If you are planning to take a break from the stressful and noisy city life, then the beautiful island of Bohol is absolutely a perfect place for you to visit. I’m a boholana and I know you might find my first statement a biased opinion but try visiting Bohol and you’ll see what I mean. *wink.
This peaceful island is located in Central Visayas in the central region of the Philippines. There are over 1 Million people living here and Tagbilaran City is its capital city. You can come here via sea or air travel. The airplane trip from Manila will only take about one hour while sea travel will consume almost 1 and a half days.
If you happen to visit Bohol, the following are my top tourist spots that you may want to include in your travel list.
Top 10 recommended tourist spots in Bohol
- CHOCOLATE HILLS
The Chocolate Hills are located in the town of Carmen. There are around 1,776 hills that have a brown color in the dry season, hence the name. In order to see them, visitors need to climb two hundred steps to reach the observation deck where you will be rewarded with breathtaking views.
- PANGLAO ISLAND
Panglao Island is renowned for its white sand beach, coral reefs and dive sites. The most famous destination of the island is the Alona Beach. If you prefer a quieter place but just a walking distance away from the beach, you may want to check out Alona Grove Tourist Inn.
- DOLPHIN WATCHING, BALICAGASAG ISLAND AND ISOLA DI FRANCESCO
Your stay in Panglao Island wouldn’t be complete if you can’t try their island hopping tour. The tour usually starts early morning so you can catch up with the dolphins, next of the trip would be snorkeling in Balicasag Island which is really a must-have! This island is absolutely a perfect diving spot and I remember I’ve spent 3 hours non-stop snorkeling there. The beautiful white sand and peaceful surroundings with friendly people is one thing, but the view under water is just AHA-mazing! The final stop would be Isola di Francesco or formerly known as Bohol’s Virgin Island. It’s a place of meditation and reflection with long sandbar and white sand.
- PHILIPPINE TARSIER AND WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary is a natural habitat of tarsiers in Bohol. Tarsiers are the smallest primates with big eyes. They’re naturally quiet and shy creatures that weigh a maximum of 150 grams and their tails are around 230 mm long. If you love animals, you may want to pay them a visit.
Just keep in mind, be quite and don’t use flash on your cameras when visiting or you will scare them to death.
- MAN-MADE FOREST
Bilar Man-made forest is a tourist spot along the road in Bohol going to Chocolate Hills. It’s a thick 2-kilometer Mahogany man-made forest and is the first and the only man-made forest in the Philippines. As you approach, the atmosphere will change into somewhat chilly (especially when it’s raining) and darker because of the trees. For some, this place may sound creepy but it’s so beautiful. If I live near, I’m sure you will find me hanging out there with my book. The place is just so quite plus so eye-candy.
- HANGING BRIDGE
If you’re up for a little adventure, you may want to check out Sipatan Twin Hanging Bridge. Looking at the pictures, you might be wondering what’s the fuss is all about, but try walking on them, and you’ll know what it is. Besides, it is considered as one of the most dangerous hanging bridges in the world, as what Dir Journal stated.
- LOBOC RIVER CRUISE
Loboc River Cruise is quite expensive that’s why I only tried it once, hah! But I have to say that it was worth it. The food was great plus the experience of eating in a buffet while cruising Loboc-Loay river is quite romantic. A group of musicians will also play a song and you can sing with them too. Something came to mind? Yep, it’s absolutely a perfect place for a romantic date especially if your special someone adores nature. (Now you’ve got an idea what to do on Valentine’s Day next year, hehe)
- DANAO ADVENTURE PARK
Image courtesy from Danao Adventure Park
If you’re an adventure seeker, Bohol will never disappoint you. Danao Adventure Park offers rides that will absolutely fuel your excitement and spike your blood level so high. I’m only up for cable ride or maybe a little zip line but I really enjoy watching tourists trying the plunge or what they call bungee jumping. Totally intense!
- SAGBAYAN PEAK
Sagbayan Peak doesn’t usually included on most Bohol country-side tour packages but is a pretty good place to visit too. It is a man-made mountain resort and is located above the town of Sagbayan. There are plenty of steps to climb but the view will be rewarding. You can take some pretty good shots of the Chocolate Hills and some distant blue sea. This place is also perfect for kids too because of the cute cartoon statues and a little playground.
- HINAGDANAN CAVE
Hinagdanan Cave is one of the tourist spots in Panglao Island aside from its white sand beaches. The entrance to the cave is steep and narrow and it has small holes in the ceiling that provides light below. The very clear pool in the cave is somewhat enchanting that I find myself thinking of fairies but is very safe for tourist to swim.
Bohol island has so many tourist destination that you may want to check out too, but these are my top 10 recommended destination for those who want to experience Bohol in a limited time. If you’re a waterfall-person like me, Bohol has a lot of them too. I only visited two so far, but I am working on exploring known and unknown Bohol’s waterfalls pretty soon.
Have you been to Bohol and visited these attractions? Please feel free to share how was your experience by commenting them below.
