Seafood is one of your best options in Bohol. there is no place too far from the ocean. Kinilaw (raw fish marinated in lime juice and vinegar and some other tasty morsels) is amazing. On thing I sometimes battle with myself with eating fish though is the fact that there are not too many left in the oceans around the Philippines. Be smart about what kind of fish you are eating.
Halang-halang which means hot-hot is a great coconut curry dish with chicken which is actually a bit spicy (an anomaly in Filipino cooking) and is probably my favorite dish.
The coconut stuffed mudcrabs on tour in Candijay (mentioned later) are phenomenal

There are many resorts on Panglao (mainly on drag of Alona Beach) ranging from cheap to expensive. If you are in southern Bohol I would recommend staying here rather than in Tagbilaran which is not the most appealing city. If you have a bit of cash on your hands (I often do not) stay at the Bee Farm in Dauis (also on Panglao Island but away from Alona Beach). The owner is a friend of mine and one of the most amazing Filapinas I have ever met. The cheapest room is about 3000 Pesos but it is gorgeous there and the view over the cliff onto the ocean is spectacular. I never felt any more relaxed in the Philippines than here. She also has an organic garden here that she will happily show you and most of the food cooked on site comes from the garden. The food is pretty top notch here, especially for the Philippines. Most of the staff are either from Panglao or from somewhere on Bohol. Even if you do not stay here, come have lunch or dinner here and chill out.

Nuts Huts is a place in Loboc with great views along the river and great place to explore Chocolate Hills, Bilar and and other central Bohol attractions from. It is simple and has decent food.

On Cabilao there are a few resorts and some cheaper places as well. Decent range of accommodation close to the beach, with great snorkeling right outside your doorstep.

Everywhere else, just pull up to the local pension and inquire. Most places will not be fancy and you should not have trouble getting room for under 500 Pesos. You can always ask locals if they can put you up if you are in place without many options.

Bohol is one of the Philippines most visited islands, as it should be. I am biased since I lived here for two years but I love this compact island and think that it has a lot to offer. Many people do a bit of diving off Panglao and laze on the beach here and maybe go to visit the Chocolate Hills, but this island has a lot more to offer than these attractions and it is not hard to get lost and discover some of the gems of this paradise. Here are a few things that I really recommend including some community based tours which are run pretty well. You can make sure that your money is going to the locals and also get a more in depth look into Boholano culture by going on them. Go beyond sitting on the beach and really explore this great little island.

Fiesta Time
I find Bohol to be one of the friendliest islands in the Visayas and the whole of the Philippines. Again I am biased but I have never felt more welcome by other people than on Bohol. A great time to visit the island is in May. This is the time for fiesta on Bohol and there is a saying that during this month all you need is a little money for transportation. You can travel town to town and enjoy a new fiesta everyday and people will feed you for free and you could probably stay at their house as well. People on Bohol are more than happy to have visitors especially if you get out of the more touristed southern Bohol. Even if you do not go in May, try to find a town that is having fiesta and visit. Dig into some lechon (roast pig), talk and have a few beers with the fiesta goers and enjoy yourself.

The Less Traveled Side of the Island
The south of Bohol and to a certain extent in the center (as far as the Chocolate Hills) is where most tourists go. There is good reason as there are some good sites here which you can read about in other guide books so I will not comment much on them. What I will say is that there are many other options on Bohol. Western Bohol has some of the most beautiful coastline and also some pretty decent reefs. I would recommend Jagna as a potential place to plant yourself and I believe there are a few small places to stay nearby. There is at least one diving operation that runs out of this place.

In the northwest lies Candijay which is has one of the best community based tourism package that I have seen anyway. In the community of Panadtaran you can go on the Mangrove Adventure Tour. This tour was set up with the aid of DED and some other organizations and the villagers are really excited about what they are doing. There is a boardwalk through the most biodiverse mangrove wetland on the island and one of the most diverse in the country (over 30 species of mangroves) and also a nice little ride on one of the local rivers. The guides will show you how they make nipa shingles for the roofs of their houses and how they catch mudcrabs. It is a leisurely morning tour which includes an awesome lunch of locally prepared food from the mangroves. It is a little pricey but not outrageous at about 600 Pesos per person but the money is kept entirely within the community. I have been three times with various people and what impressed me most is the excitement of the guides for what they are doing and the pride that they have in what they are protecting. I would recommend this in a heartbeat. It may be a bit difficult to get here but buses pass by the main road and if you stop by the town hall I am sure the y would be able to help you find your way. It would be best to arrange beforehand as they have to prepare for you. They do not get too many visitors but it is one of my favorite things on Bohol. Candijay is a gorgeous little area and there are some small rice terraces around and short trekking opportunities although I have not done any. I have heard there are tarsiers in the forests of the municipality. http://philippinen.ded.de/cipp/ded/custom/pub/content,lang,2/oid,1730/ticket,g_u_e_s_t/~/Candijay_Mangrove_Adventure_Tour.html

On the eastern side of the island there are also a few good opportunities. There is the island of Cabilao Island which offers what I consider some of the best diving and snorkeling in the Philippines. It is a gorgeous laid-back island (much more so than Panglao) with a few small resorts as well as cheap options for accommodation. The reefs are right outside your doorstep and the snorkeling is amazing. It is not great for big fish but the small stuff and coral cover here is pretty spectacular. Ghost pipefish and pygmy seahorses are a sure bet with the right dive guide. There are about three dive shops. Also just spend a bit of time exploring the cute little island. There is a bird sanctuary here as well. Cabilao is in the municipality of Loon and you get off the bus at the main road going north from Tagbilaran to Talibon. From here take a motorcycle to the pier where you can get a public boat to the Cabilao.

Another community based tour is called the Cambuhat River Tour which is located in the town of Beunavista. It is another good tour which was set up with the help of some outside organizations but is run now entirely by the local community. You take a small boat from the bridge on the main road which crosses the Cambuhat River. They will take you on a tour on the mangrove lined river and tell you a bit about their community. You can learn about how they make a living on the river from various livelihoods including oyster culture and handicraft production. You will have a delicious lunch of river products and there should be some local handicrafts to buy if you so choose. I do not like it quite as much as the one in Candijay but it is still a good one. It is also about 600 Pesos per person and should be arranged in advance. http://www.oneocean.org/overseas/200004/the_cambuhat_river_and_village_tour.html

In the south, close to Panglao and Tagbilaran, there is a newer community based tour and homestay option in the town of Maribijoc. It is another mangrove tour (mangroves are important in Bohol) but here there is the option to stay in the community. There is a small mangrove boardwalk and you can even plant some mangroves with the community members. If you want you can stay in one of the houses in the community and learn a bit more about their live near the ocean. The organization is called SAVIMA and it is in the barangay of San Vicente. You can just show up here if you just want to have a look at the boardwalk and perhaps something could be arranged on site to stay in someone’s house although this could also be pre-arranged.

Also in the south near Panglao, there is the dolphin and whale watching on Pamilacan. It is a bit pricey (around 1200 per person) but I think worth it. You will probably see dolphins and maybe whales if your timing is right. The reefs around Pamilacan are also great and you should be able to snorkel here after or before lunch. If you go, do it with PIDWWO (Pamilacan Island Dolphin and Whale Watching Organization) or the other community group whose name I am not sure of. The president of PIDWWO is Leo. This island used to be whale shark and manta ray hunters. There is still some that goes on but they now mostly rely on eco-tourism. Please do not go with cheaper option from Panglao or somewhere else as I do not think they have seen trained in proper techniques of spotting and keeping distance from animals and the money is not going back to the island. http://www.geocities.com/pamilacan/

In the center of the island, away from the beaches there also some good options. The chocolate hills are nice and worth seeing but once you see them there is not much more that you can do. Before reaching the chocolate hills in Carmen you pass through the town of Bilar. This is probably my favorite town at least aesthetically in Bohol. It is wet nearly all year and as a result it is green, green, green. It is just gorgeous. Also in Bilar lies the Raja Sikatuna National Park which is worth at least a short morning hike. This is one of the top birding spots in the Philippines although the birds are a bird hard to spot in the canopy. It is also probably one of the only half decent forested areas in Bohol. A place to stay to visit this area is Nuts Huts on the Loboc River which is a great setting. If you do go to see the tarsiers, please do not go to one of the little stands on the river where they have them in little cages and encourage holding them. These little guys are highly sensitive and die quickly in these conditions. Go to the Tarsier Sanctuary in Corella. It is bit hard to reach this area but it can be done if you are willing to hire a motorcycle from the town of Corella. They should know where the place is. http://www.bohol.ph/article.php?id=44

Further afield there are other cute little towns which few people visit. I once went on a short river trek in Sierra Bullones which I found to be a lovely place. There are tons of caves in this area as well as most of southern Bohol as most of the island is made of karst. I have heard numbers of over 1000 caves but few people actually explore them. There are also tons of other beautiful town and barangays in central Bohol that are just waiting to be discovered. A bike trip around the island would easily be doable and while I thought about it many times, I never did it. I suck.

In the north of Bohol is where I lived for two years, specifically in Talibon. I loved this place but unfortunately there is not too much to do around here but I always kept myself busy. It is a great place to experience coastal life and there are tons of offshore islands which are heavily inhabited by fisherfolk. This area has the Danajon Reef, a double barrier reef (the only one in SE Asia) and some great biodiversity but the visibility is horrible and a lot of the reef has been bombed and trawled to all hell. This is one of the most heavily fished areas in the Philippines and I was working here on coastal resource management issues. If you want to see fishing culture on crowded islands in one of the poorest parts of the Philippines, go here and see it. You might get stared at a lot as they do not get too many visitors but just pick an island on the map and go. I always loved it. I have heard there is a new small museum funded by a US-AID project in Talibon about the reef and the life here. The town of Ubay is also near here which is similar to Talibon but has a daily boat going to Southern Leyte.

To the southeast of Talibon lies the town of Jetafe. A great local NGO, Project Seahorse, has been working here and other places in the Danajon to set up marine sanctuaries and work with local communities to save the reef and the fisheries. I know that they were trying to set up a program for seahorse watching at night in the village of Handumon on one of the nearby islands. I am not sure if this is up and running yet but either way you could probably go here and if not you could snorkel in the sanctuary here. This sanctuary has been set up for about 10 years now and it shows how sanctuaries should work. Before there was nothing inside the sanctuary but now there are tons of big fish. It is awesome. The visibility is poor and the coral sucks but there are some really big schools of jacks, barracudas and some other fish. It would also be nice just to hang out with the local fisherfolk. I love this little spot and if folks from Project Seahorse are around you can talk to them about what they are doing. They are really great folks. To get here just take a public boat from the pier in Jetafe (5 minutes) and then a motorcycle to Handumon. Someone should be able to help you out when you get there if you want to see the sanctuary.

I think this about sums it up. Hope you enjoy Bohol and get a bit off the tourist track. There are many places to explore and people to meet. Try to support the locals by going on some of these tours. They are fun and a great chance to interact with the people. This is certainly not a comprehensive list. I am sure there are many other places to go that would be just as amazing. Go and explore for yourself. Boholanos are extremely welcoming and you will find yourself feeling like a part of the family in no time. If you need anymore details feel free to contact me.

They speak a Visayan language on Bohol or 'bisaya', specifically the dialect is Bolohano which is very close to Cebuano but do not tell them they speak Cebuano (a bit of island rivalry). While English is widely spoken, any attempt to speak the local dialect will be met with a smiling face. Here is just a sample of some good things to know.

Majong Buntag - Good Morning (if you say this with a 'j', rather than a 'y' the people will love you. In Cebu which is where the Visayan language stems from which they use on Bohol, they say 'mayong' but in Boholano most y's are turned into j's. Believe me you will get some laughs and praises for this if you use it in Bohol.
Majong hapoon - good afternoon
Majong gabi-i - good evening
Kumusta? - How are you?
Ma-ajo - Good
Ma-ajo Ka-ajo - Very Good
OK lang - You guessed it; it means OK
Asa ka mo-adto? or Asa ka? or Asa man ka? - Where are you going? (very popular question)
Dito lang or diha lang - Just over there (a good response)
Suroy-suroy lang - Just walking around (another good response)
Pilay edad (ni)mo? - How old are you?
Minyo na ka? - Are you married? (a common question)
Duna ka ang mga anak? - Do you have any children (another common one especially if you are married)
Wala pa - Not yet
O - yes
Dili - no
Unsaang oras molarga ang bus? What time will the bus leave?
Barko - big boat (ferry)
Isda - fish
manook - chicken
baka - beef
baboy - pork
Lami - delicious
Naka gigutom ka? - Are you hungry?
Busok nako - I am full