Palawan Tour Day 2 – The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park: Welcome to the one of the new seven wonders of nature

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“Loving Mother Earth is easy, hurting them is indeed, easy too.”



18 July 2006: Just one hour of asphalt road, two hours of rough road and one hour of bangka (local term for customized boat) sail from Puerto Princesa City and you’ll reach the pride of not only Palawan but the Philippines; which was recently one of the nominees for the New Seven Wonders of Nature.


A bright sunny day was waiting for us to find out why the subterranean river is one of the prides of Palawan. The way to the port going to the park was tiresome because of its hard and rough road; luckily we rented air-conditioned van and safely arrived there after almost two hours of travel. I hope in the next few years, the road will be asphalted since tourism business in the town was a booming industry. At the port, I admired the municipal policy; they strictly reinforced the “6-person per boat only” policy to avoid overloading and strict compliance to the use of life vest was monitored too. You may enjoy the amazing view of rock formations, white sandy beaches and blue waters of the bay on your way to the National Park.




At the National Park, you’ll see some bayawak (monitor lizard) walking and most of the time staring at you. They were harmless as long as you didn’t annoy them. Monkeys also were around the place and thousands of paniki (bats) hanging around the trees and inside the cave.



Be advised that stingy smell was present in the area where the small wooden boats were waiting for you going to the subterranean river cave tour. The 30-minute paddling of our small wooden boat captain inside the cave showed us the extraordinary stalactite and stalagmite formations, shaped by Mother Earth million years ago; they named some formations as saints of the Catholic Church since it was really shape-like. Inside the cave was very serene, you can feel the tranquility of water and the spirit of nature letting you enjoy the creation they made. It was a genuine natural beauty and a priceless creation that needs to be preserved and protected.


Apparently Palawan has something more to offer, especially the nearby beaches of the National Park. Forests and greens next to the park were still untouched. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park was truly a natural beauty and I’m hoping that maybe after ten, twenty, or even fifty years from now, the beauty of the park will not be abuse by the local people or by the visitors of the place.


See more of Palawan:
Location: St Paul Subterranean River National Park, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines

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Thoughts are highly appreciated. Enjoy leaving your footprints :)