Puerto Galera's White Beach Guide 2012: How to Get There?

How to Get There?

Puerto Galera's White Beach is just 3 hours away from Manila. It is the closest to the city and one of the nicer beach party places from Manila because most of the great beaches in Batangas are privately owned.

One of my apprehensions about going to Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival was I didn't know how to get to the Batangas Port, which boat to take and how much budget we needed to get to White Beach.

Here's a recommendation on how to get to White Beach..

You drive all the way to the Port of Batangas, which is about 90kms away or 2 hours' driving distance from Nichols/C5. Take the last exit of the Star Tollway and just go straight, following the signs to Batangas Port.

The total toll fee is P306, broken down into SLEX (P214), SLEX extension (P25) and STAR Tollway (P67).

You can decide to Park & Sail inside Batangas Port.

The parking fee is P23 per 2 hours, P155 for 24 hours and P6 per hour after 24 hours.

The boats to Puerto Galera are stationed in Terminal III of the Batangas Port.

There are three boat operators to consider: Gallerian (Blue Boats), Father & Sons (Yellow Boats) and Minolo (Red Boats).

The Gallerian is a rebrand of Commando, which was involved in the Puerto Galera Tragedy.

Father & Sons has a much better boat operation but with older boats.

We would recommend Minolo because of its brand new fleet.

In Terminal III, go to the Minolo Shipping Lines booth and order the Round Trip Ticket to White Beach, which is P450/head (versus the one-way fare of P250).

Only thing about Minolo Shipping Lines is that the trip to White Beach sometimes passes through Sabang first --- it is not a straight trip.

After getting your ticket, you have to pay an Environmental User's Fee of P50 per head.

Finally, you go to the Terminal Ticket Counter to pay the terminal fee of P30/head.

You wait for your boat in the terminal and exit in Gate 2B. The last trip to White Beach is at 5pm.

Minolo has the biggest boat named Golden Vulture, with an authorized capacity of 150 passengers.

Life vests are not worn inside the boat, but they are just within reach.

Golden Vulture has a very powerful but noisy engine -- it took us just under an hour to get to Puerto Galera. It usually takes 1 hour and 30 minutes to reach White Beach.

You have to confirm your Minolo roundtrip ticket back to Batangas at the Minolo Shipping Lines Ticketing Booth (in front of V.M. Resort area) one day before departure.

The Minolo Shipping Lines people are quite friendly and helpful. :)

From White Beach, you can choose to board the 6:00, 7:30, 10:30, 12:15, 3:00 or 4:00 (holidays only) boat back to Batangas Port.

As a rule of thumb, make sure to take your boat trips in the morning to avoid the rough seas in the afternoon.

The best seats are the ones in the middle so that you are facing front. Don't sit near the katig and on the right side where water would usually enter.

The Golden Condor is a smaller and slower boat. It took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to arrive at the port.

Minolo Shipping Lines
Website: MinoloShippingLines.comTelephone: +63 43 287-3614
Mobile Numbers:
Marian Datinguinoo (White Beach): +63 905-312 6534
Marivic Anilao (White Beach) +63 915 494-5323

Based on our trip, here's the total cost to go to Puerto Galera's White Beach:

• Toll Fees (SLEX and STAR Tollway End-to-End): P306
• Parking Fees (Park & Sail): P155 per 24 hours and P6/hour after.
• Boat Fees (Roundtrip ticket, EUF, and Terminal Fee): P530/head
• One full tank of gas

From Manila, SLEX and STAR Tollway is about 1 hour and 30 minutes drive. Allot 30 minutes for the Batangas port terminal procedures and around one hour for the boat trip.