Unusual Laguna: Nagcarlan & Pandin Lake

Laguna, this place is just an hour or two drive away from Manila and we know it’s home for lots of resorts, buko pie, hot springs. Little did you know, this usual place of summer getaway boasts some of those not so publicized tourist spots that you wish won’t get commercialized to keep it’s serenity. Wanna know more? “Kaja, let’s go” to Laguna!

I was searching for a day tour getaway with a budget of P1,000.00 -P2,000.00 then I thought, why not try to roam Laguna, since we haven’t done any South Luzon tour yet. After thorough searches, I met these 2 places perfect enough to celebrate his 24th birthday. And here’s our whole day schedule…

March 15 Friday

• 9:00am Jac Liner bus to Lucena // 11:30am ETA San Pablo, Laguna
• 12:30pm ETA Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery // 1:15pm ETD Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery
• 2:00pm ETA Pandin Lake // 4:30pm ETD Pandin Lake
• 5:30pm  DLTB CO. bus to Manila // 8:00 ETA Manila

Location

Laguna is a province of the Philippines found in the CALABARZON region in Luzon. Its capital is Santa Cruz and the province is located southeast of Metro Manila, south of the province of Rizal, west of Quezon, north of Batangas and east of Cavite. Laguna hugs the southern shores of Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the country.

Getting there (commuting):

Manila to San Pablo City – Take the buses in terminals located at Gil Puyat/Buendia, and EDSA Taft bound to Batangas or Lucena.

We arrived at Jac Liner Buendia 8:30am, the Lucena bound bus left at 9:00am, travel time is short roughly 2-3 hours only. Bus fare is P 127.00 per head, just tell the bus conductors that you will get off at San Pablo 7Eleven along the highway near the crossing. Take a tricycle going to San Pablo Cathedral w/c is P 30.00.

San Pablo City to Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery – Just a few steps from the San Pablo Cathedral, look for jeepneys w/ a Nagcarlan sign, it’s lined up across the church more like a jeepney terminal, fare is P 25.00 per head.  Travel time is about 45 minutes to 1 hour, the cemetery is on the left side of the road and in front of a Shell gasoline station.

Nagcarlan to Pandin Lake – In front of the cemetery, take a jeepney w/ a sign Ilog, fare is P 23.00 per head and it takes 30-45 minutes travel time. You’ll know that you’re in Pandin when you see the big green road sign Pandin Lake w/c is on the right side of the road. But if you’re a bit nervous w/ this one, just tell the driver to get you off at the parking lot going to Pandin or Brgy. San Lorenzo.

And now for the itineraries…

Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery

The only one of its kind in the Philippines – it is a burial site located inside, or more accurately, beneath a church. considered a national historical landmark because its underground crypt was used as a secret meeting place in 1896 by Filipino revolutionaries or Katipuneros, members of the KKK. No entrance fee collected but as added help to the caretakers, we bought some delicacies when we left. This place is open on Tuesdays to Sundays, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, cameras were allowed but we are advised not to use flash.

The landscape it somewhat similar w/ Paco Park, wide greenery..tombs on the sides..walkway leading you to a small church.

Downstairs is a place to cool down from the hot weather outside, since it’s underground and surrounded w/ stones thus explains the change in temperature. My first impression was it’s somewhat the same w/ San Agustin Museum wherein it has a chamber that has tombs as well, but it’s not underground haha. You can sense that old eerie feeling here but still leaving you an awe of unique beauty and history. My curiosity lead me to browse all of the tombs here and outside, I was amazed to see these were all here a loooong time ago haha, the oldest tomb I think was year 1886. 

They were having some minor repairs on the park’s facade, the place is well kept and clean, we even had a small chats w/ the caretakers about other Laguna’s unknown tourist spots hehehe. We bought chicharon and shingaling from them as snacks for our next itinerary.

Pandin Lake

San Pablo City of Laguna is also known as the home of seven lakes, and Pandin Lake is one of them, said to be “the most pristine” of the seven lakes of San Pablo, w/c we think is sooo true. It’s twin lake w/c is Yambo, they were separated by a narrow strip of land, a 10-15 minutes hike but we chose not to check it anymore since we had so much fun at Pandin haha. Considered oligotrophic because of the abundant plant and fish life, or in layman’s term…suitable for swimming, picnics, and it has a maximum depth of 63 meters or 180 feet.

In our case, accidentally we took the other trail going to Pandin, they say it’s the shortcut according to the kid who served as our guide, it’s a 15-30 minutes walk from the road where we got off. Then this scene made our Wow faces haha, it’s magnetizing us already and tempting us to hurry up and take a dip regardless of it’s depth! Ms. Tina accompanied us to our bamboo raft, they served our food, then 2 lady navigators started our sailing, yipee!

For lake tour less food it’s P 180.00 each but w/ food it’s P 360.00 each but since we’re 2 pax only they have a special trip charge additional P 80.00. This lake tour is good for 3 hours only, you’ll have to pay an additional amount per hour but the ladies say you have to arrange w/ them first since they don’t have a fixed amount and if it’s peak season, less likely for you to avail of those extensions. Once we stopped for our swimming spot, we take the plunge of this lake’s cold and clear water. At first it’s a bit scary, hellooo 180ft are you serious and thanks to our imagination..sometimes you think a lake thingy might bite you or pull you underneath haha. But once you get to swim it’s water, you’ll be rewarded w/ that soothing feeling, it’s so nice to swim here it’s like your own private lake!

I also guarantee that the menus they served were all soooo yummy from the inihaw na tilapia, ensaladang pako, ginataang hipon..very Laguna indeed. For desserts, they have banana but you can buy leche flan or ube from the ladies before your lake tour. Don’t forget to bring drinking water, because they only serve buko juice as your panulak. After our satisfying meal, we had conversations w/ the 2 ladies, talked about some lake stories, legends, personal family topics.

Maybe you’re wondering why the ladies are working under the scorching heat.. pulling and paddling these rafts everyday and even on Holidays. It’s because of the awkward atmosphere of tourists who are on their swim wears especially ladies who are sometimes care free haha, their husbands and some tourists feel uneasy w/ this so instead the lady paddlers do it. It’s also good to know that their organization has a fair distribution of income per day, no more no less. Whatever amount was collected throughout the day, they equally divide it to the number of lady paddlers who were present.

The lake is well-maintained, really clean and literally green haha, and sooooo serene! They have a lake patrol or like a lifeguard whose always sitting at this area. He has a cool job I must say 🙂 We are the last of the tour to return, the patrol even went w/ us since no tourists will board anymore. This is their everyday lives, simple but their contented..hard work but at least it’s legal.

And just like to share some of our photos on this trip…

Budget/Expenses (2pax)

Transportation *all in* – P 710.00

Pandin Lake Tour – P 800.00

Snacks – P 150.00

Total Expenses: P 1,660.00 fair enough for a day tour 

Helpful Contact Detail – Ms. Tina (President) for Pandin Lake tour coordination 0907-9952983

This was our first trip to South Luzon the backpacking way, first time day tour trip also, first summer getaway for 2013 and my challenge of a P 2,000.00 budget was met we even had change, hooray! Oh and by the way those places I mentioned, these are best kept secret haha, if only it’s possible. We don’t want them to be populated by lots of tourists, the serenity of these places is a factor that we lone travelers are always looking for. Definitely, we’ll keep on coming back to these places too! Enjoy!!!