Underground River (Sabang)

What you should know before you book

• The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.
• It was named one of the New7Wonders of Nature in 2012, which is a large part of why demand outstrips the daily cap.
• The park is reached from Sabang on Palawan’s west coast, overland from Puerto Princesa; from Sabang wharf a boat runs along the coast to the beach at the cave entrance.
• Entry runs on a daily visitor cap, so permits are arranged in advance rather than bought at the gate.
• The underground river flows directly into the sea, and the cave is home to large bat and swiftlet colonies — part of why access is controlled.

• If the boat cannot sailWe do not run this boat, so we will not pretend we can refund someone else’s sailing — but we will not leave you paying for a vehicle that has nowhere to be either. If the crossing is suspended or your boat does not go, the transfer we quoted is re-timed or rebooked for when it does.
• Arriving or leaving by boatArriving or leaving by boat? Tell us in the notes which crossing you are booked on and the vehicle is timed to meet it rather than to a clock, with the pickup point and time named on the written confirmation we send before you travel. We do not track a sailing the way we track a flight, so if the boat runs late or you are moved to another one, message us while it is happening and we re-time the driver rather than leaving you to sort it out at the pier.
• Early or late pickupsAn early-hours or late-night pickup is routine here — send the flight, crossing or permit you are working to and we time the vehicle back from it rather than from a clock time you guessed.
• The park permitThe park permit is admission to a protected national park and is not ours to issue, sell or hold — entry runs on a daily visitor cap and permits are handled through Puerto Princesa, so the park side is the park’s and the road leg is what we quote. What we can do is help you confirm what availability looks like for your date before you commit the rest of the trip to it, then time the vehicle around the entry you hold. If you already have one, send the entry time and we work the pickup back from it; if you have not started, say so rather than leaving it blank. Requesting a quote does not reserve park entry.
• What the price coversOur quote is fixed and all-in for the transport we arrange. Anything collected by someone else — a park permit, a local environmental fee, a ferry or airline ticket — is identified separately on the quote and paid locally, so you know which is which before you travel rather than at a wharf.
• TippingA tip is not expected and nothing is owed at the end of the trip — the driver is paid by us for a trip that runs, so the quoted price is genuinely the whole of our side of it, with nothing to settle at the drop-off and no service charge anywhere. If you want to mark a driver who looked after you on a long day, that is yours to decide and he is free to accept it, but it is a gesture rather than a charge and we publish no suggested amount.
• LuggageThe vehicle is sized around the whole load, not the head count alone, so send the real bag count with the group size: where the luggage is what one vehicle cannot comfortably take we go up a class, or run more than one vehicle kept together on a single booking, rather than finding out at the kerb.
• Stops on the wayStopping somewhere on the way is normal here, not a separate booking: the vehicle and driver stay with you through the stop and your luggage stays aboard, so list the stops in order on the quote form and we plan the day around them rather than leaving it to the roadside.

We publish facts, not fares. Prices depend on the vehicle or boat, your group size, waiting time and the season, so every trip is quoted individually — free and with no obligation.

Underground River (Sabang): common questions

Anything specific to your dates, group or pickup point is answered on the quote — that is where the actual vehicle, timing and fixed all-in price come from.

Ask us on the quote form