This is the first trip of the year and a good start with the Philippine's 'Last Frontier' - Palawan. Though not a good start of the day since we have our flight delayed by one hour still we are able to complete day one adventure's itenerary highlighted by Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park or locally known as Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR).
We are able to get a good package tour for a hassle and worry free trip since we are a group of five with two friends snatched their vacation working from Singapore. Got our bags and looked for our travel agent from Hadefe Travel.
I already read some good feed backs for them so i decided to give them a try. Initially i opt to do a do-it-yourself trip and book with another resort in El Nido but decided to get the package tour since we have a 10-hour roundtrip Puerto Princesa City (PPC) and El Nido. It would be great to catch a good comfortable nap inside a van. Also, i can say its a good decision since some of my friends are not used on backpack style travel, we have our heavy bags to tag along during transpo interchange on commuting.
Since we have a delayed flight, we arrived at PPC past lunch time, we have to go directly to Sabang beacause its one-hour drive from the city or else we will not make it on the cut off time. There are only number of guests allowed enter the PPUR per day. This has been the system since this PPUR joined the New Seven Wonders of Nature according to our guide. Also, one should secure a permit prior the intended day of visit else entry to the cave will not be allowed.
One hour trip is a bit gruelling because we haven't take our lunch and our driver needs to race on some rough roads for us to make it on time and the result is a bit dizzy trip. We also have our permit ready for that day and we cant afford not to use it. Thank God we made it just in time but before going straight to PPUR, we had our late buffet lunch in a resort. This is the only lunch option around the area and good thing their food is deilicious. Their chicken adobo is on top.
Its just a quick late lunch and we're back on the road and few more minutes we are already at the Sabang Port. Our guide processed our permit to secure the boat to cave and we are the last one to visit for the day. Good thing there are only few visitors when we arrive. Just the right time to spent to wait for our turn. Boats are coming back and forth to pickup the batch of visitors until are turn.
Another few minutes boat ride to the entrance of the cave. It is a mini beach with a huge limestone formation on the side. We registered our names and wait for our turn. Its just a good time to explore the area. We encountered a monitor lizard just roaming around. There are also bigger ones too according to our guide. The area is also covered with trees so shades are available during the hot summer days.
Our guide showed the other way to the main entrance of the cave. Just few steps and we saw the area where the river meets the sea. Another limestone formation to complete the view. Clear greenish water coming from the river going to the sea.
Then our turn came. We had the boat solely for our group since we will be the last batch to enter the cave. Geared with life vests and hard hats and a spot light powered by a car battery to lighten up the ride. Our boatman started the boat ride with some basic do's and dont's and crack some jokes for ice breaker.
This is one of kind activity because visitors would be able to do caving on a boat ride. Not the usual caving on with hand and/or foot but riding the boat instead.
As expected there are so many bats flying inside the cave. These are insect bats according to our guide. They will all came out from the cave around 6PM everyday to hunt for food. There are also other residence inside the cave like the Balinsasayaw birds with its expensive nest used for Nido soup. We are able to spot a baby python.
There are many rock formations inside the cave, from stalactites to stalagmites and some of it just few inches to the ceilings to form the column. Our guide showed different formations and was able to give names to it or the pattern that resembles it, from animals, fruits and vegetables, holy figures and even hotdogs. I suggest to at least have additional lights for the visitor to explore more the caves.
I can say that our guide is well trained when it comes to how to give a good story inside the cave. He is a good communicator too be it in Filipino or English and was able to entertain us. The trip lasted around 45 minutes with some good laughs since some jokes of our guide is hilarious.
We got our pricey photos as souvenir. You'll have different shot before entering the cave and when coming out. TIP: Be sure to look for all the shot so that you'll be able to choose the best one. We ended up buying two since the vendor showed us another sets of shots just right after buying one and have them printed it.
We went back to the port and clean ourselves and got back on the road for the five-hour evening ride to El Nido.
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