Chocolate Hills, Bohol: What They Are, Why No Trees Grow, Viewpoints and What to Bring

What Are the Chocolate Hills? A Field of Grassy Limestone Cones in Central Bohol

The Chocolate Hills are a field of grass-covered, cone-shaped limestone hills in the interior of Bohol. In the dry season the grass turns brown and the hills look like rows of chocolate drops, which is where the name comes from; in the wet season they are green. They are not a single mountain but a landscape spread across 6 towns: Carmen, Batuan, Sagbayan, Bilar, Valencia and Sierra Bullones.

"How many are there?" is the most common question, and official sources do not agree. Proclamation No. 1037 of 1997 speaks of "1,776 hills, more or less." An article on the Bohol provincial tourism website says "at least 1,200." The gap comes down to counting rules: how small a mound can be and still count, and where the edge of the field is drawn. "More than a thousand" is the safe way to put it.

According to the provincial tourism site, individual hills range from about 30 to 120 metres high. The colour change is seasonal: between December and May, the dry months, the grass dries out and browns; from June, the rains turn it green again. So if you arrive in August and find what looks like matcha rather than chocolate, nobody has misled you. You simply came in the wet season.

Local storytellers like to open with a legend about two giants who hurled sand and stones at each other, made peace once they were exhausted and never cleaned up the mess. The geological story in the next section is less romantic, but it makes what you see from the viewing deck far more interesting.

If you have not yet decided how long to stay on the island, read how many days you need in Bohol first. If Bohol is one half of a Cebu trip, how to plan Cebu and Bohol together covers the sequencing between the two islands, including which side to start on and where to sleep.

Want the Chocolate Hills, tarsiers and island hopping in one Bohol trip? → Yixing Bohol itineraries

Why Are There No Trees on the Chocolate Hills? Reef Limestone, Thin Soil and Grass

The hills are mostly grass with few large trees because of what they are made of: limestone that began as ancient coral reef, dissolved by rain into cones and topped with thin soil that holds little water, conditions in which grass copes far better than trees. That is the mainstream geological explanation, and official sources are candid that the exact origin is still debated.

UNESCO's page on the Bohol Island Global Geopark describes the Chocolate Hills as a karst landscape of smooth conical hills, the result of thousands of years of erosion of limestone laid down as thick coral reefs during the Pliocene, roughly 2 to 5 million years ago. The Bohol provincial tourism page on Carmen fills in the process: the limestone was raised above sea level and fractured, and rainwater, streams and groundwater dissolved it, gradually producing today's cone karst.

Another article on the same provincial site says the most accepted theory is that the hills are "weathered remains of some marine limestone on top of an impermeable layer of clay," while admitting there is no consensus yet. Put those pieces together and the tree question more or less answers itself:

• Thin soil. Dissolved limestone leaves a shallow soil layer, so large trees struggle to root deeply.
• Poor water retention. Fractured limestone drains quickly, so the surface gets very dry in the dry season. Grass can die back and regrow with the next rains; young trees often do not survive.
• Legal protection. Since 1997 the area has been a protected natural monument where activities that alter the hills are banned (see section 3), so the cones are not cleared, quarried or converted.

Note that "no trees" applies to the hills themselves. The flat land between them and the surrounding villages have farms and trees. On the drive in you pass the roughly 2-kilometre man-made mahogany forest around Bilar and Loboc, which the provincial tourism site says was planted in the 1990s in response to deforestation caused by slash-and-burn farming. The two landscapes make an instructive contrast. For how these stops fit into one day, see section 5 and our Bohol travel guide.

Is Chocolate Hills a Protected Area? Natural Monument, National System and Geopark

Yes, three times over: the Chocolate Hills have been a Natural Monument since 1997, were written into the expanded national protected-areas law in 2018, and sit inside the Bohol Island UNESCO Global Geopark, designated in 2023 as the first in the Philippines. For visitors, that means you view them from the designated viewpoints and do not climb random hills, dig or collect plants.

• Proclamation No. 1037 (July 1, 1997). It set aside the "1,776 hills, more or less" and surrounding areas as the Chocolate Hills Natural Monument, about 14,145 hectares subject to ground survey, under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Regardless of prior private rights, it bans any activity, including quarrying, that would alter, mutilate, deface or destroy the hills, and bars converting land in the area to incompatible uses. The text is published in the Official Gazette.
• Republic Act No. 11038 (approved June 22, 2018), the Expanded NIPAS Act. Its schedule lists the Chocolate Hills Natural Monument as item 51, with 13,994.95 hectares. The same schedule includes Bohol's Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape and the Alburquerque-Loay-Loboc Protected Landscape and Seascape, parts of which you pass on the inland tour.
• Bohol Island UNESCO Global Geopark (2023). The UNESCO page gives the geopark's total area as 8,808 square kilometres of land and sea. On the provincial tourism site's geosite list, the Chocolate Hills viewpoint in Carmen is G1 and the viewpoint in Sagbayan is G14.

The protection has teeth. In 2024 a resort built inside the protected area became a national controversy, and the Philippine News Agency reported DENR's position that all illegal structures there must be removed. As a visitor, the simplest test for a "new Chocolate Hills spot" is whether it appears among the official viewpoints; whether any other facility is compliant is for the authorities to determine and announce.

The Chocolate Hills Natural Monument is also on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List. Whether it is ever inscribed is a decision for UNESCO, so treat any claim that it is already a World Heritage Site with caution.

Chocolate Hills Viewing Deck and Best Time to Visit: Carmen or Sagbayan, Brown or Green

For a first visit, the viewing deck in Carmen is all you need: it is geosite G1 on the provincial list and the stop almost every day tour makes. If you want a 360-degree view with the sea in the background, consider the Sagbayan viewpoint, G14, as well.

The Chocolate Hills complex in Carmen was badly damaged in the magnitude 7.2 earthquake of October 15, 2013, and the Philippine News Agency has reported on the provincial government's efforts to fund rehabilitation of the deck and facilities. Facilities have since been restored in stages, and what is open on a given day follows the notices posted on site. Reaching the deck involves a flight of steps, so travellers with bad knees should be prepared, and the steps are slippery after rain.

The Sagbayan viewpoint is on the northwest side of the island. The provincial tourism site describes it as a 360-degree view of the conical hills framed by the seascape of Bohol's western coast. It sits a little off the standard inland loop, so it suits travellers staying in the north or approaching from the west.

When to go depends on the colour you want:

• December to May (dry season). Brown grass and the postcard "chocolate" look, with steadier weather, although midday from March to May is intensely hot.
• June to November (wet season). Green hills and frequent afternoon showers. When a typhoon passes, sites and roads can close temporarily, so build in a buffer; for booking changes see how to handle typhoon cancellations in the Philippines.

Time of day matters too. Before 9 a.m. or after 3 p.m., the low, raking light brings out the shape of the cones and the crowds are thinner. At noon the light is flat, the heat is at its worst and the tour groups arrive together. For month-by-month planning across the country, see the best months to visit the Philippines.

Want a driver who times your arrival for good light and small crowds? → Yixing Bohol itineraries · car with driver

Combining the Chocolate Hills with Tarsiers and the Loboc River

The Chocolate Hills are normally part of a single inland day with a tarsier sanctuary, the Loboc River and the Bilar man-made forest. We have already broken down the order and timings stop by stop in how many days you need in Bohol, so this section only covers what else lies along the way and what each place is.

The provincial geopark list numbers several of the stops, which makes a handy shortlist:

• B2, Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary (Corella). A conservation site for the Philippine tarsier and its habitat. Tarsiers are nocturnal and sensitive to noise: no flash, no touching, voices down, and follow the rules posted on site.
• B1, Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape (Bilar). Described as the largest remaining forest on Bohol, and listed in the 2018 protected-areas law.
• C5, Loboc River (Loboc). Known for floating restaurants and cultural performances along the banks, which makes it a natural midday stop.
• C7, Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church (Baclayon). Founded in 1596 according to the provincial site, and one of the oldest churches in the Philippines.
• C4, the Sandugo site (Loay). Marks the 1565 blood compact between the local chief Sikatuna and the Spaniard Legazpi.

From Tagbilaran or Panglao, the drive to Carmen usually takes about 1.5 to 2 hours each way, depending on traffic. With the stops added, the loop fills a whole day, which is why the Chocolate Hills should never share a day with island hopping. Plan lunch around the Loboc River stop, because food options thin out once you head further inland, and keep the last stop of the day close to your hotel. For arranging a car and driver, see our Bohol travel guide; for getting from the airport to your hotel, see our Bohol-Panglao airport guide.

If geology is what draws you, two other trips pair well with Bohol: Mayon Volcano in southeastern Luzon for a textbook volcanic cone, and Davao in Mindanao for Mount Apo, the country's highest peak.

Want a Mandarin-speaking driver for the full inland loop? → Yixing car with driver · Bohol itineraries

What to Bring to the Chocolate Hills: Sun, Rain, Grip and Small Change

Pack for four things at the Chocolate Hills: sun, rain, grip and small change, then add motion-sickness tablets and insect repellent depending on who is travelling. The deck is open to the sky, the surrounding roads are rural and shops are few, so it is easier to bring everything than to hunt for it on arrival.

• Sun. A hat, sunglasses, sunscreen and at least 1 bottle of water per person. There is almost no shade on the deck, and midday between March and May is punishing; for spotting and handling heat illness, see what to do about heat stroke in the Philippines.
• Rain. From June to November, carry a light rain jacket; umbrellas are awkward in the wind on the deck.
• Grip. Wear trainers or sports sandals with a good sole, because the steps get slick after rain. With older relatives or children under 5, go at your own pace; the lower platforms still give a good view of the hills.
• Small change. Village shops, toilets and some paid stops along the route mostly take cash, so carry small notes. Whether anything is charged, and how much, follows what is posted on site.
• Motion-sickness tablets and repellent. The road to Carmen has plenty of bends, so take tablets 30 minutes before setting off if you need them. The tarsier sanctuary and forest sections have plenty of mosquitoes.
• A power bank. A full day of photos and maps drains a phone.

On site there is one core rule: stay within the open viewing areas, do not climb hills that are not open, and do not take soil, rocks or plants. That is a legal requirement of the protected area, not a polite suggestion. Local operators around the area offer all-terrain vehicle (ATV) rides; before joining, check that the operator runs within permitted areas and provides helmets and insurance. Whether drones may be flown is governed by site management and current civil aviation rules.

For souvenirs, Bohol's coconut and sticky-rice sweet calamay and ube products are the classics; see what to buy in Bohol and, for the whole country, our Filipino food guide, which also covers what you can take home. Practical jobs after you land, such as a SIM card or currency exchange, can go to our settling-in services.