PALAWAN Travel Diary III: Underground River

Here's to my last but definitely not the least Palawan travel diary :) Our last tour in Palawan was actually my favorite among all the tours we had because we went to the famous Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. We woke up early again for our last tour because we have to travel for 2 hours from the hotel to Sabang wharf. The ride was long but we had a nice time sight seeing while we were on our way. 

There was still a long wait when we got to the wharf but of course no time was wasted since I'm with the best company. We did some food trips (banana cue with sesame seeds won my heart), pasalubong hunting again and of course photo ops! :)

We traveled for 30-45 minutes from the wharf to the Subterranean Underground River. It was high tide so imagine those big waves almost got in the boat. It was a thrilling experience! Haha :) These are some of the views during the boat ride. Palawan is truly blessed with so much beauty. I felt so amused during the whole boat ride. 

Touchdown. Everything was breath taking!!! <3 I wouldn't mind having my house built in this place. It's beautiful!

The entrance to the famous Underground River. It still feels surreal thinking that I've visited this paradise. And to tell you it's not just a paradise of my own but a paradise to many because it was declared to be one of the 7 Wonders of Nature along with Amazonia, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo Island, and Table Mountain.

Entrance of St. Paul cave. The boat man said that this point was already 9 meters deep. What more inside? 

The feels of being inside the Underground River was priceless. It was too dark inside because the only means of light was the flashlight that we have. It felt like it was midnight already and I can't help but felt sleepy during the tour. It was serene the whole time. 

As we go farther the rock formations became more beautiful and interesting. The boat man told us that the cave includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites.  He even joked and compared the rock formations to the different things it resemble. Another thing that made me love this underground river is that it was cold inside. I felt like I was in an air-conditioned room the whole tour. 

When we were already half way the river there was this huge spot that they call the cathedral of the Underground River. We spotted these rocks forming the nativity scene. 

Look at these formations! Breath taking <3

After the Underground River tour we went to the park. We were expecting to see monkeys that steal bags (our tour guide told us to take care of our belongings) but unfortunately we didn't see one and instead we saw large monitor lizards freely moving around the park. I was quite shocked to see those. They're hanging around just like "Hey, what's up?" Haha! 

After the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park tour we had our buffet lunch at the Sabang Wharf. The foods were too good! Very local-friendly.

 Our last stop was a side trip at the Karst Mountain Elephant Cave. We didn't actually went down there. We only had some photo ops since the ride was still long and we have to be at the airport on time for our check-in. We don't want to miss our flight back. :)

Puerto Princesa Palawan, you are so beautiful! The Underground River tour was by far my favorite among all the trips I had in my life. I'm going to be back for Coron and El Nido soon. <3 

xoxo,