Booking choice: The small-group day with the Loboc River, from $31 per person. Check dates Tour details
Most Bohol countryside tours stop in Loboc around midday. You leave the van, walk down to the landing, and board a covered raft that carries a buffet and a band upstream through the jungle and back again. The provincial tourism office describes it simply: a floating restaurant cruise with a buffet meal and a short cultural show by the local community.
This guide covers the price and who pays it, how long the cruise takes and what you see, the food, the paddleboard and riverside lunch alternatives, weather pauses, and two questions people ask at the end of the day: which Bohol delicacy to bring home, and why you hear that chicharon is not allowed.
The quick answer
The Loboc River cruise is a buffet lunch on a floating raft, about an hour on the water. Expect about ₱1,200 per person per the listings, paid in cash on the day on most shared tours; a few tours include it in the price. Prefer to move? Some tours swap the raft for a paddleboard on the same river.
What is the Loboc River cruise in Bohol?
A lunch cruise on a floating restaurant raft that goes up the Loboc River and back, with a Filipino buffet and live music on board. It is the lunch stop on most countryside tours.
Loboc town sits about 24 km from Tagbilaran, roughly 40 minutes by car or about an hour by bus or jeepney from the Dao terminal, per the Bohol provincial tourism office. Tours from Panglao reach it in the middle of the loop, usually between the Chocolate Hills and the tarsiers or the Bilar man-made forest. The order changes by operator.
The rafts are wide, roofed and slow. You pick a table, fill a plate, and the river does the rest. Along the way, local performers put on a short show of songs and dances before the raft heads back.
Loboc itself is worth a look on the way out. The San Pedro church by the river, built in 1734, was badly damaged in the 2013 earthquake and reopened on 16 May 2021 after restoration by the National Museum.
How much is the Loboc River cruise in 2026?
About ₱1,200 per person per the tour listings, buffet included. On most shared tours you pay it in cash on the day; a few tours build it into the price.
The cruise is sold as one ticket with the buffet. Travel sites quoted around ₱1,000 for years, and the listings we work from now give ₱1,200. Plan on that and bring pesos in small notes.
Who pays what depends on the tour you pick:
| Tour | Loboc lunch | Fees on the day |
|---|---|---|
| Countryside tour from Panglao | Optional, ₱1,200 or a riverside restaurant, paid on site | ₱500 per the listing |
| Small-group Loboc River day | Optional, paid on site | ₱500, collected at pickup |
| Guided hills and tarsiers tour | About ₱1,200, paid on site | ₱500 per the listing |
| Tour with the Loboc River lunch | Included | Included |
| ATV ride with the Loboc lunch | Included | Included |
| Countryside tour from Cebu | Included | Included |
The fees and the Loboc River buffet in one price, with pickup at McDonald's Panglao or your hotel.
Check dates for the tour with the Loboc River lunchHow long is the Loboc River cruise and what do you see?
About an hour on the water, upstream to a small waterfall and back. Lunch departures run from about late morning to mid-afternoon.
Travel guides give a round trip of about an hour, a little longer with boarding. The rafts leave from the Loboc tourism complex in town, and most sources describe the turning point as Busay Falls, a low, wide cascade upstream. Lunch sailings start around 10:00 and the last ones leave in the early afternoon, so your tour times the drive to hit a slot.
- The river: green water, with palms and jungle down to both banks and the odd riverside house between them.
- The music: live songs on board, often a singer with a guitar.
- The show: a short cultural performance by the local community along the way.
Gladys, who did the trip from Cebu, put it plainly: "We really enjoyed the cruise lunch . Food was delicious and plentiful. Along the way you see traditional Filipino dance performances!" (Sep 2026)
What food is served on the Loboc River cruise buffet?
A Filipino buffet: rice, grilled fish, chicken and pork dishes, noodles, vegetables, fruit and a sweet or two, with water or iced tea. Vegetarian dishes are usually part of it.
Menus change by raft, so take this as a typical spread rather than a promise: steamed rice, grilled bangus (milkfish), chicken adobo, a pork dish, pancit noodles, lumpia spring rolls, pinakbet vegetables, salad, tropical fruit and a rice cake for dessert.
If you eat vegetarian, there is usually enough. Julia wrote after her day: "the food buffet on the boat was great. they also had vegetarian options and a lot of choices including desserts." (May 2026). For allergies or a strict diet, tell your tour operator when you book, so the guide can mention it at the landing.
One small tip: the best tables are the ones on the river side of the raft. Guides on some tours save seats for their group, which is a nice touch when the landing is busy.
Is the Loboc River cruise worth it, and what are the alternatives?
For most first-time visitors, yes: it turns lunch into part of the sightseeing. If you would rather be active, paddleboard the same river or eat at a riverside restaurant.
The cruise works because it solves two things at once. You need lunch somewhere in a six to ten hour day, and this one comes with the river, the music and an hour off your feet. Mark said it well after the countryside tour from Panglao: "Had a great day, tour guides were fantastic, really enjoyed it, river cruise lunch was great as well." (Oct 2026)
- A paddleboard on the Loboc. The countryside tour with paddleboard includes stand-up paddleboarding on the river and the entrance fees; lunch is extra. Andrea's verdict: "Stand up paddle board was really fun too" (May 2025).
- A longer paddle. The provincial tourism office lists a SUP eco-tour in Barangay Valladolid, Loboc, daily 7:00 to 17:00, in 1, 3 or 6 hour options, for ages 8 to 65, with a guide, a lesson and life vests.
- A riverside restaurant. On the Panglao tour you can pick a restaurant by the river instead of the raft, paid by what you order, per the listing.
Paddle the Loboc on a stand-up board, with Baclayon Church and the entrance fees in the price.
Explore the countryside tour with paddleboard Tour detailsDoes the Loboc River cruise run in the rainy season?
Yes, most days. The town's tourism office pauses river activities when a storm comes through, as it did from 4 February 2026 for Tropical Depression Basyang.
The river rises fast after heavy rain upstream, so Loboc stops the cruises and the floating restaurants when the water or the forecast says so. In February 2026 the Loboc Bohol Tourism Office suspended all water activities from 4 February, and the pause was still on two days later. After Typhoon Odette in December 2021, the cruises came back in March 2022.
These are short weather pauses, and tour operators work around them: they switch you to a riverside restaurant or another lunch stop and keep the rest of the loop. Every tour on this site has free cancellation up to 24 hours before, which helps when a storm is on the way. Our rainy season post and the best time to visit guide go into the months.
A small group of up to 15 with a guide who handles the ticket lines, with the Loboc lunch as an option on the day.
Check dates for the small-group day with the Loboc RiverWhat is the best delicacy to try in Bohol?
Calamay from Jagna: a sticky sweet of glutinous rice, coconut milk and sugar, sold in a coconut shell sealed with a red band. Peanut kisses are the other classic.
- Calamay of Jagna. The provincial tourism office calls it the signature delicacy of Bohol. Jagna, on the south coast, is known as the province's calamay town; rice is ground in stone mills, cooked down with coconut milk and sugar, and poured into shaved coconut shells with the red band you see in every souvenir shop. The craft goes back to Fr. Mariano Gutierrez, parish priest of Jagna from 1825 to 1855.
- Peanut kisses. Bite-size peanut cookies shaped like little hills, sold by the box in pasalubong shops across the island.
- Broas and tablea. Light ladyfinger biscuits, and discs of pure cacao for hot chocolate.
Ask your guide for the next pasalubong shop on the route: most countryside tours pass a few, and they keep well in a day bag.
Why is chicharon not allowed in Bohol?
Because of African swine fever. Since 2019 Bohol and Cebu have at times restricted pork and pork products crossing their borders, and those rules can cover chicharon.
Chicharon, crisp pork crackling, is a favourite pasalubong in the Visayas, which is why the question comes up. The rules behind it are about the hog virus, not about the snack:
- 2019: Bohol banned live pigs, pork and pork products from entering the province, and airlines told passengers to discard pork products at Panglao unless they carried a meat inspection certificate.
- 2023 and 2024: after the first cases in Bohol, Cebu limited pork from Bohol for a time, and Bohol limited pork moving from Panglao Island to the mainland.
- 2025: a provincial ordinance moved Bohol from a total ban to regulated entry, with veterinary papers and permits.
- July 2026: Executive Order No. 28 put a 60-day ban on pork from Negros Island, and Cebu issued its own order covering processed pork products.
The rules change with the outbreaks, so check the current one before you pack pork products, in either direction. Calamay and peanut kisses travel without any paperwork.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Loboc River cruise per person?
About ₱1,200 per person with the buffet, per the 2026 tour listings. Shared tours usually collect it in cash on the day; some tours include it in the price.
How long is the Loboc River cruise?
About an hour on the water, upstream to a small waterfall and back, with a short cultural show on the way.
Can I skip the Loboc River cruise on a tour?
Yes. On tours where lunch is paid on the day you can eat at a riverside restaurant instead, and some tours replace the raft with a paddleboard on the river.
Is there vegetarian food on the Loboc River cruise?
Usually yes: the buffet has rice, vegetable dishes, salad and fruit. Tell your operator about strict diets or allergies when you book.
Ready to book
Choose your tour
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every option. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Chocolate Hills Tour with Loboc River Lunch
One price with the river cruise buffet paid
Chocolate Hills, Tarsiers & Loboc River Day Tour
- Guide and air-conditioned high-roof van
- Pickup in Panglao or Tagbilaran
- Bottled water
Chocolate Hills & Countryside Tour with Paddleboard
The full loop with Baclayon Church and a paddle on the Loboc
