A few weeks ago me and my fiancee went on a 4 day vacation in Puerto Galera, Mindoro. My partner informed me that she would be able to take a few days off around the middle of May.  I was hoping there was enough time to setup a trip to Palawan, but budgetary and time constraints limited our options.

We were also a bit reluctant to shell out cash for plane tickets that would cost more than the accommodation, food and the tour combined. I promised her I would be on the lookout for a plane ticket sale which have flights that would fall on May next year.

Our  solution to the vacation dilemma was to look for a beach or vacation spot that could be reached by land and didn't take more than a day to travel. I did some research and narrowed our choices down to Puerto Galera in Mindoro, Laiya in Batangas and Pundaquit in Zambales. These 3 locations are familiar to me and I know how to get to them by commuting.

We decided to go to Puerto Galera as it had more to activities to offer for our 4 day stay.

We ended up in El Canonero lodge at Barangay Talipanan,  a nice quiet lodge in a nice quiet part of town.

The lodge exterior was classy. It looked more like a private residence than an inn. Prices for food and lodging in the area was about 20-30% higher than in white beach but we preferred the less crowded environment.

Our stay was pleasant enough, my only real gripe was how late the staff would come in during the morning. I'm used to 24 hour desk service. I will probably try the other inns in the area when I come back.

The beach at Talipanan can be considered an extension of the one in white beach. You can walk from one end to the other in about 1-2 hours depending on your pace. There are a few rock outcroppings along the way but these are easily traversed during low tide. The most difficult part to cross would be the rocky area between Aninuan beach and white beach.

The beach in this part of Mindoro is a mix of rounded pebbles and fine white sand. The sand is not as powdery as in Panglao or Boracay and the pebbles require you to swim with foot wear on, but other than that, the beach is still as charming as ever, especially when the sun starts to set.

I regret not being able to go snorkeling during our trip. We also missed walking to the falls. We did enjoy walking along the beach, swimming and skipping stones along the shore. Mostly we slept, especially during the hottest part of the day. We got a couples massage on our 2nd night. Quite a pleasant experience since I haven't had a massage in while.

The shopping and dining establishments in White Beach, Puerto Galera have undergone a major upgrade. When I was here 4 years ago, only a few of the beach side restaurants were fully cemented.  Several now accept credit card payments .

It's also nice to know that most of the development seem to be limited to this area.

White beach has become the default entry and exit point for this part of Puerto Galera. While RORO ferries cannot dock here, there are plenty of large capacity banka ferrying people to and from the Batangas Pier.

I noticed that the minimum capacity of the ferries are now a hundred plus.This is definitely an improvement as the larger bankas are safer albeit slower.

The biggest surprise I encountered was at the Batangas Pier. It's as good as a domestic airport terminal. No more hawkers or unruly baggage boys. It made the trip very pleasant.

Overall it was a good vacation, not on par as our trip to Bohol a few years ago but we definitely felt more rested after this trip. The significant improvements at the Batangas Pier make it a convenient jump off point for a trip to Romblon and Calapan. Trips which I will likely undertake soon.

Until next time.



Here are a few very useful resources I referred to when I planning this trip :
http://romanleoreyman.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/talipanan-beach-puerto-galera/
http://www.lakwatseradeprimera.com/puerto-galera-lucas-lodge-talipanan-beach/
http://www.divingresortelcanonero.com/resort_eng.html