Planning on visiting Bohol? Or perhaps you’re struggling to decide which island to visit on your first Philippine trip? If you want a perfect taste of what the Philippines are all about, then don’t hesitate and head for the hidden gem island of Bohol!
Bohol has something for every traveller. You get all the natural beauty combined with the relative ease of reaching and exploring the island. It has stunning beaches largely without the crowds and over-tourism you’ll find on Boracay. It has excellent snorkelling and scuba diving, if you know where to look. Plus, it’s very laid-back with friendly locals. And if you have more time, Bohol also makes for a good connection for exploring the nearby islands (unlike, say, Palawan).
In this Bohol travel guide, I’ll recommend the best parts of the island not to be missed, give you a sense of what to expect and when to visit. I hope it inspires you to plan a fantastic Bohol holiday!
Recommended Bohol Itinerary
This Bohol itinerary covers 2 main areas of the island: the less-visited eastern side, as well as Panglao and the areas easily reachable from there in a day. Unless you just prefer to lie on a beach, head beyond Panglao to get the most of this majestic island.
Anda, East Bohol
While snorkelling trips are heavily promoted at the popular Alona Beach, most boat tours head for the same tired reefs. This makes for a sorry sight of damaged corals and trying not to bump heads with someone else instead of focusing on what’s left of the corals below.
Instead, head for Anda in the east of the island for quiet white-sand beaches and outstanding snorkelling and diving. I recommend popping over to 1Peace GuestHouse where you can go snorkelling right off the beach and enjoy a pristine world below you entirely to yourself. They also offer scuba diving which I skipped on, but all the tourists coming back from the trip had Cheshire cat grins – so it’s probably good.
How to get to Anda
In Tagbilaran, get a tuk-tuk or taxi to Dao Bus Terminal and take any of the numerous vans or buses heading to Anda. It will take you around 2.5 hours. If you’re tall, avoid the smaller vans as you’ll struggle with where to fold your legs. Trust me.
Cadapdapan Rice Terraces
The name may sound like a drum beat (try repeating it over quickly in your head), but Cadapdapan Rice Terraces offer some of the most tranquil scenery on Bohol. There’s plenty of hiking around to explore the area from every angle. Being off the beaten track, roads to get to the rice paddies are less developed (so aim for a drier day if you can!) but absolutely worth the views not dissimilar to those you’d find on Bali. There is a tiny entry fee to pay.
Can-umantad Waterfalls
Near Cadapdapan rice terraces is the picturesque Can-umantad Waterfall – the tallest in Bohol. You can hike there and back from Cadapdapan, otherwise it’s off the beaten track which also means a bumpy road, but nothing unpassable. The best part is that you can enjoy some very swimmable rockpools as a just reward for trekking to getting there. In the sun (as you can see, I wasn’t so lucky that day) the water glistens in a gorgeous greenish blue.
As with the rice terraces, there is a tiny entrance fee to pay so be sure to bring some change.
How to get to Can-umantad Falls
Like the rice terraces nearby, it’s up to 3 hours from Panglao so for this part of the island it’s wise to base for sometime in Anda. Moped is the best bet, or you could hire a local tuk-tuk or pickup taxi that can wait for you there. Or better still, if you don’t mind some climbing – hire a mountain bike and make your way up the hills!
Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary
These tiny cute yoda-like creatures are probably Bohol’s most famous resident and reason to visit. And you definitely should – just don’t touch or flash your camera as tarsiers are known to kill themselves when stressed. Maybe why there aren’t too many of them around.
There are a couple sanctuaries to choose from to see the world’s smallest primate – I recommend the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary. Once you pay the reasonable entrance fee, they’re scattered along a pathway to the sanctuary and the local staff helpfully point them out to you.
How to get to Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary
Easy – it’s around 30 mins’ drive from Tagbilaran. From there you can continue onto Loboc and beyond.
Loboc River Adventure Park
If you don’t mind a little adrenaline in exchange for unforgettable bird-eye views, this is a must. Amongst other things the park offers, you can zipline over waterfalls and the emerald-green Loboc River that carves its way through the thick jungle valley. The zip line honestly felt surprisingly safe and hardly extreme, so you get to enjoy a minute of stunning views without wondering if it’s your last. The experience takes you to one side and back to where you started so no need to plan your way back.
Loboc River Cruise
A perfect counter-balance to the nearby zipline, the floating restaurant boats are a chance to relax for a couple hours as they lazily cruises along the picturesque Loboc River. At some point you can expect a dancing performance from a group of local villagers backed by an orchestra of guitars – which admittedly felt a little touristy. But they did seem to genuinely enjoy themselves and it’s still very much worth the overall experience.
Chocolate Hills
The Chocolate Hills are Bohol’s most unique and iconic scenery: the 1,000+ peculiar hills in the island’s center that stretch to the horizon and resemble Hershey’s Chocolate Kisses (a US thing) in the dry season, when they turn brown. Come in late November to May for the chocolate shades, but even in their greener state this is a sight to behold.
Being a popular venue, expect some crowds in the most popular viewing platforms (especially Chocolate Hills Complex, less so Sagbayan Peak), although there are other options for great views. Best idea would be to head to Chocolate Hills early, or spend a couple hours just riding the scenic roads on a moped or car.
How to get to Chocolate Hills
Driving or moped takes 1.5-2 hours from Panglao and is the most fun as you get some scenic riding along the way. But a private taxi should cost around $40 return, and there are plenty of day tours with stops along the way (usually including Loboc River and one of the Tarsier sanctuaries.
Buses and vans depart from Tagbilaran to Carmen, but you’ll then need a tricycle to Chocolate Hills. All in all this will take a longer 3 hours and isn’t as comfy (especially the local vans if you’re tall).
Dumaluan Beach
Dumaluan Beach on Panglao offers the sort of views that you might remember from Bounty adverts. There are resorts here which also own some of the beach space, but it’s definitely quieter than the nearby Alona Beach.
Assuming you’re not staying in one of the resorts, you should really consider renting a Day Pass from one to enjoy its amenities. You don’t have to be a guest in most of them to get one. There’s nothing like enjoying the dream-like ocean views while getting a massage. Check with the resort first, but it can cost as little as £7-8 (€10) for the full day.
Bohol Bee Farm
On the Southern coast of Panglao you’ll find Bohol Bee Farm. Offering more than the name suggests, they grow all sorts of their own produce and offer cheap 30-minute tours of the farm. Be sure to try some of their own homemade pesto (Italians will protest, but it’s actually good) and the curiously purple ube ice cream.
Most importantly, it’s also an alfresco restaurant with some of the best ocean views on the island. The organic food offering manages to live up to the views and makes for a change from most menus on the island.
Where to stay on Bohol?
Most tourists stay on Panglao, a small island connected via a bridge to Bohol and the base for its new airport. Panglao undeniably has the best infrastructure and serves as a good base for visiting the rest of the island. The southern coast is where you’ll find the convenience of countless restaurants, resorts, popular beaches and boat tours. If you want something quieter with a more local feel, head to the north of the island instead.
Or better still, consider staying elsewhere in Bohol. In the east of the island lies Anda: a far more tranquil base with fewer tourists, far more pristine snorkelling and closer to the idea of quiet, tropical getaway. Anda is my top recommendation for where to stay in Bohol, or at least for a part of your stay.
How to get around Bohol?
For most flexibility, rent a scooter. They’re cheap and so easy to learn to use. Outside of the main city Tagbilaran, traffic is quiet so the experience is relaxed. Just try to get home before dark as roads aren’t well-lit and things get more hairy. Most things on this list can be reached by moped within a couple hours and combined well into 1 or 2 day trips. For East Bohol it’s more like 3 hours each way, so it’s best to
Otherwise there are the various other fun means of private and public transport. Yes, there are taxis, but the price add up especially on Panglao. For the most local experience, get into a tuk-tuk. These tricycles are widespread across much of Asia, but the Bohol variety are famous for their biblical quotes on the back. That’s how religious they get in Bohol!
For the most pimped out (but definitely not comfortable!) transport, get on the back of a jeepney. These vividly colourful buses are a nod to the US colonial period: essentially they are military jeeps leftovers from WW2 days, converted into cheap local transport. There are also crammed minivans connecting the island’s towns – I’d avoid if you are anywhere over ~165cm as there was literally no leg space.
How to get to Bohol?
It’s quite easy, which makes Bohol a great option for someone with less vacation time or a compact schedule.
Option 1: Fly into Manila, then get a domestic flight straight to the new Bohol-Panglao Airport. In this case you might want to overnight in Manila.
Option 2: Fly to Cebu International Airport (well-connected to key hubs like Singapore, Hong Kong & Dubai), then a quick taxi and a 2-hour ferry to Tagbilaran Pier. There are plenty of operators so you shouldn’t have problems getting a ticket. This options works well if you also feel like exploring the bigger island of Cebu.
What to avoid on Bohol
If you don’t like crowds, avoid the heavily-touted snorkelling / dolphin spotting / Virgin Island tours promoted everywhere on Panglao. They all seem to leave Alona Beach at the same time and you end up in an enormous regatta of bangka boats heading for exactly the same few stops and snorkelling sites. If viewed from above, the snorkelling site we were taken to must have looked like a shipwreck survivor scene.
It didn’t feel particularly safe either. At some point our boat punched a hole into the side of another. Their captain duly filled the hole with… a lifejacket. And carried on.
Other than that, keep in mind that the closer you are to Alona Beach, the more expensive restaurants, taxis and shops become. As you’d expect in the most touristy zones.
Best Time to Visit Bohol
Bohol is an all-year-round destination, with little variation in temperature. What varies is how much or little it rains.
If you want to maximise on the sunshine, come from December to March. Summer – up until August is also good – it does get hotter with more rain showers, but you do get less tourists to share the island with. From August to around November is the wet season, although you’ll still have enough good weather to enjoy.
I hope this Bohol travel itinerary helps you plan a wonderful holiday to this memorable island – and if you have any questions about the best places on Bohol – let me know in the comments below.
