Pearl of the Ocean

Overview

Pearl of the Ocean is a hilltop viewpoint in Barangay Del Mar, Mabini, Bohol. Access requires climbing 155 steps. At the summit, the view takes in the sea and the rolling hills of the surrounding area, with seating for visitors who want to sit rather than just look and move on. The barangay’s own name — Del Mar, Spanish for “of the sea” — matches what the viewpoint delivers: an elevated, unobstructed view of open water that most of coastal Mabini’s flatter barangays don’t have.

The site fits a pattern found across Mabini’s small attractions: a hilltop climb, built with local labour rather than outside investment, offering a sea view as the entire draw. Aguipo View Park, up the coast, follows the same formula with 182 steps and religious statuary added on top; Pearl of the Ocean keeps it simpler, with just the stairway and a place to sit. Mabini’s long, largely unpaved distance from Tagbilaran has meant almost no resort or government tourism investment reaches this far, so what exists here was most likely built by residents or a local landowner with materials and labour already on hand.

Location

Barangay Del Mar, Municipality of Mabini, Bohol. Mabini is on the southern coast of Bohol, facing the Camiguin Channel, approximately 50 km east of Tagbilaran City along the coastal road.

The coordinates listed above are approximate; the summit’s exact elevation is not documented in available sources, so treat the pin as a general guide and confirm the precise access point locally when you arrive in Del Mar.

Getting There

From Tagbilaran City, take a bus or van heading east along the south coast toward Anda, passing through Jagna and Mabini (approximately 1.5–2 hours). Ask the driver to drop at the Pearl of the Ocean access point in Del Mar.

The exact drop-off point and habal-habal availability from Mabini town proper to Del Mar aren’t consistently documented — ask locally in Mabini town or check with your driver for the current best way in.

Practical Info

• Access: 155 steps to the summit
• Seating available at the top
• Admission fee (if any), operating hours, and facilities at the base are not consistently documented; confirm current details locally or with the Mabini municipal tourism office before visiting. As with most of Mabini’s viewpoints, there’s no food or drink vendor at the site itself — bring water, especially if visiting outside the cooler morning hours.

What to Expect

This is a short visit built around the climb itself — the 155 steps are the entire physical component, and once at the top there is nothing to do but sit and look. No structures or facilities beyond the seating are documented. The name suggests the spot was developed or christened by the local government or a landowner as a deliberate tourism asset, though its origin story turns up nowhere in research. It pairs naturally with a broader swing through Mabini’s other nature spots, including Aguipo View Park, TSEDI Highlands & Bayview Park, and the municipality’s dive sites, Intermedio and Kambaki.

Del Mar and the rest of coastal Mabini run on fishing and farming, with bangka boats working the Camiguin Channel and the wider Bohol Sea. A common household meal along this coast is kinamatisang isda — reef fish cooked down in tomato, garlic, and onion — and tuba, the fermented coconut sap tapped and sold informally across rural Bohol; neither is packaged for visitors, so the most reliable way to try either is to ask locally rather than look for a restaurant menu.

Notes

• Mabini municipality also contains Aguipo View Park and dive sites (Intermedio, Kambaki), suggesting the municipality actively promotes nature-based and marine tourism — though in each case, without significant outside capital behind the development.
• Pearl of the Ocean, Del Mar, Mabini, Bohol — 155 Steps Viewing Park with 360 Degrees, accessed 2026-07-17.