We continued our island hopping in the Philippines, one of my goal for this year (explore more the Philippines). This time we went to Puerto Princesa, one of the largest island in Palawan
We arrived the hotel early afternoon. After quick check in and went to the water play area of the hotel, one of the reason I booked Astoria Palawan unfortunately Sofia couldn’t play those fun slides as she was not tall enough. After quick shower we went for dinner. They served buffet style dinner and had live show. No surprise that the girls were more entertained by the show than the food.
Next day we went to the main attraction of the island, Underground River tour. 1.5 hrs car ride first, then 15 min boat ride and we got off to the island that looks very pristine despite how many tourists it receives everyday. What surprised me is that large majority of the tourists were Filipinos as opposed to foreigners, which is super nice, it means local tourism is relatively accessible to many. Before entering the tunnel
The whole ride was 45 min and it was dark almost all the time with only boatman’s headlight. It was also quiet, and it felt scary in some parts because you know… you think what if this thing collapse, there’s no way we can get out! It was definitely impressive and Unesco site.
The third day we went for an island hopping. The weather was not good, it was raining almost everyday. But we made the best of it.
First was starfish island, the a second island for some snorkelling

On the third island, since Sofia and daddy never tried banana boat so I strongly encouraged them to try it

both said it was fun although they were throw to the water only once. They also did kayaking
That concluded our 4 days 3 nights trip to Puerto Princesa. Overall, it felt lack of activities to do. Only underground river was unique. The islands were not so pretty and not too much to see near the beach.