The bay was a convenient place to shelter ships against bad weather, and a warehouse was built to store supplies and trade black rice from Muelle.

[6] In April 1570, the Spaniards arrived in Bombon (now known as Batangas), and later sailed through the Isla Verde Passage, landed and called the place Puerto Galera (the port of Galleons).

A garrison for soldiers was built in Muelle, and watch towers were erected in Dampalitan Point to monitor naval activity in the bay.

[5] In 1663, a change in the form of administration occurred in the island, the corregidor was replaced by the alcalde-mayor or provincial governor, and the capital was moved from Puerto Galera to Baco.

[7] Both pirates attacks and the mismanagement of the Spaniards resulted in driving the native population either into exile in safer places or sending them inland to comparative safety.

The Philippine Statistics Authority characterizes the municipality of Puerto Galera as first class based on household income.

[14] Poverty Incidence of Puerto Galera Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] The traditional economy of the city used to be fishing and subsistence agriculture, but with the boom of tourism at the end of the 1970s, the service sector became more and more important and led to population and economic growth.

The area was designated a Man and Biosphere reserve of UNESCO in 1973 and has some of the most diverse coral reef diving in Asia.

Since 2001, the marine environment has benefited from a huge reduction in the number of fishermen in the area, as they gain higher revenue from tourism activities.

Diving trips in the Verde Island Passage, at the heart of the Coral Triangle are organized from Puerto Galera.

[30] Accelerated tourist oriented development poses degradation to the environment, among which, seawater pollution brought about by improper sewage and wastewater discharges.