Calapan, Philippines

Calapan's main street is José P. Rizal Street, which is only 500m long and runs past Calapan Cathedral south to Juan Luna Street. If you arrive in Calapan by fast ferry from Batangas City, the city centre is a fifteen-minute ride away by tricycle. The airport, currently not served by any scheduled flights, although Seair has flown here in the past and may do so again, is on the northeastern fringes of the city, a three-kilometre tricycle ride from the city centre. If you're heading for Puerto Galera, many resorts will send transport to meet you if you book and pay in advance. Otherwise you can charter a banca at the pier (which will cost around P1500 for up to eight passengers) or take a jeepney to Puerto Galera (P35) from the terminal at the market in Juan Luna Street. There are some terrific views during the second half of the jeepney ride as the road ascends into the hills above the palm-fringed coast. Note that many of these jeepneys don't stop at Sabang, for which you'll have to go all the way to Puerto Galera Town and then get a jeepney back. For destinations on the east coast, jeepneys and small buses head out from the market, while larger buses start from the ferry pier.

The Supercat ferry office in Calapan is at the pier (Tel:043/288 3258), and you can buy tickets for all ferries at the pier or at the Aboitiz Shipping Office in the Tamaraw Center on J.P. Rizal Street. The main tourist office for Oriental Mindoro is in the provincial capitol building in J.P. Rizal Street (daily 9am–4pm; Tel:043/288 5622). There are a number of banks on Juan Luna Street, including Metrobank, Equitable and BPI.

Accommodation options in Calapan don't set the pulse racing, but there are some budget hotels: Riceland I Inn, on J.P. Rizal Street (Tel:043/288 4253; P500-700), where the more expensive rooms are much bigger and in far better condition than the grubby singles; and, opposite, the Hotel Ma-Yi (Tel:043/288 4437; P700-1000), which has air-conditioned doubles with bathrooms and cable TV. Much more preferable to staying in town, however, is to take a tricycle from Calapan pier fifteen minutes southeast of town to the Parang Beach Resort (Tel:043/288 6120, Web: www.parangbeachresort.com ; P1000–2000), which has a number of plain but comfortable and well-kept rooms in tin-roofed cottages right on the shore, with a beachside restaurant.

As for eating in Calapan itself, a walk along the traffic-clogged length of J.P. Rizal Street will take you past the usual Philippine fast-food outlets, including Jollibee (near the junction with José Laurel) and Mister Donut. There's good Chinese food at the Hong Kong Restaurant in M.H. Del Pilar Street, Santo Niño.