Things to do in Tagbilaran
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Tagbilaran
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Dry season with the calmest seas, and the best months overall for a first Bohol trip.
The Chocolate Hills turn their famous brown from about February to May as the grass cures.
The hottest stretch, fine for a sea based trip and punishing for midday interior sightseeing.
Wet season with rain, choppier seas, green hills and Panglao hotel rates often well below high season.
Shoulder month with improving weather, still green hills and softer prices.
What's on
- Saulog Festival 1 May
Tagbilaran's thanksgiving festival for its patron St. Joseph the Worker, local and far less touristed than Sandugo.
- Sandugo Festival All July, street dancing usually third or fourth Sunday of July
A month of pageants, fairs and concerts in Tagbilaran ending with the street dancing and blood compact re-enactment.
- Sambat Mascara y Regata Festival First weekend of December
A small river festival in Loboc with masks, music and a regatta on the Loboc River.
Best things to do in Tagbilaran
Chocolate Hills Complex
More than a thousand grass cones spread across the interior, best seen brown in the dry months from the main deck.
Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary
The ethical way to see a tarsier, in protected forest at Corella with silence, no flash and no touching rules.
Loboc River Cruise
A floating restaurant barge up the emerald Loboc River, where the jungle scenery outshines the buffet lunch.
Baclayon Church
One of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines, a coral stone parish from 1727 with a small convent museum.
Blood Compact Monument
The bronze group marking the 1565 sandugo treaty in Bool, a five minute stop that anchors the whole Bohol story.
Bilar Man-Made Forest
A free two kilometre tunnel of towering mahogany on the Loboc to Carmen road, a cool ten minute photo stop.
National Museum of the Philippines - Bohol
The best hour in Tagbilaran city itself, covering Bohol geology, heritage and the 2013 earthquake recovery.
Hinagdanan Cave
A limestone cave on Panglao where light shafts fall on a clear underground lagoon you can swim in.
Where to stay in Tagbilaran
Alona Beach, Panglao
first trip, divers, walking to dinner
The widest choice of hotels, restaurants and dive shops, with Balicasag boats from the sand.
Dumaluan / Bolod, Panglao
beach quality, families and quiet
The island's widest, finest sand and big established resorts, a calm and spread out shore.
Danao / Tawala backstreets, Panglao
value and longer stays near Alona
Hostels and small hotels a short walk inland from Alona at noticeably lower prices.
Tagbilaran city centre
transit, ferries, business and local prices
Proper city hotels, the best local restaurants and the pier, but no beach at all.
Bool / Tagbilaran bay, Tagbilaran
a boutique first or last night
Bay facing small hotels south of the centre, quieter than downtown and minutes from the causeway.
Think twice about
- Downtown Tagbilaran as a beach-holiday base
No beach, port and mall surroundings, and a long ride to Panglao sand every day. Fine for a transit night.
- Alona Beach central strip for light sleepers
Bar music, dawn boat traffic and the island's highest prices. Sleep in the backstreets or at Dumaluan instead.
Best restaurants in Tagbilaran
Saffron Restaurant
Amorita's restaurant reinterpreting Boholano heritage dishes above Alona, the island's one dressed up splurge dinner.
MIST Restaurant
Panglao's most photographed dining room, a plant filled fusion restaurant built for a fun group dinner.
BARWOO
A Korean owned fusion restaurant on the circumferential road, one of Panglao's most consistently praised tables.
The Buzzz Cafe by Bohol Bee Farm
The Bee Farm's sea facing cafe for organic flower salads, honey dishes and famous ice cream in cassava cones.
Toto e Peppino
Panglao's long running Italian table for pizza and pasta, where the island's divers and expats end up.
JJ's Seafood Village
Tagbilaran's big bayfront seafood institution, built for family style Filipino celebrations at sunset.
Gerarda's Place
Tagbilaran's best loved Filipino family restaurant, generous classics and seafood at well below Panglao prices.
SHAKA - Panglao Bohol
Panglao's healthy cheap eat, smoothie bowls, falafel wraps and big breakfasts loved by divers and vegetarians.
Outdoor things to do in Tagbilaran
Balicasag Island
A protected sanctuary with coral gardens, turtles and dive walls, the best water in Bohol by boat from Alona.
Napaling Reef
A resident sardine school in the millions just off the Panglao cliff, snorkellable from shore with a guide.
Loboc Ecotourism Adventure Park
A Superman style zipline about 120 metres above the Loboc River gorge, with a cable car for the return.
Danao Adventure Park
Bohol's extreme corner, a canyon park famous for The Plunge swing plus ziplines, tubing, rappelling and caving.
Chocolate Hills Adventure Park
ATV tracks, a bicycle zipline and treetop courses at the foot of the Chocolate Hills, the active way to see them.
Pamilacan Island
The quieter island trip, a fishing village with a snorkelling sanctuary and dolphins possible on the crossing.
Can-umantad Falls
Bohol's tallest waterfall with blue swimming holes below the Cadapdapan Rice Terraces, on the long eastern day trip.
Bohol Golfzon Screen Golf
An indoor screen golf simulator open to midnight, the only golf on Bohol and a fun rainy day fallback.
Best hotels in Tagbilaran
Amorita Resort
Bohol's design led clifftop resort above Alona, with two infinity pools, a spa and the island's best service.
Oceanica Resort
A large established resort on the Bolod white sand, with extensive grounds and facilities aimed at families.
Henann Resort Alona Beach, Bohol
Bohol's biggest resort, about 400 rooms and several pools on Alona's longest beachfront, in the middle of the scene.
Bohol Beach Club
One of Panglao's original beachfront resorts on the wide Dumaluan sand, calm, garden set and family friendly.
Kew Hotel
Tagbilaran's best city hotel, a modern 59 room address opposite City Hall with a rooftop resto bar.
Bohol Tropics Resort
The city's long running garden resort near the bay, with pools and a relaxed feel for a full city day.
Ocean Suites
A small boutique hotel facing Tagbilaran Bay, with an infinity pool and a giant clam sanctuary below.
Abraham Bohol
A social hostel resort a short walk from Alona, with dorms, private rooms, two pools and nightly activities.
Is Tagbilaran expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | ₱1,800 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | ₱4,500 a person |
| Splurge | ₱12,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Balicasag Island: a few days ahead
- Napaling Reef: a few days ahead
- Pamilacan Island: a few days ahead
- Saffron Restaurant: a few days ahead
- Amorita Resort: weeks ahead
- Oceanica Resort: weeks ahead
- Henann Resort Alona Beach, Bohol: weeks ahead
- Kew Hotel: a few days ahead
- Book Balicasag boats and the Napaling sardine experience a day or more ahead in peak season.
- Book Amorita, Oceanica and Henann well ahead in high season, and Cebu ferries early around holidays and fiestas.
- Book a driver the day before for Danao or the Anda and Can-umantad day, and check the weather first.
Is Tagbilaran safe?
- Bohol is considered a safe, calm province, and the main injury risk is scooter accidents.
- Wear the life jacket on island hopping boats and use reef safe sunscreen, watching for sea urchins at Alona.
- Drink filtered or bottled water, and use mosquito repellent at dawn and dusk against dengue.
- Buy ferry tickets at official counters or online, not from unofficial sellers outside the pier.
Tagbilaran travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Choose the Corella tarsier sanctuary and skip roadside stops that cage, handle or crowd tarsiers.
- Beachfront Alona seafood is overpriced, so eat grilled fish at Dumaluan's public beach stalls or in Tagbilaran.
- Virgin Island is only a low tide photo stop, worth it as part of a Balicasag morning and not on its own.
- Tour buses converge on Loboc and the Chocolate Hills deck late morning, so start the countryside day early.
Getting around Tagbilaran: public transport and more
- Fly to Bohol Panglao International Airport on Panglao, or take a fast ferry from Cebu to Tagbilaran pier in about two hours.
- Tricycles are the default for short hops in Tagbilaran and Panglao, so agree the fare before you ride.
- Hire a car and driver for the countryside day, and use Dao terminal buses and jeepneys only when time is plentiful.
- Scooter rental suits experienced riders only, with a helmet always, and never at night on unlit interior roads.
Who Tagbilaran suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Tagbilaran your trip
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