Up Close Puerto Princesa Underground River

PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN. The recently concluded search for New Seven Wonders of Nature listed Philippines’ Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park (or simply Puerto Princesa Underground River) as one of the best in the world. I could never be prouder to have visited PPUR.

The tour, which we got from Kuya Ricky’s tour agency as suggested by my officemate who personally knows the operators, was scheduled in our second day in Puerto Princesa. Their package is similar to that of the others. It’s standard I learned, that all packages for an underground river tour shall be for a reasonable price of P1,500(all-in).

Probably the most photographed marker.

Land travel from downtown Puerto Princesa to Sabang Wharf

We were the first to be picked up at the hotel. It was shortly after 8AM. And since we will be touring with other groups who we have to pick up too, we finally departed downtown Puerto Princesa at around 9AM already. It would have been a perfect excuse to take a nap and probably, sleep. But because Kuya Ricky made a really good guide, narrating history, sharing the province’s culture, explaining the city’s ordinances, its tradition, and every basic thing to know…we were wide awake. And we’re learning and having fun.

On the way.

Lunch at Taraw Restaurant at Sabang Wharf

Land to Sabang Wharf took about 2 ½ hours. We arrived right in time for lunch. The group (12 of all in all) was ushered by Kuya Ricky to Taraw Lodge and Restaurant. Taraw served buffet lunch with 4 viand in the menu – adobong kangkong, inihaw na liempo, chicken and pork adobo and grilled tuna. Bananas are also available for dessert and a bottle of soda for refreshment. 

Lunch.

Taraw was just right past the more exclusive and obviously expensive Sheridan Beach Resort, so we took our own luxury of walking at the hotels’ exclusive beachfront property even when the sun is at its highest. The beach as if calls on us for a swim, which we want to do right at that moment. Aaaaaah. It was a beautiful sight from afar - the waters were studded with diamonds.

Sheridan's beach front.

Boat ride to Underground River

We had to wait for about 30 mins before we boarded for a  20-min boat ride to the underground river. The boat ride itself is already superb. Islands with white beaches were a common site. I would usually ask our boat man if we could say, hop off to swim. But they would strictly say NO. It is how they value rules in the city. As they would always say, only the beaches in Honda Bay are allowed for swimming. And I have nothing but respects really to the locals. 

Dock.

We were greeted by a photographer taking souvenir photos of tourist (it costs P100 per printed picture), but of course, we brought our own cameras so basically, we just posed and didn’t bother to buy print anymore. Haha. After registration, it took us less than 5 minutes to walk through the woods leading to the underground river's opening.  The convenience was obvious from the wooded trail created for tourists to follow. But convenience was nothing to seeing monkeys, monitor lizards, different species of bird – all in their natural habitat. 

Woods.

Boat ride inside the underground river

Because of the influx of tourist from the time PPUR was named 7 Wonders of Nature, queuing has been unavoidable. We will be in the 87^th batch that day. I could only imagine the number of tourists that have come before us – I’m sure it’s more than a hundred. For more than 30 mins or so, we enjoyed the view but definitely not the smell.

Entrance to the river.

Kuya Ricky said it’s the bats and the brackish water’s combined smell. We well, got used to it somehow. And besides, we would occasionally go to the open area at the far left of the wharf where the smell of the ocean replaces that of the bats. We couldn’t have survived if we didn’t.

The classic jump.

The tour started with Piolo Pasyal (Pascual) introducing himself to us. That mere introduction gave me a hint of the comical tour he will be giving us. He did pretty great. They created a really good piece I must say. They made the tour informative and entertaining at the same time so we didn’t actually realize it lasted for about 1.5 hrs. It wasn’t a bore. It was only…amazing.

Start of the boat ride.

Nearing entrance.

One of the many formations.

View nearing exit.

View from the exit.

Side trip to Ugong Rock Adventures

Before we returned to the city, we dropped by Ugong Rock. The other tourists in our group wanted to try the spelunking-rapelling-zipline adventure.  I have tried those before in other trips so it wasn’t really interesting to me anymore and we were on a budget so we decided to just let them and wait.

Tour outside the cave.

Back in the city, we were still able to catch the 7PM mass. After which, we had dinner at Balinsasayaw Restaurant (located near the city's museum). After a short prayer over lit candles at the grotto of Our Lady of Immaculate Concepcion, I asked for the direction to a nearby restroom from a family of 3 (dad and 2 daughters). We were lucky that in that short talk we'd actually found real nice people who would escort us to the restaurant which a few minutes before, directions were just being explained. We were surprised when we saw them following our tricycle to the restaurant. We thanked Lea and her dad and sister and humbly said nagabala pa po kayo. We were answered with, "sinigurado lang namin mkakarating kayo ng maayos." It was one of the nicest gestures I have received in my trips.

Related post: Day 1: Puerto Princesa City Tour

Related post: Day 3: Puerto Princesa City Tour - Extended