Complete with cool choreography, these guys would definitely bring out the Lady Gaga in you and increase the Bromance in your barkada! hahaha! :p

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Francisco Dagohoy monument near EAT Danao

EAT is an acronym for Extreme/Eco/Educational Adventure Tourism. This extreme adventure site is located in Danao, Bohol, around 72 kms away from Tagbilaran and is managed by the local government of Danao.

The park offers a wide array of extreme adventure activities from the highs (Plunge, Suislide, Sky Ride, Rappelling), the lows (Spelunking, Root Climb, Rock Climb, Wall Climb) and the flows (Kayak, River Tubing, River Trekking).

This way to EAT Danao

Trivia: Franciso Dagohoy’s real name is Francisco Sendrijas. The term Dagohoy came from the Visayan words Dagon (amulet) and Hoyohoy (breeze). As locals believed Francisco had an amulet that enabled him to fly, the phrase “Dagon sa Hoyohoy” was attributed to Francisco. The shortened or concatenated version of the phrase which is “Dagohoy” was what Franciso came to be known.　

Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities

Travel to Danao takes more than 2 hrs from Tagbilaran. The travel time would have been short if not for the dirt road on half of the way to Danao.

If you have time to spare, you could actually make you travel an enjoyable road trip, there are lots of interesting sites to stop by along the way.

Chocolate Hill Extreme Upclose and Personal: Along the way to Danao, you would pass by a lot of them chocolate hills

One of sites that might interest you are the Chocolate hills, up close and personal. You would pass by a number of chocolate hills and you could actually stop by and have a short hiking trip on top of the hill. There are also lots of small tranquil river with a backdrop of green rice paddies that is very scenic and photo tempting. There is also one village market we passed by where I think it was a major trading market as different animals are being hauled by the truck load to the village. Then probably around a few kilometers away from the Danao site you would pass by a valley with green rice paddies and a couple of coconut trees planted in the middle which made it look like an island amidst the green sea.

Coconut tree island amidst the sea of vibrant green

One of the most peculiar thing I noticed along the way is that there were patches of road that were intermittently paved, which is actually odd and funny, coz it seems that the construction group randomly picked portions of the road to cement. At first we noticed that paved roads are found in front of churches, schools and other government structures, which is quite logical. But as we traversed the road further, there were patches of paved road just less than 10 meters in length in the middle of nowhere. There were no buildings nor communities near the small patch of paved road, just grass land on both sides of the road. It was like short taste of luxury amidst the rocky road, a small respite from the constant shaking of the vehicle, which felt kinda numbing after sometime.

Eat dust before you EAT Danao: Lime stone dirt road towards EAT Danao

There are actually lots of other distractions along the way to Danao, that if you are photoholic, and have time to spare, could actually turn your rugged trip to an enjoyable road trip.

Ganito kami sa Makati, kahit hanggang Bohol nakakarating ang government vehicle. Official gov't trip ba yan or official family trip? Sarap naman libre gasolina!

Take The Danao Plunge

One of the park’s much sought after activity is the Plunge. This activity ranks number 1 in the heart attack category and I almost chicken-ed out of it. The Plunge is a tethered fall similar to a bungee jump, the difference is that, one, you don’t jump, second you don’t bounce and third you are strapped around your body not around your ankles.

You're not only paying for the ride, but also the experience (and a little bit of insurance just incase you become the first casualty)

The bottom of the Plunge or the place where they'd scoop up what's left of you after your fall

The park is quite new and was opened only last July of 2009, knowing this ofcourse added to the build up of fear for the Plunge. We were actually joking around, saying that the Plunge has been fully tested by the previous jumpers. And as a testament to the thorough testing they have done, once you get to the bottom of the 60 meter plunge, you’d be able to count the number of headstones of the dedicated park staffs who offered their lives for the safety of the succeeding jumpers. :p

Park staff straps you up before you walk the plank

The increase in pulse rate would start the moment you walk towards the other end of the suspended metal plank where the park staff hooks you up to the line. The good thing about this is during the time you are being hooked up and checked for safety, the park staff starts conversing with you, asking you some mundane questions such as your work, your age, your family and whatever under the sun, at the attempt of diverting your attention and calming you down before the plunge. After the double check of straps, the park staff would ask you to sit on the edge of the plank facing them as they crank the pulley to slowly lower the edge of the plank and leave you hanging a meter away from the top of the line.

Dare to fall head first?

You are actually given the option to fall feet first or be daring enough to try head first. Last instructions are given by the park staff and if you prefer, you can also have your confessions and prepare your last will and testament before the fall, as park staffs are also ordained priests and notary public lawyers :p

As per experience, it is not the fall that would kill you, it is actually the anticipation of falling as the park staff starts to shout ‘Uno, Dos, Tres’. The last few words, ‘Bombs Away’, articulated in an funny intonation, similar to how Ruffa Mae would have sounded, gives you a picture of the park staff grinning as if they expect to witness another falsetto revelation.

The falsetto revelation just seconds after the pin release

Split seconds after the countdown, the pin is removed and everything just flashes in front of you as you free fall for a length of 60 meters. You actually don’t have time to enjoy the fall as your mind tries to process whether you have done the biggest mistake of your life or whether the park staff made the biggest mistake of their life. Either way, you’re falling and it may be the last activity you’d be doing.

Literally hanging out at the bottom after the plunge

By the time your head stops processing what had just happened, you are now at the bottom of the 60 meter plunge, swinging from cliff wall to cliff wall. Contrary to the heart pounding moments, minutes before the plunge, the environment below is very serene. My experience is that even if I was suspend another 50 to 100 meters from the ground, I was not scared because of the very calming environment. You only hear the river gushing below you and some echoing of forrest sounds. It is as if you are being rocked in a cradle with ambient sounds of nature and you completely forgot that you almost hit the highest note of a falsetto on your way down.

You get to enjoy the serene environment for a couple of minutes before they winch you up back to the metal plank. After that jump, believe me, you’d want to go for another try after conquering your fear, if not only for the price of P700 a plunge.

An optional P50 per picture print is also available if you’d like to have a picture of yourself dangling at the bottom of the plunge.

Oh, BTW, you get to have a Danao Adventure Park Award Certificate signed by the Mayor, Vice Mayor and Municipal Tourism Officer when you take the Plunge. It confers you a degree in Fear Management :p , or bragging rights if you prefer hehehehe.

SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide

The name of the activity is actually much more daunting than the Plunge, but contrary to its name, the SuiSlide is actually a fun activity that I’m sure youd like to try again.

Suislide across the expanse of 2 cliffs

Suislide is a zip line slide that traverses the expanse between the 2 cliffs. There are two parts of the activity, the first is slide from cliff A to B and another slide to bring you back from cliff B to A.

This activity only ranks number 2 in the heart attack category. It could actually fall lower than the number 2 rank if you’ve tried the Plunge first. So I would recommend doing this activity first before the Plunge to build up your chances of a heart attack.

Full body mat attached to the supporting lines of the slide

As the park staff prepares you, they would strap you in a full body mat which later on would be strapped to 6 lines connected to the pulley wheels on the zip line. You actually have two options, they could strap you in a sitting position without the mat, just the harness on your body, or you could do the superman style where you lie down face first on the mat.

The ride just looks scary at first as you slowly see that the earth you are earlier stepping on is slowly pulling away from you as you slide towards the end of the cliff. The experience in the middle of the zip line is much more calming than the start. Once you are in the middle of the expanse between 2 cliffs, you could actually hear nothing but the sound of air on your ear and the gushing river below. It is just pure nature in your face.

A few seconds after the launch

What was scarier for me was the end point of the slide, where 2 park staffs are waiting for you to yank your ride to a stop. It was the stop that scared me becaue there was a barbed wire fence at the end of the line, if the 2 park staff were unable to successfully stop your momentum, you go straight, face first, to the barbed wire. For my case, I stopped just a meter away from the barbed wire. If I was any heavier, I would have probably ended with the barbed wire on my face. :p

The view below as you traverse the slide

The Suislide costs P300 for the activity. If you’d like to have your picture taken while sliding, an additional P50 per picture print is to be paid. You get to choose the shot that you like best before printing.

The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao

We were unable to try the other activities due to lack of time, but one of the other adventure that Danao has not advertised is their buffet lunch at the main entrance of the park. Buffet lunch is priced at P250 a person (includes iced tea drink), which I think is reasonably priced considering you’re in the middle of nowhere. I really liked their roasted chicken with Mang Tomas. My friends tried their buchi for desset and commented that it was tasty. But for a person exhausted from the heart pounding activities, definitely anything is delicious!

Eating at EAT Danao: Buffet restaurant located near the park entrance

Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

There are lots of activities in the park and probably you’d be able to try out only 3 in a day. If you prefer to try more activities but don’t have much time for the day, you could actually stay in the park and continue with your activities the next day. The park offers accomodation in the main entrance of the park, where the restaurant is located. The park also offers camping option, if you’d like to commune with nature.

• Bohol Island Basics
• Chocolate Hills:Bohol’s Signature Must See
• Sandugo Shrine:Something to Skip or Stop to Appreciate More
• Loboc River Cruise: The Place Where You’d Like to Sleep After a Heavy Lunch
• Stop, Open Your Eyes and See the Tarsier
• Baclayon Church: A Long Walk Away
• The Hanging Bridge, Simple Yet Fun
• Alona Beach, Panglao Island: Teeming with Marine Life
  • The Beach Area and Marine Life
  • The Resorts
  • Bohol Diver’s Club
  • Dining at Alona Beach
  • Going Around Panglao from Alona
• Reliving Francisco Dagohoy’s Legend at EAT Danao
  • Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities
  • Take The Danao Plunge
  • SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide
  • The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao
  • Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

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Trivia: The name of the beach, ‘Alona’, actually brings to my mind the name of a sexy actress from the 1970′s Alona Alegre. I just thought that this was just a coincidence and seriously believed that the name Alona may be due to the characteristic of the beach being “maalon” (having strong waves). But according to our driver Mang Mar (who has a Phd in local legends :p) , Alona was really named after Alona Alegre, where the story passed on by locals, tells of an incident where the locals saw Alona Alegre bathing on the beach, at the time when FPJ’s movie Esteban (1973) was being shot in Bohol.

The Beach Area and Marine Life

Alona beach’s sand is just as white as Boracay’s sand, but Alona’s sand is quite unique because it is powdery fine in characteristics. This is probably due to the eroded lime stones that are pretty much abundant in Bohol.

Earth worm poo? Not exactly, just soft fine sand ejected like tooth paste from small fresh water holes exposed during low tide

Alona beach compared to Boracay’s beach is just 1/7th the length. Alona does not have the luxury of having wide beach areas. There are a lot of postcards and shots taken which shows a portion of Alona beach that is just as wide as the beach area at Boracay, but that’s only a few hundred meters of length of wide beach area during normal tide.

The widest portion of Alona beach in front of Alona Palm Beach

The southern most portion of Alona beach is actually lacking in beach area. During normal tide, it is just probably a meter away from the cemented private areas of the resorts. The southern part of Alona beach is visibly being plagued by soil erosion with the sea slowly claiming portions of the private resort’s lot.

Southern portion of Alona Beach, visible signs of erosion with coconut tree stumps lined up on the beach and those trees that remain standing have their roots exposed

But even if Boracay have wide beach areas, it lacks something which Alona beach has, that is, lots of marine life that is just a meter away from the beach. During the morning’s lowest tide, you can walk just a meter or so from the beach and you’d be faced with abundant sea weeds, sea grass, lots and lots of star fish and sea urchins, a couple of sea cucumbers, crabs and of course small fishes. With these marine life just a meter away from the beach,it is no wonder that in such a small beach area, there are lots of dive shops along the beach.

Crab stealthily blends with the surrounding corals, lime stone and sea weed

The Stars of Alona Beach

Sea Urchin tightly wedged in between the corals

Trivia: Sea urchins are edible right out of its shell. In the morning low tide, you could see a lot of locals combing the shallow sea water looking for fresh breakfast from the sea.

Breakfast fresh from the sea: An old lady opens up several sea urchins from her early morning haul

Tip: For those who are fond of snorkeling, there is a protected no-fishing area just below the limestone cliff where Amorita resort is located. No need to rent a pump boat to bring you there, you can just walk up to the area because of the shallow water and limestone outcrops on the beach. The snorkeling area is delineated by white floats connected by a line (not sure if it is a net). Just be careful because tides come in fast and you might be swimming towards the shallow area with sharp limestone outcrops.

The ridge near Amorita: In the background are bouys outlining a protected water area for snorkling

Warning: Be careful in treading the shallow waters of Bohol sea. Sea urchins are abundant in Panglao and this marine creature is very inconspicuous as it blends well with the dark green color of the sea grass and sometimes protrudes out of corals. Stepping on a spike of the sea urchin would inject non lethal venom in your skin that would definitely sting and leave you feeling numb. Locals believe that the first aid for sea urchin injury is a warm dose of piss on your foot. So always remember, tread carefully in shallow waters or its piss on your foot.

The Resorts

Alona beach has the most number of resorts lined up along the beach area in Panglao. Similar to Boracay, you can stroll through the beach fronts of each resort and take a peek at their facilities.

In the background is Alona Palm Beach, the tent on the right side is the Alona Tropical

Amorita resort in on top of the lime stone ridge, it has an access path left side to the beach

If wide beach front is what matters to you, Alona Palm Beach, Alona Tropical and Amorita are the resorts that are just in front of the wide beach area, but do note that since these resorts have easy access to the wide beach front, expect that their rates would be quite pricey. Alona Kew and Oops! Resort are some of the resorts that are in the middle of Alona beach. The farthest resort in Alona beach to the south is Bohol Diver’s Club, which actually has only a meter of beach area during normal tide.

Southern part of Alona Beach, fronting Bohol Diver's Club at its widest during early morning low tide

If you intend to go night swimming, it is only on the beach fronts of Alona Palm Beach and Alona Tropical where you could do such activity because at night, beach areas to the south, like the beach front of Bohol Diver’s Club gets swallowed up by the incoming tide, while beach areas in the middle of the strech of Alona, gets converted into extension of restaurants along the beach.

Night swimming at the widest part of the beach

Bohol Diver’s Club

The resort where we stayed is Bohol Diver’s Club. The resort surrounding is very beautiful and well maintained. They have 2 pool areas, one near the villas and the other at beach front. While the resort surrounding is very well maintained, the villas where we stayed are not. The villa where we stayed in seems to have been neglected because the interior looks very old, with parquet tiles starting to loose their color, rusty towel rack and rusty tub water drain.

Bohol Diver's Club beach front

Beach front pool area

Another pool in front of the villas

But in fairness, even if the villa doesn’t seem to be very well maintained, the furnishings are complete and provisions are ample. They have 2 airconditioning units for the villa, one queen sized bed and twin beds in a separate room, a television, a refrigerator, a distilled water dispenser (not sure how long it has been there), cooking stove, plates, cups, spoon and fork, cooking utensils, even dishwasing soap. So for families or groups who are in a dining budget and would want to cook their own food, the villa is perfect for them.

Villas at Bohol Diver's Club with very well maintained surroundings

Inside the villa: Kitchen with complete furnishings, condiments and water dispenser, but who knows how long those haven't been replaced

Bathroom with rusty tub drain, rusty towel rack and a leaky toilet bowl

Dining at Alona Beach

Just like Boracay, Alona beach is lined up with different restaurants to select. One of the restaurant we tried is Roderick and Vivien, which was recomended by the inflight magazine of Cebu Pacific.

Roderick and Vivien

The restaurant offers cooking services similar to Dampa in Paranaque and Seaside at Macapagal Boulevard in Pasay, where you’d have to pick out the fish or meat that you like from their mini ‘palengke’ (wet market) type selection. And just the same, you could ask them to cook the fish or meat to whatever recipe you’d like. If you do not have any recipe in your mind, you could actually ask the staff to recommend to you a good recipe for what you’ve picked.

Seafood selection at Roderick and Vivien

Roderick and Vivien also has evening entertainment, acoustic and pop band, while you dine on the beach area. At the time of our stay, there are 2 other resorts that provide evening entertainment, one is Bohol Diver’s Club where they have hawaian dancers, fire dancers and afterwards a pop band. The other I think is Oops! Resort which also has acoustic and rock/country band.

Bohol Diver's bar area

Zip performer at Bohol Diver's Club

Pop band performing at Bohol Diver's Club

There are other restaurants located not on the beach area, but along Panglao’s circumferential road near Alona beach. These restaurants commonly offer grilled menu items.

Going Around Panglao from Alona

There is not much mass tranportation in Panglao, common transportation in Panglao are rented vans, cars, habal-habal (motorcycle back ride) and some minibus or jeep type that sparringly ply the circumfarential road.

If you intend to roam around from Alona beach to other areas of Panglao in a jiffy, there are a couple of habal-habal motorcycles waiting for passengers (a habal-habal driver can carry 2-3 persons riding at the back of the motorcycle) along Alona beach, particularly on the road connecting the beach and the circumferential road.

• Bohol Island Basics
• Chocolate Hills:Bohol’s Signature Must See
• Sandugo Shrine:Something to Skip or Stop to Appreciate More
• Loboc River Cruise: The Place Where You’d Like to Sleep After a Heavy Lunch
• Stop, Open Your Eyes and See the Tarsier
• Baclayon Church: A Long Walk Away
• The Hanging Bridge, Simple Yet Fun
• Alona Beach, Panglao Island: Teeming with Marine Life
  • The Beach Area and Marine Life
  • The Resorts
  • Bohol Diver’s Club
  • Dining at Alona Beach
  • Going Around Panglao from Alona
• Reliving Francisco Dagohoy’s Legend at EAT Danao
  • Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities
  • Take The Danao Plunge
  • SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide
  • The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao
  • Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

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Tigbao Hanging Bridge: Slippery when wet

Since it has been a tourist spot, a one way traffic scheme is imposed, hence one bridge is for traffic towards the otherside and the other ofcourse is for coming back.

Tigabo Hanging Bridge over the upper Loboc River

There is actually nothing special about the bridge or on the other side of the loboc river bank. Thrill factor for this is low if your doing it with just a small group. At the time we were there, there were bus loads of highschool students who were also traversing the hanging bridge. Thrill factor is still low, but the fun factor is high, because there are lots of people crossing the bridge and with everyone walking the bridge at the same time, the bridge sways from side to side more and you can see the people walking in unison to the sway of the bridge.

One of them acrophobic lagger, a perfect target for making your crossing fun (evil grin)

The best part of the visit to that place is that you get to laugh at the hysterical comments by the acrophobic people when someone or a group of people starts to jump in unison to jolt the bridge. Well, I have to admit, I was part of those who had fun at scaring others.

Sevilla Souvenir Shop on the other side of the bridge

Souvenir shops are located on the other side of the bridge as well as some coconut for refreshment and Saging na Saba grilled, smothered with butter and sprinkled with a little bit of sugar. This was the first time I came to know that Saba can also be grilled and buttered like corn.

Inihaw na Saba, smothered in butter and sugar

Buko for P20, your kidney's best friend

Crossing the bridge costs P10, the refreshing coconut costs P20 and you get to eat the meat inside, and the grilled Saba costs P15. Simple activity yet fun, refreshing and tasty.

• Bohol Island Basics
• Chocolate Hills:Bohol’s Signature Must See
• Sandugo Shrine:Something to Skip or Stop to Appreciate More
• Loboc River Cruise: The Place Where You’d Like to Sleep After a Heavy Lunch
• Stop, Open Your Eyes and See the Tarsier
• Baclayon Church: A Long Walk Away
• The Hanging Bridge, Simple Yet Fun
• Alona Beach, Panglao Island: Teeming with Marine Life
  • The Beach Area and Marine Life
  • The Resorts
  • Bohol Diver’s Club
  • Dining at Alona Beach
  • Going Around Panglao from Alona
• Reliving Francisco Dagohoy’s Legend at EAT Danao
  • Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities
  • Take The Danao Plunge
  • SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide
  • The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao
  • Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

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Baclayon Church

The church was actually made by the locals, with the use of coral stones quarried from the sea, cut into square blocks and held together by a mixture of shells, lime, and egg whites to cement the blocks together.

Thick walls of the church made of coral stone blocks quarried from the sea

The church also has an adjoining detached tower which serves as a bell tower. During the olden days, the tower also served as a vantage point overlooking the Bohol sea to warn the locals of marauding pirates.

Typical of any Spanish era church, Baclayon Church also has ornate ceilings, altar area and colorful stained glass windows.

Ornate altar area with all the saints on display

Simple yet colorful stained glass windows on the thick walls of the church

According to the locals, the name Baclayon was taken from the Visayan word ‘Baklay’, which means ‘Walk’ in English. In the olden days, Baclayon was the seat of the Spanish religious missionaries and Tagbilaran was just small satelite community. To hear Sunday mass, the locals from Tagbilaran would walk a long way towards the church which was the main church then, thus the term ‘Baklayon’.

Dome Altar Ceiling

For the antique lovers, the Baclayon church holds a treasure trove of religious relics at the second floor of the old convent. You just would have to pay a small fee for the maintenance of the museum.

Entrance to both the church and the museum

Ante-room to the sacristy and church area where some of the antiques are on display

Tip: Baclayon church adheres to strict dress codes as mandated by the Catholic Church. So for the ladies, if you are sporting sleeveless shirt, plunging neckline, mini skirt or shorts, be prepared to be given a piece of cloth by the church ushers to be used as shoals or long skirts before you are allowed inside the church. For the people who have personal hygene issues on using the same cloth previously used by other visitors, it is advised for you to dress accordingly or, bring your own cloth :p

Instant green shoal and skirt for ladies in sleeveless shirt and shorts, handed out before you enter the church

Baclayon Church is not the only attraction in that area. For the photoholics, across the street from the church yard, is a small public garden area fronting the Bohol sea. Just a few meters away is a fisherman’s wharf with a small lighthouse. If the sea is tempting you for a short dip, you can wade through the shallow waters near the wharf.

Public garden area across the street, fronting Bohol sea, perfect for a family picnic

Just a few meters away from the garden is the wharf and lighthouse

• Bohol Island Basics
• Chocolate Hills:Bohol’s Signature Must See
• Sandugo Shrine:Something to Skip or Stop to Appreciate More
• Loboc River Cruise: The Place Where You’d Like to Sleep After a Heavy Lunch
• Stop, Open Your Eyes and See the Tarsier
• Baclayon Church: A Long Walk Away
• The Hanging Bridge, Simple Yet Fun
• Alona Beach, Panglao Island: Teeming with Marine Life
  • The Beach Area and Marine Life
  • The Resorts
  • Bohol Diver’s Club
  • Dining at Alona Beach
  • Going Around Panglao from Alona
• Reliving Francisco Dagohoy’s Legend at EAT Danao
  • Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities
  • Take The Danao Plunge
  • SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide
  • The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao
  • Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

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Tarsier with a contemptous smile

Happy Wide Eyed Tarsier. This one seems to be happy having his picture taken

The first time I was at Bohol, it was only at Loboc Poblacion, at the river cruise terminal, where you can see and touch the tarsier. They were the only entity then that was granted permission by the DENR to care for Tarsiers in captivity. But now, along the road going to Carmen, you would surely pass by around 3 signs that says ‘Stop, See a Tarsier’. So I guess Tarsier care giving business have boomed in the area.

Previously, the tarsier caretakers at Loboc Poblacion allows you to touch the tarsiers, even having a picture with one on top of your head was allowed then. But now, there is a standing NO TOUCH rule for the tarsiers, just look, admire, but do not touch. This is probably to prevent mishandling and also to prevent domesticating the cute thing. There is also a NO FLASH photograhy rule, this one is understandable, with the tarsier’s eyes so big, a flash would definitely blind the poor animal for quite a while.

Tarsier: Cutey on the outside and probably chewy on the inside

Aside from Tarsiers, the place where we stopped at also had 2 flying lemurs and a small monkey on the side show.  

Flying Lemurs, seems like a good idea for a backpack

Sideshow monkey: This monkey seems to be jealous at all the attention that the tarsier is having, so he made his own scene

Trivia: Tarsiers are said to be very emotional creature and are observed to have suicidal tendencies. When they are caged, when they are alone or sometime for some unknown reasons, they just hate their cute furry little tush that they bash their heads to death. Probably some tarsiers just couldn’t cope up with the popularity and attention they get :p

As with any other tourist spots, you have souvenirs being sold in the area.   There is no entrance fee for viewing the  tarsiers, so Iguess these souvenir shops provide a living for both the tarsiers and their caretaker.

Souvenir shop inside the tarsier stop

Based only on comparison with the price at the Chocolate Hills, the price of the souvenir tarsier stuffed items are cheaper at these sites.   I’m not sure whether there are other sites where the tarsier souvenirs are sold at an even cheaper price.

Trivia: Tarsiers are not indigenous to Bohol. They are also found in Leyte, Mindanao, Indonesia and Malaysia.

• Bohol Island Basics
• Chocolate Hills:Bohol’s Signature Must See
• Sandugo Shrine:Something to Skip or Stop to Appreciate More
• Loboc River Cruise: The Place Where You’d Like to Sleep After a Heavy Lunch
• Stop, Open Your Eyes and See the Tarsier
• Baclayon Church: A Long Walk Away
• The Hanging Bridge, Simple Yet Fun
• Alona Beach, Panglao Island: Teeming with Marine Life
  • The Beach Area and Marine Life
  • The Resorts
  • Bohol Diver’s Club
  • Dining at Alona Beach
  • Going Around Panglao from Alona
• Reliving Francisco Dagohoy’s Legend at EAT Danao
  • Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities
  • Take The Danao Plunge
  • SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide
  • The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao
  • Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

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Rio Verde Floating Restaurant at Loay Bridge

The first time I was at Bohol, the Loboc river cruise started from the Poblacion of Loboc near the Loboc church going north. This time around, there is another starting point for the Loboc river cruise, the new one starting from below the Loay Bridge which is nearer to Tagbilaran. The difference between the 2 river cruise is the scenic view along the way.

Floating Restaurant at Loay waiting to be filled-up with guests

Buffet table to fill your gas tanks

Menut for that day: crab, cray fish (I think?), fried chicken, sea weeds, seafood kare-kare and a lot more

The river cruise starting from the Loay bridge traverses the Loboc river where the nipa trees are abundant and less of manmade structures. It winds up its cruise with an ethnic village showcasing their village life. I’m just not sure if they are true Eskaya indigeneous tribe of Bohol or just some locals depicting the tribe.

River cruise from Loay bridge takes you to the green banks of loboc with nipa and coconut trees lined up

The cruise from Loay winds up with a visit to the ethnic tribe

The river cruise starting from the Poblacion traverses Loboc river where there are not much nipa trees, more of backyard home sceneries, more of the manmade structures such as the unfinished bridge near the Loboc church and it winds up at Busay falls (just a meter high falls), where a rondalla group is waiting to further serenade you.

Beyond the area of the ethnic tribe village are modern houses lined up and less nipa trees, the same scenery from the Loboc Poblacion river cruise

The question now is which of the two is better? Well it depends on what you like best. If you like tranquility and pureness of nature, take the Loay cruise. If you’d like to see what the local life is about in Loboc and if you’d like to see Busay falls, take the cruise from Loboc Poblacion.

Tip: Plan your visit to Bohol so that you would arrive at around 11AM at the floating restaurant.  This way you’d be the first to thrash the buffet table while it’s still full to the brim. Also you’d have enough time to finish your meal before the cruise starts, so that you’d be able to enjoy the scenery along the way.

Trivia: The Loboc river near Loay bridge is the site of Cesar Montano’s film ‘Panaghoy sa Suba’ winner of several film awards in 2004 and 2005.

Trivia Again!: The town of Loboc is the home to the famous Loboc Children’s Choir, winner and proud representative of the Philippines to the Europe and its Songs Festival 2003.

Trivia The Repeat!: Eskaya is the only indigeneous tribe of Bohol. They are thought to have come from Sumatra during 7th century. The Eskaya descendants are also believed to have fought under the command of Francisco Dagohoy against the Spaniards. A local luxury resort in Panglao island is named after the tribe.

• Bohol Island Basics
• Chocolate Hills:Bohol’s Signature Must See
• Sandugo Shrine:Something to Skip or Stop to Appreciate More
• Loboc River Cruise: The Place Where You’d Like to Sleep After a Heavy Lunch
• Stop, Open Your Eyes and See the Tarsier
• Baclayon Church: A Long Walk Away
• The Hanging Bridge, Simple Yet Fun
• Alona Beach, Panglao Island: Teeming with Marine Life
  • The Beach Area and Marine Life
  • The Resorts
  • Bohol Diver’s Club
  • Dining at Alona Beach
  • Going Around Panglao from Alona
• Reliving Francisco Dagohoy’s Legend at EAT Danao
  • Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities
  • Take The Danao Plunge
  • SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide
  • The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao
  • Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

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Datu Sikatuna raising a goblet to toast as depicted by National Artist Napoleon Abueva (background: close-in security ni Sikatuna)

The Sandugo Shrine are life size bronze statues depicting the blood compact between Datu Sikatuna and Miguel Lopez de Legazpi.   It is the least interesting because there is nothing on the site that explains the sculptures displayed.

El Pacto de Sangre (from L to R: Datu Sikatuna, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, BFF ni Miguel, Padre Andres de Urdaneta, 2 chuwariwap ni Miguel)

The actual NHI marker explaining the scene is a couple of meters away from the shrine. If I was a foreigner without any tourist guide, I would not be able to appreciate or understand the site, even for Filipinos who already forgot their Social Studies or Philippine History class. It would have been good if there was someone or something on the site to explain what the site commemorates and who created the statue.

National Historical Institute Marker found meters away from the Shrine

Aside from the Bronze sculptures, the Sandugo Shrine also has a viewing deck that overlooks the Bohol sea with Pamilacan Island and Panglao Island in clear distant view.

View Deck at Sandugo Shrine (background left on the horizon is Pamilacan Island, background right is Panglao Island)

Trivia: The Sandugo sculpture was created by Philippine National Artist Napoleon Abueva, one of Bohol’s prominent son. It would have been good to educate the tourists of this information especially Filipino tourists to appreciate works of a national artist like Napoleon Abueva. Now that you know this, would you skip or stop to appreciate more?

• Bohol Island Basics
• Chocolate Hills:Bohol’s Signature Must See
• Sandugo Shrine:Something to Skip or Stop to Appreciate More
• Loboc River Cruise: The Place Where You’d Like to Sleep After a Heavy Lunch
• Stop, Open Your Eyes and See the Tarsier
• Baclayon Church: A Long Walk Away
• The Hanging Bridge, Simple Yet Fun
• Alona Beach, Panglao Island: Teeming with Marine Life
  • The Beach Area and Marine Life
  • The Resorts
  • Bohol Diver’s Club
  • Dining at Alona Beach
  • Going Around Panglao from Alona
• Reliving Francisco Dagohoy’s Legend at EAT Danao
  • Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities
  • Take The Danao Plunge
  • SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide
  • The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao
  • Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

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Chocolate Hills Upclose

Chocolate hills are made up of lime stone formations with encrusted sea shells and corals. Lime stone is very abundant in the island of Bohol. This indicates that Bohol was previously submerged or is part of the seabed maybe millions of years ago. Probably due to some movements in the earth’s crust, the seabed rose up and formed the island of Bohol. 

Lime Stone Formations at Bohol

The hill where the chocolate hills view deck is located is also part of the chocolate hills formation, it is one of the tallest chocolate hills (if not the tallest) which was converted as a viewing deck. Your vehicle could take you halfway up the hill, where you could be dropped off at the base the stairway leading to the viewing deck. The drop off area has souvenir shops and restaurants for your convenience. 

Drop off point and base of the View Deck

As per name, Chocolate hills are best viewed during summer when the cogon grass has dried up and the brown color of the hills intesifies. On other seasons beside summer, the chocolate hills are abundant with lucious green grass and other vegetation, which gives more life to the scenery. On days when it rains the Chocolate hills are literrally steaming as heat from the core of the hills are relased by the rain water that seeps through the porous limestone core of the hills. 

Steamy Chocolate Hills

Trivia: Not all hills in Bohol are considered part of the Chocolate Hills. A hill is considered part of the “exclusive” geological Chocolate Hills gang if it has the following characteristics: a.) The hill must be made of lime stone b.) The hill does not have trees on top or on the slopes of the hill (trees on the base of the hill is allowed), which means only cogon grass should be growing on top or on the slopes of the hill. c.) You should look like a hershey’s kisses chocolate (the hill doesn’t have to taste like hersheys, but hey its another tourist attraction if the hill is edible :p ) 

Tourist Tip: If you’re itching to buy food pasalubong such as peanut kisses, kalamay, etc., do not buy it from the shops on the chocolate hills. I asked for a pack of peanut kisses in the restaurant at the chocolate hills viewing deck, it costs around P240 for a pack of 16 peanut kisses (P15@piece). The same peanut kisses costs only P9 a piece at the souvenir shop at Bool (forgot the name). But then again, I’ve found a lot of posts in the internet that Island City Mall is the cheapest place you could get peanut kisses.

• Bohol Island Basics
• Chocolate Hills:Bohol’s Signature Must See
• Sandugo Shrine:Something to Skip or Stop to Appreciate More
• Loboc River Cruise: The Place Where You’d Like to Sleep After a Heavy Lunch
• Stop, Open Your Eyes and See the Tarsier
• Baclayon Church: A Long Walk Away
• The Hanging Bridge, Simple Yet Fun
• Alona Beach, Panglao Island: Teeming with Marine Life
  • The Beach Area and Marine Life
  • The Resorts
  • Bohol Diver’s Club
  • Dining at Alona Beach
  • Going Around Panglao from Alona
• Reliving Francisco Dagohoy’s Legend at EAT Danao
  • Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities
  • Take The Danao Plunge
  • SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide
  • The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao
  • Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

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• Bohol Island Basics
• Chocolate Hills:Bohol’s Signature Must See
• Sandugo Shrine:Something to Skip or Stop to Appreciate More
• Loboc River Cruise: The Place Where You’d Like to Sleep After a Heavy Lunch
• Stop, Open Your Eyes and See the Tarsier
• Baclayon Church: A Long Walk Away
• The Hanging Bridge, Simple Yet Fun
• Alona Beach, Panglao Island: Teeming with Marine Life
  • The Beach Area and Marine Life
  • The Resorts
  • Bohol Diver’s Club
  • Dining at Alona Beach
  • Going Around Panglao from Alona
• Reliving Francisco Dagohoy’s Legend at EAT Danao
  • Extreme Road Trip to Extreme Activities
  • Take The Danao Plunge
  • SuiSlide, More of a SereneSlide
  • The Most Important Adventure: Eating at EAT Danao
  • Not Much Time? Stay at the Park!

Bohol Island Basics

Bohol is the 10th largest island in the Philippines and it is home to the smallest primate, the Tarsier, and the famous chocolate hills. The island is bounded by Cebu on the north western part, Leyte on the north eastern, Negros, Siquijor, Camiguin and Mindanao Islands in the south.

It is just an hour away via supercat (fast craft) ferry from Cebu and an hour travel by air from Manila. It is also accessible by RORO (roll-on, roll-off ferry) and inter-island ferries through the different ports around Bohol connecting the surrounding islands.

Just south of the main Bohol island is Panglao island where we stayed for our vacation. Panglao island boasts of white beaches, snorkling and diving sites. It is connected to the main island by two bridges and is the place of many luxurious beach resorts. Panglao has 5 beach areas and of those beaches, Alona beach is the most lined with resorts to stay. 

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