Bohol Countryside Day Trip from Cebu: Chocolate Hills & Loboc River Lunch

4.51

(145 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t really expect to start my day in Cebu and end up staring at those weirdly perfect Chocolate Hills. The ferry ride over was louder than I thought—kids laughing, someone eating dried mangoes nearby (the sweet smell stuck to my shirt). Our guide, Mariel, met us at the port in Tagbilaran. She had that way of talking like she’d seen it all but still found things funny—she pointed out a carabao grazing by the road and said it probably knew more about Bohol than any of us.

The drive through Bohol’s man-made mahogany forest felt cooler than I’d hoped for—light flickering between the trunks, windows down just enough to catch that earthy smell. When we stopped at the Tarsier Conservation Area, I tried not to blink too much so I wouldn’t miss one (they’re tiny, like little aliens). The staff there asked us to keep quiet; you could hear someone’s flip-flops slapping the path and a soft whistle from somewhere deeper in the trees. I swear those tarsiers looked right through me.

Lunch was on a floating restaurant drifting along the Loboc River. There was live music—nothing fancy, just two guys with guitars singing “Bahay Kubo” and smiling when people joined in. The food was simple: grilled fish, rice, something sticky-sweet for dessert. I ate too fast because I wanted to watch the water slip past green banks where kids waved from the shore. Mariel laughed when I tried to say “salamat” properly—my accent is hopeless.

We visited Baclayon Church after that; it smelled faintly of candle wax and old wood. Someone was sweeping near the altar and nodded as we passed. By then my head was full: monuments about blood compacts (I didn’t know what that meant until today), stories about Spanish priests, limestone hills that look fake until you’re standing on them. On the way back to Cebu I kept thinking about how small those tarsiers’ hands were—and how quiet it got when everyone just looked out at Bohol sliding by outside.