I was lucky enough to do a quick pre Christmas trip to beautiful Puerto Galera on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines for a few days of swimwear shooting.
Puerto Galera is a popular weekend escape from Manila due to its proximity to, and easy accessibility from the city. To get there follow these steps: 1. Get yourself to the Jac Liner bus terminal in Pasay City (near Makati). Get on a bus to Batangas, two hours by road from Manila. Tickets are around 200PHP and are paid for on the bus after departure. 2. Get off the bus at the port in Batangas, head into the Port Terminal and purchase your ferry ticket to Puerto Galera. A fast ferry ticket costs around 600PHP per person and the trip from Bataggas takes only around an hour. The port terminal in Batangas is brand new and well organised and resembles an airport terminal more than a ferry terminal. There are plenty of food and coffee options to fill up while you are waiting to board your “fast craft.” 3. De ferry in Puerto Galera and get a tricycle to your accommodation. We went from the port to a hotel in White Beach which took only about ten minutes and cost 200PHP for two people, myself and my beautiful and super talented model.
We were in PG mid week and it was pretty quiet, but it did fill up with people quickly on Friday, weekenders from Manila I would guess.
White Beach is a lovely stretch of white sand beach in a horseshoe shape between two rocky promontories. Restaurants, cafe’s, dive shops and souvenir shops line the new concrete boardwalk that runs along the beach. At the top end is one headland, the left hand point facing the beach. The headland at the opposite end is know locally as “Jurassic Park” and this was the location for our photo shoots (see upcoming blog post.)
As well as being uncrowded mid week, the water was incredibly clear and warm and was great for long leaisurely swims between shoots. There are some stinging jelly fish at times which deliver an uncomfortable but otherwise harmless sting if you are unlucky enough to be selected.
The food along the beachfront is reasonably priced for a tourist area and was clean and tasty.
Sadly time and work did not permit to explore more of this lovely place apart from White Beach but it is certainly worth a revisit for longer for more exploration. Snorkelling, diving and Island hopping are meant to be beautiful. See you again in 2023!
Going places
Two boys on a rock. Jurassic Park.
Fun in the sun
Getting high on life
The paddler