Loboc River Cruise — Attraction in Bohol

Tourists are herded through a cavernous reception hall where you pay your P850 ticket and then directed to the quay then to a wooden boat. We arrived past 2pm, and the last one to board. After unmooring, boat moves on, pushed by a small motorized banca; guests begin eating the buffet of home made Filipino food (bulalo, chicken adobo, inihaw na tuna, chopsuey, garlic shrimp, pancit, lechon kawali, seaweed salad, dessert of sliced cake, etc...) while singer/s start to serenade you with old Tagalog songs, kundiman's and some 80's-90's songs they normally play at RJ channel tv. Along the river route there are 2 riverside stages very far apart so altennate boats can dock alongside it and watch locals in native dress perform cultural songs and dances (tinikling was it for us) and then performers urged us to join them. Everywhere, tip boxes are overtly displayed. Drinks (cola and beer, as well as instant coffee mixes) are charged extra. Waitstaffs will try subtly to bunch you and your companions so they can take your pictures together with their Leica camera which you will pay extra again once you're about to exit the tour (ala Villa Escudero day tour) developed and decorated with some labels. Depending where you are seated, view of the river will be a hit or miss. Near the center, view will be partially obstructed, near the singers, then it would be too loud, opposite the performing stage, then you need to stand up and come closer. In the end, it'll feels like your meal is being rushed. A bit too much I say. I think in the long run, the charm will wear off. Much better if you just leisurely walk/bike along the side of the river, rent a smaller banca or even swim or do a rented stand-up kayak at the river and then take a snack at the eateries jutting/dotting the riverside. More economical, more enjoyable, unrushed and more...

It’s perfect ,more than ever.My first time experience of Loboc river is more than 15yrs ago. Wow that was long time ago when I am still a college student.

Now it’s so different , well organized well developed.Kudos to the local government of Loboc and tourism department.

The facility is well thought of. You arrive and staff is ready to greet you, a lot of parking space for cars and motorbike.

You buy the cruise ticket at the counter then it will lead you to entrance to the area where the boat is docked.

The facility is so clean , breeze is nice.

The boat is huge it has tables ans chairs for groups .You pay ₱1000 per person for the cruise + lunch buffet.

The boat crew is ready to greet you and have you seated, plates and cutlery is given then you can start eating. When its enough passenger the boat starts to cruise .

Food is yummy and fresh, a choice of meat, salad , soup and desserts on the side. Softdrinks and other Drinks are additional order and you pay directly to the crew.

A fresh buko is also available,

Along the cruise after about 15mins you will stop by an area where a group of folkdancers stand by to entertain cruise guest. These group are young dancers and old locals alike, they perform folk dances of the Philippines.

There is also a small band on board the boat that will entertain you during the entire cruise.

The cruise ends near a stream and small waterfall. Over all the experience is so great and amazing.it’s worth it, you should try it for your self. There are about 10-12big boats for guests. Its open...

The river cruise was alright, nothing to rave about, more of an expensive moving lunch.

It started out pretty chaotic. They gave us tickets with a table number on them.. when we boarded the boat we were looking for our table number, but none of them were numbered, so we just grabbed a table with 2 chairs.

Meanwhile as soon as they walked on, all the rests of the guests were going hard on the buffet. There wasn't a line system so everyone was just shoving in there, we weren't even moving yet and some people weren't even on board yet and it was just a hoard around the buffet table.

There was more then enough food that you didn't need to fret and shove in line to get a plate.

By the time we started moving mostly everyone was sitting down and eating. This could definitely be more organized. Have people sit down first and get moving then do table by table or organize a line or something.

The food was actually really good, and they had quite a few options.

The cruise was around an hour. The latest cruise time was 2:30pm, or 3pm on weekends. Apparently they don't do dinner cruises even though there is a huge banner outside advertising it. They stop along the way and there's a little performance by some local dancers.

It's pretty scenery but you're really only seeing palm trees around the river. There's a photographer on board who will take pictures of you at the front.

Overall it's not a bad little cruise but you're not missing out on anything amazing if...