Laguna de Bay

Named after Ba-é [Ba-i or Bay], a town on its southern shore, Laguna de Ba-é is a brackish lake, 922 square kilometers in size, with the mean depth of two meters. Fed by rivers and streams from the Sierra Madre, it empties into Manila Bay through the sixteen-kilometer long Pasig River. It was in the town of Ba-é on the lake’s southern shore that the Augustinians, established their first Christian mission station in Laguna, in 1571. Hence, the lake’s name.

American cartographers misread the name "Ba-é", leading to the cartographic conundrum of some contemporary map: a lake that is a bay. By definition, a bay is a body of water, usually salty, with a large opening making it an ideal harbor while a lake, usually fresh, is encircled by land.

The heart-shaped lake, Laguna de Ba-é, is encircled by two provinces, Rizal and Laguna, and Metro Manila. To the east is the Sierra Madre, to the south are the volcanic mountains--Banahaw (2,177 mts), San Cristobal (1,470 mts), Makiling (1,090 mts), Atimba (654 mts), and Nagcarlang (629 mts)--and to the northwest the plains of Metro Manila.

This series will be in b&w. No real story line. Just a collection of pictures of a Lake which "mood & spirit " I only discovered a few weeks ago. Of course I knew about the Lake and visited most of the villages & historical churches along its shores (Antipolo, Cainta, Taytay, Angono, Binangonan, Morong, Baras, Tanay, Pililla, Mabitac, Pangil, Pakil, Paete, Longos, Lumban, Pagsanjan, Pila, Calamba, St.Cruz, Ba-é and Los Baños).

But being on a small bangka (boat) on the lake was a totally different experience. It is a wonderful, peaceful place and I recommend people to spend at least one day visiting the fishponds and have a rest on one of the many houses that were build on the lake. 

Hire a boatman (how much you will pay depends on your bargaining skills...) and make it a day long excursion. You can ask your boatman to bring you to one of the cottages build on the lake where you can stay for a few hours and enjoy the sights and the peace of the place. The caretaker(s) will probably enjoy your company. Bring your own baon (food) & drinks. People are very hospitable. I didn't pay anything to visit their cottages. It might be a nice attention to leave a little gift behind. Those caretakers are earning 2,000 pesos (USD 40)  a month...

The lake is full of fishes, so fishing is easy. If you enjoy fishing you might end up with a basket full of fishes that you catched yourself...   

(Source: Map wikipedia. Text: Lakbaynet)

Comments

[johnz]

love the water in all its forms, shapes, sizes and depths

[Hendra]

Great ... this will be my next destination. :-)
Hope to go there soon. Thanks for the information, Sidney.

[lws]

:)i like fishing , maybe in the near future i could visit this place i know already the fishing spot thank's for the info :D anyway cavite is quite close to laguna :)

[tin-tin]

i would love to see those pictures :)

[iskoo]

i like boatrides, hopefully soon i can explore laguna de bay. will wait for your series of laguna de bay photos.

by the way thanks for the link, its my honor.

[Martin]

so did you go fishing yourself? :-)

[outdoorexposure]

bw series! look forward to see the photos...sound like a great place:-))

[rayts]

this is gonna be exciting. i live by this lake and i am sure excited to see what kind of photos did you get Sidney. anyway, the last time i visited the place, the LGUs are organizing its rehabilitation. i doubt about the abundance of fishes...were you referring to the fishponds around the lake? capture fisheries is one of the livelihoods of the locals there.

hey, just a little trivia. the word "laguna" means "lake"...so the whole name thingie is a redundancy. "Laguna Lake" is lake lake, hehe.

[Ces]

Sounds exciting Sidney. I am especially looking forward to seeing Los Banos. I also want to know where you managed to get the "enye" the Spanish N with the swirl.

[Intern]

I love your journalistic treatment ... Looking forward to the series.

[Toxic Lens]

Looking forward to this!

[B]

The whole series in B&W? Aww.

I would have liked to see some in color, too. Looking forward to it though.

[pieterbie]

Sounds great, can't wait!