Caliraya: The Lake at the Mountain Top

For the past months, I together with my friends and co-worker at The St. Luke’s Cancer Institute had been mostly cooped inside the hospital due to work. The work had been extra “draining” as well since we are dealing with cancer patients almost every day of our lives. We are in dire need of a getaway from the life of a shut-in; it was good timing that the Director of the Cancer Institute decided to give us an all-expense paid weekend getaway at Caliraya Mountain Resort in Laguna.

Interestingly, Caliraya Lake is a man-made lake spanning three towns in Laguna - Lumban, Cavinti and Kalayaan. In 1937, a US Army Engineer created Lake Caliraya by flooding the Cavinti Valley in order to generate hydroelectric power for Metro Manila. It is also fun to learn that Caliraya Lake is situated approximately 1,200 feet above sea level, and is perched high in the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. In short, it is a man-made lake situated at the mountain top. Supercool, right?

It was already past noontime when we arrived at the resort. One funny thing that I forgot to mention is that you need to ride a boat for 5 minutes (crossing the lake) before arriving at Caliraya Resort Club. We were warmly welcomed by the staff and the resort manager (his mother is one of our patients) and brought to the clubhouse area for a lunch and a short briefing about the facilities and the activities in store for us that weekend. With so many pleasant thing mentioned- it suddenly came into my mind that our stay will be going to be fun. 

We kicked off our weekend activity by strolling at the bank of the lake. Guys, I have to say that I always like the laid back feeling. It always craves me to get to places that at cozy and quite. By the way, we stayed in one of the villas and honestly, there was nothing lavish or remarkable about it. Of course I didn’t expect a lot from the place because I know from the start that it was designed to cater large families and team buildings. Maybe “homey” is the best description that I can give you. But honestly, the resort needs to maintain and upgrade some of their facilities.

I was able to try several outdoor activities: zip line, obstacle course, bungee jumping, fishing, zorbing, cable balance. The most memorable and I call it “death-defying” activity however (with my heart pounding, and my arms and knees shaking) was when I tried riding a 40 meter sky bicycle suspended 80 feet above the ground.  I was so afraid and I was holding on for my dear life but I am really, really glad that I did it.

Basically, the three days visit had been enough for me and my friends to experience the rest and recreation that we are looking for. It was a gratifying weekend trip. Nothing is really more fun than to be with the people you like – a great destination is just an add-on.