Puerto Galera

For my last couple days abroad I headed to the beaches of Puerto Galera, on the island of Mindoro. From Manilla it was three hours by bus and then a really rocky boat ride. On the boat I ran into travellers I had met in Sagada and ended up sharing a room on Small Laguna Beach.

Puerto Galera at low tide

My first day there I decided to try diving. I did a fun dive since I didn't have a license. First I needed to learn how to breathe under water. The dive master took care of the boring things like inflating and deflating the vest and checking oxygen levels.

Learning to dive in the pool

After about an hour of that I was ready to go out into the Philippine Sea. Puerto Galera is known for it's diving and there are a lot of shipwrecks to see. However, that was beyond my level.

Resurfacing after jumping over the side of the boat oxygen tank first

Once underwater I saw coral, tropical fish and clams that opened and closed as you went near. It felt like discovering a completely different world. I had such a hard time moving around under water with all the gear on, especially with the flippers. I was afraid to kick too much because I thought I would hit the coral. We dived 10 meters and stayed under for 40 minutes, the longest amount of time possible before the oxygen ran out.

The nightlife in Puerto Galera consisted of mostly girly bars. Good for all the older men that go there for that reason, but so much for 20 something year old females. In many places the bar girls outnumbered actual patrons.

On my last day I soaked up as much sun as I could before I going back to Canada.