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PUERTO GALERA
Puerto Galera at a glimpse.
Puerto Galera is only three hours away from downtown Manila, two hours by land to the port at Batangas City and one hour by boat. Puerto Galera is well known among tourists for its numerous pocket beaches, snorkeling and diving spots. The area was designated a "Man and Biosphere Reserve" of UNESCO in 1973 and has some of the most diverse coral reef diving in Asia. In November 2004, Puerto Galera was voted a member of the UNESCO affiliated "The Club of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World"
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Recommended tours and activities: |
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• Mangyan Valley Tour |
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• Tamaraw Falls Day Trip |
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• Tukuran (Hidden Paradise) Nature Trek |
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• Golfing at the Pondarosa Golf Club |
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Puerto Galera is a soothing vision of shimmering seas surrounded by lush mountains. It is considered one of the most beautiful and developed beach resort community in the country and waits to welcome you to its shores.
Today Puerto Galera tourism has flourished, popular for diving and weekend escapes as well as for romantic interludes and family getaways alike.
Water, more specifically the beautiful bays and beaches around the area, is certainly the main attraction of the island. Crystal clear and shimmering especially during the hot summer months, the sea framing Puerto Galera is ideal for swimming, sailing, surfing, snorkeling and scuba diving.
In fact one doesn’t have to go by boat to get to a dive site. Within a kilometer from the coast, schools of Moorish idols, trumpet fish, frog fish, lion fish and leaf fish weave in and out of thriving corals and sea anemones while species of starfish – from the speckled red-and-white to the neon-blue Pacific-rest on the sandy floor.
As early as the 10th century, Chinese, Indonesians and Malay merchants were already doing business with locals in what is now known as Mindoro, the tiny strip of land which the Chinese called "Mai" and which lay directly in the Asia-Pacific trade route. In route to Manila in 1570, a Spanish expedition led by Martin de Goiti and Juan de Salcedo stumbled upon the resource-rich island and christened the entire province Mindoro after the harbor at Minolo. Mindoro was later divided into the provinces of Oriental Mindoro and Occidental Mindoro.
At the height of the raids mounted by Moro pirates in the 17th century. Mindoro was a defensive bastion, with fortresses in the nearby towns of Calapan and Mamburao. Puerto Galera, the northernmost strip so named because it served as a port for Spanish galleys, became the capital. Here, the Spanish found safe anchorage and put up dock-repair facilities for the galleons that plied the Manila-Acapulco route. The island’s generally calm waters, however, belied a tumultuous streak, and once in a while giant waves would crush galleons and marauding vessels. Coins, jars, lamps, swords and other artifacts salvaged from shipwrecks and sunken vessels are displayed at the Poblacion Museum and at Capt’n Greggs in Sabang, lending credence to the island’s colorful history.
Today, foreigners continue to be part of the island. They have been flocking since the late 70’s making it one of the country’s foremost tourist destinations. Many, for whom the lure of the tropics proved too strong, come back time and again for the diving, sailing and idealistic lifestyle that is available in Puerto Galera, one of the few areas in the world that is not only pristine but protected, for your enjoyment.
Puerto Galera is a tropical paradise that is both rustic and thriving. By day it echoes with the soft breeze and the pounding waves, by night it is a peaceful, tranquil paradise dotted with resorts, enjoyment and quality experiences for all manner of visitors. |
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