Underground River in Palawan one of the world’s natural wonders

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Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park

I have traveled by canoe much of a mountain and seen the magnificent cathedral-like halls with golden stalactite formations that are reminiscent of unusually imaginative sculpture parks.

Unable to avoid the wide-eyed look up and exclaim ‘wow’ the guide warned us against it. Lots of bats hanging in the cave vaulted ceiling and the risk was that you had to scat in our mouth …

After 45 minutes of paddling through the stalagmite and stalagtit surrounded  water tunnel and several impressive large arches, we turned at the beginning of a several hundred meter long straight stretch. With the guide’s amusing associations we saw the new strange formations on the way back.

Out in the sun again, we went through a rainforest on your way to the bigger boats on the shore, for a short sail to Sabang where we had a buffet lunch at a restaurant under the palm trees at the beautiful beach.

Palawan’s major tourist magnet underground river, a UNESCO World Heritage List and was voted recently as one of the world’s natural wonders, is over 8 km long and 1.5 km we paddled into the darkness, with a strong flashlight as the only illumination.

An experience that is well worth a couple of hundred pesos for a guided tour. Booking one day before needed. It is possible to hire a private guide for the entire distance of 8 km long route that takes several hours. But most are, like us, more than satisfied with the regular tour that gave a memory for life.

You can also combine caving trip with a 3 km long jungle hike on the way there, by boat on the return journey.