How to Travel from Puerto Galera, Mindoro to Coron, Palawan

byKayla/March 25, 2024/inPhillipines

Though the islands seem close together, traveling from Puerto Galera to Coron is not as straight forward as one would hope. It involves a combination of land and sea travel, an infrequent ferry schedule, and an overnight in San Jose.

I’m going to be straight with you – it will make your life a whole lot easier to plan to go back to Manila from Puerto Galera, and fly to Coron from there. If you’d like to read my post about traveling from Manila to Puerto Galera, click here.

However, if you are set on getting from Puerto Galera to Coron without going back to Manila, read on! But be prepared for an adventurous journey.

This is the map of the Island of Mindoro, where Puerto Galera is located, at the top. You have to catch the ferry from San Jose (Occidental Mindoro), all the way down at the bottom.

Please note, when trip planning, make sure to double check the ferry schedule. At time of writing, the ferry from San Jose to Coron only travels twice a week.

To get to San Jose, you’ll need to catch the local bus.

There are 2 options for the bus:

Option 1: The right side

Going down the right side of the island, you can catch the bus right from Puerto Galera to San Jose (Occidental Mindoro).

This bus journey will take approximately 8-10 hours, and will involve 2-3 bus changes along the way.

Option 2: The left side

Driving down the left side of the island is much shorter at only 5-6 hours and no bus changes.

However, it presents another difficulty.

You have to catch the bus from Abra De Ilog, and there is no road from Puerto Galera to Abra De Ilog.

Getting a boat from Puerto Galera to Abra De Ilog

If you’d prefer to take the shorter bus route, then first you’ll have to organize a boat from Puerto Galera to Abra De Ilog.

The boat ride will take 1-2 hours, depending on the boat.

Our hotel helped us organize a small fishing boat to take us over to the port. Our boat journey took around 1.5 hours.

A few notes about our journey:

First: We definitely got way overcharged for this boat ride.

Our hotel said they would organize it for us, and every time we asked they kept saying they were waiting to hear back from the boatmen for the price. They only let us know the night before our journey, when it was too late to organize one ourselves.

Just for the the boat ride to Abra De Ilog Port, they charged us a whopping $4500PHP! ($110CAD or $80USD)

We were shocked, but at that point had no other option, and the hotel had already organized it for the following morning, so we went ahead with it.

Second: The fishing boat was VERY small, and VERY loud. No life jackets, and no proper seats. There were 2 boatmen who took us, and they were great, and helped us with all our bags, but it was by no means a comfortable journey.

We arrived and docked on a beach, and the boatmen helped us carry our luggage all the way to the bus terminal.

The Abra De Ilog bus terminal was only about a 5 minute walk away from where we docked.

The boat had picked us up right from our hotel at 8:00 am, and we arrived around 9:45 am.

A follower who had followed my guide and also did this journey reached out to me to let me know about her experience.

They went to Balatero Port, (which is where you are dropped off when coming from Manila, about 20 minute trike ride from Puerto Galera) and asked the security guard on the way in for a boat to Abra De Ilog.

He sent them to the cafes on the right, and they spoke to a local there, who organized a small fishing boat for them for ₱2000 PHP ($48CAD or $35USD)

Significantly cheaper.

However, due to the ocean being quite choppy that day, they weren’t able to take them all the way to beach where we were dropped off, and instead took them past the area with no road to a small village, where they took a trike the rest of the way to Abra De Ilog.

They arrived around 11am, and the next bus left at 2pm.

Getting a bus from Abra De Ilog To San Jose, Mindoro

We arrived to the Abra De Ilog bus terminal around 9:45am. It was quiet there, and we were the only tourists around. Everyone was very kind and friendly.

Abra de Ilog is also a ferry port, and I was able to use the washroom in the ferry terminal building.

We waited for the big green Roro bus to show up, and it did around 10:30am, and we departed around 11:00am.

The bus cost cost ₱$460 PHP ($11CAD or $8USD) per person.

The bus was rather new and comfortable.

The whole journey took around 6 hours, as the bus makes frequent stops along the way, with a lot of locals getting on and off.

It was a beautiful drive, through local villages and rice fields.

We made one bathroom stop along the way, at the Sablayan Grand Terminal, about halfway there.

There were a couple of food vendors but not a lot of options, so I recommend packing some snacks.

Once we arrived at the bus terminal in San Jose, we took a local trike to our hotel for the night.

We stayed at the Beachfront bed & breakfast and absolutely loved it. I would highly recommend staying here. It ended up being one of our favorite hotels during our 2 month trip to the Philippines!

It’s a beautiful mid-range hotel with super comfortable rooms, great hosts, a cute guard dog, and a wonderful view of the ocean and sunset.

And as a bonus, they provided a free trike ride to the ferry port in the morning! The San Jose Occidental Mindoro Ferry Terminal is about an 8 minute ride away.

At the pier, they charge a Pier Fee of ₱30 PHP ($0.75CAD or $0.50USD) per person, and a trike drop off fee of ₱18 PHP.

Ferry From San Jose, Mindoro To Coron:

The ferry from San Jose Occidental Mindoro only travels twice a week (at time of writing), so it’s very important that you check the schedule and book your tickets in advance.

The ferry service is provided by Bunso Transport, and can be booked through Biyaheroes (click here).

Ferry from San Jose Occidental Mindoro to Coron: ₱1655 PHP per person ($40CAD or $30USD)

First I got an email confirmation with the submission of our booking request. Then I got an email from DragonPay, saying that my payment was received. I then received a third email from Biyahereos with a PDF voucher of our confirmed tickets.

Once you arrive to the San Jose Ferry Terminal, you need to find the desk to present your voucher, and receive a paper ticket before boarding the ferry.

Our tickets said boarding time 8:30 am and departure would be 9:00 am, but in actuality we only started boarding at 9:45 am, and only departed around 10:45 am.

Even though we had delays, I highly recommend following the schedule on your ticket, as you may not experience any delays.

We got to choose our seats, and didn’t realize they were lay down beds! I recommend choosing beds on the outside near the edge for the best air flow.

Our side of the ferry had the sun facing it, and they pulled a thick tarp down to block the sun from shinning on everyone, but this prevented the airflow and it got HOT real fast.

After a few hours when the sun had moved, we were able to lift the tarp back up, which made for a much more comfortable ride.

We also had a simple meal included with our tickets, chicken and rice. They will make an announcement when you can bring up your ticket and get your meal.

They also had noodle cups and a small selection of drinks available.

The ferry journey took about 7.5 hours to reach Coron, and caught a beautiful sunset as we sailed into Coron Bay.

Environmental Fee:

Tourists visiting Coron are required to pay an environmental fee upon arrival. This fee is intended to support local conservation and environmental protection initiatives.

We were charged ₱200 PHP per person ($5CAD or $4USD) for this fee.

As you exit the ferry, you’ll wait in line to register your name and pay your fee.

Getting To Your Accommodation in Coron:

When you walk out of the ferry terminal, there is a line system in place to get a trike to your accommodation.

Coron was one of the most expensive destinations for trike rides. We were charged ₱200 PHP ($5CAD or $3.50USD) for a 5 minute trike ride, and there was no negotiating with them, either take it or walk.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GET FROM PUERTO GALERA TO CORON?

Here is our cost breakdown for travel from Puerto Galera to Coron:

Fishing Boat from Hotel to Abra De Ilog: ₱4500 PHP ($110CAD or $80USD)

Bus from Abra De Ilog to San Jose Hotel: ₱$460 PHP ($11CAD or $8USD) x 2 = ₱$920 PHP

Trike from bus terminal to Hotel: ₱80 PHP ($2CAD or $1.50USD)

Ferry from San Jose Occidental Mindoro to Coron: ₱1655 PHP per person ($40CAD or $30USD) x 2 = ₱3310 PHP

Pier Fee: ₱30 PHP ($0.75CAD or $0.50USD) per person x 2 = ₱60 PHP

Trike drop off fee: ₱18 PHP ($0.45CAD or $0.30USD)

Environmental Fee for Coron: ₱200 PHP per person ($5CAD or $3.50USD) x 2 = ₱400 PHP

Trike from Coron Pier to Hotel: ₱200 PHP ($5CAD or $3.50USD)

Total: ₱9,488PHP ($228CAD or $170USD) for 2 people to get from Puerto Galera to Coron

This includes us being overcharged ₱2000 PHP for the boat to Abra De Ilog.

Total Travel Time from Puerto Galera to Coron:

This journey took us 2 full days of travel.

We left our hotel in Puerto Galera at 8:00am, and arrived to our homestay in Coron after dinner time, the next day.

Boat ride from Puerto Galera to Abra De Ilog: 1.5-2 hours

Waiting time at the bus terminal

Bus ride Abra De Ilog to San Jose: 5-6 Hours

Overnight in San Jose

Ferry ride from San Jose to Coron: 7-8 Hours

If you decide to go back to Manila and fly to Coron instead, you could likely do it all in one day.

Accidents happen, make sure you are covered for all your adventures!

If you tackle this journey, I would love to hear about your experience in the comments!

byKayla/March 25, 2024/inPhillipines

Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links that I may receive a small commission from. This is at no additional cost to you. By clicking and/or booking through affiliate links found on this site you are helping to support this website and helping make it even better.

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It is a comprehensive journey from Puerto Galera to Coron. This detailed guide takes you on an adventure, revealing hidden gems and insider tips along the way, ensuring you make the most of your trip to this tropical paradise.

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