Trip To Mindoro!

You can just go pick different hotels in the pier in batangas, white house beach is a good choice for a budget i stayed there. also a lot of restaurant just within the white beach. You can also rent a motorcycle to roam around puerto galera, they have a lot of attraction in Oriental mindoro alone, but if you would wish to get into occidental, by far the grandest attraction would be to see the APO REEF.

Thank you macemorales for your help,
Would you be able to advise us on where and which bus we would take to get there ?

Réal D.

We did a long ride to San Juan. Actually not a lot on that side of Mindoro. Would just stay in Puerto Gallera and can do day trips, head over to the Big Apple and ask some of the people there. A lot of long time expats who live there and can give good recommendations.

My aussie friend (Peter) also owns a hotel that is in middle of Sabang. Clean large rooms and pretty reasonable rates. Sabang Oasis ph 432873564 or sabangoasis@gmail.com

Take any of the buses that go down to Batangas and then can take a roro. Or if you do contact a dive resort, they can refer you to one of the bangka boats that go over and may arrange a pick up from Manila. Usually quicker and more interesting way to cross.

Big Apple has good info on their website.  Hotel rooms are just ok. http://www.divebigapple.com/getting.shtml

dhnindc wrote:

We did a long ride to San Juan. Actually not a lot on that side of Mindoro. Would just stay in Puerto Gallera and can do day trips, head over to the Big Apple and ask some of the people there. A lot of long time expats who live there and can give good recommendations.

My aussie friend (Peter) also owns a hotel that is in middle of Sabang. Clean large rooms and pretty reasonable rates. Sabang Oasis ph 432873564 or sabangoasis@gmail.com

Take any of the buses that go down to Batangas and then can take a roro. Or if you do contact a dive resort, they can refer you to one of the bangka boats that go over and may arrange a pick up from Manila. Usually quicker and more interesting way to cross.

Big Apple has good info on their website.  Hotel rooms are just ok and not cheap. http://www.divebigapple.com/getting.shtml

Thank you for the info, Dhnindc
We still haven't decided on a resort yet but I think we will take your advise and stay in the Puerta Galera area and take day trips like you recommended.
My girlfriend wants to stay in a resort that has beach access, is the Sabang Oasis on the beach?

Réal D

Hi,

I've lived in Mindoro for the last four years. I live in Occidental (where Apo Reef is) but go to Puerto at least once-a-month. I definitely wouldn't recommend swimming in the sea in sabang, unless you like the smell of raw sewage. You can easily get to white beach though from sabang, although it tends to be rather crowded.

Sabang isn't really that good a place for couples. More a single guy's haven, if you get what I mean.

I've travelled round Mindoro more times than I can remember, so if you've got any specific questions then let me know.

Cheers

Sabang doesnt have a nice beach so would try White Beach as well. But maybe cheaper in Sabang, so you can spend a night there and then expand over to White Beach.

There are lots of girlie bars in Sabang, but also there are enough restaurants and normal bars.

Hi Dreal1! I was in Puerto galera Sabang beach last June. A friend from Australia went here and invited me to explore Sabang beach because she is afraid to travel alone. I suggest AT-CANS_INN for your accommodation, very clean and with cooking utensils. They only charged us 1000 pesos per day but that was off peak season. They also have wifi and you can also cook, market and bars are just walking distance. If you like scuba diving, sabang is the right place and you can also do island hopping and snorkel at the coral garden. (dont miss the coral garden)

Hi,
  Don't know if you are still looking for info concerning going to PG but here goes.
  From Manila make sure you get on a bus that goes to Batangas Pier which will bring you very close to the
  Ferrys that go to Sabang or White beach, if you take a bus that does not go to the pier you will have to take
a trike to get to the pier (about 15 to 20 mins) so might as well make sure you go to the Pier directly.
Once you approach the area where you have to get your tickets for the Ferry most of the time you will be
approached by locals who will offer their help - they will carry your bags, buy your tickets for you but will most
likely try to steer you to buy snacks, souvenirs etc which isn't neccessarily a bad thing and i supposed they get
a bit of mney from those vendors if they bring in business. some unfortunately will tell you there are no snacks or drinks inside the terminal which is not true. I know they could use the money so I just let them carry my bag
and get the tickets for me then give them a tip (p50 to P100 is what I like to give)  ferr ride is about 90 mins so
make sure you do bring at least some water for you and your GF.  Like others have said the beach at Sabang isn't great but you could either take a trike to get to white beach or just hire a small banca that will take
you all the way to white beach (about P1500)  I can't remember what it cost if you go by trike but I think it was
around P500 and the driver waited for us so that fare was roundtrip - I have also taken the banca so I have
done both and each method was kinda fun. lots of places to go snorkelling and scuba diving, I've only done the
snorkelng but scuba is definitely very popular there. we have stayed at Oriental Sabang hill which is way up
in the hill so it required a lot of stairs but for me that was OK, view up there is nice. Staff is very nice and they
have a restaurant there as well. rooms are basic but at least they were clean. as for getting around you could
ride a jeeney or again hire a trike to take you around and you could also rent motorbikes/scooters. Like someone else said there are some girly bars in the area which may turn off your GF but couple do go inside
once in a while. There is a small GYM inside the Tropicana hotel if you like to workout - That hotel looks like
a castle so it's easy to spot, walking around is kinda fun around there anyway but don't stray too far in the dark. Just about opposite the Tropicans is a small place that offers tours, can't remember the name of the
place or the lady that runs it but its next to a pizza shop, We did that tour and it was kinda nice, you ride in a
jeepney though (to keep cost down I'm sure) but it was very pleasant and allowed us to see parts of Mindoro
we wouldn't have seen otherwise, wear or bring swim suits as there is a nice lake where you will have lunch
(included in the tour) plus they offer as an option a canoe trip before heading home, we enjoyed that part
very much. this tour takes all day though so you won't get back until around 5 or 5:0 PM ( think it started
around 9 AM)  overall I like PG but food prices tend to be rather high but I guess that's due to the area being
filled with foreigners which of course drives up prices. Food prices around White beach is lower though.
  anyway have fun in Puerto Galera !

Hi JDevonshire,
The road that leads around the island on the south east side down to Bulalakao area , do you know of any resorts on the beach in that general area?
Also what kind of transportation is there on the island to get around to that area?,bus,jeeneys,taxi?
What is the travelling time approximately from PG to the south/east side of the island?
Thanks,
Réal D

JDevonshire wrote:

Hi,

I've lived in Mindoro for the last four years. I live in Occidental (where Apo Reef is) but go to Puerto at least once-a-month. I definitely wouldn't recommend swimming in the sea in sabang, unless you like the smell of raw sewage. You can easily get to white beach though from sabang, although it tends to be rather crowded.

Sabang isn't really that good a place for couples. More a single guy's haven, if you get what I mean.

I've travelled round Mindoro more times than I can remember, so if you've got any specific questions then let me know.

Cheers

Thank you everyone for all your help,