UNESCO | PUERTO PRINCESA SUBTERRANEAN RIVER NATIONAL PARK
My
parents and siblings were already in Puerto Princesa City days before I
arrived. I purchased another ticket as it
is more costly to rebook one, for me to be able to join them one weekend in
celebration of Father’s Day. As we
currently live independently from one another, special occasions and trips such
as this serves as our reunion.
And
the wanderlust in me is even more excited by the fact that my mother has
already pre-arranged a tour to the UNESCO-inscribed Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. And Yes, I haven’t been there.
A
visitor entry permit is necessary before one can explore the national park and the
same can be applied at the City Coliseum Puerto Princesa Underground River
Office. Inform them beforehand of the intended date of tour as they recently
limit the number of visitors per day to the underground river.
The rented
van collected us at around 7 in the morning at Marianne Hotel. For the sleepyheads that we all are, it is
unusual for me and my siblings to wake up early but we have to succumb for the
fixed schedule of the tour and besides, travel time to Sabang Port is an
approximate of two hours from Puerto Princesa City.
En
route to the Sabang Port, we made a stopover at the Karst Mountain Elephant
Cave, with pit stop markers for the Amazing Race series in the Philippines and
Ukraine. The vast rice fields surrounded
by karst mountain formations is a treat.
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| AT THE PITSTOP |
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| KARST MOUNTAIN ELEPHANT CAVE LANDSCAPE |
Arriving
at the Sabang Port, we presented our Visitor Entry Permit with attached valid Identification
Cards (a must) for confirmation of schedule and consequently, register at the
Tourism Information Center. The queue
for the motorized bancas that will
take visitors to the underground river docking area is well-organized. After registration and payment of necessary
fees and boat rental, visitors shall wait until their number is called.
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| THE MOTORIZED BANCAS |
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| APPROACHING THE SHORES TOWARDS THE UNDERGROUND RIVER |
The
sun was up on that Saturday morning.
Being a weekend, there were a lot of tourists on queue but less I
suppose since we came early as compared to the late afternoon schedule.
It
took us 30 minutes to reach the docking area to the underground river. The towering limestone karst formations that
surround the beach was picturesque.
There are two ways to reach the underground river, either a short hike
or a boat ride from Sabang Port. Without
too much thinking, we opted for the latter.
A short hike is relative and even without time constraints, I would
still opt for the boat ride.
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| THE SHORES AND THE KARST |
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| STUNNING VIEW EN ROUTE |
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| WARM WELCOME |
The
national park represents a habitat for biodiversity conservation. Even before entering the Puerto Princesa
Underground River, there are mammals and reptiles near the shores. The long-tailed macaque are just everywhere,
some feed themselves on trash bins while others wait to grab food from visitors
(beware!) and I also saw a monitor lizard freely roaming around. But these are all safe and maybe used to
human interaction.
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| THE MONITOR LIZARD |
Visitors
should bring their permit at all times, otherwise, you won’t be allowed to
board on the canoe directed towards the underground river. Visitors are provided helmets and life
jackets as a safety precaution. Swimming
is definitely not recommended as there is a strong underwater current aside
from its depth.
A
few walks from the registration area for the paddle boat underground river
tour, there is a boardwalk leading to the canoes under a canopy of rainforest trees. Each boat is assigned a tour guide and you
will be definitely amazed of how knowledgeable they are of the formations,
stalactites and stalagmites despite the total darkness in the absence of a
flashlight. My father volunteered to
hold the flashlight in our case.
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| THE RIVER |
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| THE TOURISTS |
St. Pauls underground cave features stunning
formations of stalactites and stalagmites and is considered one of the largest
cave rooms in the world. The only source
of light is the flashlight as we cross the river. We were initially greeted by a number of bats
and balinsasayaw birds (cave swiftlets). The humming of the birds
is a perfect introduction of the underground river. Then came a lot of rock formations ranging
from a naked woman, vegetables, horses, smokey
mountain replica and a lot more. The
guide is well-versed that he knows when to direct the flashlight at a certain
direction.
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| THE POSTCARD SCENE |
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| STALACTITES |
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| SPOT THE BALINSASAYAW |
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| CARVED THROUGH TIME AND THE BALINSASAYAW |
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| THE TOURISTS INSIDE THE CAVE |
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| THE ROCK FORMATIONS |
The
1-hour underground river tour is quite educational. Since 1992, it is the City Government of
Puerto Princesa managing the national park.
That was the last statement I can decipher from what our tour guide was
saying.
Rates:
General Entrance:
Local: PhP100.00 Foreign Adult: PhP150.00
Minor: PhP75.00 Minor: PhP100.00
Cave Entrance:
Local: PhP175.00 Foreign Adult: PhP250.00
Minor: PhP100.00 Minor: PhP150.00
Minors below 2 years old are not allowed
inside the cave.
Ferry Service:
Round Trip (Sabang-Underground River-Sabang):
Minimum of 6 pax: PhP700.00
7 pax: PhP800.00
8 pax: PhP900.00
Drop/Pick-up Sabang-Underground River
Minimum of 6 pax: PhP600.00
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| THE CAVES' ENTRANCE |
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| THE CAVE AND THE RAINFOREST |
In
my quest to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Sites all over, I have always
raised my concern on why there is a distinction for local and foreign visitors’
fee. In the Philippines, it is only the
Puerto Princesa Underground River that imposes fees which made me conclude by
way of comparison that this must be a standard for all UNESCO sites that comes
with admission fees.
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| THE BEACH |
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| THE UNESCO MARKER |
From
the time the Puerto Princesa Subterranean National Park has been officially
adjudged one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in the year 2012, rates I suppose
might have increased but for preservation, visitors are likewise restricted in
number.
As
we end the tour, the emerald green water that surrounds might not have surfaced
due to the inclement weather but the new experience shared with the family is
something to be treasured and remembered.
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| LEAVING PUERTO PRINCESA UNDERGROUND RIVER |
2 comments
We've been here twice, but the PPUR never ceases to amaze us. Such beautiful wonder of Mother Nature. If we come back here, we're gonna hike the Monkey Trail instead of riding the banca; we'll explore what the jungle holds. :)
ReplyDeletePPUR tour sound so touristy to me. I dont know but thats just me.... That Monkey trail is something! I wanna do that when I visit PP :)
ReplyDelete