Palawan's Underground River: The Cave Tour in Sabang

Day four. After the Port Barton and Roxas detour the day before, we were back in Puerto Princesa with one thing left on the itinerary: the underground river. I hadn’t been in maybe eleven or twelve years — Abby had never been — and the family had already lined up a permit for us, which matters more than it sounds.

Sabang is about an hour and a half from Puerto Princesa. You can’t just show up.

You Need a Permit

Heads up — you need a permit before you can go. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park — in Sabang, Palawan, Philippines — has a daily quota. No permit, no boat. If you’re doing this on your own, you have to get the permit at the city tourism office in Puerto Princesa before you drive out to Sabang.

Or you do what we did — you have family, and family knows the process.

It was hot. That’s a good thing. If it rains the ocean gets rough and people throw up. I didn’t want to throw up on the boat. Hot is better than wavy.

First Boat Ride

From the Sabang pier, you catch a boat to the park entrance. There are dozens of them lined up — traditional bangka outriggers, painted in every color, hauling tourists back and forth all day.

The price of the outer boat was ₱1,380 for our group of six. About ₱230 each. Not bad.

The park rules are strict about what you can bring on the boat. Waterproof bag, yes. Hat to keep the sun off, yes. Anything loose that might fly off and land in the water, no. They got me for my hat at the dock — had to stash it. Fair enough. One hat in the water, then the next one, then the next one — it adds up fast in a protected area.

About ten to fifteen minutes across open water. The outriggers make the boat feel steadier than it actually is. Calm day, it’s a nice ride. Rough day, ask anyone who’s done it in bad weather — they’ll make a face.

Arrived at the Entrance Area

You get off the boat, walk a short trail, and catch a second smaller boat — that’s the one that actually goes into the cave. The trail in between has been upgraded since I was last here — ropes, boardwalks, the whole thing. It used to be a dirt path.

The other thing that changed — the entrance fee. Last time I was here it was around ₱100. Now it’s ₱1,000. Ten times more. I’m not mad about it. The trails are better, the setup works, and it’s a UNESCO site. Worth it.

They hand you a hard hat. Mine did not fit. I looked like I was wearing a Fisher-Price My First Hard Hat. I figured out the strap after the tour was over. Classic.

If you’re going, a few things people regret not bringing:

• Insect repellent. We forgot ours. Had to buy some for about $12 at the pier shop — which is the price of a massage in the Philippines. Lesson learned.
• Sunscreen. Same deal, and the open-water boat rides are no joke.
• A waterproof bag. They’re strict about water-proofing what you carry.

Into the Cave

At the inner dock the boats are smaller and it feels different. The guide hands out audio headsets — that’s new. It used to be the paddler told the stories live, in real time, and that was actually great. But I get it — narrating the same tour ten times a day has to be brutal. The audio is better paced, it’s bilingual, and the first thing it tells you is: stay quiet, keep your head down, and don’t look up with your mouth open. Bats.

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River is 8.2 km long, with about 1.5 km you can actually boat through. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it earns it. The river runs underground and drains straight into the South China Sea.

The audio calls out the formations as the boat’s spotlight hits them:

• The cathedral (opens up into a huge chamber)
• Virgin Mary
• A giant candle (stalagmite)
• An angel
• Pegasus (this one actually looks like a Pegasus)
• The holy family / nativity scene
• The “market section” — garlic, Japanese sweet corn, a giant mushroom
• A T-Rex head

Some of them are a stretch. Some of them are dead on. The T-Rex is real.

Then there’s the bat cave. You smell it before you see it. Thousands of bats up there. That smell is guano, and the guano is what feeds everything else in the cave — crickets, spiders, swiftlets, the bats themselves. The whole ecosystem runs on it.

The tour is about 40 to 45 minutes. This is my third or fourth time here and every time it feels like the first time.

We Are Out

Back at the dock, hard hat off, sun on my face, tour done. Good tour.

There are two buffets at the pier — one Filipino, one Filipino-Korean — about $6 a head. Didn’t look worth it to us. We grabbed water and decided to eat somewhere on the way back to Puerto Princesa.

Also — I forgot to mention this earlier — apparently apl.de.ap from the Black Eyed Peas was having breakfast at our hotel that morning. Abby saw him. Didn’t tell me. I was too focused on eating to notice. My hungry butt didn’t realize apl from Black Eyed Peas was eating right next to us. That’s what I get.

Back to Puerto Princesa

The drive back has a viewpoint — one of those pullover spots where you can see the whole bay and all the little islands. Best weather of the day.

Quick note on the cave footage — I dropped it to 1080p because it was just too dark and I didn’t want to waste file space. If you’re going somewhere like this, an action cam is honestly the right tool. The DJI Action Camera is what I’d bring for caves, boats, water, anything where my main camera isn’t the right fit. Stabilization is gimbal-smooth and it’s waterproof with the housing. It’s become one of the ones I grab for travel without thinking.

At the Airport, Then Home

Made it back to Puerto Princesa, got the family together, ended the day at the airport. Cold Tiger Crystal at the end of a day like that — yeah.

That was four days in Palawan. Puerto Princesa, Caramay, Port Barton, Roxas, Sabang. Family, food, boats, caves. Not everything went to plan — the El Nido idea got scrapped, weather was iffy for two days, and I still can’t believe I missed apl — but it was exactly the trip we needed.

Next time: El Nido. With the whole family. No scaling back.

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Planning the Underground River — get the permit first, bring your own repellent, and eat before you go. All three matter.