Cathedral Cave

If you’re already tired of visiting crowded beaches and packed tourist destinations and you’re looking for a different adventure for your next island getaway, a visit to Cathedral Cave is all you need. Combining the secluded and intimate experience you’ll get in this tour and the natural wonder that awaits you, this is a must-visit when you go to El Nido.

The Cathedral Cave is situated at the edge of Pinasil Island of El Nido, Palawan. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the area, along with lagoons, white-sand beaches, and another cave – the Cudugnon Cave.

This hidden gem is part of the Tour B in El Nido. Cathedral Cave can be accessed via a small boat or a kayak. This natural beauty serves as a living testament to the number of wonderful spots concealed around the Philippines. Made from towering limestone karst formation, the outside of the cave is already a postcard-perfect beauty that tourists and nature-lovers can already appreciate with lush green trees hugging the cave complementing the crystal azure water.

Named so for its high ceiling entryway and huge stalactites like pillars that reach up to 40 meters, the cave offers a combination of a natural chandelier made from glittering stalactites and stalagmite formations and organ pipe-like rock formations for the walls. The entirety of it resembles a cathedral, thus its name.

Turquoise water awaits upon entering the main chamber of the cave. Although the water is very inviting for a swim, tourists are reminded that swimming is not advisable in this area since the cave is a home for several species of venomous sea snakes. High above, there are times when the roof of the cave casts a shaft of sunlight and illuminates the cave like a sanctum. The cave is also known for its swallow’s nests or edible bird’s nests, which are harvested by the locals, as the main ingredient in making an exotic bird’s nest soup.