Chocolate Hills Travel Guide

The famed Chocolate Hills sit right in the middle of Bohol Island in south/central Philippines. They are one of the biggest natural wonders of the archipelago nation and are stunning when brown or green.

Claimed to be tears of giants by Filipinos, the limestone Chocolate Hills are in fact probably of volcanic origin and look a bit like 1,000 large mole hills sat in the center of the island waiting for a bus. They actually number around 1,300 and range in height from around 30m to 50m. They take on the chocolate brown color during the dry season; green in the wet.

The drive to the Chocolate Hills themselves is interesting, going by way of many villages from any direction of the coast. If coming from Tagbilaran City, be sure to stop off at Baclayon, which contains the oldest church in the Philippines dating from 1595.

Getting There & Away

The most common way in is to fly to Tagbilaran City Airport in the southwest of Bohol. It receives direct fights from Manila and from Cebu. Mactan-Cebu International Airport is the closest major one, an hour south of Manila Airport. You can also get to Tagbilaran from Cebu by boat. The Chocolate Hills are an hour or two by bus from Tagbilaran City via Carmen.