I visited Puerto Princesa for the first time only last weekend. I stayed in the Legend Hotel where checked-in visitors were given a city tour (courtesy of the Department of Tourism) to visit Ihawig Penal Colony, Crocodile Farm, Baker's Hill, Mitra Ranch, and Butterfly Farm. Then I joined a smaller group in a tour to the Mt. St. Paul underground river in barangay Sabang. It took us 2.5 hours one way because of the rough road going to barangay Sabang where the river is located. By the time we reached Sabang, rain poured hard and we waited for almost an hour and good enough the rain stopped. We had two boat rides, the first was from the main port in Sabang going to the entrance of the underground river where we took another boat ride (boatman also served as our guide) to tour the cave with underground river. I really enjoyed our guide's company, his sense of humor and ability to establish good rapport among his passengers. He had associated some stories with the rock formation inside the cave. It was my first time to see a spectacular limestone karst landscape with an underground river. According to our guide, this river stretches 8+ kms but the tour allowed us to travel only 1.3 kms. I consider this river a special one because of its distinguishing feature, that it emerges directly into the sea, the South China Sea, while its lower portion is subject to tidal influences making its waters brackish. The area also represents a significant habitat for biodiversity conservation for it has a full 'mountain-to-sea' ecosystem that houses a variety of plant and animal species, among which I saw bats of different sizes and birds of different kinds. I told to myself, though I felt so tired and got wet, had to buy extra shirt to keep myself dry (I got wet for a few hours before I was able to buy shirt to keep me warm), the experience is worth it. Now that I am back home in Los Banos, Laguna and though I felt bit feverish because I had colds, I still strongly recommend to the visitors of Puerto Princesa to allocate time to tour the area. I really enjoyed my brief stay in Puerto Princesa-the beautiful mainland, the limestone karst landscape with an underground river, and the many beaches in its shoreline coupled with the courteousness and hospitality of Palawenos. I am looking forward to being there once again, hopefully with my immediate family and other relatives.