Bohol trip-planning guide

Chocolate Hills to Anda: the countryside day that does not go back

Most Bohol countryside tours are out-and-back: Panglao to the Chocolate Hills and home again. But if your next night is in Anda, the island’s geography hands you a better day. The hills sit in the middle of Bohol and Anda is on the far east coast, so the countryside stops lie on the way - and past the hills, eastern Bohol has its own two: the Cadapdapan Rice Terraces and Can-umantad Falls in Candijay, just west of Anda. This guide puts that one-way day in order.

A quiet bay with an outrigger boat and a palm-lined shore in Central Visayas, Philippines

Why the hills are on the way to Anda

The classic countryside loop turns around at the Chocolate Hills because Carmen is the farthest inland point from Panglao and most people are going back to the same hotel. Anda changes that. It is on Bohol’s east coast, and Candijay, just west of it, has an upland rice-terrace landscape and a waterfall of its own. So a day that starts on Panglao and ends in Anda can take the inland route across the middle of the island instead of the coast road, and the countryside stops stop being a round trip.

The Chocolate Hills main viewpoint complex is in Carmen, in the heart of Bohol Island.
Candijay, home of the Cadapdapan Rice Terraces and Can-umantad Falls, is on the eastern side of Bohol, just west of Anda.
The direct Panglao to Anda transfer follows the south coast instead; the hills sit well to the north of that road, which is why this is a different day to quote rather than a detour.

What is in Candijay

Bohol’s provincial tourism office lists two sights in barangay Cadapdapan, in the uplands of Candijay. The rice terraces were built on raised ground converted to farmland by the people of Cadapdapan long ago, and are usually pictured golden-yellow. Can-umantad Falls, which the same office gives as 60 metres high, is fed by the Cadapdapan River. They are close together, so plan them as one stop with two parts rather than two separate detours.

The terraces are working farmland, so how they look depends on where the rice is in its growing season.
Candijay’s tourism office lists a third sight, Canawa Cold Spring, if the day has room for a dip before Anda.
Both Cadapdapan stops are inland, so the last leg of the day is the drive down from the uplands to the Anda coast.

What we quote, and what we do not

BookBohol quotes the driving side of the day: one private vehicle and driver from your Panglao pickup to your Anda drop-off, waiting at each stop while you explore. Entrance fees, the Loboc river cruise or kayak, and any meal are paid on site to the operators themselves. That keeps the quote honest about what is transport and what is not, and it means you can choose the river activity you want rather than the one a package includes.

Your bags travel with you all day, so tell us how many - it decides the vehicle as much as the group size does.
Name the Anda hotel, not just "Anda": the peninsula is spread out and the address decides where the day ends.
If a stop needs a booking of its own, such as a private kayak at Loboc, say so and we plan the day around its time.

The day in order

Every stop on this day lies further east than the one before it, from the Loboc river in the west of the interior to Anda on the east coast. That is the useful fact: unlike the classic countryside loop there is no return leg to catch what you skipped, so the order you set in the morning is the order you get.

Pickup on PanglaoYour hotel on Panglao, with your luggage loaded - you are not coming back to this room, so the vehicle carries the whole trip, not a day bag.
Loboc, on the riverThe westernmost stop of the day and the usual first one: the Loboc river for a cruise, a kayak or the floating-restaurant lunch. It is also the stop whose length varies most, so if you are booking an activity here, tell us its time.
The Chocolate Hills at CarmenThe main viewpoint complex, in the heart of the island. On the classic tour this is where the day turns around; here it is the middle of the day, and everything after it is new ground heading east.
Cadapdapan Rice Terraces and Can-umantad Falls, CandijayTwo sights in the same upland barangay of Candijay: the terraces, and the falls fed by the Cadapdapan River. Take them together as one stop - they are the reason to come this way rather than along the coast.
Drop-off at your hotel in AndaDown from the Candijay uplands to the coast. The day ends at your Anda hotel, so the drop-off address is part of the quote, not an afterthought.

What legitimately moves: the Bilar man-made forest on the Loboc–Bilar boundary folds into the first half, between the river and the hills, and costs the day a pause rather than a detour. What does not move is the east end - Candijay and Anda are the far side of the island from Panglao, so the terraces and falls are always late in the day. If they matter most to you, say so, and we protect them rather than the Loboc lunch.

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 a Bohol countryside tour end in Anda instead of back on Panglao?

Yes, and it is one of the better ways to use the day you move bases. Anda is on the east coast and the Chocolate Hills are in the middle of the island, so the hills already lie on the way east: the day runs inland from Panglao, through the hills, on across eastern Bohol to Candijay and ends at your Anda hotel. Your luggage rides along, so we quote the vehicle for bags as well as group size, and the day is planned around the drop-off rather than a return.

Where are the Cadapdapan Rice Terraces and Can-umantad Falls?

Both are in barangay Cadapdapan, in the uplands of Candijay on the eastern side of Bohol - the falls are fed by the Cadapdapan River, and the two sit close enough together to be treated as one stop. Candijay lies just west of Anda, so on a day that ends in Anda they fall at the far end of the drive rather than as a detour back from the hills.

What order do the stops go in?

West to east, the way the places actually lie: Loboc on the river, the Chocolate Hills at Carmen in the heart of the island, the Cadapdapan terraces and Can-umantad Falls in upland Candijay, then Anda on the coast. Unlike the classic countryside tour this is not an out-and-back, so there is no "on the way home" - a stop you skip is gone for the day.

Are entrance fees and a Loboc river trip included in the quote?

No. We quote the driving side of the day: your own vehicle and driver from the Panglao pickup to the Anda drop-off, including the waiting while you explore. Entrance fees at the hills and the falls, and any river cruise, kayak or floating-restaurant booking at Loboc, are paid to those operators. If a specific activity matters - a private kayak rather than a shared one, say - name it in the enquiry so the stop is given the time it needs.

What should I send to get this day quoted?

The Panglao pickup address, the Anda hotel, the date, how many people and how many bags, and the stops in the order you want them. Choose Day tour on the form and answer that the day ends somewhere other than your pickup. If one stop matters more than the rest, say which, so it is protected if the morning runs long.

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Sources

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