The hook
An island scattered with over a thousand oddly uniform, cone-shaped hills that dry to chocolate brown in summer, home to the tarsier, a wide-eyed primate small enough to sit in your palm.
01Why it's worth it
Bohol's signature is the Chocolate Hills, more than a thousand grass-covered mounds of remarkably similar rounded shape spread across the island's interior, a geological oddity that turns from green to cocoa-brown as the grass dries out late in the dry season; local legends explain them as the tears or leftovers of giants. Nearby, sanctuaries protect the Philippine tarsier, one of the world's smallest primates, a nocturnal creature with enormous eyes that clings to branches, best seen at ethical reserves that keep them wild rather than as photo props. The island rounds out with a lazy river cruise on the Loboc, old stone churches, and, on the attached islet of Panglao, white-sand beaches and diving. It is an easy, varied island a short hop from Cebu, good for a relaxed couple of days.
02How to experience it
Tour the island by scooter or car: the Chocolate Hills viewpoint, an ethical tarsier sanctuary, and the Loboc river. Base on Panglao for the beaches and diving. See the tarsiers quietly and without flash; they are fragile and stressed by crowds.