Palawan: Underground River

Day 4 and 5: Back to Puerto Princesa

(Part of a 5-day Palawan adventure. See El Nido and Puerto Princesa City tour, as well)

Travel Notes:
Underground river tour: Php 1800 (inclusive of van to Sabang, boat rides and lunch)
- There is an alternative to getting the tour. You can take a jeep/bus to a Barangay that will serve as jumpoff to Sabang. Ask your receptionist, she might know the place.


The Underground River tour costs 1,800 php per person, and, obviously, this was not going to be within the daily budget of a thousand that we wanted to impose upon ourselves. We asked Tita Bebs about a cheaper way of doing the tour. She advised us to go to Sabang directly by getting off at ? (still trying to recall the place) from El Nido. From there, we could take a jeepney to Sabang. This was going to be cheaper, since we won't have to pay for a guide, van, etc. We would only need to pay for the boat ride to the cave and the entrance fee there. 

She told us to get the "permit" the day before, and make sure that we'll have a boat that will bring us to the park. She said that we could always find a group willing to take us in with the help of people arranging rides in Sabang.

Let's just say, the next day, we overslept a little (last trip to Sabang was at 3pm, and we got there at 4), so we missed the first bus trip and were forced to take the tour arranged in Puerto Princesa, where we had to pay 1,800 each. Some things are just not meant to be. 

We went back to De Loro Inn after arranging the tour for the next day. By the way, we were told that if the tour got canceled on account of the rain, they would send us a text message. It had been raining for days, and so I had to lull myself to sleep with the thought that if it did get canceled, it would be all for a good cause. We were lucky it pushed through.

The Underground River, I would say, would have been better if there were enough lights to see what it really looks like from inside. It was too dark and the spot light just could not do justice to the place. I was a bit annoyed by the fact that my expectation exceeded the experience, and knowing that a little more light would have made a big difference. Well, I was still glad I went, for many reasons. :)

As promised, we capped this trip by making a big fool of ourselves at the hotel, singing like crazy at the karaoke bar. :P