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

A Day in Paradise Island Park & Beach Resort

Last March 21, 2014, We had a day tour in Paradise Island Park & Beach Resort. We woke up early and had breakfast at Camp Holiday's Restaurant. We bought a loaf of Banana bread that costs P60 from a nearby bakery then, the kids ordered Corned Beef at P67/serving which is good for 2. Rice costs P20. After eating, we went off to the habal habal terminal just outside the hotel and hired two habal habals to take us to Paradise Island. One way fare is P25/person and one motorbike can ride 2 passengers so we paid P100 for two motorbikes. They also gave us their number so they could fetch us once we decided to go back to our hotel. While on  our way to Paradise, Kuya Roger, our habal habal driver, asked if we want to go around Samal. He said he can take us to Monfort Batcave for P100/motorbike one-way or we could hire the motorbike for a whole day tour around the island for just P700. I think it's a fair deal but unfortunately, we don't have time to go around Samal anymore.

Road to Paradise Island

By 7:30AM, We're already in front of the gates of Paradise Island. A guard escorted us to the cashier where we paid an entrance fee of P200/head that includes P50 consumable for food and water sports. On our way to the cashier, we passed by their mini zoo, their different cottages, and their playground.

Mini Zoo

I was so suprised to see how organized and well-maintained the beach is. I was expecting to see a chaotic beach resort based from the reviews I read online. You can get a decent shower without the eww feeling you get when you use a public shower room. They have a souvenir shop where you can buy keychains and other pasalubongs. No need to worry if you forgot to bring some of your stuffs because they also sell board shorts, swimsuits, beach dresses, goggles, beach inflatables, sunscreen lotions, and everything you need before heading off the beach. The souvenir shop also offers whole day locker rental for day tourists for P100 (plus P200 refundable deposit which is forfeited if you lost the key).

The Restaurant

We were supposed to get a locker for our valuables but since we didn't bring any food, the attendant advised us to just get a table in the restaurant and leave our stuffs there so that the waiters can look after them. And so, that's what we did. We ordered and asked for our food to be served by 9:30AM. Then we went back to the souvenir shop where we rented a kayak for 30 minutes for only P120. 

At exactly 9:30AM we're back to our table and the food was served immediately. The food was still hot and freshly prepared. I tried their Durian shake at P90 and it became my instant favorite. After our breakfast (yes, we had breakfast again.. LOL), we ordered food for lunch and requested to be served by 1PM.

Just before lunch, the kids noticed that fishes are swimming near the shoreline so we bought googles from the souvenir shop and swam underwater to take a closer look at them. Afterlunch, the water became shallow and the kids are able to swim farther. They saw some blue fishes and shrimps swimming.  But one thing noticeable are the big rocks in the deeper part of the beach.

There are so many things to do in Paradise Island. They are renting jetskis at P2500/30 minutes, banana boats at P1500/15 minutes for 5 persons, segways at P1200/hour, snorkeling gears at P250 from 8AM-4PM. Apart from watersports, they also offer billiards rental and they even have spas and massage area.

At 3PM, we're all tired of swimming and playing on the sand so we took a shower and rested for a bit while listening to their live acoustic bands playing. Then we all decided to go back to Camp Holiday and just continue swimming in their infinity pool. We texted Kuya Roger to fetch us.

In our hotel room, I noticed some bumps all over my body and unfortunately, I don't have any antihistamine with me. The convenience store outside the hotel don't sell meds but we're told that the island has a drugstore in Caliclic so we asked the habal habal driver to take us to nearest drugstore. The roundtrip fare only costed us P60. We saw Sunset Beach Park along the way but we weren't able to visit it since we don't have time anymore. Carinderias and takeout counters selling Roasted Chicken are also everywhere.

The whole day was very tiring but fun. We even forgot to have dinner and just rested early.


How to Get to Paradise Island:

Ride the ferry boat that goes directly to the resort. Fare is P15/person one way

-or-

Ride the Barge going to Babak Wharf for P10/person one way then hire a habal habal to take you to the resort at P25/person one way