Bohol & Cebu: Chocolate Hills, Tarsiers & Island Heritage

Arrive at Mactan–Cebu International Airport. Private transfer to the Crimson Resort & Spa Mactan. Rosa meets you at the resort for a welcome dinner and an introduction to the ten days ahead. Evening walk along the resort beach.

Cebu is where the Philippines begins. Rosa's walking tour of the historic centre: Magellan's Cross (planted by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 — the oldest symbol of Christianity in Southeast Asia, still venerated today), the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño (the oldest Catholic church in the Philippines, housing the nation's most sacred image), Fort San Pedro (a triangular Spanish fortification, the smallest in the country), and the Heritage of Cebu Monument. Lunch at a local restaurant in the Colon Street district — the oldest street in the Philippines.

Drive 2 hours south to Moalboal on Cebu's southwest coast. Snorkelling in the famous sardine run — millions of sardines swirling in a vast bait-ball just 15 metres from the beach, a natural phenomenon unlike anything in the Philippines. No boat required — you swim from the shore. Turtle sighting almost guaranteed on the same reef. Lunch at a clifftop restaurant above the sea. Optional: continue to Oslob for ethical whale shark watching (an add-on — Rosa discusses the conservation issues honestly).

Morning fast ferry from Cebu pier to Tagbilaran, Bohol (approximately 2 hours). Drive across Bohol to Panglao Island — a smaller island connected to Bohol by bridge, with white-sand Alona Beach as its centrepiece. Check in to Amorita Resort on the clifftop above the beach. Afternoon at leisure — Alona Beach is perfect for swimming, and the house reef is snorkelling distance from the shore.

Drive north into the Bohol interior. First stop: the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary at Corella — a conservation-run, ethical wildlife sanctuary where wild tarsiers live freely in their natural habitat. Rosa's knowledge of the tarsier's biology (eyes that cannot move in their sockets, a head that rotates 180 degrees, a navigational call at 70kHz — far above human hearing) is extraordinary. After the sanctuary: the Loboc River — a lunch cruise upriver on a traditional floating restaurant, passing nipa palm-fringed banks and small riverside communities.

The geological centrepiece of Bohol: the Chocolate Hills — 1,268 perfectly symmetrical conical hills covering 50 square kilometres of the island's interior. The hills turn chocolate-brown in the dry season (hence the name) and are unlike any landscape on Earth. Rosa explains the contested geology (limestone karst, marine fossil origin). The viewpoint at the Chocolate Hills Complex offers a 360-degree panorama that is, without overstatement, one of the most remarkable sights in Asia. Afternoon: the Blood Compact Monument at Bool — marking the first formal treaty between East and West (Sikatuna and Legaspi, 1565).

Morning snorkelling trip to the Balicasag Island marine sanctuary — one of the Philippines' most spectacular dive and snorkel sites, with walls of coral dropping 30 metres and resident sea turtles, jacks and moorish idols. Afternoon free at Amorita Resort or on Alona Beach. Rosa joins you for a farewell dinner at the resort restaurant.

Morning ferry back to Cebu. Transfer to Mactan Island and a visit to the Mactan Shrine — where Ferdinand Magellan was killed by the chieftain Lapu-Lapu in 1521, the first defeat of a European force in the Philippines. Rosa's account of the Battle of Mactan (Magellan had 50 soldiers; Lapu-Lapu had 1,500) is one of the most engaging stories in all of Asian history. Afternoon free at the Crimson Resort. Final dinner at the resort's seaside restaurant.

Final morning free at the resort — one last swim, breakfast on the terrace, or a walk along the beach. Private transfer to Mactan–Cebu International Airport. Rosa sees you off.