Puerto Galera, Above and Under!

 

Whenever people asked about Puerto Galera, what do you usually thought about? Beaches? Mountains? White Beach?

You might probably be picking the last one. White Beach is the most popular of Puerto Galera’s 32 beaches especially among Filipino tourists. The long stretch of white sands are visited by Manila tourists mostly from March to May. Restaurants lined up serving different cuisines. Accommodations and Hotels are also available in the area but sometimes private homes are also rented out specially on peak season. This place is great for people who loves to swim, dine, and party at the same time.

But if you felt a bit crowded staying at the White Beach of Puerto Galera, don’t you worry, for there are still lots of other places you can enjoy in this place without spending too much!

Puerto Nirvana accommodated us for three days in this trip and aside from enjoying the food, the room and the pool, we also got to experience other things in this island. Let me tell you one by one.

Mangyan Village

Up in the mountain of Malasimbo you’ll get to see thesmall village of the Iraya-Mangyan which is one of Ayala Foundation’s program under Sustainable Livelihood. The residents here can craftily create different baskets they sell for a living. I kinda remember my childhood days when we visited the village. Kids are always camera ready, but away from the social media world, it is great to see the Mangyan kids playing on the street with old school games just like in the 90’s. I had so much fun watching them.

Visit the Iraya-Mangyan Village at the foot of Mt. Malasimbo, at Sitio Talipanan, Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro and if you want to own a beautiful Iraya-Mangyan baskets, you can visit the display and purchase it at the third floor of Greenbelt 5, the Ayala Museum Shop, and Glorietta 1.

Bulabod Beach

Here’s an option if you don’t like crowds and you wanted to commune with nature, visit Bulabod Beach. With an entrance fee of less than Php 30 pesos per head, you can enjoy the beach and feel like you own it. A the far corner you can see a conflux and enjoy the cold waters of the river. We did a picnic in here and enjoyed grilled tuna, barbecue, salted egg with tomatoes on the side.

Along the road going to Bulabod, you can also see the Tamaraw Falls.

From Bulabod beach, we head back to Puerto Nirvana and ride a speed boat. It only took us 15 minutes to get there.

Our craziness didn’t stop there, we also got a chance to do YOLO on our car.

The Underwater World of Puerto Galera

The wind was already gushing in some places in Puerto Galera. We were told that there was a storm in Manila. But it didn’t hinder us to do our next activity. For today will be meeting some schools of fishes and will be visiting the underwater world of Puerto Galera.

Our starting point, Muelle bay.

Through Puerto Nirvana’s assistance (booking), the boat was already waiting for us in the Muelle Bay that would take us to Haligi Beach.

We decided to wear white on this day (except Jack who insisted that he’s already white). Took some photos in one of the island then transferred to a much smaller boat that will take us to Haligi Beach.

By the way, we rented the bigger boat for Php 700, transferring to smaller boat will cost you another Php 500 per head, that will include different destination/activities like Underwater caving, Snorkelling, Fish Feeding and a visit at the Giant Clams area. We decided to just snorkel since we don’t have enough time to experience all the mentioned activities, we were charged Php200 per person instead. Here are some of the photos from MJ (www.Lifestylehub.net)

 

Will post the video of our underwater shoot soon! Our time are too short to experience everything. According to Sir Romy Roxas, the owner of Puerto Nirvana, there are still lots of places that we can explore in Puerto Galera aside from white beach. From land, to highest point and even under, Puerto Galera has something to offer.

On our next visit will make sure to visit the following destination:

1. Tukuran Falls
2. Mt. Malasimbo
3. Aninuan Beach
4. Sabang Beach
5. Mouth Halcon
6. Sandbar
7. Aninuan Falls
8. Ponderosa
9. and other sports activities

Check out Puerto Nirvana if you plan to visit Puerto Galera very soon.

Puerto Nirvana – Sitio Hondura Brgy. Poblacion, Puerto Galera Philippines
Telefax No: (+6343) 287-34-08
Globe (+63) 917-624-86-07 Sun (+63) 922-817-2736
Office Hours: Monday-Sunday 9am-6pm
Email: puertonirvana@yahoo.com, info@puertonirvana.com