Kayaking Loboc River

One of our favorite things we did on our Philippines trip was kayaking the Loboc River in Bohol. We were beyond blessed to stay at the Loboc River Resort, which gave us daily views, on our rooms balcony, of the beautiful Loboc River. Another perk was that the resort had kayaks for rent for $3.50 each. On our first day, we rented their kayaks and set off from the resorts restaurant bamboo dock down the Loboc.

It was my first time kayaking so Zachary had to show me the basics, which were pretty easy. With in a minute or two I got the hang of it and we were off, down the stunning river.

There are several trees along the river that are filled with fireflies at night. We took a night ride down the river to see them. At night the river was even more like glass and so quiet. It seemed like it could have been creepy, except that it was just so peaceful, like sacredly so.  We saw a few trees filled with fireflies which made it look like the tree was decorated with twinkling Christmas lights.  It was just amazing. Our day kayak was just as peaceful and spectacular.

Reader, please get ready for a gajillion pictures. Well, at least 50. I just will never be one of those bloggers that is able to choose between 100 pictures those 2 or 3 that will awe you. I'm awed by each one, and so, for my future self, I put all 50+, so I can remember it all. I expect our mothers & grandmothers to be oohhing and ahhing over each picture out of love for us, not because they like looking at the seemingly same pictures over and over, but I realize to you, Reader, they may all really look the same. But, really they're not! Each one is from a different part of the river! The whole river was filled with mangroves & coconut trees & blue skies & beautiful green water! The beauty went on and on, Reader. I could no sooner pick my favorite pictures as " I could choose a favorite star in the heavens." Name that movie folks! Anyone? I'll give you a hint. It rhymes with Shmever Shmafter. Oh! Also, can I just say, none of these pictures are edited. I took them straight from the camera to the blog. Amazing, right!

Mangrove, coconut trees galore.

This is the underwater view. Just in case you were wondering. It was so clear you could see nothing at all.I know it doesn't look clear here, but that's just because all there was to see was water. The water was clear of debris or fish or any of those other usual river inhabiting things. I assume that's because the river was 45 m deep in some places, so all those creepy swimmies (get it? Like creepy crawlies, but they swim) were down in the deep.

One of the popular things to do in Bohol is to take a river dinner or lunch cruise down the river. The boats host a lunch or dinner buffet and live music. Thankfully, where we were staying we were never bothered by any of the boats. In fact we only saw two or three solo, quiet fisherman. Originally we wanted to do the river cruise, but after kayaking it, in the peace and quiet, it just seemed like it would spoil the beauty of the river for us.

"Here Zach, I'll pose and you take a picture. Got it? Great. Let's go!"

"Here I go."

"I'm really far now."

The water was like glass. It was so still & reflected all the beauty around it like a mirror.

"Find a flower pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck!" I found a flower to decorate my kayak with. Bohol was filled with gorgeous flora and fauna.

Exhibit A. ;)

Zachary was kayaking in front of me and went around a bend and started shouting "Heather, you have to see this!"

I came around the bend and saw a huge white cross atop a mountain. It was just amazing and such a reminder of how good God is and how really, all this beauty, is all about Him and His glory and His awesome creativity.

Later in the week, we rented a motorcycle and drove up the mountain to check out the cross.

After kayaking a bit, we decided to take a break and lay down on our kayaks. I could have stayed like that all day. This was our view. Blue skies & palm trees.

 

After our short rest, we turned around and headed back down the river to our resort. 

I loved these mini hills filling our view.

Home sweet home. The waiters helped us dock our boats & were waiting with wet towels & ice waters for us. Such great service in the Philippines!! If you visit Bohol, kayak Loboc River on your own. It was so peaceful and gave us the chance to really soak all that beauty in. We recommend the Loboc River Resort as a place to do that from, too.