Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR)

Also known as Puerto Princesa Subterranian Underground River in Palawan, Philippines. It was included in the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2012 along with the Amazon in South America, Halong Bay in Vietnam, Jeju Island in South Korea, Komodo in Indonesia, Iguazu Falls in Argentina & Brazil, and Table Mountain in South Africa. It was also listed in UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999. I will leave all other information to Puerto Princesa City Government if you want to know more about our own nature’s wonder.

I booked our activity online via Klook priced at Php 1,580 per pax. Activity inclusions are hotel pick up/drop off, Environmental fee, boat fee, audio device and all other incindental fees. Processing of permit is also included.

On our way to PPUR, we stopped at the halfway point for 30 minutes. Our stop-over is for the use of comfort room, to buy snacks and souvenir items, and to appreciate the view of Puerto Princesa as we go up to the view deck. It took us more than two hours to reach the Sabang Wharf. Our tour guide from Wild Expeditions Palawan Tours, Klook’s local partner, present our permit, paid the environmental and boat fees to PPUR Tourism Office as soon as we arrived.

The good thing about klook is that we skipped the long line of tourists. If others waited for about two hours, in our case, we just waited for less than an hour for the boat going to the Underground River.

We enjoyed the enchanting beautiful scenery on our way to the beach. Breathtaking views of lush green mountains and cliffs made the trip interesting.

After 20 minutes, we arrived at the Sabang beach. This alluring beach has a white fine sand and crystal clear water. No one was swimming (I don’t know if it’s allowed) since we are all preparing for an underground tour.

Stunning view of the limestone cliff with lush greenery of the island.

We took photos at these dried yet good loking trunks before going to the trail.

Of course, our tour guide did not miss this famous photo spot. There are quite a lot of tourists waiting for their turn here.

The trail was a short walk going to the cave’s entrance. This place is a monkey populated area so be careful with your stuff. We were surprised when one of them grabbed the bottled water from one of the tourists. This little primate is a clever snatcher.

When we reach the end of the trail, hard hats and audio device guide were distributed to the tour participants. One of the boatmen helped us in the operation of the audio device. Languages available are English, Japanese, Chinese and Spanish.

Photo ops with other klook joiners before getting into the paddled boat.

The boatman is also our tour guide inside the cave. He gave us some ideas of what to expect inside. He also share informative ideas about stalactites and stalagmites. He also share some facts concerning animal and plant species inside the cave.

Our exciting boat trip started as we reached the opening of the cave. We cannot help but to admire these awesome natural creation.

The boatman cracks joke from time to time as we go inside. I remember him saying that the cave is a home for bats and swiftlets so we should close our mouth when looking up because we’ll never know if the water that falls from the ceiling is a raindrop or bat’s pee.

It gets darker as we go through the cave. Our guide directs our eyes to the different formations as he points the light beam to the image in time for the audio commentary. In one of the massive cavern, where he called the Cathedral, I was able to see the image of Virgin Mary and the Holy Family but was not able to capture photos due to my amazement. There are other several images like jellyfish, man’s head, banana blossom, peanut, corn, part of the Titanic, Smokey Mountain, and the Last Supper. Several bats are seen at the upper part of the cave. We were told not to create noise since there is a tendency to disturb them.

man’s head

Unlimites images will run through your mind using your imagination. The tour took us about 45 minutes inside. We headed back to the wharf for our buffet lunch at Del Cucina. On the menu are local food like pinakbet, fresh lumpia, fried lumpia, pork with tausi, adobo, bihon guisado to name a few.

Our Puerto Princesa underground River adventure was an amazing experience. Being a Filipino, I felt prouder that we have the PPUR where tourists from all over the world flocked here to witness its wonder.

Where we stay:

Cherry’s Courtyard located near the Puerto Princesa City Hall. We had a pleasant stay at this hotel since the staff are very accommodating, nice and friendly. The rooms are clean, with aircon and flat TV. Toiletries and bath towels are also provided.

You may inquire at cherryscourtyard@gmail.com

09171387628/09055390825

Our Itinerery: (Klook)

7:00 Hotel pick up (Cherry’s Court_Yard)

8:00 Stop-over at halfway point

9:30 Arrival at Sabang Port

10:30 Arrival at Sabang beach

11:00 Start of PPUR tour

12:00 Return to the Sabang Port

12:15 Lunch buffet

1:00 Travel back to the Puerto Princesa City

3:00 Hoteĺ drop off

Travel buddies:

Aris, Romer, Angel,Chelle and other Klook joiners.

Book your klook activities here:

Klook

Thank you for reading!

God bless always!