Last Christmas, our family took a road trip going to Laguna. We hit the road before lunch around 10:30 am and arrived there at 1 pm. We came from Dasmarinas City, Cavite. There’s no traffic in the morning because it’s Christmas!
Why is it called Twin Lakes?
Believe it or not, San Pablo has seven lakes! Of those seven lakes in San Pablo, there are twins! They’re called Pandin Lake and Yambo Lake.
What to experience?
1. Hiking
Visitors need to walk for 10 – 20 minutes to reach the Pandin Lake. It’s a challenge for my grandmother!
2. Bamboo Rafting
To reach the Lake Yambo, tourists need to rent this bamboo raft. It’s 180 pesos per person.
You don’t need to paddle because there are people who will pull the raft for you. That’s my brother trying to imitate the staff.
3. Eating healthy
Instead of just paying for the bamboo raft, we opt to include the meals in the package. For only 380 pesos per person (bamboo raft + food), you can enjoy tilapia, hipon, ensaladang pako, banana and few cups of rice.
There are also coconut juice for sale!
4. Sightseeing
Who will not fall in love with this view? I love how virgin the place is. It’s far from the overly commercialized beach resorts.
5. Swinging
They have a swing made of an old tire! Based on the Instagram Photos, most of the people who visited the lake tried this swing.
6. Picture Taking
Say goodbye to photo bombers! You can take a lot of pictures without having unnecessary things around you.
7. Swimming
Okay, I didn’t swim because they guide mentioned that it’s more than 200 ft deep. My brother swam while I’m busy taking pictures!
How to go there:
We used a private transportation – waze works! (and we have a contact person:Ate Siony – 09299789565)
Anyway, here’s the directions if you plan to use the public transportation:
- From Manila: Ride a Jac Liner or any bus bound for Lucena in Buendia/Kamias Bus Terminals. Alight the bus in SM San Pablo then ride a jeepney to San Pablo proper. Walk from the final stop inside the public market to the street near the Fire Station across 7/11. Ride a Jeep to Narcarlan. Alight in the terminal and ride a tricycle going to Brgy. Sulsuguin.
- From Alabang: Ride a bus bound for Lucena and alight in SM San Pablo. Fare is P98. Follow remaining steps above.
- From San Pedro, Binan and Sta. Rosa: Go to Balibago complex. Ride a van to going to San Pablo City. Fare is P75. Follow remaining directions above when you get to San Pablo.
- From Calamba, Los Banos, & Calauan: Ride a jeep or a bus going to Sta Cruz. Once in Sta Cruz, ride a passenger jeep to Nagcarlan. Follow remaining directions above.
- From Dasma and Pala-Pala: Ride a van going to Sta. Cruz. Once in Sta Cruz, ride a passenger jeep going to San Pablo. Follow remaining directions above.
It’s a tradition for our family to stay at home during Christmas because most of our inaanaks go to our house to claim their gifts. It’s my first time to spend Christmas in the Philippines after two years so my godchildren are excited to see me. I spent the morning giving out gifts for them, and the afternoon at Twin Lakes!
Why do I have to write about that? I just want to justify that I’m not hiding from them. HAHA! I have receipts!
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What an adventure! The photos of your tilapia meal made me so hungry. Will definitely order some if I visit. Also, loved the song you used for your vlog. Can you tell me what it’s called? Thanks!!
This place looks like Paradise. This trip seems to include all of the things that I love, hiking, boating, fresh seafood. Definitely going on my list of places to visit when I come to the Philippines. At first, it seemed like I was reading about a place in Latin America, seeing names like San Pablo and the use of pesos. I often forget about the Spanish influence in the Philippines! Good read. Thank you!
What a great place and a unique way to spend Christmas for sure (in bathing suits and swimming together). Why didn’t you swim at 200 ft depth? I thought you’d say it was shallow, but girl, thats perfect and you should have jumped in (with a safety vest if needed of course!)
This looks like a really beautiful place to be! Thanks for sharing the information about how to get there and what you can do there!
Did you stay just for the afternoon? With just hiking and sightseeing from the bamboo raft, maybe an afternoon is enough? It’s also not kid-friendly to do swimming. I’m also curious, how is the raft being pulled by other people?
I can see why Twin Lakes is removed from all the tourists! You need a guide to follow the instructions just to find it, hahaha. The place looks beautiful. I would also have been scared to swim since the lake is so deep! Nice photos^^
This looks like a lovely family break, and a great way to spend Christmas! For me though, I don’t think I could spend Christmas any other way than with my family, at home, eating roast turkey and all the trimmings. Christmas is such a traditional time for me and my family x
You pretty much listed all the things I like to do in life, so I’m definitely sold. I particularly like the eating healthy aspect of it all, as that makes a difference in how you feel and experience a place!
What beautiful lakes! I can only imagine how peaceful it is there. Your food looks yummy and healthy too! A lovely place.
It looks beautiful!! I’ve never heard of bamboo rafts before. That looks like fun! Not to mention good food added in. ????
The food looks sumptuous..yummmm…Thanks for sharing about Twin Lakes Laguna, adding this to my bucket list for future trips.
Lovely lakes and good weather. That what you need when you want to have a relaxing weekend. It is very popular in Finland, where I live.
A beautiful place, like a real paradise on earth. I would like to try bamboo rafting, I like this type of attractions very much ????
Twins lakes looks amazing! I would love to do hiking and spend some time in nature, with this busy kind of life I think we all need it 🙂
Wow! This looks like a cool place to spend a day, with family or a solo traveler, like myself! I love the photos – they are both funny and informative ???? ???? I would definitely love to travel to the Twin Lakes someday ???? Safe travels!
Jules@thetravelingtulip
Some day I want to stay in Philippines! The food, river rafting , lake sighting all sound so much fun!
This looks absolutely amazing. The food looks so delicious. Looks like you had a great time.
Wow, bamboo rafting sounds so much fun and the food that coms with the package looks delicious!
Oh wow! This looks like y’all had so much fun! I’d love to go there!
The pictures are really really cool!
bamboo rafting looks so fun! i love how they actually have this kind of diner imitation for you to enjoy the meals during the rafting. also, why is it called twins? you mentioned about pandin and yambo lake that are twin out of the seven lakes, but why are they twins? is there any folklore that may become the reason? ????
oh i swam in the twin lake and loved my experience so so much..these turquoise blue water calling me again..ur pictures are so beautiful