St Paul Cave
Underground River Sabang Palawan
The underground river in Sabang is a huge tourist attraction for good reason. It’s easy to get to, relatively inexpensive, and it really is spectacular!
The cave itself is said to be around 21 kilometers long, but the underground river only goes back around 8 kilometers. Spelunkers could spend several days back in there but it would probably take special permits and a fair deal of experience to be able to pull it off.
The basic tourist route is painless – catch one of the 50 tour boats at the dock in Sabang and they will shuttle you to the beach near the cave entrance.
The beach near the cave entrance.
There you disembark and walk 200 meters or so to the park headquarters where you get your helmet and life vest and get assigned to one of the paddle boats.
Signing in.
Sabang
When the current is very light, only one boatman is needed to power the boat through the cave. After heavy rains there is a bit of a current and an extra boatman paddles from the bow. Less tourists are loaded on the boats so as not to overwhelm the boatmen.
Below a boatload of tourists enter the St Paul Cave in the Subterranean River National Park at Sabang. (Most people just call it the underground river)
Inside St Paul cave.
The guides have expensive knowledge about the formations and will take you in around 1.5 kilometers.
More intensive tours are available but they involve more cost and permits.
As it is, there are many interesting formations – the Virgin Mary, Jesus, the Holy Family puso (heart of banana), eggplant, mushroom, sayote, horse, dinosaur, sexy lady, cocao, sweet corn, candle, strip of bacon, a chamber 65 meters in height, the highway ( a long straight section, which is the turning back point of the basic tour) and several others I forgot.
St Paul cave in Sabang
The pictures taken with a low light flash just don’t do the cave justice. Anything more than 5 meters away will not show up. The rider in the bow uses a spotlight to highlight the various formations that can be captured in your memory but difficult to get on film. The human eye is an amazing thing.
There are lots of bats clinging to the ceiling so it is advised not to look up with your mouth open because the bats occasionally crap on you and you could get to sample an unpleasant taste if you are not careful.
The river itself is around 7 meters deep and around 9 meters at the entrance. Everyone has a life vest. The river is very smooth but it would be unpleasant if a boat sank because there would no light when the batteries got wet. There is a steady flow of other tour boats, so it would just be a matter of bobbing around until they cane to fetch you but it would be very dark.
Yesterday there were over 500 visitors including 30 contestants for the Miss Earth beauty pageant. Our boatman reckons that on a real busy day there might be as many as one thousand visitors. It really is a beautiful trip.
The park permit is 200 pesos and the shuttle boat costs 700 pesos (basically 100 pesos per person). If you are only a small group they will match you up with others, if you choose, so you will not have to bear the entire cost of the boat.
Sabang Palawan
The underground river tour is is definitely worth your time and can be an easy day trip from Puerto Princessa. It is possible to walk from the town of Sabang on the “jungle trail” to the cave entrance instead of taking the shuttle boat. The park permit still has to be purchased in advance and it entitles you to a seat on one of the paddle boats based at the cave entrance.
Sabang Underground River
Climbing Mount Apo
General Santos
Growing Orchids
Judy's Resto Bar
Logging with Motorcycles
Mount Mayon
Balabac Island
Biri Island
Calbiga Cave
Capul Island
Mangrove Swamp Palawan
Mikes's Resort
Yo dp,
cant wait to get some pics off you camera and print up to put on me walls hehhhe. keep em coming mate . excellent trip and looks well worth the money. U lucky dog .
Thanks mate,
We hope to head up to El Nido in a couple of days.
dp
Hope the road has improved to El Nedo DP, last time it was not good.
Gosh things have changed, when I did that cave we were about the only ones on the tour, they would be lucky to get 100 people on a top day.Seems Palawan is general has become quite touristy now.
Look forward to more stories DP great work and keep it up.
Hi Bruce,
Thanks…we hope to head up to El Nido today.
dp
excited to come next month.. is there are reason to be concerned about Malaria in Palawan? Pls. advise. thanks.
Hello Anne,
In the tourist areas there is little reason to be concerned about malaria. In the rare case that a tourist should contract that disease, just be aware that one of the best malaria treatment facilities is in Puerto Princesa – Palawan.
Malaria is widespread in the southern end of the island but most tourists go north. Balabac, Batarazza, Rizal, Rio Tuba, and Quezon have regular incidents of Malaria.
The wife of poster MG and his two kids got malaria a few years ago but they live in Nara in the southern part of Palawan. Cheryl had both Dengue and malaria but her and the kids were taken to Puerto and were back on their feet in a few days.
In the south everyone uses nets – the malaria parasite transmitting mosquito (Anapheles) usually comes out at night. The dengue virus transmitting mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is said to be most active at dusk.
Precautions against contracting these unpleasant illnesses are Deet bug spray, long sleeves, long pants, and sleeping under a mosquito net.
I never contracted malaria but know personally 9 people that got malaria in Palawan – but these were in southern areas.
To me the real wild card is filariasis elephantiasis – which is found on Balabac Island south of Palawan. This is a creepy disease for which there is no cure.
cheers
dp
ps Few people that live in malarial areas in the Philippines use malarial prophylaxis because the long term effect of these drugs is harmful to the body as well.
hi DP,
may i just ask if its possible for us to have the underground tour NOT from the package that hotels offers to their guest? what i mean is can we just go to sabang on our own and then just do everything there, like the permits, boats etc etc. we will be going there on the 25th of feb. thanks!
Hello cherrie,
It seems to me that almost everyone just books their own tour at the tour center at the pier. It’s a very easy process.
dp
hi there…
how will long will it takes if we’re the one who’ll get everything we need to the U.R. instead of tour packages?
thank you!
it’ll be a great help for us…
:)
Hello Ice
There is a mandatory park fee that you purchase at the tourist office on the pier. The pump boats that ferry the tourists to the cave entrance leave from that pier as well.
You should be able to get everything organized in 15 minutes.
You will transfer to guide paddled boats at the entrance to the cave.
This trip really is a good value and a lot of fun. I have not yet met anyone that regretted taking this trip.
Happy trip
dp
i am from nj planning to have a family trip to experience the ferrry ride to underground river – group of 8- mother, sisters nephew and nieces. i always wanted to see palawan coming from manila what would be a good and better way of getting there in palawan. it would be all expenses paid for me. pls. advice
Hello
Perhaps the easiest way would be to fly into Puerto Princessa and then take a shuttle bus to Sabang. Just go to the pier and book your trip to the underground river at the tourist office located at the pier.
dp
hi po.. just want to ask some info.. me together with my 2 niece are booked for a trip in palawan on sept 28 8:00 am flight.. please i need someone to ask about the cost for the underground river and other tours.. please txt me on this number 09165654331.. tnx so much..
wow, simply nice view……always fancied el-Nido..little this i know this underground river was near by…..hmmm
…The St Paul Subterranean River is one of the most visited sites in Palawan !
enjoy
dp
Hi po Dp,
How far is the underground river if we are coming from El Nido? Is there a public transportation from El Nido to the site? Thanks.
– Jeffrey
Hello Jeffrey,
The Sabang Underground river is an easy day trip from Puerto Princesa but it is a bit of a hassle to get there from El Nido because of the distance involved. Many many shuttle vans make the trip from Puerto Princesa but I know of no direct shuttle from El Nido.
You could take the public bus and get off at the intersection on the main highway to Sabang but you would arrive there to late in the day to catch the regular jeepney.
I feel that you would be better to go all the way to Puerto Princesa and stay there the night and take a jeepney or shuttle van the following morning to Sabang. It is only about an hour and a half run each way from Puerto. If you just want to see the underground river – you could take a shuttle from PP in the morning and then visit the underground river, have lunch and then take the shuttle back to PP that nite. You could leave your pack at your hotel room in PP that way as well.
I kind of like staying in Sabang for a few days because it is a pretty cool place to chill.
Happy trails
dp
by motorcycle
renting a motorcycle in Puerto Princessa for 500 peso or so per days and just driving yourself is a good option too
rick
do you have contact numbers coz i want to do the special tour that goes deeper into the cave. been there twice in 2002 and 2006 so this time i want to cover the other inner parts of the cave. is it true that to secure a special permit it takes 2 wks? pls provide details or persons to contact for this kind of trip…thanks!
Hello jay,
I hear that you would need a special permit to travel far into the interior of the cave. logically you would need a fair bit of spelunking experience to travel 20 kilometers underground from the entrance. The water goes back 8 kilometers but explorers report that you can continue on foot much further.
I doubt it would take two weeks but you would need an experienced guide to do it. I do not have contact persons for an adventure like that – sorry.
Keep in mind that you must always be aware the water levels deep inside the cave can change – depending on factors outside the cave such as heavy rain etc.
good luck
dp
hi dp i dont wish to even go up to 4th km of the 8-km underground river sounds so scary. a good 1 or 2 km after the usual route would be enough i just want to see something new. maybe i’ll enquire in PP or the ticket booth in Sabang.
To learn that the cave reaches beyond 20 km surprises me!
Hello jay,
Sounds like a good idea !
dp
I booked a resort for my family in sabang on May 28-31. The problem is… the resort advised me that they are no longer allowed to arrange for UR tour for the month of May because the park is fully booked. We have to secure our permits ourselves in PP city but the queue is very long and it may take almost a day just to get a permit. Can anybody help me with this problem? I don’t like to spoil our Palawan trip by skipping UR. Thanks.
maybe things are changing – I have not been to the underground river yet this year – 2012
There are many many tour companies in Puerto Princesa that do book tours to the underground river including transport to and from Puerto but this is the first time that I have heard of the park being full.
I have always booked my trip at the pier in Sabang itself. There is a tourist center there that all tours were always booked through even if a tour company brings the visitor to Sabang.
what you are telling me is a new development that I am unaware of – perhaps things are changing
Palawan has a lot more to offer than a half hour boat ride in the ungerground river cave however – if you can not book that tour do not despair!
Head straight up to El Nido and go island hopping – beautiful!
dp
ps – hope that you get things sorted out
hi dp!
will go to Palawan by october, i am not yet decided if i will just go for a package tour or DIY trip.. but yours looks interesting. can you help me?
for the special permit, when do we have to get it? how much is it per person? or is it one permit per group?
then the shuttle boat, is it still the one to use when going on the cave or other boat? if to use other boat, then the shuttle boat you use going to Sabang will wait for you until the tour was done?
is there any other fees to pay?
thanks a lot!!
Hi Angel,
All of the Sabang Underground River Tours are booked through the park office. They will arrange the park pass and boat ride for you.
I am not sure if you can organize the trip from Puerto Princesa – but it is likely that it could be. All the tours are booked through the park office however.
enjoy
dp
More power to your site! I enjoy reading you articles and doing back reads : )
…thanks Cherry
dp