How to Plan a Weekend Trip to White Beach, Puerto Galera

Me and my bestfriend just being silly at the beach

Puerto Galera is a beach town located on the northern coast of Mindoro Island. Its top attraction, White Beach, is a beautiful stretch of mocha sand and turquoise waters lined with hostels, restaurants, and shops.

Most of the boatloads of visitors that come to Mindoro stay in Puerto Galera. Easily reached, inexpensive, and beautiful, Puerto Galera is one of the most highly visited beaches in the Philippines.

How to Get There

• Take a bus from Manila bound for Batangas Pier at terminals in Cubao or Buendia, Taft Avenue. Buses leave every hour. Travel time is 2.5 hours.

• At Batangas Pier, take a ferry to Mindoro Island. Make sure you take one that stops at White Beach, Puerto Galera. Travelers could also opt to book round-trip tickets. The boat ride takes around 45 minutes.

• Additional expenses include, a terminal fee and an environmental  fee charged at the main dock.

Where to Stay

There are numerous hostels in Puerto Galera. Accommodation rates vary depending on the season. High-peak months are from November to June and off-peak from July to October.

Photography by Phyllis Abrasaldo

What to See and Do

If you’re there for just a weekend trip, you’ll likely spend most of your time just basking under the sun.  You could hire a boat for a one-hour island-hopping tour and go snorkel at the coral garden about 15 minutes from White Beach.

You could also go diving. There are dive shops at White Beach that offer diving packages for both first-timers and seasoned divers. Diving packages include diving equipment, a crash course in diving, and transport to the dive spot.

At night, bars and restaurants come alive with heart-pounding music and laser lights flickering everywhere. Restaurants compete for customers offering every kind of food and beer promo. Nightlife in Puerto Galera is a treat for party people.

Perfect for a weekend getaway, Puerto Galera indulgently offers itself to travelers in search of a dreamy paradise not too close, yet not too far. If you’re one of them, bookmark this article and start planning that weekend trip, now.

Check out these Batangas travel guides for more info on the coolest attractions and things to do in the province

Photography by Phyllis Abrasaldo

Photography by Phyllis Abrasaldo

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