Bohol Countryside Tour: Chocolate Hills, Tarsiers & Loboc River Cruise

What to expect on this tour

This is the classic Bohol countryside loop, the one trip almost every first-time visitor does, and for good reason: it strings together the three things the island is famous for into a single, well-paced day. You'll be picked up in the morning from your hotel in the Panglao, Tagbilaran, or Alona Beach area, then driven inland through the rolling green interior of Bohol.

The Chocolate Hills

The headline stop is the Chocolate Hills viewpoint in Carmen, where you climb a short flight of steps to the official observation deck and look out over more than 1,200 near-identical conical mounds spread across the countryside. They are emerald green most of the year and turn cocoa-brown in the dry season (roughly March to May), which is how they earned their name. It is one of the most photographed landscapes in the Philippines.

Tarsiers and the Loboc River

Next you'll visit a tarsier conservation area, ideally the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary in Corella or the Loboc viewing station, to see one of the world's smallest primates clinging to branches in the wild. Guides keep voices low and flash off, because tarsiers are extremely stress-sensitive. The day's centrepiece is the Loboc River cruise: a floating restaurant glides slowly upriver past jungle banks and a small waterfall while you enjoy an all-you-can-eat Filipino buffet lunch, usually with live acoustic or local music on board.

The rest of the loop

Depending on the operator, the route also rolls past the Man-Made Forest (a dense mahogany corridor planted along the road), the Baclayon Church heritage complex, the Blood Compact Shrine commemorating the 1565 Sikatuna-Legazpi pact, and a butterfly garden or python display. Expect a comfortable air-conditioned van, an English-speaking driver-guide, and plenty of photo stops. By late afternoon you're back at your hotel having seen the best of inland Bohol in one go.