Loay is one of forty-seven (47) municipalities (along with one city) comprising the province of Bohol in the Central Visayas. The town is politically subdivided into fwenty-four (24) barangays, and is a part of the 3rd Congressional District of Bohol.
Aside from the beaches along its southern coastline, Loay has various other attractions that include Himontagon Hill, the centuries-old parish church, the town square, one of the oldest ancestral homes in Bohol, and the ruins of a Spanish-era watchtower along a mangrove area.
Up on Himontagon Hill, one will have a vantage view of faraway Camiguin Island as well as other scenic spots of Loay and neighboring towns. A perfect place for trekking, with cool refreshing mountain air for good health.
The Santissima Trinidad Church sits on a plateau facing the sea near the mouth of the Loboc River. Old and charming, the church is made of coral stone and reinforced with concrete. The church’s dome and ceiling are painted with biblical figures and scenes. A few steps away stands the separate belfry at its side.
A refreshing unimposing sight, the Loay Plaza includes a large open space with a simple stretch of grass, ending with a walkway along the coastline near the mouth of the river. Two coral stone buildings flank the square: one used by the public school and the other used as an archive for church documents from the Spanish period. Both buildings are designed plainly, sedate and classical in style, bereft of ornamentation except for the emblem of the Virgin Mary on the archive structure.
The Clarin Ancestral House houses the memorabilia of one of the prominent political families of Loay. The house is situated at the foot of the hill where the church is located.
The Loay watchtower is located at the seaside barangay of Villalimpia, at the edge of a mangrove forest near the mouth of the Loboc River. Like all other watchtowers that dot the coastline of Bohol, the tower served as a watch point for any incoming marauders from the sea.
Loay’s distance from Tagbilaran City, the provincial capital, is eighteen (18) kilometers and travel time from the capital is about twenty-five (25) minutes.