What is Chocolate Hills?

Chocolate Hills in Bohol is a famous tourist attraction in the Philippines that continues to draw
attention for its unique and majestic characteristics. Its awesome natural beauty has formed by the
almost bare cone-shaped hills. Trees grown on the base of the hills and are lush and verdant rings
around its cone-shaped hills. Grass species found to thrive on the hills are Imperata cylindrical and
Sarccharum Spontaneum and several Compositae and ferns.

There are more than 1000 symmetrical mounds, conical and dome-shaped that most people
liken them to Hershey’s Kisses. It is called the Chocolate Hills not because it is made of chocolate but
because of its color.

In the rainy season, the grass blanketing the hills gives them a soft and lush appearance. While
in the summer, the vegetation dies off and turns to a chocolatey brown hue, giving them their name.

What’s unique with these limestone chocolate hills is that they are only covered in grass and the
cone shape is more or less common to all although differing in size. The hills look chocolatey only during
season when the grass withers and turns into brown and looks like giant chocolate kisses.

The Chocolate Hills showcases its iconic chocolate brown look during the dry season, between
January to May. In the rainy season, the grass turns into a vibrant green, giving them that mint chocolate
color. Most of the travelers visit during the dry season when the hills appear exactly as it’s called.

Brief explanation of how Chocolate Hills were form

These conical hills are geomorphological features called cockpit karst, which were created by a
combination of dissolution of limestone by rainfall, surface water, and groundwater, and their subaerial
erosion by rivers and streams after they had been uplifted above the sea level and fractures by tectonic
plates/ processes. These hills separated by well developed flat plains and contain numerous caves and
springs. This plaque states that they are eroded formations of a type of marine limestone that sits on
top of hardened clay. The plaque reads: The unique land form known as the Chocolate Hills of Bohol was
formed ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion.

How to Get to Chocolate Hills Bohol

Bohol is accessible as there are direct flights to Tagbilaran. Usually, tourists book their flight to
Cebu and explore the city first and then ride a ferry to Bohol which was one and a half of travel time. By
boat, access points are in Tagbilaran, Tubigan, Jagna, Ubay, Talibon, and Jetafe, connected to Cebu,
Manila, Leyte, Mindanao, Siquior, and Negros.

From Tagbilaran to Chocolate Hills, you can get a famous spots by joining a Bohol Chocolate Hills
tour. If you want do it DIY, you can take a bus to Carmen so your journey from Tagbilaran to Chocolate
Hills will be easy. Ask the bus driver to stop or to drop you off at Chocolate Hills. If you get lost, you can
always ask help from the locals. They are very hospitable and friendly.

For your accommodation, you can check out ZEN Rooms. We offer the best budget hotel near
Chocolate Hills in Bohol at an affordable price.