Chocolate Hills in Bohol

The Chocolate Hills is the most famous tourist attraction of Bohol. It had put Bohol on the tourist map long before the now famous beautiful white-sand beaches of Panglao Island. It’s also a prime tourist destination of the Philippines and is known around the world.

The Chocolate Hills

The world-renowned cone-shape Chocolate Hills is truly a natural wonder. They are covered with grass and are very uniform in shape, mostly between 30 and 50 meters high.  During summer, the grass covered hills dries up and turns into brown, forming the hills into somewhat big ‘chocolate kisses’ from which the name Chocolate Hills derived.

The Chocolate Hills are scattered around the municipalities of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan in Bohol. They are estimated to be at least 1,268 to about 1,776 individual hills. Two resorts had been developed to facilitate the best viewing of the Chocolate Hills; the first one is The Chocolate Hills Complex in Carmen and the most recent is the Sagbayan Peak in the Municipality of Sagbayan.

According to our driver/tour guid when we had our Bohol tour, the best spot to view the Chocolate Hills is on the original viewing station, The Chocolate Hills Complex.  It is a government owned and operated complex.  Two hills were developed for the resort. The resort facilities include a restaurant, conference room, hostel with swimming pool and a viewing deck which is 210 feet above the ground. The road is concrete all the way up to the complex.

Concrete Road to the Complex

Viewing deck entrance of The Chocolate Hills Complex

Another option to view the Chocolate Hills is at Sagbayan Peak. It is a mountaintop resort and recreation center located in the municipality of Sagbayan, Bohol. Facilities include a restaurant and children’s park with cartoon characters. Its viewing deck also offers a 360 view of the Chocolate Hills as well as the sea that separates Cebu and Bohol.

During our Bohol tour, we had our view of the hills at the Chocolate Hills Complex. To have the best view at the viewing deck, one is required to have a hike of 214 steps. Yes, you need to do just a little exercise to have a 360 panorama view of the hills. These are just small steps so, don’t worry.  Also, there are covered rest stops along the way if you want to have a short rest and catch your breath. Metal railings were also installed along the stairs to aide your climb all the way to the top of the viewing deck.  And I tell you, upon seeing the amazing view of the Chocolate Hills; all those steps will be worth it.

Stairs up to the viewing deck

The sight of thousands uniformly shape hills are awesome.  One would wonder how these things are formed. There are actually several legends explaining how these hills were formed but the most popular theory is according to geologists which suggest that these cone-shape hills were formed of grass-covered limestone. This scientific origin of the Chocolate Hills is also described in layman’s terms on the bronze plaque at the viewing deck in Carmen, Bohol. The plaque states:

“The unique land form known as the Chocolate Hills of Bohol was formed ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion.”

Amazing Chocolate Hills

This spectacular scenery showcases the abundance of natural attractions of the province. No wonder the Chocolate Hills is regarded as one of the country’s flagship tourist destinations. The sight is simply incomparable!

Getting there:

There are several options to reach the Chocolate Hills. You can hire a van, have it as part of a package tour or get there on your own. Usually the van rental would cost around 2500-3000 for whole day use including the driver and gasoline. You can directly hire a van upon your arrival at the Tagbilaran port as there are lots of van-for-hire there. You can also try to look and book ahead of time so that you can get the best price. There are many ads over the internet offering this service.

 If you want an extra adventure by commuting and prefer to see the Chocolate Hills at The Chocolate Hills Complex in Carmen; from Tagbilaran you need to go to the Dao bus terminal and bound a bus headed to Carmen. The complex is 30 miles away from Tagbilaran. Just inform and request the driver to drop you off at the Chocolate Hills complex. You need to walk roughly about 10 minutes to reach the Complex.

If you choose to view it at the Sagbayan Peak, you can hire a taxi or van from Tagbilaran and request the driver to drop you off at Sagbayan Peak.

However, if you prefer to have a more convenient visit to Chocolate Hills, you can have it as part of your Bohol tour package. It’s also cheaper and you get to visit other tourist destinations such as the Philippine Tarsier, Hanging Bridge, Man-made Forest, Blood Compact and Loboc river cruise. It’s also easy to book online as there are a lot to choose from. Just search and select which tour suits your preference.

Posted in: Bohol