Puerto Princesa Weekend (Day 3)

We have come to the last day of our PPS weekend. But it's the most important  day in our trip because it's the day we visited one of the New Wonders of Nature, the Underground River. I am proud to say that I was one of those who voted for it during the search for the New Wonders of Nature some time last year.

Anyway, after having breakfast at the hotel, the driver and our tour guide picked us up and we all headed to Sabang Port, which was around an hour and a half away from the city. While inside the van, April, our tour guide was briefing us on what to expect at the Underground River. We also chose among us who's supposed to stay in the front-most part of the boat to hold the lamp, which will serve as our light inside the Underground River. I got so scared when April told us about the wild monkeys around the walkway headed to the Underground River. She said, those wild monkeys grab "plastics" from anyone whenever they see one. Good thing we were not carrying anything plastic. haha!

monitor lizard

wild monkey

Since we have already preregistered for the Underground River tour during our first day in PPS, we just confirmed our registration at the Sabang Port then we were assigned to a small boat, which took us to the Underground River and back. When we got to the island, we registered again at the reception. Then we walked going to the main entrance of the Underground River. The path that we walked through was like a mini forest and the tour guide was right, the wild monkeys and monitor lizard were just everywhere. They looked scary but they won't attack you unless you attack them first. But hey, why would you do that?! LOL!

So after putting on our helmets and life jackets, we rode the boat and met our boatman, Kuya Piolo. Yeah, he got his nickname from the famous Filipino actor. haha! There were photographers also by the side of the island who took a photo of us while on the boat, before entering the cave. It's pitch black inside the cave and we were only guided by the light of the lamp being held by our friend who was in front. As the boatman was paddling, he's also pointing us to different rock formations. It's so cool because those rock formations got names. My favorite part was the Cathedral. It's like a big dome inside and there were rock formations of an angel, the nativity, three wise men, and more. After the 45-minute roundtrip tour inside the Underground River, we went back to the main entrance of the island where we claimed our group photos taken by the attraction's official photographers. We paid Php 35 each 'coz we only shared in one photo worth Php 250.

Then we headed back to Sabang Port. There we had buffet lunch, which was included in our Underground River Tour Package. After lunch, we rode the van and headed to the Ugong Rock caves. It took us around 30 minutes or less from Sabang Port to Ugong Rock caves. It was my first time to go caving, spelunking, and ziplining. So how's the experience It's super fun! So what we did first was to pay at the counter; Php 200 for the caving and spelunking on the way up and we had an option to go down through the same way at Php 200, or to go ziplining at Php 250. The zipline ride was the best! I came from  a height of 165 feet and it was so fast that I traveled 350 meters for only 21 seconds! We were surprised to see our photos upon going down. I bought one as a souvenir for Php 100, but they were so nice to have given us soft copies when we handed them our flash drive (USB). Oh, by the way, the cave was called "Ugong" because when you knock on some parts of the cave, they make a sound like a "gong".

So after the caving experience, we traveled for another hour until we got back to the hotel. After freshening up, we had dinner at the Big Flat Bread, the pizza house outside our hotel. They're known for their huge gourmet pizzas. We ordered the biggest sized one that had four flavors in one. Gosh, we were able to finish everything! My friends even said that I really eat like a man, because the whole time we were there in Puerto Princesa, I've been eating as much or even more than they did. LOL! Anyway, we paid around Php 250 each.

Then we finally headed to the airport through the hotel's free van service. It took us a while to check-in because the dried fishes and squids (worth more than Php 1000) bought by my friends were not allowed in their carry on baggage. The problem was, we didn't avail of check-in baggage prior to the trip. So, even if the stuff was wrapped well, and even if the vendor insisted earlier at the market that it's okay to hand-carry them, it was still denied by the ground officers. Buying a check-in baggage would've costed my friends an additional Php 700, so they just gave their a-thousand-worth of dried fish/squid to the security guard. So after check-in, we paid the terminal fee worth Php 200, and waited at the boarding gates.

We had a safe flight back to Manila. We are definitely coming back to Puerto Princesa to experience El Nido. And of course, Coron soon!:)

Total spending for the day (per pax):
1. Breakfast - FREE (included in the accommodation)
2. Underground River Tour - 1200 (supposedly 1500, but we got 20% discount)
3. Ugong Rock Adventures - 450 (200 caving/spelunking + 250 zipline)
4. Ecotourism fee - 40
5. Dinner - 250
TOTAL: 1,940 per pax

Note: Tip for tour guide and driver not included.

Not counting our personal expenses for pasalubong and souvenir photos, here's how much we've spent for our Puerto Princesa trip for 3 days and 2 nights:

A. Airfare & Accommodation Expenses - Php 4,200 

B. Pocket Money - Php 5,350
1. Day 1 - 1,970
2. Day 2 - 1,440
3. Day 3 - 1,940

GRAND TOTAL: Php 9,550

So that's it! I hope you can visit Puerto Princesa too.:)