Posted by Our commute from Manila to Puerto Galera, Mindoro Oriental, Philippines was a bit exhausting but fulfilling. We had so many waiting times, transfers, inconvenient exposures to dust and heat; but at the same time, it was fulfilling because we have our officemates creating funny moments and relieving some hassles. This listicle will help you figure out how our recent trip look like and some of the things that you should consider when travelling to and from Puerto Galera. However, this blog will not advise you about the changing document requirements when going to Puerto Galera (e.g. Anti-Covid vaccination cards, S-pass, Traze App). It will be better if you contact the Puerto Galera government’s official social media pages as these document requirements may always change.
1.) You can rent a van to Batangas City Port
Batangas City Port would be your gateway to Puerto Galera. In order to get to Batangas City Port, you can either take a bus, do carpool or rent a van. For convenience, we decided to rent a van. We paid 6000php for our van to Batangas City Port. We were 9 people inside the van, all of them are my officemates except the driver. We left Ortigas City at 5:30am then arrived to the port around 7:30am.
2.) Entry to Batangas City Port Gate can be a Long Queue
I suggest you come earlier due to long queues at Batangas City Port Gates especially on weekends or holidays. They currently only have one entry point and each person has to present his/her required documents to the security staff (e.g. ID, vaccine cards, S-pass, Traze App etc). In our case, it took us 15minutes to get pass the Batangas Port Entrance Gate.
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3.) Another queue when buying tickets
I really suggest that you come earlier. Apart from the long queue in the Batangas City Port Gate Entrance, there is another long queue when buying your transportation tickets inside Batangas City Port. We nearly miss the 8am trip because of the long line in Montenegro lines, one of the shipping transport providers to Puerto Galera. When we went there, the regular ticket fare was 306php. I am just not sure if the fare increased due to oil price hike related to the war in Ukraine.
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4.) Crowded Departure Waiting Area
Make sure that you still enforce safety protocols against the Covid virus. The departure area can always be full of people coming from different cities and provinces. Always wear your clean masks, carry your disinfectants, and as much as possible still do social distancing.
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5.) Walkaton around 5 to 10 minutes to your designated Ship
Fifteen minutes before your ship’s departure time, the gates in the departure waiting area will open. You have to walk around 5 to 10 minutes to reach your ship. (Swipe below photo for more pictures)
6.) No seat number in your ship
There is no designated seat number. You can definitely roam around. There is one couple who enjoyed staring at the horizon. There is one who enjoyed sun bathing while wearing his brown jacket. There is one who did a selfie while holding his armpit. There is one who preferred chatting with his officemates.
On a sad note though, some of the passengers are reserving the seat for their bags. Some passengers were just standing because some of the abusive passengers let their bags occupy those vacant seats. (Swipe below photo for more pictures)
7.) Pay for Environmental Fee
Once your ship docked to Puerto Galera, you will then queue to pay for an environmental fee worth 120php.
8.) You may get Van Pick-up Service from your Hotel
Although there are over-charging public utility vehicles, you may consider for convenience the van pick-up service of your designated hotel.
9.) Buy your Puerto Galera-Batangas City Port tickets in advance
After our hassle experience when buying our Batangas City Port-Puerto Galera tickets, our officemate Kevin decided to buy in advance our Puerto Galera-Batangas City Port tickets.
10.) Pay Passenger Terminal Fee on your way back to Batangas City Port
The 10php passenger terminal fee is used to maintain and improve the Port of Puerto Galera. I don’t mind paying the small fee as I really see how maintained and improved the Port of Puerto Galera. It is one of the nicest ports I have been.
11.) There is Bus Terminal to Metro Manila in Batangas City Port
