Lite trip to Romblon and PG May 2025

[Johncn]

I was a bit disappointed but have to accept it.
"You can't always get what you want" by Rolling Stones.
"But if you try sometime you'll find you get what you need"!!

That is a bummer. FYI: We are currently at Sunset Cove Dive Resort on Alad Island (just a short bangka ride from Romblon town). I asked, and they have one room for a few days this week, and space on dive boat. Ronny / Charo are the owners, and answer promptly via email. Diving has been great here the last week. Many of the same dive sites as Three P. Just a thought, and good luck with remainder of your trip.

 

[Centrals]

That is a bummer. FYI: We are currently at Sunset Cove Dive Resort on Alad Island (just a short bangka ride from Romblon town). I asked, and they have one room for a few days this week, and space on dive boat. Ronny / Charo are the owners, and answer promptly via email. Diving has been great here the last week. Many of the same dive sites as Three P. Just a thought, and good luck with remainder of your trip.

I met a Duch young lady and her Singaporean companion on the ferry to Romblon. They were going to dive with Sunset Cove but would had to find somewhere to stay at Romblon on that day first because Sunset was fully booked.
It did cross my mind to contact Sunset but I am kind of enjoying the stay at the resort and food has been surprising good. Thank you for the suggestion. We kept missing each others. LOL.
Enjoy the rest of your trip in Philippines. Cheers.

 

[Centrals]

Left the resort in the morning and moved back to Romblon. No issue to check in early(11:00) as the hotel is very quiet.
Cut my hair for only P80.00, not bad at all.
Went to Starlite ticket office and bought a ticket to Batangas. As the ferry departs at 22:00 so a bed is imperative. Therefore I opt for the tourist class bed P1,500.00. However, the clark insisted that I qualified as senior even though I told her that I am a foreigner. The discounted fare is P1,071.00, a saving of P429.00.
Lunch comprised of one cup of rice, a small fish and two mixed veggies came a mere P145.00.
6N/7D, excluding accommodation, TOTAL expenditure is about P7,200.00(US$136.00).

 

[Searcaigh]

However, the clark insisted that I qualified as senior even though I told her that I am a foreigner

Ha ha that happened to me too when buying food at Subway in Batangas port before we left for Romblon.

Sometimes age has benefits.

 

[hdtran]

Left the resort in the morning and moved back to Romblon. No issue to check in early(11:00) as the hotel is very quiet.
Cut my hair for only P80.00, not bad at all.
Went to Starlite ticket office and bought a ticket to Batangas. As the ferry departs at 22:00 so a bed is imperative. Therefore I opt for the tourist class bed P1,500.00. However, the clark insisted that I qualified as senior even though I told her that I am a foreigner. The discounted fare is P1,071.00, a saving of P429.00.
Lunch comprised of one cup of rice, a small fish and two mixed veggies came a mere P145.00.
6N/7D, excluding accommodation, TOTAL expenditure is about P7,200.00(US$136.00).

Come say "hello" when you are in Puerto Galera! I'll be at Scandi Divers, last diving day will be Mon. 5/19, and leaving back to Manila Tue. 5/20 for a Wed. 5/21 morning flight.

 

[Centrals]

The 22:00 departure time was pushed back well past 23:00 as the boat arrived late.
The breakfast(included in the price of the ticket) was pretty small in quantity and quality, as I needed to fill my stomach so bought an extra one(different flavour but equally poor quality).
The boat eventually docked at Batangas around 08:00 and by the time I walked into the Terminal to buy the onward ticket to Balatero, it was already 08:45.
Island Water has schedule at 09:00 but the boat did not depart until 09:30. Fare was P620.00.
Trike from Balatero Port to Sabang was P250.00.

 

[hdtran]

Centrals, great to see you briefly before the 4:00pm Scandi Divers boat! If you see this and you feel like it, come to the Scandi bbq party. I'll send you a Scubaboard direct message. Best, Hy

 

[Centrals]

Centrals, great to see you briefly before the 4:00pm Scandi Divers boat! If you see this and you feel like it, come to the Scandi bbq party. I'll send you a Scubaboard direct message. Best, Hy

Too tire from the overnight ferry journey. I should hit my bed before 21:00 tonight.
Have a great evening.

 

[Centrals]

Deep sleep is important to the body and I felt really afresh this morning.
One dive a day for three days.
Sanadigan for nudibranch hunting.
Several species of green colour nudibranchs from fat to slim, big to tiny. However, the best one was a really tiny one which caught my eye by accident but no idea what it was.
Three octopuses, a mantis shrimp trying to crack open a shell and completely ignoring divers. I had seen it once before but I was on a semi-closed rebreather donkey year ago.
Water temp was comfortable at around 28C. Total dive time was 55min and both the guide and I have over 80bars left.
Tomorrow might go either to either Turtle Rock or Boulder for thresher shark and then more nudibranch in the shallow.
Horse Head(36m) or Fish Bowl(40m) for a quick dive is another option. Fish Bowl swim up to the Canyons if the tide is slack.

 

[Johncn]

We just took the Starlite Stella Maris from Romblon to Batangas last night. Arrived about 7:45 AM this morning. We left Sunset Cove by bangka at 7 PM, but it did not arrive until 10:45 PM. The waiting area is air conditioned.

The VIP cabin was surprisingly nice! There are only three on the ferry, and you can't reserve them (that I could figure out) online. We went through a Romblon travel agent. There is a double bunk on the bottom, and a single bunk on the top. Fresh sheets and a blanket for each. Small private bathroom with shower. The other classes have to rent a top sheet if desired, but as a "VIP", we just had to request it from the room steward. ;-)

Overall, we will probably do the same thing from Batangas to Romblon and return next time we go. Unless, of course, they restart flights to Tablas in June…which is the current rumor from my Cebu Pacific employee friend in Manila.

Attached some images of the ferry, our room, and the general open tourist beads that have no walls, but roll down curtains for rain and so on.