Monday, June 20, 2016

Puerto Galera during the Low Season 2016 Part 1: Going to Puerto Galera - Bus Fares, Boat Rates and other Fees

My Hubby and my Brother-in-law wants to surprise my Mother-in-law on her birthday and they decided on taking her and the whole family to Puerto Galera. I, being a cheapskate, was the one assigned to do the planning and budgeting.

I remember we almost got scammed last year when a fixer approached us and told us he will negotiate with the ticket seller and have our 3 yr. old son waived of the boat fare. After handing us our tickets, we gave him a tip but he asked for half of the supposed boat fare he was able to negotiate. When he started shouting at the entrance of the terminal, we immediately went inside. He was trying to deceive us when in fact 3yrs. old and below are free to ride the ferry. It's a lesson learned and from then on, I will just buy the tickets myself. Anyway, there are staffs from the different shipping lines who will assist you.

So now, the first thing I have to do is check the latest fares. As posted on Jam Liner's Facebook page, their latest fare from Cubao-Batangas Pier is P175. Minolo Shipping Lines reply to my text message is that their fare is the same at P500/roundtrip Batangas Pier-White Beach. Round trip tickets are cheaper by P50 than 2 one-way ticket. Kids 3 yrs. old and below are free of charge. Apart from the bus fare and boat fare, there is still a P30 Terminal Fee and a P50 Environmental User Fee that needs to paid at the terminal. Kids 3ft and below are exempted from the Terminal Fee, and Senior Citizens and students have discounts. For the Environmental User Fee, kids 12 yrs. old and below are exempted and Senior Citizens have discounts as well. I read in a blog post that you can ask for a discount if you're coming in group of 5 or more, so I guess I will do that when we get there.

So, here's a rough estimate of the fare going to Puerto Galera:

Bus Fare (Cubao - Batangas Pier - Cubao) - 350
Ferry (Batangas Pier - White Beach - Batangas Pier) - 500
Environmental User Fee - 50
Terminal Fee - 30
White Beach Exit Fee - 10

TOTAL FARE EXPENSE PER PERSON: P940

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