Lake Danao: Placid and Silence in the City of Ormoc

Arrived at Ormoc port deciding whether to grab the next trip back to Cebu or to find another interesting thing to do. It was still quite early and our adventure stamina hasn’t run out yet. Some of us grabbed the next trip as they still have another schedule to catch while the rest of us were left hanging on what to do with the remaining time. “Lake Danao!“ popped up from the silence. One of us suggested Lake Danao as it is located just within the city of Ormoc.

Check out our Sambawan Island side trip prior to this.

Or you can check-out our whole Tres Marias experience.

With no hesitations, we headed straight to Lake Danao. But before anything else, we took care of our grumbling bellies before hopping on to the next adventure. We tried Ormoc’s Mayong’s burger which is located just a few blocks away from the port. Quickly, we bought our snack foods before heading back to the jeepney terminal. At the terminal, we haggled one of the small jeepneys for us to charter and take us to Lake Danao. We hopped in and departed right after we agreed on a price.

Getting to Lake Danao

Lake Danao is situated in Lake Danao Natural Park which covers hectares of land and includes the adjacent mountain ranges. The whole land is declared as a protected area. Getting to Lake Danao, one has to go through around half-hour ride from Ormoc City proper. We passed through the narrow mountainous road leading to the park. Slowly the road got surrounded by the mountain ranges and the air slowly got colder. As usual, the cold person in me kicked in. I used everything in my grasp to keep me warm while the rest of my buddies enjoyed the cold breeze.

Half an hour passed and we finally arrived at Lake Danao Information Center where we paid our fees.

We did not directly go to the lake, but instead, we headed straight to the overviewing deck where we can see the entirety of the area and the lake of course.

Lake Danao

It started drizzling, and the air temperature started dropping again. We headed back to the main lake area where our chartered jeepney parked and waited for us while we enjoyed the water. We rented one of the floating huts where we stayed the whole time. There are guide ropes which help in maneuvering the floating huts by pulling towards the middle of the lake and back. There are also available wooden canoes for rent if you wanted to paddle and row away along the lake. The locals in the area also sell foods and even delivers it right to your floating huts in the middle of the lake.

Placid and Silent

The calmness of the water initially gave me the chills and the hesitation to plunge right into it. Eerie was the lake especially when the gloomy weather played along with my playful imagination. The murky water gave me no idea how deep the water was.

Movies with horrifying creatures like krakens, huge crocodiles and ginormous snakes looped at the back of my mind. But nothing can stop the burning flame of a risky adventurer. I just can’t let the moment pass by and I don’t know if I can visit the lake again soon. So with the hesitations fading, I dived right into the water.

Let the fun begin!

All the fear and the hesitations quickly dispersed. All that was left was the feeling of fun as we enjoyed the water. The silence was replaced by the laughter and screams as we teased some of our buddies who don’t know how to swim.

We also tried paddling across the lake with our rented wooden canoe.

Enjoyed too much that we forgot our sense of time while staying more than an hour on the lake. The sun was setting and the place started to get dark. We called it a day and hurriedly prepared and changed clothes before we got back to our chartered jeepney. I can sense that our driver got bored waiting for us while we spent too much time enjoying the lake. Nevertheless, everything went well. We were able to get back to the port earlier than expected that we even got an extra time to roam around the nearby places.

We ended the whole trip with a dinner by the port before catching the night trip back to Cebu.

Without humans, mother nature can live on. Without mother nature, humans cannot exist.

Leave No Trace.

Leave Nothing but Footprints, Take Nothing but Photos, and Kill Nothing but Time.

What you bring, take it back with you.

Dispose waste properly.

Leave what you find.

Respect wildlife.

Sample Itinerary:

14:00	Arrival at Ormoc Port straight from Sambawan Island side trip
14:20	Secured tickets for the last trip back to Cebu, then grabbed some food and haggled for jeepneys to charter
15:15	Arrival at Lake Danao. Fun begins!
17:00	Depart from Lake Danao and head back to Ormoc Port
17:40	Arrival at Ormoc Port. Strolling around and dinner time.
22:00	Boarding time for our trip back to Cebu