The Underground River

Located on the island of Palawan, voted as the best island in the world, is one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature, The Underground River in Puerto Princesa. This is a must-see while visiting the Philippines!

Almost every hotel is able to make arrangements for you and your group to do a day trip to this majestic site. We stayed at a hotel close to the airport and arranged our tours through them. They took care of the permit needed to visit the site, the transportation, lunch, and the logistics behind getting us into the actual river.

You start by taking a small boat that fits about 8 people to the rivers entrance. From there, you walk about 1/4 mile to the next set of boats that take you on the tour. Everyone shares a seat, and some people sit on their own but a quick word of advice – sit in the front! Do everything you can to be in charge of the light. The cave is insanely dark (duh!), and the boat only has one light. If the person sitting in the front is distracted by taking selfies, interested in looking at their own things and not the ones being talked about by the tour guide, or doesn’t understand simple directions, you will be frustrated!

The tour takes about 45 minutes and you see some of the most amazing stalagmites, cave rooms, and tons of bats! BATS EVERYWHERE!!!!

The best part was putting an image in your mind of what the stalagmites looked like. For example, there were some that resembled mushrooms, bananas, faces, animals, dinosaurs, religious monuments, etc.

The tour guide is very knowledgeable and knows exactly where he’s going – IN THE DARK! It’s an eery feeling when there aren’t any other tour boats around but during those moments, you really were able to soak in the whole experience.

I wish the pictures showed exactly what you see inside, but I don’t have the talent to accomplish that, yet! 😉

I highly recommend visiting The Underground River!

1 Comment

  • Steve Chomik says:

    Who would have ever thought there would be an underground river??! Katherine, I love all your blog and great info — especially the pictures!! Welcome home. xoxoxo

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