Calibato has an area of 42 hectares (100 acres) and maximum depth of 135 metres (443 ft).

Calibato's maximum water capacity is approximately 29,600 cubic metres (1,050,000 cu ft).

Its supplies the city and nearby towns with abundant fish and aquatic plants.

It was told that the area was once a valley inhabited by a Diwata (benevolent fairy or nymph) who had wanted to keep her realm free from the intrusion of mankind.

The villagers living in the surrounding hills were awestruck the following morning, and named the body of water Lake Calibato, taken from the criss-crossing stone pathways of the valley, a portmanteau of Cali (corrupted from the Spanish calle, "street") and the Tagalog Bato ("rock").