Puerto Princesa Underground River in Sabang

Overview and Is It Worth Visiting

The Puerto Princesa Underground River in Sabang, or simply the Sabang Underground River (Puerto Princesa Subterranean River) – is the most famous and grand natural attraction on Palawan and one of the most famous in all of the Philippines. Without exaggeration, it's a must-visit spot on Palawan. In 1999, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in 2012, it earned the title of one of the New7Wonders of Nature, alongside places like Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil), Komodo Island (Indonesia), Ha Long Bay (Vietnam), and others.

Today, the river is part of the national park of the same name, which, besides the river itself, also includes an eco-trail through the jungle. You can visit the Underground River as part of a tour from Puerto Princesa or other places on Palawan, or you can do it independently by coming to Sabang village. We'll explain how to visit it below, but first, a bit about the river's history and what makes it so interesting and unique.

Discovery History of the Puerto Princesa Underground River

As surprising as it may seem, until recently, the underground river was not a very well-known or heavily visited tourist spot. But in 2010 (likely a typo for 2010, as the text says '201'), a group of ecologists and geologists discovered that the underground river has a second level, meaning there must be waterfalls inside the cave. Venturing further into the cave, they found a huge cave dome 300 meters high, a large number of bizarre rock formations, a colony of large bats, several water-filled branches, and another deep cave. A very deep depression was also discovered in the river, which has yet to be explored, and its depth remains unknown. Divers simply cannot reach the bottom due to a lack of oxygen.

After these discoveries were published, on November 11, 2011, the underground river was preliminarily chosen as one of the 7 New Wonders of Nature. This selection was officially confirmed on January 28, 2012, based on voting results.

What Makes the Underground River and National Park Interesting

The underground river is over 24 kilometers long! Some online sources call it the longest underground river in the world, but that's not true at all. The title of longest underground river actually belongs to the Sac Actun cave system in Mexico, with a total passage length of 376.7 km!!!

The river flows into the West Philippine Sea directly from a cave on the shore near Sabang village within the national park, and this spot is the main entrance for tourist visits. Although the term "entrance" might not be entirely accurate, since you can't walk into the cave here, you can only sail out by boat. From this point, the navigable passages extend for 4.3 kilometers. But, of course, tourists aren't taken that far; only researchers venture that deep. Tourist boats are limited to the first kilometer.

Besides the underground river itself, the national park contains a mangrove forest and impenetrable jungle, home to a vast number of inhabitants. There are at least 165 bird species, 15 of which are endemic, meaning they are found only here. Also, no fewer than 30 mammal species live here, such as: the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), the bearded pig (Sus barbatus), the Palawan binturong (Arctictis binturong), and others. Among the 19 local reptile species, 8 are endemic. The local flora is equally rich, with at least 800 plant species.

But all this diversity of flora and fauna, of course, is found on the surface, not in the caves of the underground river, and is inaccessible to most tourists, as the public tourist route goes along the underground river, while the rest of the park is closed to visitors.

But enough about the beauty and features of the cave and national park – you'll hear all about it during the tour. Now, let's explain how to visit this place.

How to Visit the Underground River in Sabang

So, the Puerto Princesa Underground River and the national park as a whole are accessible for tourist visits, for a fee, of course. For this purpose, the national park has two tourist routes: one water route by boat through the underground river cave itself; the other on the surface along a trail through the jungle, known as the Jungle Trail or Monkey Trail. To be clear: you can't just show up and go for a walk however you like – it's prohibited, just like in nature reserves. Everything is strictly along designated routes.

The most popular of these two routes is, of course, the boat ride along the underground river. The jungle walk is much less popular, as there are plenty of similar places in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries, but there's only one river like this. We'll tell you more about the visiting procedure itself, and at the very end of the article, we'll explain in more detail how to get here:

• The Underground River Boat Route

  This route is entirely a water tour, organized as an excursion by the national park. The route starts from the pier in Sabang village, 70 kilometers from the city of Puerto Princesa and the airport. Next to the pier is the national park information center, essentially a ticket office where you need to get a permit to visit.

  Bloggers online say that getting a permit to visit the underground river is difficult, that you need to do it in advance only at the national park office in Puerto Princesa, and only then go here. And that you can only visit the underground river with a tour purchased from local travel agencies. That's actually not true. We know from personal experience that you can simply come to the pier in Sabang and buy everything at the ticket office – no advance preparation is required.

  

  Getting a permit is not difficult; it's like buying regular tickets. There are no special requirements or visitor limits, but there is a physical capacity limit at the cave, so sometimes a queue forms at the ticket office, and you have to wait a bit. The queue gets especially long after 10 AM and until lunch, when busloads of tourists on tours from Puerto Princesa arrive. There are many Chinese and Korean tourists among them, with noise and squeals like an amusement park. So if possible, it's better to come to the ticket office early in the morning when it opens at 7:00 AM, or after 3:00 PM.

  Generally, you pay for several different receipts here, like the permit fee, pier service fee, boat transport fee, audio guide rental, and maybe something else. But you don't need to worry about that. Just give your name and the number of people at the ticket office (they asked us for a passport to fill out the paperwork, so take it just in case), they'll fill out all the papers themselves, and you just need to pay the total amount, currently 750 pesos (12.14 USD). This price includes the audio guide rental, life jacket and helmet, the rowboat ride on the river, and a guide. No extra payments are needed except for the boat to get from this pier to the cave entrance.

  Looking ahead a bit, the visit to the cave itself takes place in complete darkness and silence. You'll travel in a rowboat with a guide who won't say much but will shine a flashlight on interesting spots in the dark, about which the audio guide will tell you through headphones. The audio guides include Russian among other languages, which you can select in the settings. They don't rent out flashlights here, so if you want to see things for yourself, it's best to bring your own headlamp.

  Another important point you might be wondering about: do you need waterproof protection? By and large, no, because you'll be in the boats the whole time. But for absolute worst-case scenarios, you can bring a dry bag or even just a sealed plastic bag to put your documents and phones in. But again, it's not necessary.

  But back to the pier. After getting your permit and paying, you still need to get to the starting point of the water route through the cave on rowboats. This place is five kilometers away, and for some reason, this leg of the excursion is not included in the price. There are two options: get there like everyone else by boat, or walk along the tourist trail, the Jungle Trail, which itself is an attraction. We'll talk about walking the Jungle Trail below; the main way is by motorboat from the pier.

  

  To board a motorboat from the ticket office, you need to go to the boarding area, marked as Dispatching Area. Here, another person collects payment and assigns tourists to boats. You can pay 1100 pesos (17.81 USD) for a private boat, and then it will be just you, or you can go with other tourists (6 people per boat) from 183 pesos per person, which is the round-trip price. When there are very few tourists, which happens at the very beginning or end of the day, you might have to wait a bit for a full boat. Or you can split the cost among four, five, or however many tourists are there to avoid waiting. The person collecting the boat money organizes all this and calculates the payment; you just need to tell them whether you prefer a private boat or a shared boat.

  The boat ride from the pier to the cave entrance takes about 10 minutes. There you'll dock at the shore (remember your boat so you can return to it later), walk a short distance on land to the rowboat boarding area, where you'll be seated and given instructions (helmets and life jackets are handed out here), and then you're off.

  

  

  

  The rowboat tour lasts about 40 minutes. After it ends, you return to the pier in central Sabang in reverse order; no payment is needed for the return trip.

  If you're confused, here's the entire visit route step by step:

  • Buy a permit to visit the national park (tickets) at the ticket office on the pier, 750 pesos.
  • Take a motorboat from the pier that takes you to the cave entrance for 130 pesos/person or 1100 for a private boat round trip.
  • Transfer from the motorboat to a rowboat tour boat to go through the cave with a guide (included in the price). Helmets and life jackets are handed out here.
  • Boat through the cave and listen to the audio guide for about 40 minutes.
  • After the tour, return the life jackets and helmets on the shore, find the boat you arrived on, and return to the pier in central Sabang (no payment, already paid for the round trip).
  • Return to your hotel or Puerto Princesa satisfied and full of impressions.

• The Jungle Trail or Monkey Trail Hiking Route

  The Jungle Trail hiking route follows a path from the outskirts of Sabang to that same spot at the cave entrance where you transfer to the rowboats to explore the underground river. The trail is 5 kilometers long. You can walk one way, visit the underground river by boat, and return on foot, or return to the pier in central Sabang on the same boats that bring other tourists. Or vice versa: go there by boat and return on foot. You can walk the trail with a guide from the national park, and the permits are obtained at the same ticket office at the pier.

  Unfortunately, we were unable to walk this route during our trip to Sabang in 2023, as the trail was closed due to damage from a powerful typhoon. Whether it has been restored and the route reopened is currently unknown. But if you have up-to-date information on this, please let us know in the comments.

  

We also recommend checking out other possible tour options on Palawan that can be booked online:

• Tours on Palawan Island on Tripster.ru