Loboc River Cruise

One of the things you should not miss when you go to Bohol is the Loboc River Cruise. It is an hour or so boat ride upstream the Loboc River, from a point near the Loboc Church, up to what seems to be the beginning of the river, which is a short waterfall people call the "busai", then downstream again back to the point where the cruise started.

You can enjoy the cruise either on board a floating restaurant where eat-all-you can food is served with on-board entertainment provided by homegrown talents singing "welcome, to my native land" in undeniably Visayan accent, for just P250, or on boats big enough to accommodate whole families or groups, for P500.

Along the way, you will get to appreciate the uninterrupted "greenness" of the vegetation on the mountains along the river. The houses on the banks of the river vividly reminds you of the idyllic life in the province, a great contrast to the worries and chaos of city life. The experience is given an exclamation point once you see kids swinging on vines from the banks and plunging into the brownish water for a quick tourist-applauded swim.

At some point, the width of the river itself becomes the feast of the eyes. For those who've seen Cesar Montano's Panaghoy sa Suba, this is where they shot that scene where Cesar paddles his boat on a river so wide with nothing but green in the background. Trust me, the scene is more beautiful than it was in the movie.

At the "busai", where water rush down a short waterfall, townsmen on rafts provide music and entertainment while the boat rides stop for a few minutes. This is a quite a treat from the town which is the home of the famous Loboc Children's Choir. I wouldn't be surprised if on board those rafts are some fathers and mothers of those kids who have been given standing ovations in their performances in Europe and the United States.

Words are not enough to capture the experience. Not even pictures. I invite you to take the ride yourselves and feel the beauty of it. It is so cheap to go there anyway. It is just a P24 peso ride (if I recall it correctly) from Island City Mall, one of the malls in Tagbilaran City.