Our El Nido Tour got cancelled but good thing we had one more island hopping tour in our itinerary. The weather was cloudy which i like coz i won't get burned by the sun.hehe We were fetched by the tour van by 730AM and arrived at Honda Bay port where a boat was waiting for us. During peak seasons, the queue gets very long and you have to wait for your turn. Then, we're off to our first stop, the Starfish Island.


At the Honda Bay Port Reception


Our service for the day...

First stop in today's Palawan adventure, Starfish Island! ⛵🌊#travelPh #HondaBay #Palawan #beach #nature #adventure #VisitPhAgain2016 #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 9, 2016 at 7:42pm PDT

Happy kid at Starfish Island, Honda Bay 🐠🐚🌊 #Palawan #travelPh #GoProLand #domelens #aqualens #VisitPhAgain2016 #beach #adventure #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 11, 2016 at 9:34am PDT

Time for snorkelling! We have to feed the fishes with bread to attract them. It was kinda hard to stay in one place because of the current.


Groupie!


Exploring...


Looking good!

Dancing with the fishes at Starfish Island 💃🐠 #snorkeling #underwater #adventure #travelPh #Palawan #tourism #VisitPhAgain2016 #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 10, 2016 at 7:17pm PDT

Freaking cool.

Finding Nemo...but where's Dory?!? #clownfish #nemo #palawan #travelgram #wanderlust

A photo posted by JosephLou (@joseph_lou) on Jul 11, 2016 at 9:44am PDT

Marlin and Nemo weren't excited when we approached them. Traumatized with humans, perhaps.hehe


The next island was Luli Island from the words "lulubog lilitaw" which means something like "to submerge/sink" and "to resurface" which happens to the island during high and low tides.


Jump!

Lilitaw, lulubog ang isla ng Luli. At ako'y lilipad. Lol #travelPh #Palawan #island #adventure #beach #VisitPhAgain2016 #tourism #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 9, 2016 at 8:59pm PDT

It has a sand bar, floating cottages and a diving board.

Half and half. #Palawan #travelPH #travelgram #travelAsia #wanderlust #wanderer #CookieLove

A photo posted by JosephLou (@joseph_lou) on Jul 11, 2016 at 9:59am PDT

Had our lunch at our last stop here at the Cowrie Island. Enjoyed the buffet and then kayak for 100php per hour. Had a blast! #travelPh #Palawan #VisitPhAgain2016 #island #tourism #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 9, 2016 at 11:36pm PDT

We got fishes under our canoe..


Just keep swimming...


Cool shot.


I only float in seawater ;)


Me most of the time T_T

Hanging by a moment. It's more fun in the Philippines. #Palawan #CourieIsland #philippines #travelgram #dome #LoveLocal #kayak

A photo posted by JosephLou (@joseph_lou) on Jul 10, 2016 at 10:33pm PDT

Time flies but memories remain. Can't wait for our next adventure, @joseph_lou. Thanks for the amazing shots of me and sorry to disappoint you for my sucky shots.haha 😂🐠🌊⛵ #travelPh #Palawan #snorkeling #GoProLand #aqualens #domelens #HondaBay #VisitPhAgain2016 #adventure #tourism #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 10, 2016 at 11:10pm PDT

SaveSave

It was a fun day at the sea! Check out the rest of trips in the following posts:
• Underground River Tour
• Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour
• El Nido, Palawan

After the Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour, it's time to visit Palawan's most famous tourist site, the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, also know as the "Underground River". It is one of the places i've been excited to visit because it is the country's pride for being recognized as one of the New 7 Wonders of the Natural World last November 11, 2011 (11.11.11).



Our tour guide got a reservation number before we went to the mangrove tour. We arrived at the port where we will be transported by a pump boat which can carry up to 10 persons. From the port, we travelled to the sea and got to see the beautiful mountains from afar. After 10-15 minutes ride, we arrived at the shore nearest to the underground rive and took some photos with the huge karstic limestone near the beach.


Sabang port with the St. Pauls mountain at the background.


These boats line up to load and unload their assigned group of tourists.


On our way to the underground river.

The limestone karst landscape at Sabang, which is where the world-famous underground river is located. The area represents a habitat for biodiversity conservation. The site contains a full mountain-to-the-sea ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia. #travelPh #AsiaTravel #Palawan #mountain #nature #tourism #adventure #VisitPhAgain2016 #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 10, 2016 at 4:14pm PDT

Jump shot!


I like how their signages are made.


Marker of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.


Amazing infos about the underground river.


Almost there. But first, our tour guide, Mich, explains about the wildlife that can be found in the area. We saw a bayawak (monitor lizard) and a monkey.

✔1 out of 7 Wonders of the Natural World visited. What a spiritual tour at the Sub-terranean river of Puerto Princesa, Palawan. I wish we could go farther deep coz those formations are just amazing! #travelph #Palawan #VisitPhAgain2016 #7wonders #unescoworldheritage #bucketlist #adventure #tourism #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 8, 2016 at 11:25pm PDT

The magnificent doorway to the cave..


To avoid noise inside the cave, we were asked to wear these headset in which we can hear beautiful voices narrating stories and giving information and instructions which corresponds to the area where we're at. It felt like I was inside Discover Channel.


It's getting darker..


Amazing limestone formations which are created for thousands of years. A flashlight held by our bangkero guides the light so we can see what the narrator is talking about.

When you try to goPro in darkness 😂#GoProNoob #GoProLand #travelPh #Palawan #UndergroundRiver #7wonders #VisitPhAgain2016 #tourism #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 9, 2016 at 4:25pm PDT

Epic Fail! I set the GoPro to night mode and got these photos instead.hahaha


Pretty cool though! This is the St. Paul's Cathedral gallery. This photo looks like a surreal abstract painting.


I swear it looks better in reality. This portion has rock formations that look like religious icons.


There's water dripping from the ceiling!


I'm on fire!

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the western coast of the island. It is bordered by St. Paul Bay to the north and the Babuyan River to the east. The City Government of Puerto Princesa has managed the National Park since 1992. The entrance to the subterranean river is a short hike or boat ride from the town Sabang. (Ref:wiki)

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 8, 2016 at 11:32pm PDT

Done! It was an awesome tour!


Going back to the port. I'm so ready to eat!

The limestone karst landscape at Sabang, which is where the world-famous underground river is located. The area represents a habitat for biodiversity conservation. The site contains a full mountain-to-the-sea ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia. #travelPh #AsiaTravel #Palawan #mountain #nature #tourism #adventure #VisitPhAgain2016 #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 10, 2016 at 4:14pm PDT

The Underground River tour was truly worth the wait. It's a gem of nature and God's gift to us. It's truly our country's pride, being listed as one of the new 7 wonders of nature. Check out my other tours in this series: El Nido, Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour and and Honda Bay Tour.

After our one-day El Nido adventure, we went back to Puerto Princesa City and checked-in at Go Hotels, which is just a walk away from Robinsons Mall. The next day, we had the eco-tours including the Sabang Mangrove baddle boat tour, Ihawig firefly-watching and the world-famous, Puerto Princesa Subterrranean River or "underground river" which is part of the new 7 Wonders of the natural world.

After checking-in, we went to the nearest Vietnamese resto coz we miss Saigon! Shout out to my mekmek friends :)

Vietnamese for dinner coz i missed my #mekmek friends @joedlaranoiii @sammonjardin @pepey15 @jelanaguilar @yupyupyap. Pork spring rolls, beef stew noodles, bahn mi with bbq pork, 3-in-1 fruit shake 🍹🍲🌯

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 8, 2016 at 7:21am PDT

I 💚 Palawan! Today's our last day of our long-weekend holiday. I'll surely come back someday. Time for the city tour! #travelPh #Palawan #chalkart #mural #artlotto #VisitPhAgain2016 #tourism #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 10, 2016 at 4:36pm PDT

The next day, the van picked us up at the hotel by 7:30AM and headed north towards Sabang Bay.


We stopped first at the Buenavista viewdeck where our tour guide had breakfast while we took pictures of the view.

Buenavista Viewdeck. #Palawan #travelPh #VisitPhAgain2016 #GoProLand #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 10, 2016 at 2:59am PDT

There's also a souvenir shop at the area. This is a small rainmaker with colorful hand-woven patterns.

We continued the 2-hour ride to Sabang Bay and saw cool rock formations along the way. Here is Avatar mountain which resembles the floating mountains from the award-winning Spielberg movie.
This is what they call the "Elephant" mountain. Can you see it?

This amazing view of the karst mountains became a pitstop for two Amazing Race episodes. The signage is still there as a souvenir.

This peacock, the icon of Puerto Princesa Palawan, is the Palawan Peacock Pheasant which is an indigenous species that is threathened to extinction.

The Sleeping Giant of Sabang, Palawan. Underneath this limestone karst mountain lies the longest subterranean river most famously known as the Underground River of Puerto Princesa. Can you see the gaint? #travelPh #VisitPhAgain2016 #mountain #landscape #Palawan #adventure #nature #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 14, 2016 at 6:53am PDT

Finally, we arrived at Sabang Bay! While waiting for our turn in the Underground River tour, we did the Mangrove Paddle Boat tour first.


Our guide who tried his best to speak English. He know his facts very well!


Together with our tour buddies. The freckeled girl is a solo traveller from France, and the last girl at the back (left) is Korean.


These huge mangrove trees grow tall for centuries and only thrive in these parts of the world.


Manong's paddle is engraved with these cool pattern.

Just chillin'

Back at home, I only saw mangroves a bit taller than me. I felt amazingly small here.

These trees are actually century-old mangroves which only thrive in the brackish waters of the rivers of Palawan and in some parts of the country. It also has more than sixty different species! #travelPh #nature #adventure #mangrove #forest #Palawan #VisitPhAgain2016 #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 9, 2016 at 5:56am PDT

Done with the tour. Groupie!

🌳⛵🕶#Palawan #travelPh #mangrove #river #tourism #ootd #VisitPhAgain2016 #wanderlust

A photo posted by Ced Zabala 👑 (@cedzabala) on Jul 10, 2016 at 4:05pm PDT

Up next: Underground River Tour! Read here.