Bohol is not as internationally famous as nearby Boracay, but is well-known locally as a paradise for divers and snorkelers. In addition to white sand beaches, Bohol is also home to the intriguing Chocolate Hills, tarsiers, and Balicasag Island fish sanctuary.
Dolphin watching and whale watching tours are popular with both residents and visiting tourists. The best season is from March to June, but dolphins can be seen year-round.
The island of Panglao, a thirty-minute drive from Tagbilaran City, is home to some of the finest beaches in the country. Resorts dot the island, with most clustered along Alona beach.
Cities and Towns
Get in
One can travel to Bohol by air, land, and sea.
By plane
At the moment, Bohol's city airport in Tagbilaran services daily Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airline flights from Manila.
is undergoing renovation to accommodate the B-737s of Philippine Airlines. Ramp area improvement and the construction of a modernized airport building will soon ensure bigger aircraft will allow direct flight into Bohol.
Most guests to Bohol enter the island either by land or sea via its island neighbor, Cebu.
By boat
The Tagbilaran City Tourist Pier handles more than 4,000 travelers on a daily basis. Nine daily ship calls from Cebu are processed efficiently, with other ships from Manila, Cagayan de Oro City, Dumaguete, Dipolog, Iligan City, Larena, Plaridel and Ozamiz City also welcomed on a regular basis. Another four port terminals cater specifically to Cebu and northern Mindanao routes. Additional berthing space for fastcraft ferries is currently under construction.
Get around
Bohol Island is a easily accessible by bus, private cars, taxi and rental cars. Many of the towns in Bohol have a bus terminal where one can get a ride to other towns. Tagbilaran City, the capital city of Bohol has a integrated bus terminal located in Dao, where you can get a bus ride to get in most towns in Bohol. Most bus lines operate follows daily schedules. To go the the Chocolate Hills, one had to take the interior-route like Carmen-Sierra Bullones.
Other ways, to get to different places in Bohol is to rent a car. There are several different transportation companies in Tagbilaran City where you can make arrangements to rent a car or van or jeepney. Taxis are also available, but usually you have to pay in pre-negotiated fare called Pakyaw.
See
Tarsier.
For the past 45 million years, tarsiers have inhabited rainforests around the world, but now they only exist on a few islands in the Philippines, Borneo and Indonesia. In Bohol, the Philippine Tarsier was a common sight in the southern part of the island until the 1960's. Since then, the number has dwindled to as few as an estimated 1000 still left in the wild. Once protected by the humid rainforests and mist-shrouded hills, these mysterious primates struggle to survive as their home is cleared for crop growing.
To date, the Philippine Tarsier Foundation has acquired 7.4 hectares of land in Corella, Bohol for a Tarsier sanctuary. With the Department of Environment and Natural Resources playing an oversight role, the foundation has asked other Bohol towns with Philippines Tarsier populations to donate 20 hectares (49.4 acres) of forestland for conservation.
It also runs a Tarsier Research and Development Center, which serves as a visitor center and venue for research, as well as a habitat preserve. At the sanctuary, a spacious net enclosure keeps 100 Philippine Tarsiers for feeding, captive breeding and display. Here, visitors can observe the Philippine Tarsier in their natural habitat. Within the sanctuary, the Philippine Tarsiers roam freely and all of them have got used to a seven-foot high fence that circumscribes the territory and which serves mainly to protect them from predators like feral cats. At night, tarsiers can be seen climbing out of the fence to forage for food farther into the forest. They return again before daybreak, as if observing a curfew.
Do not visit the caged Tarsiers which are elsewhere on the island (especially Loboc). These are often stolen from the sanctuary and are so traumatised they can no longer breed.
The Tarsier was used by Stephen Spielberg as the inspiration for E.T.
Do
Sleep
Bohol's rapidly growing status as a developing tourist attraction in the Philippines has resulted in the improvement of its tourist facilities. From quality boutique hotels to delightfully quaint bed-and-breakfasts, lovely top of the line hotels and resorts to a simple bed rented from a resident. As such, whatever your budget, you could easily find a suitable place to stay. During peak periods such as Holy Week, Christmas and New Year, rooms may be a bit more difficult to find and more expensive so it would be advisable to reserve in advance.
Landmarks
See: List of Bohol Landmarks
Historical
Bohol cultural
Bohol natural
: Arc Point
: Cabilao and Sandingan Island Protected Seascapes -Loon (32-38 km north of Tagbilaran City)
: Pamilacan Island
: Cervera Shoal
: Doljo Point
: Momo Point
: Gak-ang Point
: Napoling Point
: Tangnan Point
Bohol religious
See: List of Bohol Churches; Also Bohol Churches''
Bohol man-made
: Lions Children’s Playground
: Lionettes Mini Park
Bohol special interest
Festivals
:Main Article:List of Bohol Festivals
:Main Article: Bohol Sandugo Festival
Sambat Mascara y Regatta'' Festival (1st Saturday of December) - Loay, Bohol
Geography
The Island of Bohol is oval-shaped mainland surrounded with 73 smaller islands, having a gently rolling terrain, ideal for commercial and industrial site development. Bohol's mountainous interior is home to rare and endangered flora and fauna. At certain points, hills drop steeply to the coast from a maximum elevation of 870 meters above sea level. The interior uplands are fit for agro-forestry and high value agricultural production. The central and northern lowlands have also fertile grounds and abundant water supply. Over a hundred caves have been identified, the biggest of which is found in the eastern part which makes Bohol ideal for spelunking adventures.
The Chocolate Hills in Carmen, Bohol are considered one of Philippine's natural wonders and Bohol is often referred to as the Jewel of the Philippines. They are hills made of limestone leftover from coral reefs during the ice age when the island was submerged. They turn brown during the summer, hence their name.
Most beaches are of white sand. The sand is often of such high quality that it is exported to other beaches in the world. The most well known of these beaches are in Panglao Island, and there, numerous islets have similar, yet untouched and pristine beaches.
The Loboc River is the most famous, running from the southeastern coast to the center of the island. It is famous for its River Cruise going up to its water source. The largest, Inabanga River, runs in the northern part of the province.
Numerous waterfalls and caves are scattered across the island, including the beautiful Mag-Aso falls in Antequera. Mag-Aso means smoke in the native tongue. The water is cool and often creates a mist in humid mornings which can hide the falls.
Panglao is a small island southwest of the main island, connected by a causeway to Tagbilaran.
Physical
Location. Bohol is an island province in the Visayas. It lies southeast from Cebu across Bohol Strait and southwest from Leyte, separated by the Camotes Sea and Canigao Channel. Bohol is also located north of Mindanao with Bohol Sea between them.
Features. With a land area of 4117.3 km² and a coastline 261 km long, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines. The main island is surrounded by about 70 smaller islands, the largest of which are Panglao Island facing Tagbilaran City in the southwest and Lapinig Island in the northeast.
The terrain of Bohol is basically rolling and hilly and about half the island is covered in limestone. Near the outer areas of the island are low mountain ranges. The interior is a large plateau with irregular landforms.
Near Carmen can be found the major tourist draw of the province, the Chocolate Hills. The more than 1,200 uniformly cone-shaped limestone hills were named that way because in the summer, the grass growing on the hills turn brown, making the landscape look like it had chocolate mounds all over. The Chocolate Hills is found on the provincial seal of Bohol.
Panglao is famous for its diving locations and routinely listed as one of the top ten diving locations in the world. Numerous tourist resorts dot the southern beaches and cater to divers from around the world.
Climate. Unlike Luzon and the northern part of Visayas, Bohol is mostly unaffected by the numerous typhoons that hit the country. The weather is mostly mild all year round. When typhoons do hit the island, they usually cross quickly and are no longer powerful, their energy dissipated by the mountains in Leyte and Samar.
From November to April, the northeast monsoon (amihan) prevails. Except for a rare shower, this is the mildest time of the year. Daytime temperatures average 28°C, cooling down at night to around 25°C. The summer season from May to July brings higher temperatures and very humid days. From August to October is the southwest monsoon (habagat). The weather during this season is not very predictable, with weeks of calm weather alternating with rainy days. It can rain any day of the year, but you will have more chance for a heavy shower from November to January. If you want to see the Chocolate Hills in their "Chocolate" color, you will have to go their during the "Summer".
References
See also
On-line resources
External links
