Scuba Diving and Travel Destination: Underground River and El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

Published: 15 December 2016

By: William

This trip was in April 2013, together with my ex-girlfriend her younger brother and relatives. In the Philippines, the best time to travel is during summer time from April to May of each year. This period is the hottest months in my country. If you are planning to go to the Philippines and enjoy the summer heat and clear skies, do visit in these months.

El Nido, Palawan was included in the World's 100 best beaches by CNN Travel dated September 2016 (link).  She is in number 14: CNN Travel as quoted - "El Nido is the gateway to adventure, "the last frontier" of the Philippines, as it has been dubbed. Powder-fine beaches and gin-clear waters complement the stunning views of karst limestone formations, empty lagoons, marble cliffs, prehistoric caves and waterfalls." CNN also highlighted the place as quoted - "Surrounding waters contain more than 50 species of coral and attract whales, whale sharks, sea cows, manta rays, dolphins and endangered turtles."

During that time, the land travel was quite long because some road was still under-construction. We encountered bumpy road for almost 80 km. Around five hours of driving was needed to reach El Nido from Palawan International Airport. Now, the road concreting are already completed, travelling time is reduced to four hours or less if you will used private transportation. Luckily I have a friend leaving there, who happens to be my very close friend and a classmate in profession. My friend was able to rent me his pick-up truck for our private transportation.

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My friend owns a computer shop Gaisano Interpace Computer System - Puerto Princesa, Palawan Branch. If you have some problems with your laptop computers or in need of additional SD cards for your cameras or anything about computer and electronics, you can visit his shop at this address: Door 7, Holiday Suite Building (in-front of Robinson's Mall), National Highway Northbound Puerto Princesa City.

The trip lasted only for four days. We knew the travel days were not enough but we enjoyed a lot. We hit two places in one trip. We went to the Underground River in Puerto Princesa and El Nido, Palawan.

UNDERGROUND RIVER, PUERTO PRINCESA, PALAWAN

Underground River in Puerto Princesa was provisionally chosen last November 11, 2011 as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature. This selection was officially confirmed on January 28, 2012. This is one of the reasons we decided to schedule our vacation trip to Palawan, Philippines. The travel time using private car will be around 1 hour and 43 minutes or less. On the day we arrived at Puerto Princesa International Airport in the morning, my friend picked us up and I became a driver. 

You can book your stay at Agoda.com or Booking.com if you are only planning to visit the Underground River in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

All of us were our first time in the island, and I only relied on Google Map for my navigation. With this set up, it was a great adventure and a big responsibility for me. I was the oldest and I was behind the wheels. I drove almost eight hours on that day. I enjoyed driving especially in new road and destination.

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Before going to the Underground River, please be informed that you need to book early at this website: www.ppur.com.ph. The local government is controlling the crowd due to limited time each day. The underground river location is in a remote place. In order to reach there, you have to take a 15 minutes boat ride from the main port to the underground river location.

We manage to reach the place and we were the last group to witness the magnificent art of nature. You will be amaze of the space inside the cave. The beautiful stalactite and stalagmite formation will make you wonder the creation of nature. You can feel the coolness of the cave atmosphere, the singing of the cave bats and please do not open your mouth when looking up, if you are lucky enough tell me in the comment section below on how the bat cave shit tasted like. Please visit this amazing place. You will never regret!

EL NIDO, PALAWAN

We arrived at El Nido, Palawan around 2 am in the morning the next day (I already driving for almost eight hours). We nearly loss our way because travelling at night has less visibility. But the goodness of travelling at night was less vehicle and busses and all the road is yours. Before we reached El Nido, we stop over at my ex-girlfriend uncle's place at Roxas, Palawan (First Day and Third Day). He prepared a delicious dinner for us.

I was not familiar with the place; I booked at agoda.com at this resort, Kalinga Beach Resort. This resort is good for group booking because the room is spacious and the place is remote and quiet. The only disadvantage was far from the town area and it was not accessible by vehicle. You can reach the place by motorcycle or by walking. The best place to book if you want the crowd, check room rates here or in here.

My ex-girlfriend did not know that I have a special plan for this trip. This plan will change our life forever. I was planning to propose to her after my diving session but I changed my mind because I was scared I might lose my engagement ring during the dive. So, in the following morning, without washing my mouth and I still have morning star on my eyes, I saw my future wife outside our door room like a beautiful angel highlighted by the morning sunrise that slightly lit her face. I was thinking this will be the sign that I have been waiting for to make my move. And indeed, we were very happy, she said YES. Our companions did not know what happened, we told them during our breakfast.

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ISLAND HOPPING

There are many islands and lagoons in El Nido, so you can chose which island and lagoons you want to visit. We took the cheapest package (Tour A) with free lunch. We enjoyed the island hopping and pristine beach and the clearness of the water. 

DIVING SESSION

I booked my dive at El Nido Marine Club Dive Center. They have a reasonable price and very good service. They have also had a package for non-divers as well. If you have companions, they can go with you, while you are diving, the non-divers will have some island hopping near to the diving area. We surfaced at the beach were my fiance and friends were waiting for me for lunch. We have our lunch with the very nice view, the island breeze and blueness of the ocean.

The water visibility was very good and the coral reefs are well taken care off. My diving session was not enough. I wanted more but we do not have time. I only dive once because in the afternoon, we need to go back to Puerto Princesa and spend our night there to prepare for our flight the next day going back to Cebu, Philippines.

I will definitely go back to this paradise together with my wife and daughter. 

Below is the summary of our short but memorable and unforgettable trip:

Day 1

Arrived at Puerto Princesa Airport
Land Trip to Underground River
Underground River Escapade
Land Trip To El Nido
Arrived at Kalinga Beach Resort

Day 2

Island Hopping at El Nido
Experienced Night Life at El Nido Town

Day 3
My Diving Session in the morning
Island Hopping Again (non-divers)
Travel Back to Puerto Princesa

Day 4
Flight to Cebu City, Philippines

Sunset View From Kalinga Beach Resort

For more details and questions, you can leave a comment in the section below or email to us at scubaandravelph@gmail.com.

God Bless, Keep on Learning and Never Give Up on Your Dreams!