Puerto Princesa Underground River Tour.
Everyone that travels to Palawan goes to visit the unique Underground River and the gorgeous islands of El Nido. For a good reason, they’re amazing locations on this island that’s been named one of the worlds most beautiful islands.
The Underground River (read wiki) is one of the 7 Wonders of Nature. Not to be confused with the 7 World Wonders. It’s a 30 million year old limestone cave of 8km long, that you can explore on a boat. Mexico has a similar amazing cave, but it’s not accessible by boat.
Joining a tour
Joining a tour from Puerto Princesa will take you to the nearby town (80km, 1,5 hour drive). There you’ll have to wait for hours so you’ll hopefully spend more money again at the shops and restaurants, before getting on the boat to the Underground River entrance.
The cave is stunning and an amazing experience. 45 Minutes is way too short though, before you know it, you’re on the way out already. It’s about 20min going in, 20min going out. The tour costs p2000 (more or less) and altogether is a bit of a tourist trap designed to have you spend money along the way and at the town. But hey, that’s tourism..
Doing the long tour / doing it yourself
Apparently you can do 4 hour journey as well, but it’s only on special request. It costs p4000 for the first person and p1000 for the next. Not a bad deal and very worth it, especially if you’re with a few people. Try to get some info at your guesthouse or a tour agency beforehand about the long trip. It leaves only 1 a day on special request.
I highly recommend to drive here yourself from Puerto Princesa. A motorbike should cost you roughly p500 to rent, it’s an easy and nice drive. You won’t have to spend time waiting for nothing. Also, get on the long tour if you can.
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Hi, we are Martien Janssen and Jen Yap! I am a Dutch Travel Photographer & Filmmaker, specialising in Landscape, Aerial, Night Sky and Time Lapse Photography. Jen is a doctor from the Philippines who does most writing here. Follow us as we travel create cool photos & videos!
Wow this reminds me of my visit to the caves near Phuket. I can understand the photography is not easy while you explore the caves. Awesome collection of pictures. Did they sparkle in the dark like I saw in Phuket?
Thanks. Some parts were a bit sparkly yes.
Hey! Reading this almost took me to the underground River and the islands! Loved the pictures and this place is on my travel list soon for sure ! Thank you
Thanks Utsa 🙂
This place definitely looks like my kind of adventure! Your photos are absolutely beautiful! You did a great job capturing the caves, as I know caves are never easy to capture all of their beauty!
Thanks, indeed being on boat in a dark cave is pretty hard to shoot decent pics, but they came out quite well 🙂
Whoa! Underground river sounds so interesting. Never heard of this before but I could imagine how beautiful it would be see that nature wonder.
It is!
I have very fond memories visiting the Underground River in Palawan. I was with friends and our tour guide was very entertaining. There were 10 of us, making the tour (going there from Puerto Princesa) fairly affordable and hassle-free. 🙂 However, doing it yourself also sounds like a cool and more cheaper way to do it. Looking at your photos reminded me of how the guide described each stalactite and stalagmite. 🙂
We actually still joined a tour from PP, there’s no way to do it yourself. Even if you’d go to PP, you still need to join an organised tour or rent a boat.
The place really looks so stunning, I always love to explore caves and doing it one a boat would be an amazing experience. As always your photography is superb, how you took cave pictures so clear, since it’s low light did you used Tripod?
I had a light (lume cube) and shot with high iso, then used a noise reduction. You’re on a boat the whole time, so can’t use a tripod.. Pretty hard to shoot inside actually!
Hi Martien and Jen,
great pictures and interesting post about the tour into the cave. Good to know for coming holidays. PR looks like a very interesting destination.
Best regards from Germany,
Markus
Thanks Markus!
Oh wow! Take me there now! I would love to see the underground river – no wander it’s on of the 7 wonders of nature. Looks so serene. I wouldn’t mind doing the long tour!
Thank you, I’d love to do the long one some day!
The caves are excellent. The pics are very detailed. It looks like a calm place to spend your day out. Great post!
Thanks, it is!
What a wonderful place you visited here! Knowing that it was dark there, your photos are amazing quality! Good luck!
Thanks!