“Chocolate Hills” in Carmen Bohol melts after the 7.2 Magnitude Earthquakes.

When you say Bohol, the next word you may hear is “Chocolate Hills” (aside from Tarsier and White Beaches); Chocolate Hills is one of the main attractions when you visit Bohol. But today, after the calamitous 7.2 magnitude earthquakes hit the province of Bohol. I don’t believe that the tourism of Bohol will survive in the next few months after the remarkable date of October 14, 2013 8.00AM  when the growling calamity victimized the wealth of Boholanos.

Supposedly, I am not going to blog about chocolate hills as of today but due to the fact of the devastating scenario happened in Bohol, I can separate myself to write my feelings about it. I looked for my old memory card quickly to retrieve my pictures during my Bohol Travel. I can even imagine the comparison of my captured images during my Bohol travel versus the damaged chocolate hills after the Earthquake. I am privileged that I was able to visit the wonder of Bohol before the earthquake happened. I was able to witness the picturesque beauty of the visually brown and amazing creation of nature.

Chocolate hill is a geological formation in Bohol Province or simply we called BUROL in tagalog. 1,776 hills spread out evenly over a vicinity of more than 50 square kilometers (20 sq. mi) that makes it as Bohol’s famous tourist spot. When you visit there, you will witness the giants’ mole hills, or maybe women’s breasts or a most people who first see pictures of this landscape can hardly believe that these hills are not a man-made artifact. Yes it is! It is natural.



Chocolate hill is situated in the Town of Carmen, Bohol which is a center of the said earthquake.  It was so easy to get there, from Tagbilaran City you have to go to the integrated bus terminal in Dao and catch a bus going to Carmen and make sure to instruct the driver to drop you off at the Chocolate hills complex which is 4 kilometers before the Town Proper of Carmen. And there you go! You just need to walk 10 minutes for you to reach the entrance. (To get back to Tagbilaran, you need to go back to the main road where-in the buss will pass going back to tagbilaran, last bus leaves at 4PM)



If you're coming from Tubigon (arriving from Cebu by boat), a few buses go to Carmen daily, but sometimes you'll have to wait for some time for the bus to fill up. When you arrive in Carmen, you can catch the next bus or jeepney in the direction of Bilar, Loay or Tagbilaran, or ask a 'habal-habal' driver to bring you to the Chocolate Hills Complex.

One of the challenge here is to count the steps of the stairs 

If you would like to spend longer time in Chocolate Hill, You have stay at the resort run by government. But if you are a traveler in tight budget, you can use you tent, don’t worry locals are very friendly so just ask them. But today, because of what happened I can’t recommend you to stay at the area because it was totally damaged.

I was searching some pictures after the shocking earthquake which is viral online. And the thing here is, I discovered the said tourist spot was totally damaged. Yes, seriously!

I am very sad since I grew up in Bohol, and I am proud Boholanos. I can feel my fellow men that are currently suffering and mourning from the calamity and asking for help. Once in my life I traveled this province, and I admit it, I cried when I learned the news. Maybe tourist will still visit in the next few months but not to appreciate the beauty yet to witness the ruins of the churches and the chocolate hills after the quake.


I know Boholanos are strong enough to move on, and this is not Boholano’s predicament only yet this is Filipino’s challenge. The whole Philippines are still standing coz Filipinos believed that despite of the an earthquake with energy equivalent to “32 Hiroshima bombs” still “IT’S MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES”

The Stunning Beauty of Chocolate hills before earthquake

I can't believe the Chocolate Hills is melting now after the earthquake (Photo by Robert Micheal Poole)

Related Article 

Devastating Bohol's Churches after the 7.2 magnitude earthquakes.