I was looking for travel tips for travelling in San Jose Occidental Mindoro but I saw very minimal post. Anyway I would like to share my experiences when I visited San Jose.


If given a chance, I will still go back to this place because of the serenity and fresh atmosphere. I wish that they could also develop San Jose as one of the tourist spot here in the Philippines.

I went to this place because originally my plan was to go in Apo Reef but sadly during my trip the tides were too high and they did not accept any tourist or divers in the vicinity.  However the trip was still worth it because the beach were nice compared to the nearby areas in Manila.

I traveled by plane on July and with Cebu Pacific, there are scheduled flights going to San Jose from Manila but you have to check the schedules because it is not on regular basis.

Yey! we safely arrived in this small airport at exactly 7:00 am

After a week of searching in the internet, there were not much of selection when it comes to hotel and lodging. At first, I was eyeing Sikatuna Beach Hotel but during my reservation the lady who received my call informed me that they cannot accept a guest because they block out the rooms for a function and luckily, I was able to find another hotel that is just right infront of Aroma Beach, the famous beach for the locals. Even though Aroma Beach is not private, you can still see the cleanliness and the fine sands even if it was not white in color.

I chose to have a reservation in Aroma Family Hotel and resort complex because it just right in front of the beach and I was truly happy. It was affordable,new and clean they even have small pool inside the resort where you can swim before heading out to the beach. They also have free wifi access but only in the reception area.
The only cons in this resort they do not have a restaurant inside and only night bars where you can have a night life, but during the day it was very quiet and relaxing. They also offer free airport shuttle, which I think it's also a plus for this hotel even if it was just 6 minutes away from the airport but still you can still save 20 pesos and less hassle in waiting for the tricycles.
The view from our room:
After we settled our things inside our room, we rested for like 30 minutes and headed out and asked the receptionist where to go, but sadly there were no tourist spot in this area aside from the beach and Apo Reef. We decided to just explore this small city by ourselves, we ride a tricycle from the hotel and I was shocked that the fare were only 10 pesos for 2 KM in this city, it was cheap. We went to the local market and checked out if there were souvenirs or items that I can bought and I am glad I did because the dried fish in the local market or palengke were too cheap, I bought flying fish daing, dried pusit and dilis. I recommend not to buy danggit because the price were too expensive because it came from Cebu and the seller told me that they were just getting it from the port.

Anyway, after local market I decided to go in the nearest mall in the city,they only have small like supermarket and it cost me another 10 pesos for 450 meters. The only mall in this city is Gaisano Mall and we bought some water,chips and cookies then I decided to go back to our hotel to rest a bit then to find a nearest restaurant in the area for our lunch.

We decided to just eat our lunch somewhere near in Aroma Beach and it cost us for 200 pesos for sisig,,talong, inihaw na pusit and 3 rice, so cheap!! then my son decided to swim in the mini pool inside the resort ( I am sorry I forgot to take a photo). So after taking a dip in their pool even if our clothes were sill soaked we headed to the beach and waited for the sunset.
 My son enjoyed the beach, it was his first time
 Please excuse for my selfie, this was my moment lol =)


At 7 pm, it was really dark and we really experienced swimming in the beach at dark hours, it was truly fun even if the beach was not white it gave us a memorable experience. We headed back to our hotel, we had a quick shower then we had our dinner at the nearby bulalo house but I forgot the name of the establishment, the food was okay nothing special. Anyway after eating we decided to stroll around a bit in the commercial area of our hotel where they have Eder Bar where they have a live band, this is where you can chill and have a night life but since I have a kid with me I did not have a choice but to just sleep early for our early flight the next day lol.

At exactly 5 am, I decided to woke up my son so he could eat first before showering and I was amazed that kuya driver from Aroma Family Hotel was already waiting outside our room so he could drop us off in San Jose Airport.

After checking in, we ate at the airport restaurant just outside San Jose Airport, it was a bit pricey but the food was great.

This trip was quick and memorable, and I would like to thank Aroma Family Hotel and Resort complex for a pleasant stay and free shuttle! It saved me from worrying too much,