How to Go to Chocolate Hills in Bohol, Philippines

Chocolate Hills in Carmen, Bohol is one of the wonders of the world. It has 1,776 hills spreading in about 50 square kilometers (20 sq mi). Chocolate Hills is one of the tourist attraction in the Philippines listed in Philippine Tourism Authority. The 1,776 hills are covered with green grass that turns brown during the dry season that looks like a chocolate. That is why this wonder is called the chocolate hills. This marvel of creation is probably the famous tourist attraction in Bohol.

How to go there to enjoy the beauty of this wonders of the world? First, if you're in another country like USA, Canada, Australia and anywhere in the world, you need to take a flight to the Philippines via Philippine Airlines or any Airlines that have a flight schedule to the Philippines. Once you arrived in the Philippines most probably your in Manila, you need to take a domestic flight to Cebu. From the Mactan International Airport, you need to ride a taxi color yellow especially for passengers from the plane, to the Cebu port terminal bound for Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

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Bilar man-made forest

This is a photo of the Bilar Man-made Forest in Bohol, Philippines. I took this during my recent trip with my friends. This is my second time to pass by this forest (first was in 2004), but it was only in 2009 when I finally appreciated the beauty of this place.

The Bilar Man-made Forest is a sight to behold, a lovely stretch of road, en route to the famous Chocolate Hills. I loved the cool temperature that embraced my skin when we went out of the van to take pictures. Trees, coolness, and fresh air is a combination rarely experienced in Manila. And I’m happy to experience it, even for just a short while, in Bohol.

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1,000+ Choco-like Mounds

A perfect trip to Bohol can never be complete without visiting Bohol’s signature and most famous attraction – the Chocolate Hills in Carmen — that comes with lots of photo ops! Of course, that was what we exactly did.

From Loboc where we viewed the cute tarsiers, it was quite a long drive to the town of Carmen. After about an hour or so, we finally arrived at the Chocolate Hills Complex (a government-owned and operated resort and the original viewing station) and paid the entrance fee of PHP50/adult and PHP35/child.

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Down the Loboc River…

One of the many things that people say you must do in Bohol includes a river cruise on top a house floating on the river. After going on the river cruise, I didn’t find that it was much to shout about until I saw some of the pictures I got. Although the food might not be the greatest (its part of the package) and the view isn’t exactly fantastic, you get to see an interesting part of life in Bohol.

And I guess that is what makes this a worthwhile cruise.

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Blood Compact Monument in Bohol

Surprises come from the most unexpected time and place. Minutes after we’ve crossed the bridge from Panglao Island to the main island of Bohol, the driver of the tour van stopped in a gasoline station. This is not the surprise, if you’re interested to ask, as the driver was simply loading the van with gas in preparation for the whole-day tour of Bohol.

We then proceeded after gassing up, then stopped, a few minutes from the gas station, at the shoulder of the road. Maybe, I thought, the driver forget to pee or something. Then he opened the van’s sliding door and announced: “Wilcome, to da Blood Compact Monument”. There’s the surprise.

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Chocolate Hills of Bohol

There’s always something that one associates with a more famous place. Take Bohol, for instance. What immediately comes to mind when you’re asked to name something that reminds you of Bohol? Tarsier. Blood compact. Loboc River or Loboc children’s choir, perhaps. I bet you’d remember, on top of the list, the Chocolate Hills. These delicious-looking hills are the most famous tourist attractions of Bohol. I’d even go where no one dared to go, and say that you haven’t been to Bohol unless you’ve seen the Chocolate Hills.

The 1,776 conical hills are green during the rainy season but during summer, when rainwater is less bountiful, the vegetation growing on the hills turns brown and the underlying soil is exposed.

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Man-made Forest in Bohol

Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. This is the last line of a Joyce Kilmer poem. Here in Bohol, people not only make a tree, they grow an entire man-made forest. Located at the border of the Bilar and Loboc towns in Bohol, the man-made forest is a 2-kilometer stretch of purposely-planted mahogany trees, in the middle of which the road leading to the Chocolate Hills cuts through.

Somebody from a group asked why call it a man-made forest and what’s the big deal with it? These questions made me think and, if only that person didn’t happen to be my wife, I would have probably shot back with some pointed answer (if I did that to her, I won’t probably be alive to write this post). One doesn’t ask such questions, while parked under the majestic mahogany trees lining the road, becoming more dense by the year that the rays of the sun fight their way to get through. One should just stand there in amazement. Still, I politely offered the following answers.

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Chocolate Hills

Chocolate Hills was our next stop after the Loboc river cruise. Chocolate Hills is another, and perhaps the most popular, tourist destination in Bohol. Travelers from far and wide come to Bohol to see these unusual geological formations that look like giant mole hills. There are over 1,200 individual mounds/hills scattered throughout the Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan region. The hills are covered in green grass and other foilage which turn brown during the dry season, thus the name Chocolate Hills.

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Night Cruising in Loboc River

Have you been to Loboc River lately especially at night? Now, you can cruise this famous river even at night time. According to our friend, a very generous Chinese businessman donated lighting fixtures worth millions of pesos. They installed globe lights and huge spotlights in both sides of the river starting from Loboc Church up to the waterfall which is more or less five hundred meters. The two bridges and the ferry terminal were decorated with multicolored blinking lights that give these otherwise ordinary structures a dazzling look at night.

We stayed in Loboc for two nights and had a chance to watch this amazing display of lights. Courtesy of our priest-friend who happens to be a Lobocnon. Their house was built on the side of a hill overlooking the rice fields and the mighty Loboc River. Their house was once a temporary shelter of flood victims that were ravaged by the water that overflowed from the river.

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Bohol Chocolate Hills

After our relaxing break by the Loboc River, day trip continued and next stop was Bohol Chocolate Hills. It was a long drive compared to the stops we had in the morning and so we had some time to snooze. Finally, we arrived after almost an hour drive, there was a gate and a road going up where we passed through and paid the entrance fee of 10php each.

Kuya Roy (tour driver) just dropped us because he had to park somewhere else and we would just ask the management to call him once we were done. To reach the top and get a sight of the Chocolate Hills, we went up a flight of stairs with mini steps that made it a bit hard to go up and tiring.

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Loboc River in Bohol

Around 11.30am, we were already on our way to our next stop, the Loboc River Cruise to have our first meal and lunch in Bohol. As we arrived there were booths where you can check out menus and decide which floating restaurant to dine in. Kuya Roy, our tour driver, suggested us to eat in RiverWatch floating restaurant; buffet price is 300php per head and this is the standard rate for all.

As we got in the floating restaurant, buffet table was ready and people started to get food. Below is a shot of the buffet table located in the middle part of the boat. Few minutes later, the cruise started and we were enjoying our meal at the same time the scenic view of Loboc River.

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The Chocolate Hills of Bohol

When I wrote about the Chocolate Hills landing in the Forbes list of most astonishing landscapes, I was so eager to book a trip to Bohol. One day, while I was in Cebu, we spontaneously decided to spend a night in Bohol. We travelled via ferry at noontime, hoping to see the hills by 4PM. From the Tagbilaran port, we hired a van for P2,000 to take us around Bohol in the little time we had left.

The Chocolate Hills were our priority so we drove there instantly. It was also the furthest of the well known attractions in Bohol. We passed by the Baclayon Church, the Loboc River and the Tarsier sanctuary. We didn't stop though, and decided to just try our luck on our way back. We did stop to take a snapshot of the picturesque man-made forest.

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