Puerto Galera - Great Weekend Getaway

Background

Puerto Galera is the northwesternmost municipality in the province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. It is located at the southwestern end of the Isla Verde Passage, about 130 kilometers (81 mi) south of Manila. This coastal town is well known among tourists for its numerous pocket beaches and many snorkeling and Scuba 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. The marine environment has benefited in recent years from the influx of tourist dollars. This has seen a huge reduction in the number of fishermen in the area, as they gain higher revenue from tourists.

Puerto Galera is a listed by the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World, and is the only bay in the Philippines to be listed there.

Among the famous beaches in Puerto Galera are Sabang Beach and White Beach, which have an active nightlife with numerous bars and restaurants. Both beaches also have an array of first-class and economy-class accommodations.

Sabang beach is the main destination for foreign tourists, while White Beach remains popular with local travelers. Big La Laguna Beach and Small La Laguna Beach are considered part of Sabang with resorts lining the beaches. Big La Laguna Beach is popular for local swimmers and snorkelers. Since 2001 White beach has seen uncontrolled development. New restaurants and places to stay are rapidly encroaching on the beach itself and little remains of the once charming beach. Puerto Galera town is a pleasant but sleepy Philippine town with few attractions. It has a large central catholic church and a Pier area, with a selection of bistros and cafes.

Behind the beaches are the huge and generally unexplored mountain ranges of central Mindoro. A particular local attraction is the nine hole golf course perched on the hillside above White Beach which commands spectacular views over Puerto Galera's natural harbor and the Verde Island Passage. Mangyan tribes are scattered over the mountain sides - some of the more remote tribes have virtually no contact with the outside world. Of the eight tribes on Mindoro, the Iraya are the largest. They are based in the Puerto Galera area.

Puerto Galera is among the top diving destination in the Philippines. Excellent diving is found less than 5 minutes from Sabang Beach. The diving generally focuses around the areas either side of Escarceo Point, which is famous for its current rips. Strong currents are a feature of the diving in Puerto Galera and it is good advice to employ the services of an experienced local guide or dive centre. There are more than thirty dive sites all within a 5-10 minute banca ride from Sabang Beach. Marine life is highly diverse. 180+ species of nudibranchs are found in the area and many species of fish can be seen. A variety of wrecks have been sunk over the years in addition to the one wreck of an engine of a WWII Japanese patrol boat.

Puerto Galera is also one of the main technical diving destinations in Asia. Technical Diving International - [TDI] has many dive centers in the area, offering the full range of TDI courses from Basic nitrox to advanced trimix.

(Reference: Wikepedia)

The Experience

I had been to Puerto Galera three times in my life. Puerto Galera is one of the most visited weekend getaway for the big city dwellers. From Manila, it can be reached within three hours by land (1.5-2 hours drive to the Port of Batangas) and sea (45-minute ferry ride).

The first ferry stop in Puerto Galera is the Muelle Pier where the Puerto Galera Yacht Club is based. This port is nearer to the Poblacion where most of the business establishments, market and banks are.



The Puerto Galera Yatch Club.

One of the activities in Puerto Galera is riding the Banana boat. Well, they are named after the fruit where they are shaped from.

The Banana Boats at the shore of the White Beach, Puerto Galera.

The Banana Boat is attached to a speedboat by a rope. It was my first time to ride this inflated rubber banana here at Puerto Galera.



The Banana Boat in Action.

We were asked if we want to have a regular ride or a ride with a twist. We chose the one with the twist - there was really a twist.



The Twist! Everyone Gets Thrown Away from the Banana Boat!

This is White Beach, this is where most of the tourists flock especially during summer. The blue sea looks great in the morning! And seeing a rainbow against the serene blue sea and sky was breathtaking!

 

Morning at the White Beach, Puerto Galera.

I was able to catch one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen here at Puerto Galera.

Sunset at the White Beach, Puerto Galera.

This was taken a minute before the sun finally disappeared of my sight.

The Sun, Sky and Sea.

Check my next post on how to create a Puerto Galera weekend getaway your way!

On Changes and Letting Go

Change happens.

September reminds me of this. I always remember the time of the year that goes from my birthday in the middle of September through the Holiday Season. The weather changes, the colors of the day and night transform to the familiar hues of red and green. The dark streets are transformed into ecstatic display of lights and sounds.

We transform.

From the time we are conceived, we continually transform physically without us noticing or knowing it. We transition through life. And many of these changes are things we are not even aware of.
But there are also changes that happen that we are well aware of. Like what we just had a few weeks back. We all see these transitions and changes coming on the horizon. The question is how do we react to these changes?

Do we act like UP students who march on the streets with the slightest provocation, resisting any change that they think are against their liberty and will? Or are we like most of our younger generation, embracing changes as if they are their own? It is a simple question of whether we resist or embrace changes. Do we move slowly to the "new" or do we hold on to what is comfortable and known to us? Both are valid options. But resisting, most of the time is futile (like in our case) simply because these changes are beyond our control.

We sometimes resist change because we are scared of the unknown. It makes us feel uncertain about what will happen next. Oftentimes, we resist change because we do not want to miss the comfortable. We always want to stay or even go back to what we call "the good old days."

It is OK to resist the unknown. It is OK to miss the comfortable. It is OK to feel sad. It is ok to cry for a while. It is OK to be in a state of denial for a certain period of time. But we have to deal with changes. It is a natural part of our lives. We must adapt to these changes in order for us to survive. We need to survive new challenges, new faces, new attitudes, new behaviors, new processes.

Now, try to look back. It is sometimes hard to go through changes when looking back reminds us of how "good and comfortable" the way things were before. But oftentimes, we will realize that there are a lot of great things that happened to our lives because of change.

Move on. Aim high. Change for the better.

Of Streets and People

To understand why people go to the streets and why the government of this country is under such a huge attack, one must look closely to the popular notion of a normal life in a Filipino family - that a man doing the productive work, while a woman as an ornamental consumer.

In a Filipino family, the role of the father is believed to be very important because without him the family cannot survive. "I have to take care of them. I am responsible. They are weak. Without me they would perish." These are just some of the fatherly claims. Hence, he holds the highest authority in the family.

On the other hand, the mother nurtures the child. The mother becomes the disciplinarian, the value giver, who tells what's right and what's not. In short, mother knows best.

But a small child recognizes what he sees more than what he is told. Words have less impact on him. A child sees his mother working around for him. He is told only that his fathers also works for him. When a father commutes to work, he has to leave early while the child is still sleeping and he comes home when the child is about to sleep. More often, the child sees his father watching TV, reading newspaper or taking a well-deserved nap. But to a child, these seem like sheer idleness. These experiences can hardly dispel the notion that his father is really not up to much tasks. The father's work remains unseen and seems unreal, while the mother's activities are very visible, hence real. Now the mother becomes the carrier of the authority. While the child comes to doubt the legitimacy of the father's authority and may grow up to doubt the legitimacy of all authorities.A child seeing his father at his place of work, with other strong men working hard, without him being aware of it, makes a deep impression on him. Such experiences make identification with his father seems worthwhile for a child.I am not claiming that these observations are absolute and correct. I might not even have scientific basis for these. I am not saying that the a government that works in front of our eyes will shun people from going to the streets but this would at least lessens the occurence of demonstration. Afterall, the absence of tension is just as deadly as too much of it.

Yes, I may sound vague and too general. But the premises are simple, just the basics of life. Life is not about harmony. It is more of a conflict. Life results from an imbalance and the effort to establish balance. It is a conflict between thesis and antithesis, which is resolved in synthesis, which in turn generates a new antithesis for a new conflict. Without this process, life would come to a halt.One of the greatest experiences of life is climbing a mountain and growing hot and sweaty in the process then plunging into a cold lake. You may be shivering for a minute but what makes the difference is the sudden change from hot to cold. Where there is no tension, none is relieved.

But the present and past governments want life to run smoothly, doesn't want any difficulties. It wants the mountain to be lever and the pool to be lukewarm. Then it demands to be applauded.

But what is the sound of one hand clapping? One hand alone strikes empty air and makes no sound at all.