I’d say this was really the heart of our trip to Puerto Princesa. After all, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. And it’s not every day you can go to a place that was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, right?
The travel to Sabang from Puerto Princesa is approximately one hour. We arrived at a mini-port with boats that will bring us to the Underground River.
From Sabang, we rode a boat to the Underground River. When we reached the island, we were ushered to a cottage to rest for a while and enjoy the surroundings before we rode another boat that will bring us inside the Underground River.
Monkeys in Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
There were also lots of monkeys in the area. They were not caged and they walk freely like everybody else. They even entertained some tourists. However, our guide told us not to touch them since they are wild monkeys and they might strangle us to death.
Also, we were told to be on guard with our bags since monkey’s there are known to be the smartest and fastest pickpockets. Actually, when we arrived at Palawan, our driver told us that Palawan has a zero crime rate. There wasn’t even police on guard in any corner we went to. However, there are many cases of theft committed by monkeys.:P There’s no law that can imprison a monkey if they steal your belongings so just be cautious with your stuff anyway.
There were a lot of tourists that day so we had to wait for like hours before we were able to enter the river. So we took our time taking pictures.
So after seems like forever, our group was escorted to our boat so we can finally enter the underground river.
Some of the things I noticed in the underground river:
- The river smells literally like shit – bat shit. Prepare something to cover your nouse before entering.
- The ceiling of the cave continuously drips with water. So you will certainly get wet during the whole duration of the tour. Unfortunately, not everything that drips is water. So if you don’t want to ingest anything, just don’t open your mouth when looking up.
- It would be difficult to take pictures inside if your camera is not waterproof. Get one of those plastic cases for phones so you can take pictures without compromising your phone.
Bat Shit 😀
Face Formation
The Pegasus stalagmite, named after the mythical winged creature in Greek mythology.
Rock formation named Candle. It is one of the largest and tallest stalagmites in the Puerto Princesa Underground River.
Holy Family Formation
A Jesus Christ image rock formation.
A jellyfish rock formation.
The cave’s ceiling
There were so many rock formations inside. Unfortunately, we were not able to capture everything. You will definitely find various kinds of rock formations inside – mushrooms, corns, puso ng saging, jellyfishes, fruits, animals, historical faces and even a Tyrannosaurus Rex head formation.
After 40 minutes, we reached the end of the publicly allowable and navigable length of the underground river and made a U-turn. Going beyond requires a special permit from the government. You need to be a geologist, biologist, researcher, etc. to go further.
After the tour, we had our lunch at a nearby resort before we headed back to Puerto Princesa City.
Visiting the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River experience was a mind-blowing experience. I’m glad I made the decision to visit this natural wonder in Palawan.
Also Read: My El Nido Escapade
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