The 7 natural lakes in San Pablo are Sampalok, Pandin, Yambo, Mohikap, Bunot, Palakpakin, and Calibato. According to many, these lakes are volcanic craters formed many years ago.
Now, these lakes were farmed by the local and the common farming they raise is tilapia fish. These lakes also have a different types of freshwater fish and specified in the following descriptions: hito, dalag, bangus, carpa, big head, gurami, ayungin dulong, bakuli, bitoo, kuhol, yapyap, and hipon.
Local and tourists are growing in the area and the common lake place visited by the tourists is Sampalok and Pandin lake. Other lakes have their own uniqueness and beauty but still need time to be developed for easier access and possible tourism opportunity.
These are 7 lakes in San Pablo
- Sampalok Lake – Under the jurisdiction of five barangays namely: Barangays IV-A, IV-C, V-A, Concepcion, and San Lucas I, Sampalok Lake is the largest of the seven lakes with a total surface area of 102.7 hectares. It is also the most accessible since it is located just within the City proper and right beside the City Hall. It has an estimated depth of 27 meters with about 14,100 cubic meters of water holding capacity. It offers a sizeable windy park for a slice of the City’s soothing calmness. People come here to jog or walk around the lake or to just sit down and enjoy the relaxing ambiance of the water.
- Pandin Lake – Located in Barangays San Lorenzo and Sto. Angel, PandinLake has situated 6.3 kilometers away from the City proper. With its secluded and pristine beauty, Pandin may very well be the most sought-after of all the lakes in terms of nature tourism. With only 20.5 hectares total surface area, it is the smallest of the 7 lakes, but it is the second deepest at 62 meters. Getting to Pandin will require an easy 30-minute hike from the jump-off point. Upon reaching the lake, lady paddlers wait to take visitors across the blue-green waters of Pandin on board a bamboo raft. A short 5-minute climb to the other side of the lake will give a commanding view of Pandin’s twin lake- Yambo.
- Yambo Lake – Local legends say that Yambo lake, which also lies in Barangay San Lorenzo, is more than Pandin’s twin; it is actually a “lover.” A bare strip of elevated land only separates these two lakes. Yambo’s surface area is about 8 hectares larger than its twin and has only about half of Pandin’s depth. San Pablo shares Yambo with the neighboring town of Nagcarlan.
- Mohikap Lake – Mohikap lake is relatively still in its pristine condition. Itis about 5.0 kilometers from the City proper with a depth of 30 meters and a surface area of 28.5 hectares. It is located in Barangay San Buenaventura.
- Bunot Lake – Bunot lake is located in Barangay Concepcion, which is about 2.2 kilometers from the City proper. Its surface area is 30.5 hectares with a depth of 23 meters.
- Palakpakin Lake – Palakpakin lake is the shallowest of the seven lakes at an average depth of only 7.5 meters, but with a surface area of 43 hectares, which makes it the second largest. The lake is shared by three Barangays, San Buenaventura, San Lorenzo, and Dolores.
- Calibato Lake – Calibato lake in Barangay Sto. Angel is interestingly the deepest lake in the City and in the entire province of Laguna (even a lot deeper than Laguna de Bay). With a maximum depth of 156 meters and a surface area of 42 hectares, Calibato holds the most capacity of freshwater at 29,000 cubic meters. Calibato is about 6.4 kilometers away from the City proper.
