As a first time traveler, you’d wonder what are the best places to visit in Bohol. I’ve thought of that too when we were planning this trip. That’s why instead of DIY-ing, we decided to get help from a tour agency to do all the plannings for us. Keep reading to learn more from our trip to help you too with your planning. 🙂
The Best Places To Visit in Bohol - The Land of Chocolate Hills!
My friends and I were able to squeeze in one more travel before the year ends. We went to the Land of Chocolate Hills and Queen City of the South last October 2016 for a 5 days and 4 nights vacation.
We alloted 2 days for Bohol and another 2 days for Cebu. The 5th day was our early flight back to Manila.
Our initial plan was to DIY our trip. However, we had a change of mind when we considered the weather. There’s a high possibility of rain during our trip because of typhoon season hence we decided to just get a travel agency to take care of our trip to avoid hassle and headache in case of flooding.
Upon several research, we found a travel agency that was very accommodating and replied very efficiently to all our inquiries, which made us decide to get them. Because aside from the price, it is the service that’s more important for us. Mura nga, papasakitin naman ang ulo mo sa serbisyo nila, wala din. And besides, what they offered to us fit our budget so we gave it a go.
Going To Bohol!
We landed at the Mactan International Airport and, from there, rode a taxi going to Cebu Pier 1 for our early ferry ride to Tagbilaran, Bohol. Taxis are easily available to all passengers outside the airport so you’ll have no problem in getting one. Since we were very early, 5:00 a.m. I guess it only took us 10-15mins to arrive at Pier 1.
Our driver told us that if we arrived a bit later, say 7:00 – 8:00 a.m., we would have been stuck in traffic since Cebu traffic is almost the same as Manila’s.
The earliest trip to Tagbilaran is at 6:00 a.m. and two hours to arrive there. We had a rough journey going to Bohol. For a first-timer, we were very nervous while sailing because the waves were harsh on us. They were so strong that we felt like the ferry was hitting not waves but rocks. Anyways, we were safe naman. haha Ninerbyos lang kasi nga first time.
As we arrived at Bohol, we were picked up by a van, a 14-seater van I guess, which was exclusive only for us 4! Yes; we were just 4. Parang kaming celebrity. haha
Pwede kaming mag by row ng upo. haha It was a private tour for us and we were surprised that they gave us a very comfy ride. Ang bait pa po ng aming driver. He took care of us and he was also like a guide. 🙂
Below are the places we went to and I also shared some interesting stories in the caption:
Chocolate Hills
DAY 1 – OCTOBER 15, 2016 – From Pier 1, I think it was more than an hour’s ride going here. And when you arrive, there’s a staircase with 200+ steps to take before you get to the viewing deck.
Of course, your Bohol trip won’t be complete if you’ll not visit this unbelievable wonder of nature. Indeed, one of the best places to visit in Bohol, if not THE BEST!
TARSIER CONSERVATORY
It will only take you a few minutes to go around the conservatory. You can get as close as few steps away from the tarsiers, but you are not allowed to hold or touch them.
BUTTERFLY GARDEN
They have a lot of butterfly species here.
I must say that this one was the most fun tour because the tour guides here have a creative and funny way of touring you around. Because, as our tour guide said, it would’ve been a boring-all-talking-kind of tour. Hence, the humor they added and it was really effective! hihi
They also have a very creative way of taking pictures of you with the butterfly. There are also picture-perfect spots inside the garden. 🙂
MAN-MADE FOREST
The Man-Made Forest is about 2km long stretch of high-rising Mahogany trees which is just along the road so you only need to locate a safe spot, park on the side, and voila! You can already take unlimited photos there.
Just be mindful of the cars passing by the road, or else.. hehe
PHYTON SANCTUARY
There are also a large number of snake species here but I was not able to take too much photo just because.. haha BUUUUT, before we left, they were able to convince me to have a photo taken with the biggest snake they have there, PRONY 2.
It was just a quick photo op because he might forget he’s full and swallow me whole! haha
Until now, I still can’t believe I really entered that cage with a huge snake in there! Faced my fear indeed! haha
His name is PRONY 2 because there was a PRONY before him, which is bigger and longer, but died because of illness. Though they were able to preserve his skin and now, this is him…
LOBOC RIVER / FLOATING RESTAURANT
As we were enjoying our tour, we then felt hungry and Loboc Floating Restaurant got us covered with their buffet lunch while sailing the stretch of Loboc river. This is one of the best places to visit in Bohol, if I’m going to choose only a few from all the tourist spots we visited during this day.
I guess it was a 30-min sail from end to end of the river. So better if you finish your meal going on so you can enjoy the view as you go back. The river is wide that’s why you will see several floating restaurants passing by.
I don’t know how the two bodies of water happened, but it was totally awesome seeing such! See the photo below with two different colors of water meet. 🙂
There are some stop-overs during the cruise, and kids will give you a welcome performance.
BEE FARM
This is where they harvest pure, unpasteurized, organic honey. Several herbs are also being planted here for their all-organic restaurant. They also weave different kinds of materials to make furniture and all other kind of stuff.
They also have factories of different organic products like tea, ice cream, tableya, and more.
If you want to buy some souvenirs or organic products, they have a souvenir shop there.
HINAGDANAN CAVE
Our impression of caves is that we have to walk or trek for a few minutes before getting to see it but this one is different. I just can’t believe that this is just below a busy area. Almost below a highway, if I’m not mistaken.
This cave was only discovered when a minor earthquake occurred causing a hole to appear. And when someone peeked below the hole, they saw God’s amazing creation.
Tour guides here are really full of sense of humor and creativeness in taking photos. They are really used to their job. hehe
SHELL MUSEUM
The owner of NOVA Shell Museum is Mr. Quirino Hora, who fell in love with diving. And by that, he now has thousands or millions of shell collections.
They have a lot of shells, from smallest to biggest, from harmless to the most poisonous. All shells of sorts.
They have a souvenir shop that sells products made with shells. The price range is PHP 15 – PHP 50,000 if my memory serves me right. We were lucky to have met Mr. Hora himself during our tour there.
We ended our first day at Bohol at around 4:00 p.m. If I am going to choose my top 3 best places to visit in Bohol from those that we visited today, it will be the following in order:
– Chocolate Hills
– Hinagdanan Cave
– Loboc River with Floating Restaurant experience
It was such a tiring day, but we were thankful that we have a private car that brought us to the tourist spots. If we did it DIY style, I don’t think we’ll be able to go to all these places in just a day. And for sure, we’ll be even more tired.
Really grateful to our travel agency for arranging everything seamlessly.
We went straight to Dubay Resort, Panglao where we stayed for a night and spent our 2nd day in Bohol.
DETAILS AND EXPENSES IN BOHOL
TRAVEL AGENCY
FACEBOOK PAGE:
Zubu Travel And Tours
COST:
PHP 8,250/pax for Bohol-Cebu 4D3N Tours
BOHOL TOUR INCLUSIONS:
Bohol overnight accommodation with set breakfast (Beachfront resort).
Roundtrip transfers (Tagbilaran-Panglao-Tagbilaran)
Roundtrip ferry ticket (Cebu-Tagbilaran-Cebu)
Private vehicle, driver and fuel
Bohol Countryside Tour
All entrance fees
Buffet lunch at Loboc
OTHER EXPENSES NOT INCLUDED IN THE TOUR PACKAGE
Taxi from Airport to Pier 1 – PHP 150
Pier 1 Terminal Fee – PHP 25
Oceanjet Baggage Fee – PHP 30 for baggages up to 15kgs
Dinner at a near resort – PHP 250/pax
Lunch at a near resort – PHP 50-70/pax
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