Lake Pandin of San Pablo Laguna

By Leanne Figueroa

Last July 7, 2012, we went to Lake Pandin, one of the famous lakes in San Pablo Laguna. Lake Pandin is said to be the smallest among the seven famous lakes in San Pablo Laguna. Its a 10 to 15 minute trekking, i guess, before we could reach the Lake.

Its a 10 to 15 minute trekking, i guess, before we could reach the Lake.

The lake was surrounded by coconut and banana trees and the houses of the people living there. Looking at the lake, it was very calm and peaceful and little bit scary because you might not know what it has under its calm waters... or maybe I was just paranoid.. i guess?

To explore the lake, we ride a bamboo raft that was paddled by 2 women,who were actually sisters, and they accompanied us along the trip. First we went to the grotto where a statue of Mama Mary is there. And i guess if you were that observant, you can see that there is also another statue of Mama Mary but it’s smaller and looks like just a rock at first glance. Also there were water falling from the rocks and a flowing water from a bamboo. After seeing the grotto we stopped at the side of the lake where we can swim and rest for 3 hours.

The food that was prepared to us were ginataang hipon, grilled tilapia, ensaladang pako, steamed rice, banana and coconut and they were all good though we weren’t able to eat it all. And all of the food that was prepared for us was also from the place. The shrimp and tilapia were from the lake and the fruits were just around the lake.

Grilled tilapia

Ginataang Hipon

Ensaladang Pako-- actually ferns with salted egg, tomato, and other stuff

It is really scary swimming at the lake because it was so deep. Thanks to the life vests that I was able to stay long on the lake. The fact that it was deep I was scared because I’m paranoid of crocodile coming out of the water. :D I also learned that the insects that were on the lake were called “mosquitoes” of the lake because I thought it was a spider or something.

It was a really fun and relaxing day trip to lake pandin. I can say that it’ll be a good place for people to relax and or meditate because the place is so calm, peaceful and quiet. A really nice place to visit. :)