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In our dive travels to Mindoro Island in the Philippines we have managed to be on dive boats that always pass by an inviting cove with a clean looking resort right at the waters edge named El Galleon Resort. We’d always thought it seemed to be a nice, quiet area for a resort.
At the DEMA show in Florida we were quite pleased to see the Philippines Department of Tourism had put together an entourage that included some active dive resorts and a representative from Philippine Air Lines. In the Philippines Pavilion we met Allen Nash, owner of that nice looking resort we had always been admiring when we passed by it on a bangka ferry boat ,El Galleon Resort and their dive shop, Asian Divers.
In short order we found out unboosted pure o2 was available for our rebreathers, so a trip was confirmed with Allan 2 days later via text messaging, and Philippine Airlines competently handled our air arrangements. We had always heard such great things about El Galleon resort and Asia Divers, so we were excited to begin our next Philippine dive adventure!
At our departure airport which was LAX, TSA pawed through our volumous bag of electronics, video, computer, and sundry voodoo dive goodies that make it in our carry ons.
One of the things we do now at all airports is we usually can capture a glance from the scanner operator just before advancing our carryon bags into the x-ray machine. When I make eye contact I advise them what is in the bags, often including a small 12 CF bailout pony bottle that they are told has the valve off which is mandatory. Some screeners have told me that the bailout bottle valve quite loosely has a profile of a firearm. Most hand check the carryon anyway, but this way they become accustomed to matching a scanner image to an object and occasionally they have me go through without further delay.
One of the things I find odd is how many times throughout the whole process that new characters continually ask for your boarding pass. Considering these are easy to print up from the Internet, I am not sure why they bother. I think the government has taken away more of my liberties than Al Qaeda, but forgive me if I choose to have dinner with a TSA agent over Zawahiri types. At least I will still have a head on my shoulders after my meal.
Even though it is all a grand charade known as “security theater”, I do salute the courteousness and friendliness of every TSA type I have ever run into as they expertly engage in unadulterated theatrics.
Once on board Phillipine Air’s 747, it appeared there were many seats quite open. The usual strategy is to wait till the door closes, then pounce on open seats to try to get 2 or more adjacent. If one can commandeer 4 in a row, you now have room to lay flat and sleep through the flight! Unfortunately the tradeoff was when they close the 747 door and you think you are home free to sleep during a good portion of your flight, the late arriving travelers took 10 minutes to get from the nose to the tail area and I just happened to be in their seats. Foiled again!
Philippine Air always schedules their flights to arrive early in Manila so you have time to leave the airport immediately and get to your destination without having to do an overnight stay in Manila.
We took the usual 10-15 minute taxi ride to the Pasay City bus terminal called the “JAM terminal. A word about Philippines taxi drivers. The ones that don’t turn on their meters will try to charge 2-4 times the normal fare. But let me put that in perspective. That means you may pay 4-8 US dollars instead of $2. I always tell them to turn on the meter, and I will give them a good tip for their honesty. In some regions taxi drivers will do everything they can to not turn it on, but stay firm, and ignore the nonsense about how many bags you have or how heavy they are, blah blah, as the driver is driving a car that rolls on wheels, he’s not carrying your bags. But reward the honest cab driver with a good tip or you train them to cheat you.
Although El Galleon Resort is quite happy to arrange for all your transfers from the airport to their resort, I prefer the adventure of going it alone so others know how easy it is if so inclined as it is so inexpensive and easy to get around in the Philippines and everyone is helpful.
From the Pasay City JAM bus terminal, it is a 2 hour air conditioned bus ride to the Batangas Port. The ride in itself is colorful, with characters hopping aboard moving buses with hand carried stacks of snacks, including the ubiquitous pies signaled by the hawkers chanting; “Buko! Buko! Buko! Buko!. This is a snack that is a cross between a slice of pizza with a shredded coconut topping.
The Batangas Port is quite fun in itself, with lots of fun vendor stalls selling snacks and drinks. An endless array of hawkers will pounce upon you when you get off the bus, and if you have a truckload of gear and equipment bags like me, I always use the porters, but they are aggressive, but in a “for your business” sort of way. I try to get one that gets a large cart to keep the bags all together, as I have nearing $40,000 worth of dive and video equipment in those bags.
Next they will direct you to the port terminal entrance area to buy a bangka ferry ticket, but some push their bangka ferry, not the one next scheduled for departure. Be careful about that. Do tell them you are going to Sabang, NOT the Muele pier, which is a half hour Jeepney ride from where you want to go, although tat too is fun and scenic.
You will go through a security checkpoint upon entering the terminal waiting area, which is curious considering your huge bags are not checked that are transferred by the porters. Also remember that your port baggage fees cover your porter, so no tip is needed although they won’t tell you that. The guys will always try to double dip, but don’t take offense, the just want to be able to put food on their families plates one tenth as easy as you can, so don’t be stingy with people struggling to make a living, plus it is all rather fun anyway all over a couple of US dollars.
During the summer months, it can be pretty hot in the terminal waiting area, as although they have 4 or so huge standing air conditioning units, for whatever reason they leave the doors open frequently. But they have Dunkin donuts, ice cream, cold drinks and even a massage section, so relax!
They will call over the public address system when your bangka ferry is ready for boarding.
Once you board your bangka ferry to Sabang, the pleasant ride is about an hour. Bangka boats are fun! Along the way you may see dolphins, and often the common larger forms of inter-island transportation.
Once you arrive at Sabang Beach, the porters will offer to carry your bags to El Galleon Resort. They will want 50 pesos a bag, which is about 1 US dollar, but the going rate is 20 pesos a bag. However El Galleon Resort is one of the furthest resorts away from the disembarkation point, so give them 50 pesos. It is a nice 15 minute walk that is adventuresome anyway.
Once you arrive a El Galleon Resort, sit down, relax, have a drink, you’re in paradise! They will take your bags to your room, and tell them which bags are your dive equipment gear bags, they will take those to the dive shop area.
If you want to unwind, then go take a hot shower in your new room, and either call for a room service massage which may set you back $15 for the hour, or take a nap.
The cottages are really nice, the perfectly blend of traditional island quaintness with modern amenities. Larger cottages like below are available for larger groups or families, with great views of Sabang Bay available from your private balcony or patio, where you can relax in your hammock and take in the sites of paradise.
El Galleon Resort / Asia Divers Review
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