Laguna Quilotoa

Top choice in The Quilotoa Loop


About 14km north of Zumbahua, the famous volcanic-crater lake of Laguna Quilotoa is a gasp-inducing sight. A lookout on the precipitous crater rim offers stunning views of the mirror-green lake 400m below (it glows phosphorescent green near some of the rocky edges) and the snowcapped peaks of Cotopaxi and Iliniza Sur in the distance.

When you ask the locals how deep it is, they inevitably say it has no bottom, which seems entirely plausible given its awesomeness (the geologists say 250m).