Puerto Galera beaches aren’t picture-perfect if you are to compare it with those beaches found in Palawan and Boracay. But spending a day or two at this Oriental Mindoro province is a holiday. It has sparkling blue waters that blend seamlessly with the lustrous sand. And its underwater is just too friendly to accommodate kids – even of tender age- to say hi to the many Nemos and Dorys.
Yes, my seven- and nine- year old boys joined their mama and papa in exploring Puerto Galera’s under the sea. We were able to look for a family-friendly accommodation in Puerto Galera at a great price.
Finding Nemo at Puerto Galera| The Sparkling blue waters of Puerto Galera.
Before finding Nemo, my boys learned snorkeling
I first learned how to snorkel at Palawan. And I used what I learned there to teach my boys the basic technique of snorkeling. Thank God as well they were undeniably bright to understand the short lesson we had.
With no available mask yet, I asked the boys to breathe steadily in and out through their mouth. And once we had the gear, I instructed them to bite harshly the rubber teeth clamp. I instructed them as well to keep their lips over the mouth guard. Again, they must breathe through their mouth. Another important pointer was not to douse their head toward the water to prevent the snorkel from going under.
Finding Nemo and a lot more
After a few long minutes – certain that the boys were prepared – we boarded a banca and Manong brought us to the snorkeling site. We waved hi’s and hello’s to fellow snorkeling enthusiasts boarded on other bancas. Finally, Manong asked us to descend from the banca, gave us bread to feed the fish, and dragged us all over the water through his motorized boat.
I may say that Puerto Galera has a rich marine life. Under, we saw various exotic and enchanting marine life species. An assortment of fish in different shapes, colors and sizes awed us. Lionfish, Goby and Clown fish were aplenty playing hide and seek at the soft and stony corals. A group of starfish – from the blue colored to green ones—are in abundance. My seven-year-old son pointed to me a blue hippo tang or simply Dory of Finding Nemo weaving in and out the corals. He also directed me to some barnacles I only heard from Spongebob. There was no stopping my second son from talking even with a mouth guard on. He kept on saying, “Wow! Sea urchin. So beautiful!”
Finding Nemo at Puerto Galera
My Finding Nemo experience with my boys
Snorkeling is best in Puerto Galera– that I can say. More than being considered as the most premier diving location in the Philippines and probably the whole of Asia, Puerto Galera is an excellent destination for any underwater experience. And such worth remembering is when I had a glimpse of its underwater with brave boys in tow.
Collectively, I call any fish a fish. Or if I am not certain, I call any sea creature as sea creature. It was the boys who taught me the names of those sea creatures we’ve seen. More so, they never mentioned they fear the water, on the other hand, they kept on saying “we truly love the water. We want more snorkeling!”
Again, it was the best snorkeling experience I had. Simply because with us were our clever and well-read boys who can identify each sea creature with ease and great enthusiasm. Likewise, they never fear the water. They have conquered a mountain a month ago, now they have befriended the sea.
Finding Nemo at Puerto Galera| My family on board a roro on our way back home.
Our family went to Puerto Galera about four years ago (May 2012), but the sights of fishes and corals are still very fresh from my sons’ memory.
I have been to Puerto Galera during my “short work” at DENR. We did water sampling at the seacoast near the villages. I love to re-visit it again with my family na. Though I am afraid riding the boat, hehe.
hehehe. With your family around, surely that fear will subside. 🙂
I agree, if you’ve been to other places, beach in Puerto Galera is just ok. We’ve been to Puerto Galera but we did not see Nemo, we felt that we wasted our money in our snorkeling experience. hehehe! I still prefer Palawan.
Too bad no Nemo around. Palawan’s corals are beautiful, ano?
Yes, aside from fishes and corals, you can also see some shipwrecks under the sea in Coron Palawan. We found Nemo in Palawan and just like in movie, they live in the same corals. Too bad we don’t have a good camera at that time.
Wow! Ang liliit pa nila!!! At wala pang Yael this time! Ang cute! haha. Pero ung totoo, I’ve never been to Puerto Galera pa. Grabe, kailan pa kaya makakavisit jan. huhu.
Yes, babies pa sila dito and I could ask them to pose for photos pa. Hahha. No Yael yes, too. When Dane comes home, visit one of the Philippines’ tourist destinations.
Yes, nasa plano na namin. Sarap gumala, hirap maghanap budget! haha. Pero we’re starting to allot some amount na para dito. 😀
The last time I went to Puerto Gallera was 2007 pa ang tagal na, siguro madami ng changes now. The first time that I went there nag enjoy din ako sa fishes and yes si nemo ang madami he he he. Hindi pa na experience ni Little Kulit snorkeling but he visited a lot of beaches na, when he grow up his dad will definitely teach him how to do it.
That would be a sweet thing to do – teach little kulit snorkeling. He will surely appreciate it and be grateful of the experience.
Great adventure for the family. I honestly am not a fan of going to the beach that’s why my kids haven’t really enjoyed it full time yet. Maybe when we go for vacation next time, we will try to include going to the beach. Your kids’ experiences look like they really enjoyed it. =)
They truly enjoyed the sea. They love the water so much they never have issues re iitim or anything. it is a girl thing, maybe.
it would be fun to try it. you might enjoy it after that try.
I’ve been to Puerto Galera before. Too bad we never tried snorkeling. Buti pa mga kids alam ang mga names ng mga isda. I hope I can also have the kids experience snorkeling. They love fishes!
I first learned how to snorkel in Galera and I saw Nemo there too 😀 I have to agree with you, all my friends you’ve been to Palawan all mentioned that it’s actually nicer to snorkel in Galera than in El Nido. The marine life is more diverse there.