Edgewater Dive & Spa Resort — Restaurant in Puerto Galera

My 16-year-old daughter and I spent nearly two weeks at Edgewater Resort in mid-February, and it was the highlight of our trip to the Philippines. The resort is tucked away in a peaceful, quiet bay surrounded by mangroves—completely different from the noisy, party-oriented hotels in Sabang. It was exactly what we were looking for: relaxing, family-friendly, and beautifully low-key.||We stayed in a garden view room with two queen beds, which was spacious and comfortable. The food at the resort was excellent—we especially loved the delicious tom yum soup, and the mango shakes by the pool became a daily ritual. I went diving nearly every day and had a fantastic experience with the guides, who were kind, knowledgeable, and great company. They also helped arrange a variety of day trips for us, including a visit to the Mangyan village (a must if you're interested in learning about the indigenous people of the Philippines), the mangroves, snorkeling, and even seeing the giant bats!||One of our favorite days was island hopping and snorkeling—the team packed us a delicious lunch, and we ate it on a quiet beach with crystal-clear water. My daughter loved every minute, and I loved having time to read and relax by the pool after a dive (I read four novels during our stay!).||A big shout out to Melanie and Jeff, who helped make our stay so special. The whole staff was incredibly kind and welcoming—we miss them already. Also, we loved saying hi to the sweet kitties around the property each day.||One tip for future guests: consider arranging your transfer directly through Edgewater. We took the Si-Kat bus/ferry from Manila via Batangas, which worked fine, but a direct transfer would have saved us time and hassle—something we’ll definitely do next time.||Edgewater is a hidden gem—secluded, restful, and perfect for families or anyone looking to unwind. We can’t...

Edgewater is just 20 minutes from Balatero Port which makes it very convenient.||Upon arrival, we were greeted and welcomed by Mary Anne with welcome drinks, fresh fruits and refreshing warm towels as she briefs us on the resort’s facilities and services and the local scenes.||The rooms are quite spacious and very clean. We stayed in rooms 3 and 4. The rooms were furnished with cable TV, a mini fridge and split type air conditioning units that runs nice and cold. The mattresses and pillows are of 5-star hotel quality with sheets and down duvet covers made of high quality pure cotton that gave us the best vacation sleep ever! There is hot shower in the bath and personal care products are provided as well. Wifi is fast and reliable.||The location is away from the loud touristy commercial areas. Nice and private if you’re looking to relax in a peaceful and quiet place. ||Breakfast is served in generous portions with coffee and juice at their restaurant that overlooks the cove opening out to the open ocean.||Scuba diving is guided by DM Marlon who is very helpful and professional. Boat Capitan Christian is nice and engaging as well. The dive sites are just a few minutes away by boat from Edgewater. The corals and marine life in Puerto Galera are so rich and vibrant, no wonder a lot of people visit Puerto Galera every year. We saw several turtles, frog fish, clown fish, nudibranch, mantis shrimp and much much more.||Snorkeling trips from Muelle Pier is also fascinating. Snorklers have an option to be pulled by the small motorized bangka around the coral and marine sanctuary that allows you to see the entire area effortlessly.||Special shout out to Richard, Mary Anne, DM Marlon, Christian, Janet, Shane, Yumi, Chef Niño, Jeff, and Ate Melai who all made our stay extremely...

Edgewater has exactly the right mix of laid-back vibes and luxury. There is nothing pretentious about it, yet it has every comfort and amenity. We chose their premier sea suite for a ten day diving trip, and that room was wonderful: spacious, open, full of light, with a huge bathroom, spotlessly clean. ||We also chose the half board plan, which afforded us very generous meals in their open-air restaurant for breakfast and lunch. The food was fresh and delicious. Originally we had thought we’d go into Sebang or Puerto Galera for dinners, but we never ended up doing this. It’s not really walkable from the resort (no sidewalks and a narrow road). Although tuktuks are cheap and readily available, we enjoyed the food where we were, and wanted to just relax after diving all day. So we’d generally just ask the talented chef Roman what he was excited about cooking that night, and we’d go with that. ||The staff at this resort went out of their way to make us happy. They are kind, attentive, eager to please, and clearly happy to be there. We were also impressed with the dive staff, led by Marlon, who took great care of us. Groups were never larger than four divers per divemaster, and they sorted us by experience level so advanced divers weren’t constrained by the limitations of new divers. The diving was great, despite some wet and windy weather that narrowed choices for dives site in some days.||We took advantage of the massages offered, which were in a sheltered but open air setting and were an incredible value by our standards. I think a 90 minutes massage was about $27 U.S. per person, and they were very good. ||We’d go back to Edgewater in a heartbeat - it is a very...