Lalaguna Villas Luxury Dive Resort and Spa — Hotel in Puerto Galera

Stayed at LLV for 4D3N during my most recent trip to Peurto Galera and I must say that it was an extremely pleasant experience despite my relatively short stay. From the moment I reached out to enquire about availability, I was already pleasantly surprised with how responsive the reservation officers were. All I had to do was inform the staff of my travel dates/ flight timings and they arranged everything else for me, making the whole booking experience seamless. ||The resort is about a 15 minute walk from the main part of Sabang beach (providing a good balance between privacy and proximity to the more crowded areas) and located right in front of the shore for easy access to boats. There is a sizeable swimming pool in the middle of the compound with depths suitable for both kids to play in and Scuba diving training. Beyond the usual amenities of a typical dive resort, there is a free-to-use pool table and a 24h gym. This is probably the first time I have seen a decent gym (or a gym for that matter) in any dive resort that I have been to. It comes equipped with cardio machines, a bench + bar and a free weights preacher curl machine. Near the front desk, there is also a shop selling a wide range of diving equipment for all your needs. The restaurant in the resort serves many cuisines and since the menu is so extensive, we did not get a chance to try them all unfortunately. Do try the sisig and tocino here if you get the chance, the local dishes here really reignited my love for Filipino cuisine!||I stayed in the standard room which came with an ensuite kitchenette and bathroom. While the kitchenette in the standard room does not have stoves, there are cutlery and free tea/ coffee available to use. There is an also a water cooler in the room so you need not walk out to get fresh water! One thing that I particularly liked was how clean everything was; the floors were dust free and the toilet walls were clearly well maintained. Another plus would be the TV which has access to tons of pre-downloaded movies and TV shows, a perfect way to wind down after a long day of diving! Free laundry is also available for all guests, simply hand it to the staff in the laundry bag provided and you’d get your clothes back smelling nice and fresh. Since the room was right above the reception area, the wifi signal was incredible. However, I am not sure If this holds for other types of rooms in the resort. One thing to note is that since the room was near the kitchen, occasionally, food aromas would waft into the room. This neither affected the enjoyability of my stay nor made the room smell, just FYI. ||Since my partner and I stayed for only 3N, we did 7 dives in a span of 2 days. We dove with Kent and Mike across different dives. Liam, a DMT, joined us on a couple as well. The dive guides are all extremely professional and we never felt unsafe at any point. When I informed the staff that my partner had not dived in a while, they paid extra attention to make sure that she was comfortable descending and made her feel reassured throughout. The guides are well-trained experts, with a sharp attention to safety, a true testament to the high standards of diving at the resort. Beyond the dive guides, the boat crews were also attentive and helpful pre/ post-dive. In terms of logistics, rental equipment were all in superb condition. $20 for a full set of (mostly scubapro) equipment a day is really a steal. ||Even on a repeat trip to PG, I still get pleasantly surprised by what I see at the dive sites around here. From the beautiful soft corals to the schools of big mouth mackerel, there is something to be seen at every location. Some dive sites that I recommend are those around monkey beach — sabang point which is just covered in purple/ pink coral. There is usually current here albeit nothing too crazy, so you’d get to enjoy a nice drift here. Fanta-sea is another dive site covered in coral that stretches for what seems like forever. This one has relatively flat topography so it might be more suitable for beginners. For the macro enthusiasts, there is an area south-west of the resort that is a shallow sandy bottom, perfect for ‘treasure hunting’! Water temperature was between 26-28 degrees celcius though I’m not sure if it changes much across different months.|| Of course, the experience would not have been half as enjoyable if not for the rest wonderful staff at the resort. Although I did not remember the names of any of the wait staff or those working at the reception, they always carried a radiant smile with them, making us feel at home. I’d recommend LLV to anyone looking for top class and affordable accommodation in PG, in a heartbeat. 4D3N is simply not enough in this beautiful resort and we’ll definitely be back for a longer trip...

Stayed at LLV for 4D3N during my most recent trip to Peurto Galera and I must say that it was an extremely pleasant experience despite my relatively short stay. From the moment I reached out to enquire about availability, I was already pleasantly surprised with how responsive the reservation officers were. All I had to do was inform the staff of my travel dates/ flight timings and they arranged everything else for me, making the whole booking experience seamless.

The resort is about a 15 minute walk from the main part of Sabang beach (providing a good balance between privacy and proximity to the more crowded areas) and located right in front of the shore for easy access to boats. There is a sizeable swimming pool in the middle of the compound with depths suitable for both kids to play in and Scuba diving training. Beyond the usual amenities of a typical dive resort, there is a free-to-use pool table and a 24h gym. This is probably the first time I have seen a decent gym (or a gym for that matter) in any dive resort that I have been to. It comes equipped with cardio machines, a bench + bar and a free weights preacher curl machine. Near the front desk, there is also a shop selling a wide range of diving equipment for all your needs.

Since my partner and I stayed for only 3N, we did 7 dives in a span of 2 days. We dove with Kent and Mike across different dives. Liam, a DMT, joined us on a couple as well. The dive guides are all extremely professional and we never felt unsafe at any point. When I informed the staff that my partner had not dived in a while, they paid extra attention to make sure that she was comfortable descending and made her feel reassured throughout. The guides are well-trained experts, with a sharp attention to safety, a true testament to the high standards of diving at the resort. Beyond the dive guides, the boat crews were also attentive and helpful pre/ post-dive. In terms of logistics, rental equipment were all in superb condition. $20 for a full set of (mostly scubapro) equipment a day is really a steal.

Even on a repeat trip to PG, I still get pleasantly surprised by what I see at the dive sites around here. From the beautiful soft corals to the schools of big mouth mackerel, there is something to be seen at every location. Some dive sites that I recommend are those around monkey beach — sabang point which is just covered in purple/ pink coral. There is usually current here albeit nothing too crazy, so you’d get to enjoy a nice drift here. Fanta-sea is another dive site covered in coral that stretches for what seems like forever. This one has relatively flat topography so it might be more suitable for beginners. For the macro enthusiasts, there is an area south-west of the resort that is a shallow sandy bottom, perfect for ‘treasure hunting’! Water temperature was between 26-28 degrees celcius though I’m not sure if it changes much across different months.

Of course, the experience would not have been half as enjoyable if not for the rest wonderful staff at the resort. Although I did not remember the names of any of the wait staff or those working at the reception, they always carried a radiant smile with them, making us feel at home. I’d recommend LLV to anyone looking for top class and affordable accommodation in PG, in a heartbeat. 4D3N is simply not enough in this beautiful resort and we’ll definitely be back for a longer trip...

I had a great stay at LLV. Bought a dive package with some friends at ADEX Singapore. The staff were very helpful and responsive prior to the trip in answering all our queries and settling our logistics, and could converse well in English.

Getting there We took their private transfer all the way, which made it very smooth and convenient. Picked up at the airport punctually by minibus. Drove to a small port/jetty near Batangas, which is approx a 2-hour drive from NAIA under decent traffic conditions. After which we transferred onto a private ferry to get to Puerto Galera, which took slightly under an hour. So overall it's about 3 hours from exiting the airport to reaching the resort if there's no delays. Going back at the end of our stay was the exact same arrangement in reverse. However do buffer in an additional hour for going back as traffic towards Manila can be quite bad.

Diving Our diving experience was very good. They have a full range of equipment available for rental. We were well taken care of by Ron and Aba. Before every dive we had a brief on the site and conditions. They are very flexible with the scheduling to add on additional dives but just note that you will be charged for a full day of equipment rental if you add on a dive on a new day, as they have to get their staff the prepare the equipment & logistics. Night dives also have an additional charge. Verde island is also additional charge - for dives and lunch (optional but delicious). I did 14 dives in total across 3.5 days. Overall quality of the dive sites was very good. Vis was mostly decent to good; abit poor on one or two dives. Currents can be quite strong and will have to go against current at certain sites. Verde island dive sites are absolutely gorgeous. No big exciting creature sightings unfortunately; a really huge giant sea turtle was the biggest I saw. But really great variety of coral reefs and fishes across the many sites.

Service Service was excellent. Top-notch. Rooms are cleaned and restocked with fresh towels daily. There was also free laundry service (up to 1kg per day for our package) which was very efficient and reliable. Clothes came back clean, dry, folded and smelling great. We also went as a pretty large group of 8 pax, and they meticulously recorded and tracked all of our expenses individually across dining, diving and everything in between. In general the staff were all wonderful.

Cost Overall cost was definitely on the pricier side, but I would say we could have saved quite a bit of money if we were smarter / less "carefree" with our expenses 😅 Some additional costs, such as the private airport transfer, was worth it for us as the cost was split by 8 people. And as mentioned above, it's important to understand their cost structures for diving and remember that nothing is being added on for free. Ultimately I think for the overall quality of the experience, it is good bang...