Palawan - Underground River Tour Day 2

[FlyAway]

Originally we were supposed to go on the river tour on day one but the passing typhoon canceled the trip. It was a wait and see thing if it would be canceled the second time as well. This tour was also arranged by Boris Travel. Cost was P1540 per person. Same as the Honda Bay tour, a van comes around and picks people up at their hotel. It is about an hour and a half drive to the docks for the boat ride to the park.

 

Getting into the park is not a just show up and pay admission thing. A visitors permit is required. Now there is a process you can try to go through yourself but I would only do that if I really wanted to save some money and had a day to waste doing it. Save yourself the aggravation and just pay for a tour company to handle it all.

 

Something I forgot to mention about this particular travel agency. Payment to them is a bit of a hassle. They are not setup for credit cards. I had to go to a local LBC office here in California to remit the full payment to them for our tours. I was a bit concerned it could be a scam but it all worked out in the end.

 

When you reach the boat docks, the guide will go in and register everyone in the group and get boarding numbers. Since the typhoon had canceled the previous day, they were trying to catch up. We were number 47. So we got to hang around for a few hours to wait our turn.

Expect a lot of vendors wanting to sell waterproof bags and such.

Photo of the docks. Only 6 passengers per boat. They were moving people in and out at a good pace.

We had some pretty good swells

Park Entrance.

Monkeys everywhere.

Entrance or shall I say Exit of the underground river.

Whoever sits at the front of the boat gets to hold the spot light. You have a 12 volt car battery with clips for a spot light. "Only in Philippines?"

This is the only light you will have in there other than the passing boats. This was a time I should have brought the external Canon flash. Photos I have from inside cannot describe how it is inside. Some areas were hundreds of feet high. In one place they said the ceiling could fit the Eiffel Tower.

 

Graffiti from an expedition in 1937

Anyone that has been here can tell you that it needs to be seen in person. Photo's cannot fully describe what it is like inside there. The standard tour goes in just a fraction of the system. We were later told there are special tours that go deeper inside. We may do this again. But I will bring better lighting.

On the boat back photo did not load. Might be at my limit of photos. A buffet style lunch was available back at the docks. Same as the Honda Bay tour. Nothing spectacular.

We wanted to do the zip line but a few in our group had to catch at van to El Nido. I was a bit bummed out on that one but it is what it is. The Underground River is becoming more and more popular and known. I would recommend you see it as soon as possible before the place gets really really crowded. We started at 6:00am and did not get back till 4:30pm. The underground tour part lasted about 45 minutes once you are in the boat. The rest of the time is travel and wait.

 

[MikeB]

Isn't this the place that has separate fees for "foreign" and "local" entry permits?

[FlyAway]

Isn't this the place that has separate fees for "foreign" and "local" entry permits?

Yes it was. If you buy a tour package you never would have known about it. I did some research on it ahead of time.

[OnMyWay]

Thanks for posting.  I definitely will go there sooner or later.

 

When I go there I will study up on how to take pictures in a cave.  I have no clue really.  I think you could get some good shots with just the light from the flashlight.  Even with a good external flash, it will probably stay focused on a smaller area and you won't be able to capture the huge dimensions of the place. 

 

We went to the cavern in Bohol and there are "guides" there (it is very small) who assist you.  I was a bit nervous when the kid grabbed my Pentax DSLR and started messing with the settings.  Who would of known that he knew more about my camera than I did, and I got some good shots with the light from the few dim light bulbs they have in there, no flash, no tripod.