WOODMAN
Contributor
Well, here it is, as promised. My report and impressions from my recent dive trip to El Galleon/Asia divers. But first, a little housekeeping: First off, as many of you know, my reports are long and (some say) insanely detailed, so if that puts you off, be warned. Second, from this point on I shall refer to the place as Sabang. I know everyone calls it Puerto Galera, or PG for short, but that is actually a town about 1/2 hour jeepney ride south of this area, and this place is properly called Sabang, so that's what I am gonna call it. If that bothers you, you may go pound sand. Lastly, please realize that this was my first trip to Sabang, and as such it was my first exposure to this unique place. I tried to be accurate and objective in my observations, but if any of you seasoned veterans of the area find fault with any of my statements, please cut me some slack. Sabang is a complicated place, but I tried to do justice to it. Now, if none of all that puts you off, then let's go exploring...
The trip over was uneventful- we used Delta via Tokyo, and the optional 'comfort seating' we opted for was really nice, with 4" more legroom, among other things. We got into Manila at midnight, and used the Remington hotel to crash until morning. Pretty generic chain hotel, but good enough for a few hours rest, and they included free breakfast. This was at "Hawker's Market", and I was a little apprehensive about this, not having any idea what or where this might be. It turns out that this is a restaurant on the main floor of the hotel which is basically a breakfast buffet, but oh man- what a buffet! This was easily the biggest breakfast buffet I have ever seen, with dozens of hot entrees of both western and asian persuasion, with several Philippine entries thrown in. Lots of cold stuff, breads and cereals and fruits, and don't get me started on the dessert items! Various hot soups and congee with all the fixings also! Incredible! If you couldn't find something to your taste there, then you have serious issues. Be sure to get an entrance ticket for each diner when you check in, however, as everyone needs his own.
After we stuffed ourselves, we were picked up by the private transfer arranged by the resort, and driven down to Batangas. Our driver was pretty aggressive, and passed everything like it was standing still. Traffic got terribly snarled when we neared Batangas, but he seemed to know every back alley and shortcut in the place, and dodged around most of the mess, We were delivered to the private marina a ways east of Batangas which all the big resorts seem to use, and were handed off to the large transport banca which was waiting for us. This was much bigger that the little dive bancas, and completely enclosed and roofed and could hold about 20 passengers, although we were the only customers on this trip. This carried us across the channel in about an hours voyage, and delivered us to the private dock which is the only private dock in Sabang. I first thought this dock was a big advantage, but I soon learned that bancas and docks do not play well, due to those big outriggers on both sides that prevent you from siding up to a dock. You are reduced to nosing the boat up to the dock and then stepping (or crawling) over that nose onto the dock. Add in that both the boat and dock were pitching and moving up and down, and this made for some rather entertaining boat entries and exits. Oh well, nobody actually fell, but a couple of us came really close. They collected all our luggage and carted it up to the reception desk, which was at the back of the large open air restaurant behind the restaurant bar. Check in was a breeze, and we were escorted up to our room. We had a poolside deluxe room, which was on the second floor of the two tier semicircle of rooms surrounding the small but nice pool. The room was small, but I knew this going in. There was a full sized bed and a large armoire to put all our clothes and junk in. There was an electronic safe in the armoire, and a small fridge and a TV. The fridge was half full of drinks and snacks for sale, but there was enough room for our own drinks and such, and we never used their snacks. A private bathroom was up a short flight of stairs, with sink, toilet and shower. Hot water was very pokey in the morning, but once it arrived it came with a vengeance. The room had good air conditioning, and we used the balcony railing outside our door to dry off our suits and towels, etc.
We had the breakfast only plan, and breakfast was a small buffet with a cook to do eggs & grilled sausages and meats for you. She also would slice up fresh mangos and such on request, and there were little filled croissant rolls and breads for toasting. along with juices, cereals, and the everpresent congee. Lunch and dinner were extra, and we did order some from the menu at times. The food was very good, but a little expensive. We found that there were a myriad of other restaurant options, and a 10-15 min walk along the beach to the east put you into central Sabang, where things were generally cheaper. Sabang is a honeycomb of little alleys and walkways, almost none of which could support vehicular traffic. It reminded me strongly of the older chinatowns, and I will upload a gallery of Sabang pictures here later when I get time. We explored a lot, but didn't see all of it. There were several alleys that went east and west from the main road that split Sabang in two from the municipal dock to up the hill and out of town (and about the only one which could support cars), with shops and restaurants and such densely lining all of them.
Much has been made of the "girly bars" which Sabang is supposedly famous for, but we found this stuff pretty much contained to one alley which ran parallel to the beach behind the beachfront resorts and diveshops, and a few noisy floating bars which were anchored out in the harbor and ran constant little shuttle boats back and forth after it got dark. There were several beachfront bars also, but these looked more conventional. If you didn't go back in there where they were, you really wouldn't notice them, and they didn't bother anyone just passing by anyway. One of my favorite restaurants was back in close to them, but I never had a problem. It got pretty loud back in there at night, but few traces were noted over at our resort, which was very quiet. There were more resorts and diveshops off to the west from El Galleon, with a few really nice restaurants there also. There was another beach with even more resorts and such around the point off to the west, but we never penetrated over there so I can't comment on that area.
End of part one.
The trip over was uneventful- we used Delta via Tokyo, and the optional 'comfort seating' we opted for was really nice, with 4" more legroom, among other things. We got into Manila at midnight, and used the Remington hotel to crash until morning. Pretty generic chain hotel, but good enough for a few hours rest, and they included free breakfast. This was at "Hawker's Market", and I was a little apprehensive about this, not having any idea what or where this might be. It turns out that this is a restaurant on the main floor of the hotel which is basically a breakfast buffet, but oh man- what a buffet! This was easily the biggest breakfast buffet I have ever seen, with dozens of hot entrees of both western and asian persuasion, with several Philippine entries thrown in. Lots of cold stuff, breads and cereals and fruits, and don't get me started on the dessert items! Various hot soups and congee with all the fixings also! Incredible! If you couldn't find something to your taste there, then you have serious issues. Be sure to get an entrance ticket for each diner when you check in, however, as everyone needs his own.
After we stuffed ourselves, we were picked up by the private transfer arranged by the resort, and driven down to Batangas. Our driver was pretty aggressive, and passed everything like it was standing still. Traffic got terribly snarled when we neared Batangas, but he seemed to know every back alley and shortcut in the place, and dodged around most of the mess, We were delivered to the private marina a ways east of Batangas which all the big resorts seem to use, and were handed off to the large transport banca which was waiting for us. This was much bigger that the little dive bancas, and completely enclosed and roofed and could hold about 20 passengers, although we were the only customers on this trip. This carried us across the channel in about an hours voyage, and delivered us to the private dock which is the only private dock in Sabang. I first thought this dock was a big advantage, but I soon learned that bancas and docks do not play well, due to those big outriggers on both sides that prevent you from siding up to a dock. You are reduced to nosing the boat up to the dock and then stepping (or crawling) over that nose onto the dock. Add in that both the boat and dock were pitching and moving up and down, and this made for some rather entertaining boat entries and exits. Oh well, nobody actually fell, but a couple of us came really close. They collected all our luggage and carted it up to the reception desk, which was at the back of the large open air restaurant behind the restaurant bar. Check in was a breeze, and we were escorted up to our room. We had a poolside deluxe room, which was on the second floor of the two tier semicircle of rooms surrounding the small but nice pool. The room was small, but I knew this going in. There was a full sized bed and a large armoire to put all our clothes and junk in. There was an electronic safe in the armoire, and a small fridge and a TV. The fridge was half full of drinks and snacks for sale, but there was enough room for our own drinks and such, and we never used their snacks. A private bathroom was up a short flight of stairs, with sink, toilet and shower. Hot water was very pokey in the morning, but once it arrived it came with a vengeance. The room had good air conditioning, and we used the balcony railing outside our door to dry off our suits and towels, etc.
We had the breakfast only plan, and breakfast was a small buffet with a cook to do eggs & grilled sausages and meats for you. She also would slice up fresh mangos and such on request, and there were little filled croissant rolls and breads for toasting. along with juices, cereals, and the everpresent congee. Lunch and dinner were extra, and we did order some from the menu at times. The food was very good, but a little expensive. We found that there were a myriad of other restaurant options, and a 10-15 min walk along the beach to the east put you into central Sabang, where things were generally cheaper. Sabang is a honeycomb of little alleys and walkways, almost none of which could support vehicular traffic. It reminded me strongly of the older chinatowns, and I will upload a gallery of Sabang pictures here later when I get time. We explored a lot, but didn't see all of it. There were several alleys that went east and west from the main road that split Sabang in two from the municipal dock to up the hill and out of town (and about the only one which could support cars), with shops and restaurants and such densely lining all of them.
Much has been made of the "girly bars" which Sabang is supposedly famous for, but we found this stuff pretty much contained to one alley which ran parallel to the beach behind the beachfront resorts and diveshops, and a few noisy floating bars which were anchored out in the harbor and ran constant little shuttle boats back and forth after it got dark. There were several beachfront bars also, but these looked more conventional. If you didn't go back in there where they were, you really wouldn't notice them, and they didn't bother anyone just passing by anyway. One of my favorite restaurants was back in close to them, but I never had a problem. It got pretty loud back in there at night, but few traces were noted over at our resort, which was very quiet. There were more resorts and diveshops off to the west from El Galleon, with a few really nice restaurants there also. There was another beach with even more resorts and such around the point off to the west, but we never penetrated over there so I can't comment on that area.
End of part one.