Qualla: Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park: Introduction

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Paul Chin, CC BY-SA 2.0. Deeper in the cave, the air thins. Oxygen levels drop to the point where further exploration becomes dangerous, and the river continues into passages that no human has fully mapped. This is the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River -- an underground waterway that flows for more than eight kilometers through a limestone mountain on Palawan's western coast, navigable by boat for 4.3 kilometers from the sea before the darkness and the lack of breathable air turn visitors back. The cave system includes chambers so vast they generate their own weather patterns, with a dome measured at 300 meters above the river and the Italian's Chamber spanning approximately 2.5 million square meters in volume -- one of the largest cave rooms in the world.

Image: Paul Chin | CC BY-SA 2.0

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park: Mountain to Sea

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Micah Noel Perpetua, CC BY-SA 3.0. The national park sits in the Saint Paul Mountain Range, about 80 kilometers north of Puerto Princesa city. What makes it ecologically extraordinary is the completeness of its ecosystems. The site contains a full mountain-to-sea gradient: from montane forest at elevation, through...

Image: Micah Noel Perpetua | CC BY-SA 3.0

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park: Wings and Water

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ringer, CC BY-SA 4.0. Of the 252 bird species known to occur on Palawan, 165 have been recorded within the park's boundaries -- including all 15 of Palawan's endemic species. Blue-naped parrots flash through the canopy. Palawan hornbills, with their casqued bills and booming calls, are among the most ...

Image: Ringer | CC BY-SA 4.0

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park: A Second Floor

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jimaggro, CC BY-SA 4.0. In 2010, a team of environmentalists and geologists made a discovery that expanded what anyone thought the cave contained. The underground river had a second level -- an upper passage with its own waterfalls cascading down to the main river channel below. The team also found new ...

Image: Jimaggro | CC BY-SA 4.0

Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park: Seven Wonders and Eighty Million Votes

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jimaggro, CC BY-SA 4.0. The story of how the underground river became one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature is also a story about national mobilization. On November 11, 2011, the site was provisionally selected alongside the Amazon Rainforest, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo Island, and T...

Image: Jimaggro | CC BY-SA 4.0