Coco Beach, Puerto Galera

One of best reasons why people choose Puerto Galera as their summer getaway destination is because

of its close proximity to Manila.

When you talk about Puerto Galera, the first place that pops into your mind is White Beach. Similar to Boracay, it is filled with sprawling nightlife and lots of people. However, we decided to stray away from that and take the scenic route.

We stayed at the Coco Beach, and it’s quite secluded from the rest of Puerto Galera. When you get to the resort the only way to the pier is by boat, or you can swim. Just kidding. If you long for nightlife and music, Coco Beach is not the place for you. Head over to White Beach instead.

Coco Beach is best for people who want a little rest and relaxation and to detach themselves from the hustle and bustle of chaotic urban living. It’s actually one of the best resorts I’ve been to and definitely defines a “relaxing getaway”

Transfers

Coco Beach offers transfers to and from the resort. The pick up will be at the Diamond Hotel; a van or in some cases a coaster will come to pick you up. Wait for your guide at the hotel lobby and don’t ever be late! The ride will take around 2 hours to the Batangas port in which you’ll have to ride the boat transfer to Coco Beach. You’re guide will be there all throughout which helps especially for first timers like me. The only downside about going to Puerto Galera is that there will be a lot of transferring. We rode a van and two separate boats to get to Coco Beach.

Rooms

The resort is 10 hectares, so expect a LOT of walking. Most rooms are elevated which provides guests with a spectacular view of the island and the sea. The view in the rooms is fantastic, however getting there can be a problem especially if you are not keen to walking 50 steps up to get to your room. You can avoid this by requesting lower rooms.

Also, take note that the resort has a very nature-y feel, which is why almost all room types are non airconditioned. Well, you won’t really need it since most rooms are elevated and it’s cool in the area. Non aircon doesn’t mean that the rooms are bad, they’re actually really good! Imagine sleeping in an oversized nipa hut!

The only air-conditioned room type are their Heritage Rooms which is the biggest and most expensive.

The rest rooms are nothing to rave about. I guess that they used treated salt water, which made it quite hard to use the soap. Other than that, it’s all okay.

Service fit for a king!

Coco Beach is unique because of their service families. A service family is assigned to each room in the resort. You just pull the string and your service family will come to help you, with anything that you need.

Food

There is only one word to describe the food here = AWESOME. They serve authentic Filipino dishes in huge servings, good for 2-3. But they only open the Filipino themed restaurant most of the time. 

They have other restaurants in the resort including a revolving restaurant, and is probably the only revolving restaurant in the Philippines. Too bad it was closed.

The other restaurants will only be opened for reservations of a minimum of 6 guests.

The Beach

Keep in mind that Puerto Galera is also a diving site. When we went there, the beach was rocky and was filled with stones/rocks and crushed shells. It was getting too hard to walk in the water that you would probably need to wear aqua shoes just to swim. It was also typhoon season when we went, so maybe that’s why the beach wasn’t in good shape. I wonder what it’s like during the summer months?

There are also two pools in the area, just in case you’d want to skip swimming in the beach.

Activities

Basically it’s lights out by 9 or 10, typical of any province in the Philippines. Some may find this boring, but I disagree. There isn't much to see at night, but make sure to wake up early since every day at the Coco Beach is packed with heaps of activities.

There is something to do every 30 minutes, literally. There was even this bungee jump thing that catapults you into the ocean, but we missed it since we had to go banana boating.

The banana boat lasts 15-20 minutes. And it was so much FUN!

After banana boating we tried snorkeling too and even ate a sea urchin. RAW. You should try it

Over all experience, was pretty good and I’d give it a 4 out of 5. It’s a really good place to relax and free yourself from the stress of Metro Manila.