Bohol trip-planning guide

Bohol waterfalls: which one, which direction, and which fit a day

Bohol has a lot more than one waterfall, and the difference between them is not how they look in a photograph - it is where they are and how you reach the water. They lie in four different directions from Panglao, and several end in a long walk in from where a vehicle can stop. That is the part a picture never tells you and the part that decides whether a falls is a stop on a countryside day or a day of its own. This guide sorts the ones the Bohol Provincial Tourism Office lists by direction, says what each town publishes about the approach, and leaves out every figure we cannot attribute.

Mag-aso Falls cascading into natural pools at Antequera, Bohol, Philippines

Why direction matters more than the photograph

Almost every Bohol waterfall list is a gallery. That is fine for choosing one you like the look of and useless for planning, because it hides the two things that actually shape your day: which side of the island the falls is on, and how far you walk after the vehicle stops. Bohol is wide enough that two falls in different towns are not alternatives to each other - they are different days. And an approach on foot is not a detail, because the vehicle waits at the trailhead: whatever the walk takes, the rest of the day does not get.

North-west and inland from Tagbilaran: Mag-aso at Antequera, and Camugao at Balilihan.
South coast, east of Tagbilaran: the Dimiao cluster - Pahangog Twin Falls, Ingkumhan, Dam-agan and Ipo.
South-east coast: Kinahugan at Jagna, up in the hills behind the town.
Far east: Can-umantad at Candijay, in the uplands just west of Anda.

The north-west pair: Mag-aso and Camugao

Antequera and Balilihan are neighbouring inland towns north-west of Tagbilaran, and the provincial tourism office names a falls among the major attractions of each: Mag-aso at Antequera, alongside Inambacan, and Camugao at Balilihan, alongside Kawasan and Niluksoan. They are the closest falls to Tagbilaran and to the ferry piers, which makes them the realistic option on a day that also has an arrival or a departure in it. What they are not is on the countryside loop - the Chocolate Hills are at Carmen, in the middle of the island, and these two sit the other way.

Antequera is also the basket-weaving town, and its Holy Rosary church dates to the Spanish colonial period, with the present structure built in 1894 - so the falls can share the day with something else in the same town.
Mag-aso cascades into natural pools. The tourism office notes those pools were greatly altered by the 2013 Bohol earthquake and again by the Tropical Storm Seniang flash floods of December 2014, so expect a landscape that has been reshaped, not a postcard.
Balilihan town centre, with the Mt. Carmel church and its 1836 Spanish belfry, is given by the office as about 22 kilometres from Tagbilaran City - the one distance on this page, because it is the office’s own published figure for the town rather than for the falls.

Dimiao: several falls in one town

If you want a waterfall without rebuilding the day around it, Dimiao is the practical answer. It is on the south coast road east of Tagbilaran, and the provincial tourism office lists four falls in the one municipality, so a single drive gives you a choice on arrival rather than a second detour. The office describes Pahangog Twin Falls, in barangay Guingoyuran, as three streams over crags and ridges into a lagoon, split in two - hence the name - with caverns of stalactites and stalagmites beside it, and it gives the height as 30 metres or 90 feet. It also notes that locals say the falls keep their beauty even through the hottest summer months, which matters if you are travelling in the dry season.

Ingkumhan Falls: a towering drop into a natural pool, in the office’s own description.
Dam-agan Falls: named from the Visayan dam-ag, to fall off, for the narrow and steep path down to it - the office says so plainly, which tells you the approach is not for everyone.
Ipo Falls: near Dam-agan and reached by a short trek from it, so the two pair naturally.
Dimiao also has the San Nicolas de Tolentino church, cut stone with twin octagonal towers, if the day wants a stop that is not wet.

Kinahugan at Jagna: the one to read about before you book it

Kinahugan is the falls a visitor asked us for most recently, and it is the clearest example of why direction and approach belong in the plan. It is in Jagna, on the south-east coast - the same town the Camiguin ferry sails from, and a different direction from Panglao than the Chocolate Hills. The provincial tourism office describes three falls, trigonometric in arrangement, the centre one flanked north and south on a cliff it gives as about 50 feet high and almost wholly moss-covered, the biggest dropping into a basin about 15 feet deep and no less than 60 feet across. It also gives the approach: a trail up, roughly five kilometres from the Poblacion, about an hour and a half on foot.

That walk is the plan, not a footnote. An hour and a half in and the same back is most of the usable day, and your vehicle and driver wait at the trailhead throughout.
So Jagna works as its own day, or paired with something else on that coast - not slotted between two inland stops on a countryside loop.
If you are sailing to Camiguin from Jagna, the falls and the pier are in the same town but not the same trip: the crossing has a fixed sailing to be at, and this walk is not something to hurry back from.

Can-umantad at Candijay: the east-coast one

Can-umantad is the falls we already write about, because it sits where an itinerary naturally passes: in the uplands of Candijay, just west of Anda on the east coast, right beside the Cadapdapan Rice Terraces. The provincial tourism office gives its height as 60 metres, fed by the Cadapdapan River. It is the falls to choose if your trip already moves east - on the one-way countryside day that ends in Anda, it and the terraces are one stop with two parts rather than a detour.

Pair it with the Cadapdapan terraces, which are in the same upland barangay.
It fits a day that is going east anyway. As a return trip from Panglao it is the far end of the island and back.
Candijay also lists Canawa Cold Spring, if there is room before the Anda coast.

What we quote, and what we can tell you

BookBohol quotes the driving: a private vehicle and driver from your pickup, out to the falls you have chosen, waiting while you are at the water, and on to wherever the day ends. Entrance fees, local guides and any habal-habal ride on the last rough stretch are paid on site to the people who run them, so they sit outside a transport quote. What we can do before you book is tell you which falls the vehicle can get close to and which one ends in a walk - and if the falls you have named would eat the day, say so rather than drive you there and let you find out.

Name the falls and its town. Several Bohol falls share a name with a resort, and more than one town has a Kawasan.
Tell us if the day ends somewhere other than your pickup - a falls day often pairs with a move between bases.
Say which stop matters most. If the morning runs long, that is the one we protect.

Questions we get asked about this

The things people check before they send a quote request. If yours is not here, put it in the message box and we will answer it with your price.

Can I add a waterfall to a Bohol countryside day tour?

Often yes, but which one decides whether it is a stop or the whole day. A falls whose car park is close to the road folds into a countryside day without reshaping it. One that ends in a long walk in does not - the vehicle waits at the trailhead while you are gone, so the time it takes is time the rest of the day loses. Name the falls you want in the enquiry rather than asking for "a waterfall", and we will say plainly which of the two it is before you commit the day to it.

Where is Kinahugan Falls, and does it fit a day tour?

Kinahugan is in Jagna, on Bohol’s south-east coast, which is a different direction from Panglao than the Chocolate Hills. The provincial tourism office describes it as three falls in the hilly sitio of Karap-agan, reached by a trail it gives as roughly five kilometres from the Poblacion and about an hour and a half on foot. Read that before you slot it between two inland stops: the walk in and back is the trip, not an add-on, so Jagna works best as its own day or paired with something else on that coast.

Which Bohol waterfalls are closest to the countryside tour route?

The Dimiao falls are the easiest fit. Dimiao is on the south coast between Tagbilaran and Jagna, and the provincial tourism office lists Pahangog Twin Falls, Ingkumhan, Dam-agan and Ipo there, so one town gives you several choices without a second detour. Mag-aso at Antequera and Camugao at Balilihan sit inland north-west of Tagbilaran, which is the opposite side of the island from the Chocolate Hills at Carmen - close to town, but not on the classic loop.

Do you quote the waterfall itself, or just the driving?

The driving side: your own vehicle and driver from your pickup to the falls and on to wherever the day ends, including the waiting time while you are at the water. Entrance and any local guide or habal-habal fee at the falls themselves are collected on site by the people who run them. Tell us which falls you want and we will say which of them charge at the gate and roughly what the walk in involves, so the day holds together.

What should I send to get a waterfall day quoted?

The falls by name and the town it is in if you know it, your pickup address, the date, how many people, and whether the day ends back at your pickup or somewhere else. Choose Day tour on the form. If you are staying at a resort named after a waterfall, give the resort name and the municipality - several Bohol falls share a name with somewhere to sleep, and the address is what tells us which one you mean.

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Sources

The facts in this guide are checked against these public sources.