I just got back from my vacation to Puerto Galera a few days ago. It was a great vacation and the diving there was phenomenal. I did 6 days of diving while I was there and had nothing but great dives. The reefs were in excellent shape, with never ending things to look at and take pictures of.
I flew into Manila from Honolulu on Philippine Airlines and since the flight was overbooked I got bumped up to First Class. So my vacation started off very much on the right foot. I got into Manila and spent a few days in Makati close to Greenbelt. From there we took the bus and ferry to Puerto Galera. We took the Sikat Bus and Ferry Service (
www.int-office.de/SI-KAT). Round trip tickets for the bus and ferry service was 1200 PesoÃÔ. There was also a 65 Peso Fee for the Park Service (I think that was what it was for) that you pay on the bus. The bus leaves Lobby of the City State Hotel (in Ermita and not far from the American Embassy) at 0900. While not as cheap as public transportation it is far more comfortable and makes it easy to get to Puerto Galera. Once you are at the ferry terminal stay with the guide and donÃÕ let anyone talk you into taking another ferry. There will be lots of offers. The bus ride takes over an hour (mostly due to traffic in Manila) and the ferry takes about 45 minutes.
I stayed at Out of the Blue Villas in Small Laguna (beach right next to Sabang) in Puerto Galera. The Villas are great. We stayed in the one bedroom villa and it was huge. The upstairs had a balcony with a great view, couple of couches and an entertainment center. The downstairs also had a balcony, a full kitchen, day bed (with view of the ocean), full bathroom (super diver friendly with lots of pegs and places to hang gear) and the huge bedroom with king size bed and AC. The villa was nicely decorated and put you at ease. The resort also had daily laundry service that was free. The pool was small but nice. All in all I was super pleased with where I stayed at. The only drawback is all the steps to get up to the villas. Lots and lots of steps to go up and down, but worth it to me.
I dove with Action Divers and got a 10% discount for staying at Out of the Blue. I did 6 days of diving with them and they are a first rate dive shop with great service. The DMÃÔ/Instructors were very knowledgeable and knew the sites very well and were good about allowing me to take pictures. The dive boats were big and spacious with back roll entries and ladder exits (gear is handed up before getting out of the water). Visibility was on average about 30-50 feet and there was usually current but the 1200 dive was usually at slack tide. Water temperatures were on average 83 Deg F and I skin dove comfortably for every dive.
Every dive I did was awesome. The reefs are in excellent shape with colorful hard and soft coral and lots of life everywhere. The first dive I did was the Giant Clams site with numerous giant clams, colorful nudibrancs everywhere you looked and huge schools of fish. As we swam through the schools of fish we ran into huge Groupers and Jacks. The dive was one you didnÃÕ want to end. The Canyons was another memorable dive. As we descended to the 90 + depths to the canyon we caught the ripping current and rode it to the inlets in the wall where we encountered huge Groupers, Sweet Lips, Jacks and Eels. After the third inlet I regretfully saw I was out of bottom time and we ascended at the anchor. It was a great dive. The Sabang Wrecks is also remarkable dive. We hopped in the dive boat, suited up for the dive and took it not too far from SabangÃÔ shore. We descended into a school of Mullet Fish and Batfish. The Mullet Fish swarmed all around us and the Batfish circled us and swooped in on occasion like dive bombers. As we approached the wrecks we saw huge schools of fish and huge Lionfish, Triggerfish, Frogfish and Scorpion fish. Another dive I wish would have just gone on and on. The Shark Caves, Sabang Point, and ErnieÃÔ Point were also fantastic sites with the pinks, reds and yellows of the corals, the Nudibrancs everywhere you looked and abundant life everywhere. One dive at each site is simply not enough. I did numerous other dives and could talk and talk about them, but it is better to see them.
There is nightlife there but mostly my girlfriend and I went out to dinner and just stayed at one of the numerous restaurant bars. There are tours to the jungle, other beaches, and a volcano but we did not partake. If you are looking for souvenir shopping there is not much in Sabang, but Puerto Galera is 15 minutes away by jeepney and White Beach is about 45 minutes away by boat or jeepney.
It was a great vacation! For everyone there, Thank You! Also Thank you to everyone here on SB that gave me some great advice!
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