The Philippines - The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget - page 624

Batangas City

BIG LA LAGUNA TO SABANG

Verde Island
Passage

1

Sabang Beach

Bangka departure/
arrival point

4

General
Stores

4

5 6

Western Union

GPLP Tours

Jeepneys to Puerta Galera, tricycles to
White Beach 7

Puerto Galera & White Beach

ACCOMMODATION
SABANG
Big Apple Middle of the beach T 043 287 3134, W dive
bigapple.com. One of Sabang's most popular resorts, with
a dive centre, swimming pool and 24hr bar, perfect if
you're looking for plenty of action. The two budget rooms
can get quite noisy, thoug h - better to spend extra for the
a/c rooms (P1100). P500
★

BIG LA LAGUNA
Campbell's Beach Resort At the far end of the
beach T 043 287 3466, W campbellsbeachresort.com.
The simple rooms are a/c with hot water and cable,
although they're a bit pricey for what you get. It has its
own lively bar, Fa t Bastards , and the café does hearty
breakfasts. P1500

8

Steps Garden Almost at the far western end of the
beach T 043 287 3046, W stepsgarden.com. Discreetly
tucked into the western end of the cove, Swedish-owned
Steps has a wide variety of comfortable huts spread
through the lovely hillside gardens, many of which have
great balcony views. There's also an attr active p ool, a good
restaurant with wi-fi, and friendly staff. P1600

WHITE BEACH
Coco Aroma T 0916 616 7337, W cocoaromawhitebeach
.com. At the quieter western end of the beach, this is one
of the few remaining simple beachside places and has
basic fan nipa huts, a couple of nicel y styled a/c cottages, a
laidback café and lots of ambience. P1650
Pacific Divers T 0919 888 6763, W philippines-diving
.com. This friendly dive shop has great-v alue ro oms right in
the middle of the action. Good food too. P500
Summer Connection At the western edge of the
beach T 043 287 3688 or T 0920 230 5098, W summer
connection.net. The accommodation here is on the sea-
front and there are breezy chill-out nipa huts in which to
enjoy a cold beer as you watch your fresh catch grill on the
communal barbecue. Standard rooms (P2200) are clean
and functional, but there are still a fe w sim ple nipa huts
at the back. Table tennis and free wi-fi. P800

PUERTO GALERA
Badladz Right beside Muelle Pier T 043 287 3693,
W badladz.com. Still a longtime favourite despite its
prices steadily going up, this place also does fantastic
Mexican f ood an d offers diving and a host of other
activities. P1738
Bahay Pilipino Hotel-Pension In the centre of the
poblacion opposite Candava Supermarket T 043 442
0266. Cheap and friendly place run by Bavarian Dr Fritz and
his Filipina wife Jasmin. The f an roo ms are small and well
kept, with shared bathrooms. P550

EATING, DRINKING AND NIGHTLIFE
SABANG
Diver's Café Fun bar mainly serving German food (the
menu has its fair share of sausages: P125) and inventive
cocktails (P185). Daily 8am-3am.
Grab & Go Cheap little place to refuel after a night out,
with local favourites (P50-90) and pretty mean burgers
(P140). Try the Giant Burger (P499) if you've worked up an
appetite. Daily 9am-3am.

SMALL LA LAGUNA
Nick and Sonia's Cottages T 0917 803 8156. A few
simple clean rooms with their own kitche ns and hot
water. Easy to miss; ask at Action Divers. P700
Sha-Che Inn T 0928 411 3748, E shacheinn@yahoo
.com.ph. The ten tiled rooms all have hot wat er, kitc hen
and TV, and the upstairs ones have great views. P1200