Things to do in Bohol
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Bohol
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Driest and hottest months, Chocolate Hills at their brownest, best diving visibility, peak prices.
Dry season with cooler air. February hills turn brown. Napaling can be lost to strong northeast wind.
Wet season showers, greener hills, fuller waterfalls and lower prices. Most trips still work.
Worst months for a beach and boat first trip, with the heaviest rain on climate averages.
What's on
- Sandugo Festival July, street dancing in the last week
Bohol biggest festival, marking the 1565 blood compact, with a month of fairs and street dancing in Tagbilaran.
- Ubi Festival January
A Tagbilaran harvest festival for ube kinampay, Bohol prized purple yam, with food exhibits and cooking.
- Saulog Tagbilaran late April to 1 May
The capital fiesta for St Joseph the Worker, with street dancing and processions building to 1 May.
- Katigbawan Festival June
Catigbian town festival of farming and carabao culture, with parades and agri fairs in interior Bohol.
- Loboc May Fiestas May
Loboc patronal fiesta and river celebrations in May, when the music town is at its most musical and the river at its greenest.
Best things to do in Bohol
Chocolate Hills Complex
More than a thousand limestone cones to the horizon, brown in the dry months and best from the viewpoint early.
Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary
The non profit sanctuary in Corella is the ethical place to see tarsiers quietly on a forest path.
Loboc River Cruise
A floating restaurant lunch on the emerald Loboc River, the relaxed centrepiece of the countryside loop.
Baclayon Church
One of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines, with a small museum of four centuries of religious art.
Hinagdanan Cave
A limestone cavern with light shafts and a deep lagoon you can swim in, best before the midday queue.
Dumaluan Beach
Finer sand and calmer swimming than Alona, with a public stretch and local grilling stalls nearby.
Alona Beach
The island tourist strip for dive boats, restaurants and sunset drinks, better as a base than a swim.
Bilar Man-Made Forest
A two kilometre mahogany tunnel on the hills road where the air cools, worth a short photo stop.
Where to stay in Bohol
Alona Beach and Tawala, Panglao
first trip, diving, walking to dinner
The airport, dive boats and restaurants are all here, at the cost of the strip noise.
Dumaluan and Bolod, Panglao
best beach, quiet resort stay
The finest sand and calmest swimming on Panglao, with evenings based at the resort or in Alona.
Anda
quiet, divers, second base
A long white beach, house reefs and cave pools, three hours from the airport and worth two nights.
Loboc River
inland, river and hills
Sleeping on the river puts paddles, fireflies and the countryside loop on your doorstep.
Think twice about
- Tagbilaran City centre as a holiday base
A working port city with traffic and no swimming beach. Useful for a ferry night and lunch, poor as a week long base.
- Middle of Alona Beach Road for light sleepers
The densest stretch of bars, touts and late music in Bohol. One street back or toward either beach end sleeps far better.
- Anda as a sole base on a short first trip
About three hours from the airport and the Balicasag boats, so a short trip becomes transfers. Give Anda a split stay instead.
- Interior Bohol chosen only for a cheap room
A big island with slow rural roads, so a saving on a room near Carmen or Bilar is repaid daily in driver hours unless the hills are the trip.
Best restaurants in Bohol
Bohol Bee Farm Restaurant
Organic farm cooking above the sea, with garden salads, bakery breads and homemade ice cream in cassava cones.
Gerarda's Family Restaurant
Filipino classics like dinakdakan and crispy pata in a restored ancestral house in Tagbilaran.
MIST
A jungle treehouse dining room for fusion plates and tropical drinks, Panglao night out restaurant.
MOSA
A cave inspired dining room near Alona serving large shareable plates and a signature pot roast.
Shaka Bohol
Smoothie bowls, vegetarian mains and good coffee in a garden cafe, the healthy cheap eat on Panglao.
Saffron Restaurant
Refined Boholano dishes like binakol and kare-kare on a cliff terrace above Alona Beach.
Tarsier Paprika
Cliff edge European fine dining over the Bohol Sea, with a tomahawk built for sharing at sunset.
Barwoo
A small Korean influenced Asian fusion room with rice bowls, noodles and natural wines on Panglao.
Outdoor things to do in Bohol
Balicasag Island
A marine sanctuary of turtles on the reef flat and walls with schooling jacks below, booked via dive shops.
Napaling Reef
A resident sardine ball in snorkelling depth a few metres from shore, no boat or tank needed.
Pamilacan Island
Dawn dolphins, strong diving and a quiet village island that deserves its own day from Panglao.
SUP Tours Philippines
Guided paddle trips on the Loboc River ending under firefly trees, the best evening in nature in Bohol.
Danao Adventure Park
A gorge adventure park whose canyon swing, the Plunge, is the inland adrenaline pick of the island.
Cabagnow Cave Pool
A clear blue cave pool in Anda, paired in one day with Can-umantad Falls and the Cadapdapan terraces.
Can-umantad Falls
At roughly 60 metres the province tallest waterfall, pouring over limestone terraces into a swimmable basin.
Cadapdapan Rice Terraces
Rice terraces carving the hillsides in green steps above Can-umantad Falls, fed by the same river.
Best hotels in Bohol
Amorita Resort Bohol
Cliff top luxury above Alona with an infinity pool over the sea and Alona restaurants a short walk away.
Best Western Plus The Ivywall Resort-Panglao
A reliable full service four star a few steps from Alona Beach, the mid range default for first timers.
Abraham Bohol
A social hostel hotel near Alona with dorms, private rooms, a pool and its own respected tours.
South Palms Resort and Spa Panglao - MGallery Collection
A flagship garden resort on Dumaluan long white beach, the beach first luxury stay on Panglao.
Bohol Beach Club
An original Panglao resort on wide Dumaluan sand with big gardens, a dive shop and an unhurried pace.
Oceanica Resort Panglao, Bohol
A garden resort on Dumaluan also known for day passes that buy a serviced beach and pool day.
Amun Ini Beach Resort & Spa
A small secluded resort in Anda with a private cove, a strong house reef and a serious dive centre.
Casa Amihan
A small guesthouse resort on Anda shore with a good kitchen and snorkelling from the front.
Is Bohol expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ₱1,600 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ₱3,800 a person |
| Splurge | ₱9,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Loboc River Cruise: a few days ahead
- Balicasag Island: a few days ahead
- Pamilacan Island: a few days ahead
- SUP Tours Philippines: a few days ahead
- Cabagnow Cave Pool: a few days ahead
- Can-umantad Falls: a few days ahead
- Cadapdapan Rice Terraces: a few days ahead
- Cabilao Island: a few days ahead
- Book top Panglao and Anda resorts weeks ahead in December to May and at major holidays.
- Book Balicasag through an accredited dive shop at least a day ahead because of the daily permit cap.
Is Bohol safe?
- Motorbike accidents on unlit rural roads are the main visitor risk. Wear a helmet and avoid night riding.
- Use the mandatory guides at Balicasag and heed current advice at Pamilacan and Cabilao.
- Emergency number is 911 nationwide.
Bohol travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- The Lila whale shark trip feeds the sharks. Skip it and see wild dolphins at Pamilacan instead.
- Group tours stop at the commercial Loboc tarsier site. Insist on the Corella sanctuary in writing.
- Virgin Island is a short sandbar stop, not a destination. Do not pay headline prices for it alone.
Getting around Bohol: public transport and more
- Use tricycles for short Panglao hops and agree the fare before you ride.
- Hire a private car with driver for the countryside loop and for Anda, and a motorbike only if you are a confident rider.
- Alona to Loboc is about an hour, to the Chocolate Hills about two hours, and to Anda about three hours.
Who Bohol suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Bohol your trip
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