5 Day Itinerary for Bohol to Cebu – Bohol to Siquijor

A popular itinerary for travelers visiting the Philippines is doing the Bohol to Cebu, Cebu to Siquijor route.

It’s three stunning islands in the Philippines that are relatively close in distance, so it makes sense to plan a few days in each, starting from Bohol to Cebu, and slowly making your way from Cebu to Siquijor.

Below is a sample itinerary of what you can do with five days with Bohol to Cebu, Cebu to Siquijor, or if you are feeling adventurous, do all three islands in 5 days (read below)!

Bohol to Cebu – Five-Day Itinerary Overview

Bohol has some of the most iconic landscapes the Philippines is known for – most notably the Chocolate Hills, stunning beaches, and world-class diving spots. Cebu, on the other hand, also offers some of the picturesque, pristine beaches and islands in the Philippines.

It should come to no surprise that travelers would want to visit both Bohol and Cebu in one trip, given the close proximity of both Philippine islands to each other.

Here’s a sample five day itinerary of Bohol to Cebu:

Day 1: Arrive in Bohol: regardless of what time you land, take this day to roam around the happenings around Alona Beach where you’ll find tourists and locals in many of its restaurants, bars, and beach life.

Day 2: In the morning, take a tour of Bohol’s famous landscape, the Chocolate Hills and make a pit stop at the Tarsier sanctuary. This trip should take a solid 3-4 hours. In the afternoon and evening, you should have plenty of time to soak in some beach time!

Day 3: Take a ferry to Cebu. Once you get to Cebu, it’s up to you where you want to go. You can go as far as north to Bantayan Island (2 hour drive, plus 45 minute ferry), or visit Moalboal (4-5 hour bus ride), or stay in the Cebu City/Mactan vicinity where you can

Day 4: Whether you make it to north or south of Cebu, use this day to explore the area!

Day 5: Return to Cebu City and go on to your next destination! How to Get from Bohol to Cebu Taking a ferry is the most ideal way to get from Bohol to Cebu. It is a cheap, convenient, and comfortable way to travel – taking approximately 2 hours, and starts at 650 PHP (about $10 USD).

Bohol to Siquijor – Five-Day Itinerary Overview

Bohol to Siquijor is another alternative destination if you are looking to explore less touristy areas of the Philippines (but equally beautiful!) Apart from its mythical witchcraft stories, Siquijor is widely known for its stunning waterfalls, white sand beaches, and out of this world sunsets.

I also love how Siquijor is not super developed compared to its neighboring islands – it has a certain charm to it!

Here’s a sample of a five day itinerary from Bohol to Siquijor

Day 1: and Day in Bohol – See above!

Day 3: Depart Bohol – Take the ferry from Bohol, which will take roughly 4 hours. Once you get to Siquijor, take this time to settle in and check out the main town of San Juan.

Day 4: Check out Siquijor’s main attraction: Cambugahay Falls and Balete Tree. Make sure you also have plenty of time to check out Siquijor’s sunset – it is one of the most beautiful sunsets in the Philippines, rivaling El Nido and Boracay’s sunsets!

Day 5: Depart Siquijor Five Day Itinerary – Cebu – Siquijor – Bohol. For those who are feeling more adventurous and want to see it all (even if you only have five days), below is an itinerary that I had when I crammed Cebu, Siquijor, and Bohol all in one go!

Here’s what our 5-Day itinerary in Cebu – Siquijor – Bohol looked like:

Day 1: Manila – Cebu City – Oslob
Day 2: Cebu/Oslob – Swimming with whale sharks in Oslob and Kawasan Falls
Day 3: Dumaguete – Siquijor – Bohol
Day 4: Bohol – Chocolate hills and island hopping
Day 5: Bohol – Manila

DAY 1: MANILA-CEBU-OSLOB

We took off from Manila at 12:15 p.m. but didn’t get to our hotel in Oslob until around 9:00 p.m. The flight from Manila to Cebu City (via Cebu Pacific) takes just over an hour. But, as in many cases when you travel in the Philippines, the transfer time from place to place is longer than the actual flight itself.

We landed in Cebu City just after 1:30 pm and immediately went to a restaurant that specializes on the regional cuisine: Lechon!

If you’ve ever been to a Filipino house gathering, you know that this a staple food item on the table (would be kind of hard to miss with that giant roasted pig staring right at you).

Shortly after lunch, we had another three hour bus ride from Cebu City to Oslob. It was probably around 9 p.m by the time we got all settled in our hotel. Looking back, it probably wasn’t the most ideal itinerary especially if you only have a few days for the total trip!

DAY 2: OSLOB (WHALE SHARKS) –  KAWASAN FALLS

Swimming with whale sharks – Oslob, Cebu

We started bright and early considering our packed itinerary for the day. We woke up at around 6:30 a.m. to swim with whale sharks, then went straight to Kawasan Falls just after breakfast and took a ferry to a neighboring island Dumaguete.

Unexpectedly, swimming with whale sharks has become one of my top five travel activities to date considering my lack of skills staying afloat in the water (aka I don’t know how to swim).

Before we got in the boats, an instructor gave a 10-minute safety and regulation speech on how to interact with whale sharks. At this point, I was doubting my judgement on whether or not there was any point of going in, given the fact I’m an adult man who doesn’t know how to tread water.

I went in anyway. While everyone was jumping off carefree and swimming around and getting their pictures taken and Gopro-ing with whale sharks, I was still in the boat with the life vest on (man child alert) contemplating on whether or not to go in.

But I also wanted my pictures taken to remember this amazing experience with whale sharks in Cebu. So I went in!

As you can imagine, you need to be submerged in the water in order to take be in the same picture as a whale shark.

But…since I have the unfortunate inability to tread water, my picture looked like this:

My friends had a solid laugh (and more likely the people around us). Regardless, it was probably one of the best 30-minutes I’ve ever spent in open water to date 

KAWASAN FALLS

Shortly after swimming with the whale sharks and having breakfast, we went straight to Kawasan Falls. To get to the two-hour trek from Oslob to Kawasan, we rented a private limo (…or jeep) for just $14 USD per person (there were four of us). Not a bad deal considering we had a private chauffeur for the whole day!

What struck me the most was the beautiful scenery the moment we got our first glimpse of Kawasan Falls. Just imagine the clearest turquoise water possible, surrounded by lush tropical greenery, and the natural and relaxing sound of a waterfall gushing down from soaring heights. A treat for every fan of ecotourism.

Things to know before getting to Kawasan Falls:

If you want to do more of a physical activity besides sitting around the falls, you can do the two-hour canyoneering in Kawasan falls!

It is very touristy – flocked by foreigners and locals alike. So be prepared by the sheer amount of people swimming with you at the lagoon.

DAY 3: DUMAGUETE – SIQUIJOR – BOHOL

We had quite the journey to get to Bohol.

We spent the night on the neighboring island of Dumaguete, where we took the ferry the next morning to the tiny and mysterious island of Siquijor before reaching Bohol.

I wasn’t actually aware of the folklore and mystery surrounding Siquijor until we reached Cebu. The locals gave us their warning with their stories about mysterious events that happens in Siquijor.

Siquijor, for many Filipinos, is the island of sorcery and witchcraft. Legend has it that there are two kinds of witches that exist in the island: a bad one and a good one.

One of them is called mambabarang (or local sorcerer), who uses their power to cause pain and disease. The other is called mananambal (or shamans), who are known to use their magic and witchcraft to heal illnesses and diseases.

Needless to say, we became slightly excited (…ok, maybe a bit nervous) about the prospects of running into a witch on that tiny island.

Besides the folklore, Siquijor left quite a positive impression for the less than two hours we spent on that island. Unfortunately, we were only able to visit the stunning Cambugahay Falls and the mysterious Balete tree due to our very tight schedule.

We wish we stayed longer. I think another trip to Siquijor will definitely be on the itinerary on the next visit to the Philippines. We didn’t see many tourists roaming around, which is a good indication of finding plenty of beaches all to yourself!

DAY 4: BOHOL AND ISLAND HOPPING

Our only full day in Bohol! We arrived the night before, but just ended up having dinner right along the beach and went straight to bed (either due to food coma from the dinner buffet or traveling extensively all day… or both. Probably both).

So the first thing to check-off the bucket list in Bohol? The Chocolate Hills!

Getting to Chocolate Hills was kind of a trek from our hotel in Bohol. We rented a private car that took approximately one hour and thirty minutes to and from the Chocolate HIlls (not to mention the price: all for just under $24 USD)!

The Chocolate Hills are the island’s most famous tourist attraction. They are a geological wonder, composed of 1,260 hills that look like chocolate truffles in various sizes – spread over an area of 50 square kilometers or more. I’ve always seen pictures of these natural wonders in postcards, so to see them for the very first time as we approached the view point was quite breathtaking.

Since we left quite early to visit Chocolate Hills, we were back in Alona Beach to join the rest of the group by 11 a.m. just in time to do a second activity in Bohol.

We rented a private boat for our little island hopping – all for 3,000 Philippine peso, or 600 pesos for five people.

Perhaps Palawan spoiled island hopping for me – which more likley influenced my overall expectations. Overall, I found the island experience in Bohol, just “ok”.  I think I had more fun with my friends on the boat itself 

DAY 5 – BYE BOHOL!

Not much to write here except this was the day when our little group split apart.

Traveling with this group was a definite highlight of my trip to Asia this year. What you may not know is that we all, more or less, met each other recently.

I met Andrew (from San Francisco) through Joyce (from New York), who I met through instagram. Andrew and Joyce met Guillaume (from Paris), who I met during my trip to Palawan last year. My friend Ryan (from Chicago) met everyone for the first time on this trip.
We shared some amazing memories during this trip – and I think we are all already looking forward to exploring the rest of the island next year!!