TRAVELING IN THE PHILIPPINES
The Philippines offers a wide variety of gorgeous beaches and beach-front resorts. Good and popular resorts tend to be booked up fast and way in advance, so make sure you plan ahead of time. For newbies to the country who barely navigate the new city, it can be overwhelming to pick a place to take their families for holidays.
Even though we lived in Manila for 3 years, we only made a handful of domestic trips in this beautiful country during the 3 years of our time. The pandemic didn’t help. In the last year, we were lucky enough to learn about Fishermen’s Cove in Puerto Galera. When restrictions lifted, we made our way out there. For those who want to snorkel or dive in one of the most beautiful waters and seek a relaxing, fun destination, Fishermen’s Cove is perfect for you.
FISHERMEN’S COVE
Fishermen’s Cove is a wonderful resort on Mindoro Island, an island below Luzon Island. Although it’s known for diving, there are plenty of other activities for non-divers such as snorkeling, island hopping and even hiking.
Honestly, there is no better destination in the Philippines than Fishermen’s Cove if you would like an easy family vacation to see the gorgeous water, snorkel and eat amazing food. The Italian food served at Fishermen’s Cove was definitely one of the big appeals to us. I’ll write more about that later.
The only thing I would add to this, though, is that it may not be an easy destination for families with toddlers. It’s because there is no sandy beach you can walk to from the resort. I remember the times when my kids were little and needed naps, diapers, extra food or impromptu rests in a room. Staying at a resort where you can walk to the sandy beach is more convenient and practical for those families. However, I wouldn’t rule out Fishermen’s Cove from your trip destinations. I just wanted to point this out in case someone is wondering.
RESORT PHOTOS
The resort sits on the bed of mangrove beach. Most of the facilities are outside.
TRAVELING WITH TEENS
During our kids’ school break in January 2021, we made our first trip to Fishermen’s Cove with several other families. Do you have teenagers in your family? If so, you may understand what I mean by saying that keeping them happy during a family trip is not as easy as it used to be when they were little. Traveling with other families whose teenagers get along with your own seems to be the key to keep them happy. In fact, my children had so much fun during the first trip that they had requested to make another trip to Fishermen’s Cove with the same 2 families before we left the Philippines. Thus, we made the second trip to Fishermen’s Cove happen in May 2021.
Both times, we stayed for 4 nights 5 days. It crossed my mind about seeing other destinations in the Philippines as many people started to fly to other islands. However, we loved Fishermen’s Cove so much, we thought why risk trying somewhere new? At the end of both trips, we left the resort with full of unforgettable memories to remember.
OUR ROOM – SUITE
Our room was one of the 2 suites on the 4th floor of the newest building. (No elevators.) It is very spacious and comfortable. Since there are only two suites of this size, they get booked fast.
DIVING & SNORKELING
My husband tried a beginner’s diving course called “Discovery Dive” with Fishermen’s Cove’s instructors. The owner of Fishermen’s Cove, Giuseppe, has been managing divers in Puerto Galera for over 30 years. Thus, I felt good about my husband’s trying even though I am a worrier. I trusted that the divers there have been very well trained. Those who didn’t dive swam and also snorkeled while divers went diving in the nearby area.
My favorite area for snorkeling was Coral Garden (Not 100% sure if it’s called that. Please check.), a passage between Medio Island and Paniquian Island. We saw turtles at this spot on the last day of our second trip. It was magical!
BEACH EXCURSIONS
Fishermen’s Cove will take you to nearby islands or beaches on their boats. They have one big boat and one small boat. We hang out at beaches for an hour or two depending on how everyone felt.
The big boat will have kayaks onboard which you can use to get to the beach from the deep end. If you travel with your little ones, you may want to invest in children’s size life jackets for the trip.
BOAT RIDE
The big boat ride was my kids’ favorite. The big boat was a kids’ moving playground. We listened to the music (bring a wireless speaker!), chatted, rested, jumped off the boat, swam around the boat, and even ate on the boat.
JUMPING OFF A BOAT
Kids and adults enjoyed jumping off the boat. The thrill!
FOOD AT FISHERMEN’S COVE
Food was a highlight of our trip. I looked forward to eating each of their meal every day. I’m serious! It makes my mouth water just thinking about the Italian food we had at Fishermen’s Cove. Take us back!
Fishermen’s Cove is very accommodating. For example, when we had seafood for main dish, many kids had an option to eat meat pasta instead if they wanted to. If your kids are fussy about certain food or if you have food restrictions, you may want to discuss options with Fishermen’s Cove prior to going there.
GETTING TO FISHERMEN’S COVE FROM MANILA
Getting to Fishermen’s Cove from Manila is easier and faster than it may seem. It is definitely easier than flying to other islands. For us, it took us about 3 hours to get to Fishermen’s Cove from Manila by car followed by a boat ride. If there was no traffic on skyway from Manila to Batangas, the trip could even be shorter. Private speed boats are available to take you between a port in Batangas and a port in Puerto Galera. The travel time on a speed boat from Batangas to our resort in Puerto Galera was about 45 minutes. When you charter a speed boat, it’s like a private service. Since the cost for a boat for one family is a bit pricy, sharing a boat with another group can lower the cost. As for arranging a private speed boat, please make an arrangement with your resort.
CONTACT
Giuseppe Portolan (Manager)
EMAIL: info@fishermenscove.com
PHONE: +63 917 5332985
WEBSITE: http://www.fishermenscove.com/
Sto. Niño
5203 Puerto Galera
Oriental Mindoro
Philippines
I hope you enjoyed reading about Fishermen’s Cove. It is a hidden gem that I am so happy we were fortunate enough to experience it. Hopefully more people will eventually be able to go in the future.
My kids still ask us when we can go back to Fishermen’s Cove next.
We’re dreaming about it!
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