Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Palawan Trip: Puerto Princesa Underground River

This is the third part of our 5-days-4-nights Palawan Trip

On our third day, our hectic schedule continues. We were picked up at 7 am for our Underground Tour. This time we chose to take the group tour c/o Kuya Romeo's agency. We initially planned a do it yourself tour, however, we were having a hard time getting our permits. When we checked the UR website, some of the dates are already fully booked. Hence the tour.

The ride to Sabang wharf was already interesting c/o the sceneries you would see and the funny "hirits" of the guide. We also had one stopover where you could buy some souvenirs or food. One of the souvenirs we brought there were keychains made by prisoners. We arrived at Sabang Wharf at around 10:00 am and there are already a lot of tourists waiting. We paid an additional 40php per person for the terminal fee and waited for our turn. Since we were 14 in the group, we split into 2 groups for our boat ride to the UR site.


Puerto Princesa Underground River


Boat ride to the UR site


Upon docking, someone will take a picture of your group which you can purchase if you want to. You will also be asked to register at the entrance and wait for your name to be called. While waiting, we went to the site where they have their "bayawak" (monitor lizards) animals and took some pictures. We waited for around 5-10 mins for our turn.

The docking area for the underground river


A map of the whole underground river


One of the "bayawak"


A lot of facts and figures are scattered in the waiting area which you could read to learn more about the UR


The boat for the UR tour can sit about 10 people plus the guide. It was a bit scary at first because it was a really small boat and you can feel it tilting to one side so we had a bit of a paranoid moment. We forced ourselves to be seated in front of the boat so that we would be the one to hold the light. The cave was really dark, you cannot see your hand in front of your face. So you might have a bit if a panic attack if you're claustrophobic. One thing we could say about the UR was that it deserves to be in the 7 wonders of the world, because simply put, it was WONDERFUL. The tour guide was funny and they have a lot of stories regarding the shapes of the rocks and stones. One thing to be careful of, do not look up with your mouth open, the bats might shoot their feces inside your mouth haha. Another thing, you really could not decipher if it is bat droppings or water that is falling on you. So be vigilant! The tour lasted around 30minutes, covering 1km of the UR cave. They said that the whole cave is 24 km long and if you want to go to other parts, you still have to get another permit.

Our first look at the Underground River. Pictures cannot do justice to how beautiful the place is


Success! We got the front seat!


A closer look at the entrance


A preview of what's inside


Again, pictures don't do justice to the real thing


After the UR tour, we had our buffet lunch in Sabang. I tried the Tamilok, a worm that is popular in Palawan. It was slimy, hard to chew, and tastes like Oyster. I wouldn't try it again haha. We left Sabang at 2pm and arrived at PPS at 3:30pm. We asked to be dropped by GoHotels, our "last-day-luxury-hotel". We chose to stay here since the last day of our Palawan tour will be our rest day. Nothing beats the cozy bed, a/c, and cable tv after 3 days of hectic travel and tour.

Tamilok, the famous Palawan worm haha


One of the view in Sabang Port, the Sleeping Giant


We decided to have dinner at Kinabuch Restaurant. We were not able to go to Ka Lui since they require a reservation. We tried the crocodile sisig and bicol express. The sisig was funky, it was yummy but I kept on imagining the crocodile haha. The bicol express was too spicy though yummy. We also tried their mango shake which was ok.

Super spicy Bicol Express


Funky Crocodile Sisig


And that concludes our day 3 and Underground River Tour. Next up, our Puerto Princesa City Tour starting with Baker's Hill and Mitra's Ranch!


Summary of Expenses for Day 3
Souvenirs - 70php
Water - 25php
Environmental Fee - 40php/person
CR fee - 10php/person
UR Tour - 1200php/person
Bicol Express - 155php
Mango Shake - 60php
Plain Rice - 15php/person
Crocodile Sisig - 300php
TOTAL for Day 3: 3,140php for 2 persons


Read more:
The Palawan Trip: Honda Bay Tour
The Palawan Trip: El Nido Tour
The Palawan Trip: Baker's Hill and Mitra's Ranch
The Palawan Trip: Crocodile Farm, Binuatan Creation, and Balinsasayaw Restaurant
The Palawan Trip: Plaza Cuartel and Baywalk
The Palawan Trip: Summary Of Our Trip

The Palawan Trip: El Nido Tour

This is the second part of our 5-days-4-nights Palawan Trip

Our 2nd day starts with us waking up slowly at El Nido, still very very sleepy due to the long trip. But we had no choice since our tour starts early, and the electricity is out so our room was really hot. We explored the nearby stores at around 6am but they were all still close and we were only able to buy some pandesal (20php) for our breakfast and then headed back to our room to wait for the tour.

Our first view of El Nido Beach


There are 4 sets of tours in El Nido, tour A, B, C, or D. There are also some combination tour which you can do the whole day. For us, we availed of Servant Tours' tour A. According to one blog, this is the best island hopping tour. We got it for 600php per person c/o Kuya Gerald. Others offer it for 700php per person. The tour includes lunch, goggles, and snorkeling gears. The tour was beautiful. The islands were magnificent. We literally had open mouths while looking at the islands all around us. Thanks to our tour guides Kuya JR, Kuya Rogie, and Kuya Gerald who made the trip fun with their funny, witty remarks and ensured we had a safe tour. They even took the time to get our cameras and take pictures for us. They were also so patient especially to those tourists who were a bit afraid to swim (aka, us) and assisted us, even pulling us afloat in deep waters. So, thanks Kuyas! They are highly highly recommended if you want an enjoyable and safe tour!

Servant Tours Boat


SMALL LAGOON
Tour A consists of 5 places to tour to. Before starting the tour, you have to pay an environmental fee of 100php per person. This is better compared to the per island entrance fee of Honda Bay. The first place we went was called the Small Lagoon. According to our guides, they placed this first in our itinerary since it is the most tiring of all the places we would be going to. And yes, it was tiring! To be able to go inside the lagoon, you would have to swim a bit far. There were lots of rocks so aqua shoes are a must. For those who are scared and does not know how to swim, the Kuyas have this "salbabida" which you could just hold on to and they would pull you haha. Once you do get inside the lagoon, you still have a lot of swimming to do, this time in deep waters so it's a bit scary at first but since you have life jackets on, it was ok. At the edge of the lagoon, there is a small cave you could go inside also but, again, lots of swimming and pulling would have to be done. Which you would also have to repeat upon going back to the boat. But it was a great experience and the lagoon was just so beautiful with all the rocks surrounding it. Unfortunately, our camera is not fit for underwater experiences so we were not able to take pictures of the lagoon itself, just the entrance.


The Entrance to the Small Lagoon. Beautiful rock formations!


BIG LAGOON
The next stop was at the Big Lagoon. As the name implies, it is big so the boat could easily go inside so you wouldn't need to do any long swimming. We just passed through it and admired the scenery ahead of us. We did not stay too long since it was just the same as the Small Lagoon, only bigger. Again, the rock formations are just mesmerizingly beautiful!


Big Lagoon


One of the Kuya with the Big Lagoon on the Background


One of the rock formation in the Big Lagoon


SNORKELING SITE
The next tour we went to is the Snorkeling Site. Basically, the boat just stopped in the middle of the sea and they told us to just jump in the waters if you want to do some snorkeling haha. The corals weren't that pretty compared to Pambato Reef but the water was refreshing though a bit scary since it is the middle and the waves are just dragging you along so it was an adventure in itself haha. This is also where we had our very scrumptious lunch which is a first time for us to have a lunch in the middle of the sea. Unfortunately, due to severe hunger, we were not able to take pictures of the food but believe me it was delicious!


Beautiful rock formations surround the snorkeling site


Snorkel to your heart's content!


Amazing nature scenery


SECRET LAGOON
After lunch, we headed to the Secret Lagoon. Again, you would have to swim a short distance to get to the entrance of the lagoon. The opening is small and it can only accommodate 1 person at a time. Also, the rocks are sharper here compared to the Small Lagoon so be very careful. Once inside, you would again see beautiful rocks and waters and just amazing nature scenery which would leave you speechless. And again, unfortunately, we had no pictures of the inside of the Secret Lagoon (it really is time for us to buy an underwater cam). Also there is a beach beside the Secret Lagoon which we also went to and took some pictures. There was a small site there where they held one of the previous Survivor tribal thingy episode.


Secret Lagoon


The beach beside the Secret Lagoon


The beach beside the Secret Lagoon


Where they held one of the tribal council episode of previous Survivor


7 COMMANDO BEACH
The next itinerary was the 7 Commando Beach which was our last stop so we stayed there for a long time to rest and just relax. You could also do some snorkeling but again, the corals are just so-so. There's also a bar there where you could buy drinks but it is expensive. One coke in can costs 60php. It was a beautiful beach but there were just a few shaded area so some of us just stayed at the boat to not get burnt by the sun haha.


7 Commando Beach


The last stop of our tour


There is a small bar where you could buy drinks


Yes, I am addicted to snorkeling


On our way back we passed by the Helicopter Island which was not included in the tour. It is shaped like a helicopter, hence the name (duh, haha). We also passed by some really pretty rock formations again.

Helicopter Island


View of the El Nido beach on the way back


El Nido is a very beautiful place. We do not regret making such a hectic itinerary to accommodate the El Nido tour. It's such a small town that you can explore it by foot. Not only did we enjoy the trip, we met so many wonderful people, both locals and foreigners. This is the best part of our Palawan trip. We regret that we did not have the time to stay longer since after the tour we went back to PPS at 6pm (see, really hectic sked haha). We also got to explore the town a bit before going back, brought some souvenirs and mango shake (still does not rival the one in Pandan island) which costs 50php. We also bought a burger at 25php. We noticed that the town comes alive at night, they have a "mini banchetto" in front of the municipal hall. We don't know if this is an everyday thing or it is just because its their town fiesta that time. We will definitely go back to El Nido, try a different tour, and maybe stay a little longer.

The Town of El Nido


We arrived at PPS at 12:30 am. I will not bother writing about our trip back because it was uneventful and long. We had an argument with the driver because he dropped all of us in the San Jose terminal which is far from the city. From there you still have to take a tricycle to the city proper which would cost about 100php. We asked to be dropped at the junction where we hailed a tricycle (20php) to bring us to mcdo to grab a quick snack and then back to Duchess Pension to grab a quick sleep in preparation for another tiring day tomorrow. And here ends our El Nido tour.

Up next: Puerto Princesa Underground River


Summary of Expenses for Day 2
Tay Miloys Inn - 480php/night
Pandesal - 20php
Toothbrush - 25php
El Nido Tour - 600php/person
Environmental Fee - 100php/person
Coke - 60php
Mango Shake - 100php
Burger - 50php
Keychain - 100php
Tshirt - 400php
Magnet + water - 138php
Van to Puerto Princesa - 600php/person
Tricycle - 20php
CR - 10php
Duchess Pension House - 350php/night
TOTAL for Day 1: 4,353php for 2 persons


Servant Tours
Mobile No: 0915-4157245
Email Address: servant_tours@yahoo.com

Tay Miloys Inn
Contact Person: Kuya Rodrigo
Mobile No: 0929-7955756


Read more:
The Palawan Trip: Honda Bay Tour
The Palawan Trip: Puerto Princesa Underground River
The Palawan Trip: Baker's Hill and Mitra's Ranch
The Palawan Trip: Crocodile Farm, Binuatan Creation, and Balinsasayaw Restaurant
The Palawan Trip: Plaza Cuartel and Baywalk
The Palawan Trip: Summary Of Our Trip

The Palawan Trip: Honda Bay Tour

This is the first part of our 5-days-4-nights Palawan Trip.

Finally, we pushed through with our Palawan trip. We were supposed to go last 2011, we were booked and everything but we decided not to go since it was before our board exam. So that there will be no finger pointing if our board result is bad haha.

We booked our Palawan trip 7 months earlier via the Cebu Pacific 12 pesos fare. We were there from February 27, 2013 to March 2, 2013. Since we consider ourselves "budget travelers", we did not avail of those tour packages. Except for 2 tours. We researched on every blogs and write ups about the "do-it-yourself" Palawan travel. So, a big huge thank you to the writers of those travel blogs! One of the "best find" that we saw on those blogs is Kuya Romeo, a tricycle driver in Puerto Princesa. He gave us helpful tips during our trip and served as our tour guide/driver. He is also connected with a travel and tour agency which gave us a 1200php/person price for the underground river tour. A cheap price considering it was a peak season and all other tours are offering 1500php/person.

We arrived at PPS at 9:30 am. Kuya Romeo picked us up at the airport and brought us to our super budget accommodation, the Duchess Pension to drop our bags, and then we headed straight to Sta. Lourdes for our Honda Bay Tour. We chose Duchess Pension since it is the cheapest accomodation. We got a double room for 350php/night for 2 persons. We did not bother to get an aircon room since we will not be sleeping there due to our El Nido trip. The room served as our storage for our bags.


Travel via CebuPac Promo Fare


Puerto Princesa Airport


Tricycles are available outside the Airport


Puerto Princesa


We arrived at Honda Bay at around 10:30 am, a bit late since most tourist start their tour at 7-8am. On the way there, we stopped by a gear rental shop to rent some snorkeling gears. The rent for 1 set of goggles and snorkeling gear is 150php. If ever you misplace it, they will charge you 1500php per piece, so better be careful. We also rented an underwater iphone protector for 200php which they say will allow you to take pictures under water. But we were too scared to try it haha so we wasted 200php for that. At the wharf, we shared a boat with a chinese family. We split the 1300php per boat and paid 40php per person for the terminal fee.

The Boats for the Tour


Welcome to Honda Bay


We first went to Cowrie Island which was OK. By the way, each island has an entrance fee. For Cowrie it's 75php per person. The beach was nice and very clean but we did not stayed that long since we wanted to visit other islands as well with our limited time. It was a small island with 1 restaurant which sells over-priced food and drinks haha. There were just a few people when we got there, probably because there weren't any activities to do, just swimming at the beach.

Cowrie Island


The sand was wonderful


The Tiny Restaurant in the Island


Clear waters


After that we went to Pandan Island where we had our lunch. Entrance fee was 125php per person. There are a lot of seafoods you can buy at the island and you can have it cooked also. We bought a 1/2 kilo of crabs for 150php, 1/2 kilo of rice for 50php, mango shake for 75php, and 1 San Mig Light for 110php. And yes, they sell kilos of rice, not by cups haha so be prepared! That food by the way was just for the 2 of us. Katakawan! Tha mango shake was amazing! Probably the best mango shake we ever had, no kidding. Pandan island is also the snorkeling site but there weren't much fish, just a few. There are also some other activities in the beach but we weren't able to explore it because of the limited time. So a tip for Honda Bay tour, start early!

Pandan Island


Our 1/2 kilo worth of Crabs!


Forgot what this was called...


...but it was yummy!


So many fishes to choose from


Other seafoods


Pandan Island Beach


Refreshing blue waters


After that we passed by Starfish Island but didn't docked since you would also see the same thing and the chinese couple are so excited to see the "weef" which turns out to be reef. As the name implies, the island is full of Starfish.

Starfish Island from the distance


Interesting ruins at Starfish Island


We then headed straight to Pambato Reef and the entrance fee for this was 50php per person. It's in the middle of the sea surrounded by a lot of reefs and fishes where you could look at it underwater. What they did was the guide would pull you while you snorkel all around the reef area. It was an amazing experience! There were so many colorful reefs and fishes and the guide even dived down to touch some of the reefs that closes when you touched them. I really really enjoyed it which was a surprise because I don't know how to swim and I'm a bit scared of deep waters.

Pambato Reef from a distance


Pambato Reef


Snorkeling with the Guide


Fun and Safe experience!


After that we passed by Luli Island, unfortunately we didn't go down as well due to lack of time. A bit of knowledge info, Luli means "Lulubog-Lilitaw" since the island literally disappears when it's high tide, the only thing you would be able to see are the kubos in the island floating in the middle of the sea. Anyway, we got back to PPS at around 4:30 pm and Kuya Romeo picked us up again.

Luli Island


The "kubos" in the island


Our original plan was to go to El Nido via RoRo at 6:30 pm, but Kuya Romeo told us to take the van instead since it's faster. He was kind enough to bring us first to Fort Wally terminal to reserve our seats before bringing us back to Duchess Pension. We took a really quick bath and fixed our things and then headed to straight to Fort Wally terminal. We arrived there at 5:50pm to wait for our van. Fast and furious ang storya namin hahaha. We paid 500php to Kuya Romeo for the whole day that he drove us around which was worth it.

At 6:30pm we left PPS for El Nido. There were 8 of us in a 14-seater van. It was a 6 hour travel to El Nido so we slept the entire trip. The van fare was 600php per person. There was 1 stopover at Roxas where you can eat dinner but they do not offer much. Our dinner total was 120php. We arrived at El Nido at 11:45pm, hailed a tricycle (50php) to bring us to our 2nd budget accomodation, Tay Miloys Inn (480php per night). It is just a house with 3 rooms and a common bathroom on the 2nd floor which they offer for tourists. It's a very simple room with 2 beds, electric fan, and really thin walls between the rooms so you could literally hear every movement in the next room. It is an OK room if you plan on staying one night since most of the day you will be out on a tour anyway. Also, electricity in El Nido runs from 2pm to 6am only so we didn't bother to get an aircon room. In our case, the electricity ran out around 6am but didn't return at 2pm. There was still no electricity when we left El Nido at around 6pm. Anyway, that concludes our first day and Honda Bay Tour in Palawan!


Summary of Expenses for Day 1
Hotdog at Airport - 300php
Water at Airport - 25php
Duchess Pension - 350php/night
Snorkeling Gears - 150php
Iphone Waterproof Case - 200php
Boat for Island Hopping - 750php
Cowrie Island Entrance Fee - 75php/person
Pandan Island Entrance Fee - 125php/person
Crabs for Lunch - 150php
Rice for Lunch - 50php
Mango Shake - 75php
San Mig Light - 110php
Pambato Reef Entrance Fee - 50php/person
Kuya Romeo Tricycle - 500php
Van to El Nido - 600php/person
Dinner at Stopover - 120php
Tricycle to Tay Miloys - 50php
Tay Miloys Inn - 480php/night
TOTAL for Day 1: 5,010php for 2 persons


Contact Persons:
Duchess Pension House
Contact No: (048)4332873
Mobile Nos: 0917-5530605, 0919-9929360 Email Address: info@duchesspensionpalawan.com


Kuya Romeo
Mobile No: 0912-2536921


Up next: El Nido Tour!

Read more:
The Palawan Trip: El Nido Tour
The Palawan Trip: Puerto Princesa Underground River
The Palawan Trip: Baker's Hill and Mitra's Ranch
The Palawan Trip: Crocodile Farm, Binuatan Creation, and Balinsasayaw Restaurant
The Palawan Trip: Plaza Cuartel and Baywalk
The Palawan Trip: Summary Of Our Trip