Puerto Princesa City: Underground River & Island Hopping at Honda Bay

There are still a lot more reasons why you should see Puerto Princesa and I do hope that with my Day 2 & 3 insights today, you'll be more eager to visit this great city.

Our service picked us up the next day at 8 in the morning to have our Underground River tour. The port was about 2 hours ride away from the city center. From there, you'll be riding an outrigger boat to Sabang beach where you will have a 10 minutes walk to the paddle boats. There is usually a line to follow as to make the process more smooth and organized. There are seats on one side of the place and your tour guide will usually call you for your turn. The whole underground river tour will last for about 30 minutes, maximum of 45. You'll see a lot of different formations inside and the guides are really funny you'll find yourself a captive of their humor and the magnificent natural creations you'll see.

On the way to Sabang beach

Monkeys lurking around while walking to the paddle boats

The small opening of the Underground River

Inside the cave

It was just in time for lunch when we got back from Sabang and before going to our next destination, we had our buffet lunch first by the beach. It was just a small eatery and it didn't have that much food to choose from but it's enough to satisfy. Anyway, after that we went to Ugong Rock Adventures where spelunking and zipline is available.

I was feeling a bit sick that day so I opted not to try the activities. Also, this part of the tour is optional so it mostly depends on you and your group if you would be participating or would rather go back home. It was already 4pm and we had reservations at Ka Lui for dinner so I kind of influenced mother and boyfriend to go home already so we'd have the time to freshen up and get a little bit of rest.

Ka Lui is a beautiful restaurant located just 10-15 minutes away from our inn and it's definitely a MUST, I repeat... a MUST to go to this restaurant when you're in Palawan. They have really good food and it's pretty artistic inside. You'll know why when you get there! The feel is so cozy and relaxing, you can even rest inside the comfort room and take decent pictures. I swear. Please, please, don't miss this. They are open daily except Sundays and most of the time full so be sure to make reservations. It's simple. Just tell your front desk your desired time and they'll be the one to make the arrangements for you.

One more thing, please make sure your feet don't smell bad

You'd have to walk barefoot inside the restaurant :D

Our table for the night

Buttered shrimp

I forgot the exact name of this one but it certainly is some kind of ginataang isda

Get this! This is really delicious! :)

Sinigang na isda

Grilled tuna

Steamed shrimps

The food is good, not just generally good but very good. So, make sure to try this out when you're in Palawan. After dinner, I tried going out independently for coffee but mother and boyfriend insisted on coming with me and I think it would also be a nice bonding time so we all went to Itoy's Coffee Haus to chill before we sleep and close Day 2.

Generally, the sansrival was good, and the drink as well. Although it felt as if something was out of place but it was generally good. Sorry, it's really hard for me to criticize food they're just all too good for me lol and I order my usual favorites so I hardly find anything wrong with them.

We went back to the inn at around 10 in the evening and front desk informed us that we will be picked up at 7am the next day for our Hunda Bay island hopping tour. I didn't expect much out of the islands since we all know that the beach highlights of Palawan are located in El Nido and Coron but trust me, Puerto Princesa also has a beauty of its own. We were scheduled to go to three islands, Luli, Cowry, and Pandan.

Luli is just a small sandbar that significantly submerges during high tide. By the time we went there, only a small part of it is seen and most of the members of the group decided not to swim anymore. So technically, we just dropped by. 

Just 10-15 minutes away from there is Pandan Island where we stayed until after lunch. You'll know why it's called Pandan when you get there. It has plenty of marine life going on and you don't have to go to the deep parts to be with the fishes. Once you step foot in the water, you better get ready to swim along with them. I saw a clown fish once but it was long gone after.

Sea urchins

Pandan Island

Half of the pictures were taken from my Canon 600D and half of it were from the underwater camera I borrowed. I loved this island, really. I couldn't help but compare; although Cebu still won in terms of the abundant and wide variety of marine life, this one is still worthy of a visit because you don't have to know how to swim to see the fishes, they are within reach swimming side by side even in the shallow parts of the sea.

After our lunch at Pandan, we went to Cowrie or Starfish Island. Guess I don't have to explain where the name came from anymore it's self-explanatory already. And obviously, you'll find a lot of starfishes in here!

Like I said... You'll find a lot of them :)

Cowrie Island

Cowrie was a good place to chill and give yourself a break from snorkeling. Sit under one of the trees you can find along the beach, breathe the air in, feel the fine cream sand on your toes, and drink buko juice or eat anything while taking in the beautiful scenery in front of you.

At around 3:30pm we were already getting ready for departure at 4. Overall, our Hunda Bay island hopping tour was fun and even if it wasn't as good or great as El Nido or Coron (of course, hello) it's still worth it to see and spend your time in here.

If you are also interested in getting the packaged tour that we had, Ysabelle Mansion's contact number is on my previous Palawan write-up. Feel free to check it out.

Happy travels!

Love,

Faye