Explore what life has to offer

Explore what life has to offer

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Puerto Princesa Underground River


Underground River

For our underground river tour, we booked our tour through Pyxidistourspalawan for Php1500.00 per head which covers the transportation to the port, registration fees, boat and buffet lunch. We encountered a problem at the registration area since the registration papers of another group were with their tour guide who was at Honda Bay during that time. They had to make some arrangements to allow them to go on with the tour. After fixing that problem, we had to wait for our turn on the boat.

When we landed on the island, we had to rush to the other side since it was almost our turn for the underground river tour. To get to where the boats were, we had to pass through the monkey trail. It was just like having an eco-walk. But we were warned not to carry plastic bags as the monkeys there might grab it from us and eat it.

Sea side where the we landed
When we got there, they were already calling our number so we had to suit up (helmet and life vest) and got on our boat. Each boat could accommodate around 10 people so we were mixed with other groups.

A flashlight was provided to the ones in the front of the boat and they are the ones in-charge of lighting the formations as instructed by our boatman. I hated that part since the ones holding our boat's flashlight were not paying attention to the boatman and were lighting the formations they wanted to see.

As for the formations inside the river, it was okay. Though we can't help comparing them to the ones inside the cave in Sagada. For me and my friends, the formations in Sagada cave are better. But atleast we can say that we've been to one of the seven wonders of the world.

Here are some of the pictures inside the cave:










UGONG ROCK ADVENTURES

We had fun during this side trip. The experience of climbing up the rocks and passing through thin openings was amazing. We were also amazed by the formations we saw.

Welcome to Ugong Rock Adventures
For this caving adventure, we first registered and paid the fee then headed to their gears area where they gave us our helmets and white cloth gloves for our own protection. We were also introduced to our guide.

Before going inside the cave, we offered a short prayer for our adventure. Then our guide explained why the cave looked that way. And on almost every formation, there is a story behind which was entertaining.

Though this was not as great as the cave in Sumaguing, I still enjoyed this adventure because it was fun to go through narrow openings, see lots of rock formation, climb up the rocks and more!
Me passing through the narrow opening

Climbing up the rocks

Peeping through the rocks
 The zipline was also another great experience. The adrenaline rush plus the great view even made the experience more unfogettable.
Ziplining in Ugong
For Php450.00, we were able to experience the Ugong rock spelunking and ride a zipline going down the rocks and back to where our service was. It was a great experience and would recommend everyone going to the underwater river tour to also try this tour. It will definitely be worth it! Here are more pictures from our spelunking:





- E N D -



Saturday, December 8, 2012

Half Day Honda Bay Tour - Possible!

I had a trip to Puerto Princesa with my bestfriend and her boyfriend. Our flight was morning of December 8, 2012 and our return was 1PM of December 10, 2012. That leaves December 9 reserved for the Underground River Tour. So now with our dilemma. Our departure time from Manila was around 10 in the morning and our estimated arrival at the Puerto Princesa airport is around 11:30. To maximize our stay in PP, we decided to have a half day Honda Bay tour. I contacted the hotel where we were supposed to stay and other agencies and got the same message, the Honda Bay is intended for a whole day tour. I had to do a lot of research and found out from other blogs that it's still possible to have a half day Honda Bay - Do it yourself style.

And came December 8 - flight going to PP. It was a good thing that our flight was early. We landed in PP 5 minutes ahead of schedule. Haha. Anyways, when we got out of the airport, I saw my name in one of the welcome greetings. It was our "sundo" from our hotel. We immediately noticed that most of the hotels in PP has their own van to pick up and drop off visitors from and to the airport.

Welcome to Puerto Princesa!
We booked at Tres Pension. It was just 10-15 minutes away from the airport and near the town. When we got there, we were impressed. The place was exactly like the pictures from their site, except for the room that looked bigger from the photos. The rooms was nice and clean though. We were glad we chose this place. 

Tres Pension garden
Panoramic view of the other side of Tres Pension
We then asked the reception lady to call a tricycle to bring us to Honda Bay. We unpacked and changed clothes and when we got out, the Kuya Gil, our tricycle driver, was already waiting for us. Since it was lunch time, we asked Kuya Gil to drop us at Robinsons to get some food before heading to the bay. The trip from town to the bay took around 30 minutes. During the trip, Kuya Gil tried to convince us to stop over at some of the stores to rent snorkeling gears. Since we already read from the blogs that the gears are cheaper at the bay, we humbly refused the offer and just told him that we'll need to secure our boat first at the bay.

Meet our super nice tricycle driver - Kuya Gil with his brand new tricycle
We got at the port around 1PM and there was a Taiwanese couple who were trying to negotiate with one of the personnel in the terminal. The personnel then recommended that they join our group to be able to save on the cost of the boat since we can divide the boat rental. They were hesitant at first because they just wanted to stay in one island and be back at the port as soon as possible. But since that would be more expensive, they decided to join our group. The boat rental was Php1300.00, so we had to divide that by 5. And we (three of us) had to pay a total of Php 120.00 for the environment fee and Php 21.00 as terminal fee. Another cash out for this trip was the gear rental. We only rented the snorkeling gears for Php100.00 each. But they also offer fins and bootlegs for Php100.00 each.

Usual payments for a Honda Bay tour
 And so the tour begins. Our first stop was Pandan island. It was around 20 minutes from the port. We initially planned to eat our lunch at the island. However, when we got there, they were charging Php300.00 per table. So instead of paying for the rent, we decided to just eat our lunch at the boat, which was okay with our boatmen. After our quick lunch, we headed out to explore the island. Even after visiting a few of the most beautiful beaches in the Philippines, I am still in awe to the fact that the water here is clean.

A view of Pandan Island
After taking a dip at the crystal clear water and taking some pictures, we decided to move to the next island which was Starfish Island. Before leaving, our boatman collected the entrance fee - Php100.00 each. From the name itself and from what I read from other blogs, there were a lot of starfish here. So that was what we expected. However, when we got to the island, we were disappointed to see that not only was the sand not fine, but there were no star fish to be seen!!! The boatman then said that IF we really do not spot a starfish, we'll just have to tell him and he'll be the one to look for one. When he asked around, he found out that the starfishes were moved from near the docking area to the end of the island where we did not go. haha.

So with a bit of hope, we went to the end of the island and yes! The starfishes were there indeed. We were however reminded by our boatman that the starfishes should be returned to the water within 5 minutes of taking them or else they will die.

We saw them!
Picture at the bamboo frame
"Shell" camera trick of our boatman
After satisfying ourselves with the starfish and some picture taking at the island, we then headed to the Pandacan reef where we would maximize our snorkeling gears. Again. before leaving, our boatman collected the entrance fee - Php50.00 each. When we got to the Pandacan reef, we were asked to pay the Php50.00 entrance fee before we were allowed to go to the snorkeling area. Our boatman was there to guide us. He asked us to hold on to the his round floater while he tour us around the area to see the corals and fishes. We were disappointed at the sight since the water was not that clear anymore. The boatman said that the water was usually not clear in the afternoon. *Sigh* Too bad for us. Atleast we were still able to see some of the sea creatures though not that clear.

Pandacan Reef
Since the Pandacan Reef was our last stop, we then headed back to the port. It was almost 5PM when we got back at the port. Kuya Gil was patiently waiting for us. When he saw us, he immediately approached us and offered to take our pictures before we head back to out hotel. We arrived at the hotel after around 30 minutes. We then handed Kuya Gil our payment - Php500.00 thanked him and waived him goodbye.

Though the tour was not perfect, we still enjoyed it. Now it's time to rest before dinner time.