I have always wanted to go to Palawan. When the underground river was voted as one of the World's 7 Wonders of Nature, I told myself that we need to see it by hook or by crook! There are so many things to see and do in Palawan, but because of its land area, one would have to set aside at least a week to be able to go around the island. So this time, we decided to concentrate on the underground river.
We started looking at tour packages from different travel agencies. The tour packages were cheap but the accommodations were in Puerto Princesa, and that meant traveling one and a half hours to go to the underground river. In one of my searches I stumbled upon the Sheridan Beach Resort and Spa located in Sabang, Palawan. They had very good reviews and it was located 5 minutes away from the underground river startpoint. We booked our hotel and plane tickets. Although many nice things have been said about Cebu Pacific Air, I still don't like this airline. Service might be good, but they nickel and dime you to death... you have to pay for bags, seats, meals, and everything else you can think of.
After the rooms had been booked, the resort people emailed us about pick-up from the airport as well as arranging the underground river tour. For the pick-up you can either take their airport shuttle which costs P1,000 per person, or get an exclusive van for P5,500 for the whole group. The shuttle stops at the airport at 8am, 10am, 230pm and 6pm. Since it takes one and half hours to go to Sabang from Puerto Princesa, we decided to take the van... good thing too because the roads were so winding that we were practically bumping into each other!
After an hour flight from Cebu, we arrived in Puerto Princesa, and immediately noticed how clean the place is. It's not as big as Cebu. The grueling hour and a half ride from Puerto Princesa to Sabang was scenic and we were happy when we finally got there, and glad that we stayed away from the city.
They gave us pineapple cucumber welcome drinks (I'm not a big fan of cucumber...that's all I have to say about that!). Check-in was quick and the staff were very polite and helpful.
First on the agenda was lunch at the restaurant. It was a choice of either a buffet lunch for P300 or ala carte with items costing between P200 to P300. Some of us were brave enough to try the buffet while others ordered a la carte. Breakfast buffet comes with the room rate. Will talk more about the food later ;)
We spent the next hour exploring the resort. Of course we had to check where the internet areas were. Smart and Globe services were very weak while Sun was not available. For the internet "addicts" (again, like one person I know!), the wifi areas are in the resort lobby, the pool area, and the restaurant.
The pool runs from behind the lobby to almost in front of the beach. It has 4 jacuzzis and a bar in the middle.
The beach was beautiful but the waves were rough, probably because it opens out into the South China Sea.
Later in the afternoon, we decided to be adventurous and walk 2 km down the beach to find the Sabang waterfalls. We had a nice leisurely walk (at first!) going through a rickety bridge, some smaller resorts, local houses, and just enjoying the sights.
Everything looked so picturesque!
About a third of the way through, there is a place where you have to register. This is to monitor the number of people going in and out of the Falls. Beside the registration book is a donation box.
We thought we were getting close when a few steps later we saw the sign...
Then we hit some rocks but kept moving on. After about 40 minutes of balancing through the rocks as they got bigger, we still couldn't see the waterfalls. It was getting late and starting to sprinkle so we decided to forget about the waterfalls and head back.
That night, dinner at the restaurant was again a choice of either buffet or ala carte. As usual, they didn't have what I wanted and so I ordered the sweet and sour fish instead... it was surprisingly good and the fish was fresh!
The next day we were ready for the highlight of our trip, the underground river tour. The resort tour desk had made the arrangements for us before we even got there. In order to facilitate this, I had to email them our names and ages. If you want to spend less, you would need to make arrangements with the government office at least a month in advance. The permit will indicate the date and time that you can go. Here are the rates (as of Feb 2013):
And to get to the Palawan Subterranean River National Park, you have to ride a boat. Here are the rates:
We preferred going through the resort because they have reserved slots and provide you with a guide who takes care of everything... even take pictures of your group! Plus, you have your own boat that will take you to the Palawan Subterranean River National Park. On the day of the tour, we gave our IDs to the guide to show to the Park authorities. The guide gave them back to us after she got the tickets.
After a 15-minute boat ride, we arrived at the Palawan Subterranean River National Park.
We were greeted by monkeys! Our guide had told us to hide anything plastic because the monkeys associate it with food and will try to grab it from you!
We made our way up the park to go to the waiting area where another boat woud take us to the underground river.
There were a lot of people awaiting their turn to get on the boats but everything was orderly. They loaded 10 persons to a boat. The guided tour inside the cave takes about 45 minutes.
And then it was our turn.
It was breathtaking inside the cave. We had hardhats to protect our heads from anything dropping including stuff from the bats that were up on the ceiling. The cave tour guide gave the light to one of the passengers in front. He was in charge of pointing the light towards whatever the guide wanted us to see. My only problem with this was that the person holding the light kept moving it around and it was so difficult to take a good picture!
And just like that, it was over... the light at the end of the tunnel!
We got out of the boat and walked back to the park. Along the way, some interesting sights...
And then back to our boat..
The next day we did the Mangrove Paddleboat Tour. It was P300 at the resort and includes a guide that takes you to the site.
If you prefer to walk to the site on your own, the fee there is P200.
We had our own boat and 2 guides who took us around the mangroves.
One of our guides pointed out this snake that was up on the tree, but assured us that it is nocturnal and wouldn't harm anyone during the day ha!
On the way back, they took a piece of wood that was soaking in the river. When we were back on land, one of the guys split the wood open...
And this is what was inside... a shipworm locally known as Tamilok, and is eaten as a delicacy, marinated in vinegar (yuck!). Shipworms are not worms at all, but rather a group of unusual saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies; they are marine bivalve molluscs that are notorious for boring into (and commonly eventually destroying) wood that is immersed in sea water.
On our last night we went to Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort (from Sheridan Resort, walk towards the beach, take a right and it's about 5 minutes away).
Other traveler reviews have been raving about their food. By this time, we were getting tired of the food at Sheridan and ready to look someplace else. Everyone was right... Daluyon has the best food although the price is still comparable to Sheridan. If anyone is thinking about staying at Sheridan, I recommend that you stay at Sheridan and eat at Daluyon.
I don't know if we will ever go back to Sabang. We have done all that we could do there. Next time we go to Palawan, we will be exploring Coron and El Nido.
The trip was very enjoyable and everyone had a great time!
ReplyDeleteAndrew