggest not staying here.
In contrast, White Beach is a lot nicer! Almost white sand, lots of restaurants, water sports galore – this is where the hive of activity is at. I don’t think I’d want to stay at White Beach itself, but I’d like to stay nearer to this vicinity if possible
Check in at Amami Beach Villa
Finally! It was time to check in. We opted to rent a beach villa for this trip because we figured it’s a lot safer to have the whole place to yourself vs staying at a potentially crowded resort. Plus, I liked the idea of having a private beach just for us!
Overall, we enjoyed our stay here. The staff were very nice and accommodating, there’s LOTS of room – it’s meant to accommodate 10 and we were only 5. Wifi signal was very strong, it has a kitchen and a grilling area, nice living room, even a treadmill, and of course, the private beach. My main gripe was really the poor water pressure though. Honestly, the most important thing ever! Sigh. Plus, there was no hot water in the showers. Not a big deal because quite frankly it’s summertime and it’s so hot, so it’s not like I wanted to shower using hot water, but just putting it out there so you know.
Dinner at Fridays
For dinner, we decided to pop over to Fridays, which is a resort on one of the islands near the Coral Garden. To get there, you can head over to Muelle Port, and just ask one of the bangka to bring you over. It’s PHP 250 to go to the resort, and PHP 500 to get back to the mainland (since you’ll be asking the bangka to wait for you).
Note, you’re only allowed to go Fridays if you’re eating at their restaurant. Otherwise, only resort guests are allowed.
Overall impression of Fridays – the resort itself is pretty and the rooms are very nice, but it’s a bit removed from everything. I think you should only stay there if you literally just want to chill at the resort – but dude, why go Puerto Galera if that’s the case? You can do that at nearer beach resorts which has a much nicer ambiance and likely cheaper. Otherwise, if you want to do all the water activities, e.g. snorkeling, diving, water sports, etc; expect to be charged an arm and a leg for it.
Restaurant-wise, the food was just alright, and isn’t cheap too. I liked the liempo, and the shrimp was good too (although not fresh, or they steamed it for too long). But everything else was just alright. For a beach, Puerto Galera seafood is not cheap and there’s a stunning lack of variety.
And that’s it for Day 1!
Need help planning your Puerto Galera trip? Check out my other articles!