Bohol Countryside Tour: Chocolate Hills, Tarsier and Loboc River
Description
Start the day meeting the Tarsiers, the second smallest primate in the world! Continue your day exploring the famous Loboc River on a stand-up paddleboard. Visit one of the National Cultural Treasures in the Philippines, the Baclayon Church for a unique countryside tour.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Loboc river is a famous tourist spot in Bohol, known for its clean water and lush jungles. Loboc Town served as an inland market village where people brought their agricultural products to trade for seafood, but it’s now a quiet touristy town. A cruise on the river will allow you to experience the tropical inland of Bohol with all its majesty. There are many ways to experience Loboc River, and one of the best ways to experience it is by going on our included Stand-up Paddleboarding activity!
The Tarsier Conservation Area was built to protect and preserve the tarsiers which are native to Bohol. It also gives you the chance to observe the second smallest primate in the world - the Tarsiers. A short easy walk is all it’ll take to get up close and personal with them. The Tarsiers are nocturnal which means that they sleep during the day, so you’ll need to be quiet, but hey, feel free to take pictures as long as you turn off the flash. They are easily stressed and scared, and therefore you’ll need to match your gentleness level to theirs. The Tarsier Conservation Area is one of the few ethic places to meet these animals, and you’ll be lucky to do so. It’s a cute little stop we do along the way to Chocolate Hills as part of our countryside tour in Bohol.
The Chocolate Hills are a natural monument that are recognized as the 3rd national geological monument in the Philippines. These are uniformly cone-shaped hills compared to hershey kisses due to its “chocolate” color during the summer and the hills are filled with lush greenery of vegetation during the rainy season. Get to know several popular legends about how the Chocolate hills were created, as well as a scientific explanation of it, and learn more about this cool place. There are 1,776 hills, and we’ll climb one of them for the best view of these hills possible. We’ll also give you the option to go on an ATV ride if you’d like to experience the Chocolate Hills in a slightly more exciting manner.
Baclayon Church is one of the earliest Catholic structures in the Philippines, and the oldest church in Bohol! It’s recognized as a National Cultural Treasure and Historic Landmark. It’s also one of the Philippines’ oldest Catholic churches made with authentic materials such as coral stones and said to also have mixed millions of egg whites in its cement. The church was greatly damaged in 2013 due to the strong earthquake but was fully-restored in 2018 and re-opened its doors to the public since then. Take a scenic look from the outside or go inside for a great impression of how churches in the Philippines look like and witness the daily practice of the devout locals. The Catholic Church is the biggest one in the Philippines and religion plays a major role in the everyday life of most locals. Therefore, Baclayon church will be a great window for you to take a glimpse through of what life in Bohol is really like.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(12)
We had a great tour with abraham bohol with Jirah as our guide and Rito as our driver. They accommodated and made adjustment to our needs despite being so tired. Also, we learned a lot about Bohol history and experienced activities that are true to Bohol culture during the country side tour
Thank you! We’re so happy you had a great experience in Bohol with Jirah and Rito. It’s wonderful to hear they made you comfortable and that you enjoyed the cultural and historical insights. We truly appreciate your kind words!
Amazing tour, highly recommended. We did many things outside the itinerary like tasting coconut wine made by a local family, see the forest and learn how salt balls were made in the traditional way. We also saw the Tarsiers at the sanctuary, chocolate mountains, have lunch in Loboc River and then do paddle surf or Canoe or Moana in the river. Lastly, we stop at the church in Bohol and saw it inside (remember to bring something to cover your legs and shoulders to access the church). Our guide Jirah was super nice and fun and gave us so much information about traditions and culture. She was very knowledgeable and one of the best guides I ever had. The driver was really good and got us everywhere on time.
Thank you so much for your kind words! We're thrilled to hear you enjoyed meeting the local people—that connection is such a special part of the experience. We're also glad you had a great time with your guide; we'll be sure to pass along your compliments. We hope to welcome you back again soon!
Really glad I booked this tour, our guide David was great and full of interesting facts as we travelled. The van was comfortable and airconned and I really enjoyed some of the stops that weren't mentioned, such as the visit to a traditional salt workshop and to a family home to taste their coconut wine! So grateful this tour includes the "more ethical" tarsier sanctuary as it felt car more considerate to the animals. The chocolate hills, lunch at the restaurant looking out over the river and kayaking were all great! A really wonderful day and well worth the money 😊 If you can walk to Abraham's directly it's cheaper to book with them but even with what I paid online I was still good value. As a solo female traveller I would definitely recommend.
All in all a full and enjoyable day. Driver was safe and roads were in good condition (mostly new roads). The friendly young tour guide provided many interesting details about the places we visited, such as Chocolate Hills. Good value for money in my opinion.
We joined a Bohol Countryside Tour with Abraham Bohol together with mostly Western guests. The tour van fetched us at 8AM and we visited these these places: - Tibuok Salt Making Area - Tibuok Showroom Store - Coconut Wine - Chocolate Hills ATV (optional, some guests availed of this for an extra 1.1k, 1 hour) - Chocolate Hills View Deck - Bohol Man Made Forest - Loboc River Lunch at the Loboc River Resort (Food is paid separately, it ranges from P200 onwards) - Kayaking, Boating, Stand Up Paddle Board Rides - Baclayon Church What I like about the tour is how it mixed the usual Bohol Countryside tour without the kitschy activities like the Butterfly Garden and Python Sanctuary. I was surprised though that the Loboc River Cruise—which was nice too—was not part of the tour, it was instead replaced by a lunch at the serene Loboc River Resort. And included with our lunch there were free kayak, boat, and paddle board rides. Not a bad alternative, if I may say so. I also like how the tour went for the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary, the more ethical and sustainable tarsier viewing site in Bohol, prioritizing the tarsier’s well-being over the viewing pleasure of tourists. We, nevertheless, still got pretty good pictures of the tarsiers, especially since our guide assisted us in taking photos. And finally, I love the energy and insights of our guide, Jirah!
We are glad that all in all you had fun on our Countryside tour.
This is the best Countryside Tour I've joined in Bohol (I've done it three times already). I'm glad that we booked at Abraham Bohol, 'coz we've experienced the essence of Bohol with their thoughtfully curated tours. Everyone felt comfortable and everything ran smoothly thanks to Jirah, our lovely tour guide. 📌 Asin Tibuok Factory - we got to see how this rare Filipino artisanal sea salt was made by filtering seawater through ashes. 📌 Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary - one of only a few ethical foundations on the island, allowing visitors to spot tarsiers in their wild habitat and not in cages or other artificial imprisonment. 📌 Chocolate Hills - this is the reason why we booked a tour because our son was intrigued by what it would look like. 📌 Man-made Bilar Forest - we drove through the mahogany forest that was part of the government's efforts to address the area's erosion, deforestation, and soil degradation. 📌 Loboc River Resort - we had lunch here overlooking the river, and we also got to choose one water activity that is already included in the package. Our son chose the boat ride over paddleboarding and kayaking. 📌 Baclayon Church - aside from learning so much stuff about the church, our son met a random local 5-year-old girl who called him "friend" right away and gave him a bracelet. I highly recommend their unique and ethical tours in Bohol.
Nothing special getting up there, lots of tourists out of breath , I was a little disappointed by the view compared to other places to see the chocolate hills If you want to hike go to Alicia panoramic park! Less tourists because you have to walk uphill 😅 and a more scenic view
My brother and I have done the countryside tour and it was great!! We have seen a lot in one day and everything was well planned and taken care of. Would highly recommend!
Thank you so much for appreciating our Countryside Tour!
While the tour itself was not bad, this posting is a bit misleading. First of all, there's no river cruise. I was looking forward to relaxing on a boat ride. We didn't even eat on the floating restaurants, just at a restaurant with a view. However, we did kayak, canoe and SUP on the river. Also, the ATV at Chocolate Hills now costs 1100 pesos per person not 700 as listed here. This listing says no more than 12 people on the tour but we had 13 which was too many. 12 would be too many, anyway. A smaller group would be better. The guide was great and fluent in English. Finally, you can book this tour directly with Abraham Hotels and Tours in Bohol for more than 50% less than this booking, so I feel a bit ripped off. Don't buy here, buy in person in Bohol, I'm sure there are plenty of seats. All in all, do this tour but not through Viator.
Hi Kelsey, I'm sorry that you didn't fully enjoy our tour as we don't have a river cruise included. For a matter of fact, we never did it like other companies as we think it's very touristy and not so nice all in all, and we offer our guests the opportunity to do SUP and eat a much better lunch in a riverside restaurant. For the ATV experience, 30 minutes cost 700php, and 60 minutes cost 1100php. We don't charge or meddle with their operation and it's completely optional while we earn no commission on it. We also gave you a partial refund to make your booking much cheaper as we wanted you to have a good memory of it, and we feel sorry that you gave us a low rating for things which are out of our are of responsibility. Best, Dan
The itinerary is packed with history, wonderful scenery, and adventure. No dull time was experienced as the very friendly and accommodating tour guide shares fun and informative facts on every location.
