Bohol Chocolate Hills Visitors Tips
Table of Contents
The Bohol Chocolate Hills are epic landforms in the Philippines that are one of the best things to do in Bohol!
Okay, so you’ve travelled to this epic island in the Philippines and now you’ve heard (or read) about these stunning Chocolate Hills. Did you know some people refer to them as an ‘8th wonder of the world’. Is this true? Regardless, they’re still really cool to see! We visited here whilst on our Philippines itinerary.
Now, you will want to know where the Chocolate Hills are, how to see them and info like the entrance fee. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered as all this information is in this Bohol travel guide for these unique landforms in the Philippines.
Let’s look what’s included in this post;
- Location of the Chocolate Hills
- Entrance fee to the Hills
- Best time to visit the Chocolate Hills
- Tour
- Chocolate Hills Adventure Park
- History
- Manila to the Chocolate Hills
- Where to stay
- Final thoughts
Where are the Bohol Chocolate hills?
If you looking for the location of the Chocolate Hills, you won’t have to look very far for the directions as the island has many signposts for it.
The Chocolate Hills you want to visit are more-or-less in the middle of the island in between Batuan and Carmen. They’re easily accessible from Bohol’s major roads.
We hired a scooter for around $4 for the day. Getting around Bohol on the scooter was so much fun in the Gorgeous weather.
You can see the location on the Chocolate Hills map below;
Chocolate Hills entrance fee
Don’t worry if you’re on a backpacking budget, the Chocolate Hills entrance fee price is only 50 pesos ($1) and parking is free for scooters, cars etc.
There are also snacks for sale on the carpark and you can get crisp etc for less than $2.
Best time to visit
You’re obviously will want to see the chocolate colour covering the hills. These unique Bohol landforms are only brown at certain times of the year, which is the Philippines dry season. So, the dry season is roughly from November to May. This is when the hills will change to the brown colour. Even if you visit and they’re the green hills, they’re still cool to see.
The best place to see them is from the viewing deck, which is accessible from the car park. I think it’s about a 100 step climb to the top of the Chocolate Hills viewpoint. But it’s totally worth the climb!
I did see some people struggling with the heat, so you should probably take some water with you on the mini-hike.
Chocolate Hills tour
If you don’t want to travel around the Bohol island yourself, you can do the Chocolate Hill tour. One of the best things about tours in Bohol (and the rest of Asia) is that you will get to see many of the other tourist’s points on Bohol. For example, you’ll see a place like;
- The Bilar manmade forest
- Tarsier Sanctuary
- Floating restaurant on the Loboc River
- Of course, the Bohol Chocolate Hills which is the highlight of the tour
How much is a Bohol tour?
You will pay between $2o – $35.
Chocolate Hills Adventure Park (CHAP)
Why don’t you get adventurous and visit the eco-tourism adventure park!
If you’re staying in Tagbilaran City, then you will only have to drive for roughly 1 hour to reach the crazy CHAP.
A visit here will keep you engaged for hours! There’s over 30 adventures for both adults and kids. Let’s look at some of the awesome activities;
- Wave runner surf zipline
- Hiking
- Mountain biking
- Horse riding
- Bike zip
You can enjoy all this with the stunning views of the Chocolate Hills.
Where is the Chocolate Hills Adventure Park located?
It’s located in Brgy. Buenos Aires, Carmen, Bohol. You can check out eh Google map below for the exact location;
You can book the Chocolate Hills Adventure Park tickets here.
What caused the chocolate hills?
I mentioned this part early in the post, but let’s go in a little more in-depth of what caused the Bohol Chocolate Hills.
It’s the changing of the season and the weather that makes the Chocolate Hills change colour from green to brown and then back again. It really is a strange happening and this is why the hills are one of the most visiting places to see on the Bohol island.
It’s known that there are more than a 1000 hills across Batuan, Carmen and Sagbayan. That’s some pretty big scale, right?!
When you see the hills from far away, they look completely symmetrical. However, they are all actually completely different in size, they just all have that similar triangular shapes.
If you have a decent camera, you can get some epic Chocolate Hill images from the distance.
There are not just the facts about the Bohol Hills, there’s actually a lot of myths around them. The Filipinos and locals have different beliefs as to why the hills are there. If you get talking to some of the locals, I’m sure they will tell you there side of the story.
You can also ask your driver if you do choose to do one of the Bohol tours.
I have read of one story about two giants viciously fighting and throwing rocks at each other. This led to carnage in the hills and mess everywhere. Therefore, this is what a lot of the locals believe to be the Chocolate Hills history. I thought that was a cool story!
Manilla to the Chocolate hills
If you want to get from Manila to the Chocolate Hills, you have two options;
- Option 1 is to take a flight from Manila to the island of Bohol.
- Option 2 is to get the ferry from Cebu City to Bohol.
Once you arrive on the island you will find there’s plenty of tours to the Chocolate Hills or you can just arrange your own transport such as a car or scooter!
Where to stay near the Chocolate Hills?
There’s some great accommodation near the Chocoloate Hills to choose from.
There’s great hotels and there’s also budget hostels for you to choose from.
Okay, let’s have a look at some of the best places to stay.
Budget;
Mid-range;
Luxury;
Final thoughts
The Bohol Chocolate Hills are definitely worth a visit if you’re visiting this must see island in the Philippines.
You don’t need a full day to see them, just give yourself a couple of hours.
So, have an amazing time and get plenty of photos.
Check out the Oslob whale sharks and the Cebu canyoneering on your travels.