Mountain · Balindong, Lanao del Sur
Mount Matampor
A peak of the Gurain Range in Balindong with a campsite over Lake Lanao and Mount Ragang.
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Lake · Marawi, Lanao del Sur
Lake Lanao
The second-largest lake in the country, and one of a handful of ancient lakes in the world.
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The place
Lake in Marawi, Lanao del Sur
The second-largest lake in the country, and one of a handful of ancient lakes in the world.
Lake
One of the guide’s own places.
When to go
December to April are the least rainy months at Marawi (about 140 to 185 mm a month) and May to July the wettest (330 to 415 mm); it is cool all year, with highs of 24 to 26°C. July brings the month-long Lanao del Sur founding anniversary.
Safety in Lanao del Sur
The security picture here is more variable than in Cotabato City or Tawi-Tawi, and it moves. Marawi itself is visited, but travel is best arranged through local contacts, the city tourism office, or MSU, and some outlying municipalities are best left off an itinerary without current local advice. This is the area where asking on the ground matters most, and where a plan made from a distance is least reliable.
About this place
Lake Lanao fills a highland basin at around 700 meters and covers some 340 square kilometers. It is old — old enough that its fish evolved into species found nowhere else, which is the technical sense in which it is called an ancient lake, and several of those species are now in serious trouble.
It drains through the Agus River to Maria Cristina Falls at Iligan, which is why a lake in Lanao del Sur has historically supplied a large share of Mindanao’s electricity. The lake level and the power system are politically entangled and locally contentious.
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For a visitor, the lake is a circuit rather than a viewpoint: the road runs around the shore through Marantao, Tugaya, Bacolod-Kalawi, Ganassi and Binidayan, and the towns are the reason to drive it. Late afternoon light over the water from the western shore is the shot everyone comes back with.
What to do
Drive the shore road round the lake towns
Hire a vehicle with a local driver for the loop through Marantao, Tugaya, Bacolod-Kalawi, Ganassi and Binidayan, and ask about the southern shore before doing the full circuit.
From the guideLook over the lake from Angoyao Hills
Angoyao Hills in Barangay Sogod, Marawi, is a natural viewpoint over the lake.
en.wikipedia.orgGo down to Bagang beach
Bagang beach is 2 km from Marawi's commercial centre.
en.wikipedia.orgVisit the Polo Barakat Mosque in Binidayan
The provincial tourism office lists this mosque in Binidayan, on the lake circuit, among the province's draws; dress modestly.
sunstar.com.ph
What to eat
Maranao sweets and snacks
Maranao foods to look for in Lanao del Sur include amik, dodol, browa, tiyateg, tamongkosi, barobed, soman and apang.
en.wikivoyage.org
Before you go
- A hired vehicle with a local driver is the practical way to do the circuit. Public transport works but eats the day.
- It is genuinely cool at altitude, especially after dark. Bring a layer.
- Ask locally about current conditions on the southern shore before committing to the full loop.
Where you’ll be
Marawi, Lanao del Sur
Sources
Crafts made in Marawi
Every craft of the region
textileMalong a landapThe malong a landap is the Maranao tube skirt made of broad plain-coloured panels joined by woven langkit bands. Handwoven landap are costly and worn at social functions, and their colours carry rank: yellow for sultans, red for warriors and green for imams.Hiart · CC0Photo by Hiart, CC0. Open the source file.- textileLangkitLangkit are narrow, multicoloured woven strips that join and decorate the panels of a Maranao malong. A trained eye could once tell which part of the Lake Lanao region a person came from by the patterns of their malong and langkit.Hiart · CC0Photo by Hiart, CC0. Open the source file.
carvingTorogan panolongPanolong are the large wing-like carved beam-ends that jut from the front of a torogan, the Maranao royal house. Modelled on the prows of Maranao boats, they make the house look like a royal vessel and are carved with the naga sea serpent and other okir.Nikka Cunom · CC BY 2.0Photo by Nikka Cunom, CC BY 2.0. Open the source file.
Where to sleep in Lanao del Sur
- No photo of this hotel yet
hotel
Ranaw Business Hotel
Marawi
Business hotel used for MSSD events in Marawi, October 2026
mssd.barmm.gov.ph · as of 2026-10 - No photo of this hotel yet
hotel
Samsara Palace Hotel and Event
Mapandi Bridge, Lilod Saduc, Marawi City
Hotel and events venue listed by the Bangsamoro Parliament, July 2026
parliament.bangsamoro.gov.ph · as of 2026-07 - No photo of this hotel yet
hotel
Santorini Hotel, Garden Cafe and Events Place
Heaven Road, Marawi City
Hotel with a garden cafe and events place, listed by the Bangsamoro Parliament, November 2024
parliament.bangsamoro.gov.ph · as of 2024-11 - No photo of this resort yet
resort
Lake View Resort
Timbangalan, Marawi City
Lakeside resort above Lake Lanao; hosted an MPOS livelihood training, May 2024
mpos.bangsamoro.gov.ph · as of 2024-05
Named where a public source names them; no rates or availability. Ask the place directly.
More to see nearby
Everything in Lanao del SurNature · Lumba-Bayabao, Lanao del Sur
Salikata National Park
A forested national park of waterfalls, cliffs and a river gorge in the foothills of Mount Ragang.
Museum · Marawi, Lanao del Sur
Aga Khan Museum of Islamic Arts
The best collection of Maranao and Mindanao material anywhere, on the MSU campus.
Best: A weekday: a visitor who came on a Sunday found it closed
Memory · Marawi, Lanao del Sur
Marawi’s Most Affected Area
The city center destroyed in the 2017 siege, and the slow work of rebuilding it.