Kayaking in a Volcano

An incredible adventure on your Quilotoa Lake day trip

Quilotoa is one of Ecuador’s 32 mainland volcanoes, and is arguably one of the most beautiful, though it is no easy contest. Quilotoa is most famous because of its massive crater lake, hence the name Quilotoa lake or Quilotoa Lagoon. The lake is around 3 km (2 miles) wide and around 250 m (820 ft) deep. It gets its stunning blue-green colors from the various dissolved minerals that are found in the water.

The bottom of the lake still has what are called Fumaroles, which are cracks in the earth that let in hot gases out of the earth’s surface. For this reason, and some thermal springs, the water is warmer than any other lake at this altitude, and you can even see an occasional faint bubbling coming up from the depths.

This seems quite attractive, so people often ask “can you swim in Quilotoa lake?”, but it is not recommended. The high acidity of the water can be unhealthy, and even though it is warmer than your average lake at this level, the water is still threateningly cold. However, you can kayak out into the beautiful turquoise waters, and stare in wonder at the towering walls of the volcano around you, and the faint bubbling underneath. Besides, who doesn’t want the chance to say that they’ve kayaked inside a volcano?

If you are curious about visiting this incredible crater lake and the unique town that lies beside it, as well as what else you can do in Quilotoa, get in touch with us today so we can help you plan your trip.