Just thought I would drop in my 2 cents worth. I completely agree with most of what my learned compatriots have said about Sabang, and I posted an insanely detailed review of the area here about 6 months ago which addressed most of your questions, I think. A couple of points- I really don't know why everyone keeps calling the area Puerto Galera, as this is a city about a half hour jeepney ride south of the diving area. I know that this is the administrative center, and there are a few scattered dive operations around it, but 95% of the divers head north to Sabang, which is where the action is for divers. The area is laid out along the northern coast of the island of Mindoro, and is just south of the southwest coast of Luzon, the main island where Manila is located. Actually, the area of Sabang and the much mentioned area of Anilao are just about across the channel from each other. Sabang proper is the bustling little city where the road up from Puerto Galera ends at the waterfront, and then the "beach" and resort areas stretch out to the west from there. There are about 3 main beach areas along the coast as you walk west, going from Sabang beach (the city itself) to Small La Laguna to Big La Laguna, and even more if you wander farther west. I would say that a lot of the action is in Small La Laguna, as this is the closest to the shopping/restaurant/activity center of Sabang. It is pretty much wall to wall resorts and restaurants and dive shops all along Small La Laguna, and to a lesser degree at Big La Laguna. Remember, the farther west you locate for your resort/hotel, the farther it is into Sabang, and it's all walking along the beach with no transport available that I am aware of.
As to your concerns about a single lady afoot in the area, I never saw anything that I thought would give anyone pause. Granted, I am a 6'3" white male of considerable mass
who never gets messed with anyway, but my lady wife was with me everywhere we went, and she was of the exact same opinion. If you don't mind the continual hustlers trying to sell you everything imaginable that was portable, (nice pearls, lady? Genuine swiss watches, Mister? Post cards? Fruit? Baskets? Arggh!) although I have seen the same in a lot of other places, and they were a lot less aggressive here than a few other spots I could name. I did notice though, that in a few of the beachside restaurants with open windows facing the beach, you would do well to sit back a table or two from the window to prevent them from trying to hustle you right through the window at your chair. All in all, you should have no problems, even if you wander close to the Girly areas. As I mentioned in my earlier report, this part of Sabang is pretty much confined to a stretch of alleyway one street up from the beach, and although it can get pretty loud back in there, we walked through there many times with absolutely no problems. I saw a lot of women walking around back there, and never once saw any of them encountering any difficulty. I think you will do fine, and your only issues will be logistical. (What resort? Which dive op? How do I get there? Are breakfasts included? What about a Verde Island trip? What about night dives? {we saw our first stargazer right out in the harbor in front of Sabang near a couple of old wrecks that were crawling with stuff at night
- not to be missed!} but you get the idea) If we can be any further help to you, please PM any of us for advice, and I'm sure most of us would be glad to help. We wish you all the luck. Woody
