Binabaje Hills Hike in Alicia Panoramic Park, Bohol

Binabaje Hills is one of those places that makes you stop and just take it all in. Tucked away in Alicia, in the northeastern part of Bohol, it’s a rolling ridgeline with endless green hills stretching as far as the eye can see. Getting there from Anda took about an hour, with the last 30 minutes spent clinging to a habal-habal as we cruised through quiet villages and dusty trails. The hike itself is short but brutally steep—one of those climbs where you’re constantly telling yourself, “just a little further.” But the second I reached the top, all of that effort disappeared. Standing there, surrounded by nothing but mountains and open sky, with the wind rushing past, it felt like I had Bohol all to myself.

WHERE IS BINABAJE HILLS 

Binabaje Hills are in the town of Alicia in the north-eastern region of Bohol. I stayed in Anda when I hiked the Binabaje Hills and it was convenient but not perfect.

I had to travel all the way to Alicia the day before the hike to visit the municipal town hall to inquire about finding a guide. Once I arrived at the town hall they were very helpful and lined me up with a guide for the next morning but as a tourist, I believe you need to visit rather than calling the town hall to organize that. So as you can see you may want to stay in Alicia for the night or find a way to contact the staff/guide to organize it without having to visit Alicia a day in advance. I wasn’t in a rush and had my motorbike so I visited the day before and it was no problem. 

The hike itself is about 30-minutes from Alicia town hall along a very steep, muddy and crazy trail. My guide was a dirt bike rider and cruised it with ease in the dark at 3 am but I was very cautiously making my way up and down the crazy road. It reminded me a lot of the insane roads on Nusa Penida in Indonesia. I mention this because I think in this case I don’t suggest doing it DIY on your own.

Normally, I will tell you if it possible or not but in this case, the guide isn’t expensive and they are quite valuable as the entry point isn’t clear and in the dark, you will likely get lost. Additionally, I believe the municipality requires a guide to be with you. I actually took these two drone photos of Binabaje Hills the night before from the municipal town hall.

BOOKING A GUIDE FOR BINABAJE HILLS IN ALICIA

As I mentioned above, you need to book a local guide and you do this by visiting the municipal town hall in Alicia. When I showed up here on my motorbike the day before, I got a lot of interesting looks from the locals.

I’m not sure why the town hall was so crowded but they definitely don’t get too many foreigners in Alicia. It isn’t too far off the track but I don’t think there are many tourist attractions popular enough to pull people from Panglao or Anda. Hopefully, for the locals, Binabaje Hills starts to gain some popularity.

I went into the tourism office and sat down. It was quite cute, to be honest, to sit down in a little office to book my hike for the next day.

The tourism officer, a motherly figure, talked me through the process and called one of the guides. She assured me he would be there waiting the next morning at 4 am and I assured her I wouldn’t be late. She said she would add me on facebook so I could send her a message if the guide didn’t show up.

I asked her if she would be awake at 4 am and she said she would wake up and check her phone. I’m sorry but you can’t get any better hospitality than that! So enjoy the slower pace of this booking system. This is a small town with real people running the show not booking systems and online portals.

The guide cost about 250-300 pesos but it was a pretty long expedition from 4-8am so I gave my guide 500 pesos. He was a really nice guy with good enough  English and we had some chats about Alicia and coconut after. For a group, I am sure it can be cheaper.

MY EXPERIENCE HIKING BINABAJE HILLS IN ALICIA, BOHOL

At 3 am I woke up at my hotel in Anda and piled everything into the carrying shell on my motorbike. I wasn’t coming back to Anda, I was going to continue to the port and head back to Cebu. It was my last day on Bohol and I wanted to squeeze in a sunrise hike before I left.

The drive from Anda to Alicia took about 40 minutes and was a little chilly but it’s a nice road with good conditions for safe night driving. When I arrived at the town hall, my guide wasn’t there but he arrived a couple of minutes later. He jumped on his bike and told me to follow him. Later I would find out he is a dirt-bike rider, which probably explains why I kept losing him on the way up!

The road turned to a dirt trail quickly and then it was a mission in trying to survive. Potholes and steep inclines made it a challenge for me as I wrestled to keep my road bike upright. In the dark, it was definitely an adventure.

After half an hour of intense riding, we parked our bikes under a tree in a little patch of grass, which was seemingly on someone’s property. Later, I would find out that it was his friend’s place and we would pay 10 pesos for parking. We started the hike from this point and it began with only a small incline before becoming very steep. We didn’t stop once and it took us less than half an hour to reach the summit from the bikes.

I don’t think most people go up so quickly as my guide was pretty quick to tell one of the guys already at the top about how quickly we had come up. There was one group camping at the summit and their guide was there in the summit shed sleeping in a hammock.

We were early for the sunrise but from the shed, you can continue along the ridgeline for quite a long way and the view does seem to get better and better. I went for a little exploration before the sun started to show. When it did it gave us some striking reds and purples. We were the only ones up there except for the couple in the tent, who slept through the sunrise!

I began to get quite excited by these colors, but I think my guide was used to sunrises like these. He followed with me as I took photographs this way and that way. It was quite a relaxing morning as the two of us hung out at the summit and along the ridges chatting about his dirt bikes, Alicia and the surrounding hills, which are quite prone to fires.

I sent the drone up, which he was quite impressed with although I wasn’t too impressed with my shots that morning. Nevertheless here is an aerial look of the Binabaje Hills in Alicia.

We took a different route back down and this was actually my favorite part of the hike. The hills here really are rolling and have amazing ridges and patterns just like on many of the day-hikes on Bohol.

Several steep drop-offs made for epic photo opportunities and glorious views. I couldn’t really believe it was this incredible and I’d never heard of the hike and also that no-one else was up here. It’s honestly got to be in the top 10 things to do on Bohol yet it’s not yet on the radar of most tourists.

We made it back down to the bikes after about 40 minutes. I think it was a long way back but definitely the scenic route, which I’m really glad we took. On the way back we stopped to pay the entrance ticket to a little couple who seemingly were working the land. They offered me a coconut for 20 pesos, which I, of course, accepted to replenish all of the sweat lost in that incline.

A young Filipino coconut always does the trick. We also encountered a few goats from the base of the mountain who were very curious about us!

ARE YOU KEEPING UP WITH MY BOHOL SERIES

• I’ve been to Bohol twice and both times I explored extensively on my motorbike to the popular tourist spots and to locations many people have never heard of. I document it all in my Bohol Travel Guide: 27 Awesome Things To Do
• Are you a waterfall chaser? I’ve put together a list of My Favorite Waterfalls and Cave Pools on Bohol with detailed directions and photos.
• Maybe you are an adrenaline junkie like me and want to find out the Best Cliff Jumping spots on Bohol.
• The popular tourist area where most people stay is Panglao Island. I’ve put together a blog post guide about the Best Things to do on Panglao Island
• If you aren’t quite sure whether you want to stay on Panglao Island or venture north to Anda, I’ve written a blog post about the Best Places to Stay on Bohol, which helps you decide what region is best for you depending on your preferences.
• One of the best activities on Bohol is the island-hopping to Balicasag and Virgin Island. I’ve put together a guide with everything you need to know about the adventure here: Virgin Island and Balicasag Island Hopping Tour Review
• If you’re a backpacker, check out my complete list of the 12 Best Hostels on Bohol

MY ACCOMMODATION GUIDES FOR THE PHILIPPINES

• Luxury in South Cebu: 18 BEST SOUTH CEBU RESORTS
• Bucketlist: 13 BEST PHILIPPINES OVERWATER BUNGALOWS
• Beach Resorts in North Cebu: BEST RESORTS IN CEBU
• El Nido Resorts: 12 BEST RESORTS IN EL NIDO
• Moalboal Accommodation: WHERE TO STAY IN MOALBOAL
• Panglao Resorts: 13 BEST LUXURY RESORTS IN PANGLAO
• Siargao Accommodation: WHERE TO STAY IN SIARGAO
• Hostels in Cebu: 10 BEST HOSTELS IN CEBU
• Sustainable Resorts: 12 BEST ECO RESORTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
• Coron Accommodation: WHERE TO STAY IN CORON

MORE OF MY PHILIPPINES GUIDES

• The Ultimate Philippines Itinerary: 3-4 WEEK PHILIPPINES ITINERARY
• Best Island Hopping Trip: BIG DREAM BOAT MAN IN CORON
• The Backpacker’s Guide to the Philippines: 1 MONTH FOR $800
• Ultimate Guide to Coron: 22 AWESOME THINGS TO DO IN CORON
• Ultimate Guide to Siargao: 40 AWESOME THINGS TO DO IN SIARGAO
• Ultimate Guide to Romblon: 17 AWESOME THINGS TO DO IN ROMBLON
• Ultimate Guide to El Nido: 20 AWESOME THINGS TO DO IN EL NIDO
• Ultimate Guide to Bohol: 27 AWESOME THINGS TO DO IN BOHOL
• Ultimate Guide to Sibuyan: 9 AWESOME THINGS TO DO IN SIBUYAN