Soon after our arrival at El Galleon, we knew we had discovered a jewel nestled in the heart of the Philippines! We were warmly welcomed and great service was the norm for the remainder of our 10 night stay. The accommodations were quiet and comfortable, the grounds were lush and well maintained, and the pool was inviting. Gear storage was ample, clean and well organized. Internet was available free of charge, the best connection being in the restaurant/bar area, which was very convenient.

We were there to dive, and dive we did! Up to four dives a day was possible, as most sites were a short 5 minute boat ride away. Asia Divers is a well run dive operation, their dive masters are very experienced and know the dive sites well. The safety and enjoyment of the divers, and attention to detail were obvious priorities. Our trips to Verde Island were no doubt the highlight of the diving. The diversity and abundance of fish was outstanding. If you're offered the trip to Verde, go, you will be rewarded! Another bonus for us was the capability of diving nitrox at a very reasonable cost. Being photographers, we enjoyed a secure camera room equipped with multiple spacious stations, plenty of outlets and computer terminals.

It was a luxury to be able to return to the resort during every surface interval, where Chef Antoine's fresh cookies were a big hit! His busy kitchen provided excellent meals, featuring local fare as well as traditional favorites. The food was plentiful, nutritious, and varied.

Apres diving activity centered around The Point Bar. More than just a watering hole, it was the place where folks gathered to make new friends and share their day's adventures. Overlooking beautiful Sabang Bay, it was a great place to decompress, have a cold San Miguel and enjoy a beautiful sunset.

In our opinion, El Galleon is the complete package. The variety of marine life, incredible service, and the total ambience of the resort makes this destination an exceptional value. We anxiously await a return visit in 2012.

the main best points for this hotel are its location and the quality of the associated dive center ASIA DIVERS.
location: it is situated on the shore, 5 min walk from sabang, where nightlife is very active.
ASIA DIVERS: very efficient and professional team, guides making their job very efficiently and on a friendly way. they propose 4 dives every day , plus a nightdive; and trips to verde island are made, weather permitting; rented material of correct quality, tanks full up to 220 bars and dives last normally around the 55/60 minutes;reputation of quality of the dive sites is justified and you will be very happy if you like the small stuff ( nice nudibranches really everywhere).

rooms: average and not very big, should need some renovations, but the girls who make the rooms make a very good job so that they are clean.

restaurant: Antoine, the french cook, is leading a good team, making very good food all the day long, from breakfast to late in the evenings, around 11pm.

El Galleon is among the more plush resorts in Sabang beach at Puerto Gallera. My stay of 5 days was rather comfortable, worth the cost, but I did have some qualms (like the mosquitoes in the restaurant!)

It is a 10 minute walk along the coast from the Sabang boat terminal (the boat takes about 1.5 hours from Batangas and goes to "Sabang beach". They run every 2 hours and the last boat leaves at 4 pm so check the timings before coming )

El Galleon is not right on Sabang beach - actually it is on the eastern part of the coast from the boat terminal so it is far enough from the loud music of some of the bars for you to have peace. The cottages are made of wood and there is a lot of greenery around. Do bring mosquito lotion - the vegetation tends to attract mosquitoes. They had some mosquito coils which I learnt of only the next day, and so we had to quickly nibble our dinner!

Rooms are comfortable,. service is good. And of course, the best part is that the dive shop is 30 seconds away. They have a profesional team, cost about the same, and I certainly would recommend them for diving.

There is really no "beach" per se at Sabang. Especially near El galleon it is just rocks at low water and a bit of brown sand. On the western side of the jetty there are some expanses of beach, though I did not find any one sitting there. For beaches, you can walk up to La laguna beach which is 10 minutes walk (around the hillock)

They have a good buffet breakfast, but sadly this is not included in the room price. Else there are some good breakfast options (150 pesos onwards) but the atmosphere makes this a good place to have breakfast and lunch. I would NOT advice having dinner here, due to the mosquitoes.

By the way, if you have heavy luggage, watch out - the walkway from the boat to el galleon is very narrow - best to ask for a porter / helper at the boat jetty.

El Galleon is about a 4 minute walk from Sabang center. There are some ground level rooms, ours was up a few steps and overlooking the small pool. Our room was older, but had plenty of room, a refrigerator, qne TV. There are slightly smaller rooms with no TV that are less expensive, and some suites higher on the hill that overlook the water. We were perfectly happy with our room and the steps going to the suites might be tricky at night or in the rain. There was a small buffet breakfast available each morning with cereal, eggs to order, toast, coffee, juices, mangoes, and home made muffins. Lunch and dinner were from a menu; the food was quite good. Those with food issues may have a bit of a problem. They had no soy milk when I asked (I'm sensitive to all dairy) and you need to ask a lot of questions about what is in the dishes. The staff was great.

We were there to dive, and the dive operation is very well organized. The dive shop is small but there is a very large dock where you board the boats and where the roomy equipment storage and compressor are located. Each diver has his own crate. In the morning, our BC would be on our tank ready to be Nitrox analyzed. As we excited the dive boat after the first dive, staff would be waiting for us to analyze the next tank. There were two camera rinse tanks, plus one for regulatos and one for wetsuits, which got pretty scuzzy. There were also two hot water showers on the dock. We were quite impressed with their set-up.

The dive sites were close by and we saw many, many nudibranch, dozens of anemonefish, blue and black ribbon eels, a few morays, a couple of pygmy seahorses, a couple of 4" seahorses, and frogfish ranging from 1/2" to one foot. We also dove three or four wrecks, mostly for the marine life. There were a few interesting "muck" dives that I enjoyed. We had a guide with us each dive. The visibility could have been better, but the weather had turned rainy; all in all we had a great time.

It's a two hour drive from Manila airport to the ferry dock and then an hour ferry ride to Sabang; this was all arranged for us ahead of time.