Lake Cote

Where is Lake Cote?

Countries on its shores: Costa Rica.

Largest lake of: Costa Rica.

Middle of the lake: 10.58° N, 84.91° W

The story behind it

Lake Cote lies in the province of Alajuela, at about 680 metres above sea level. It is a special kind of crater lake called a maar, and seen from above its shape looks a little like a heart. The lake is about 1 km long and up to about 18 metres deep, and the small Cote River carries its water away. The Maleku people who live in the region regard the lake as a sacred place. Today visitors come to enjoy its quiet nature, and local people fish in it. Costa Rica's biggest lake is Lake Arenal, about 85 km² – but a dam built in 1979 made it three times bigger, so it counts as a reservoir. That makes little Lake Cote the largest natural lake in Costa Rica. In 1971 a photo taken above the lake seemed to show a flying saucer, but many people think it was just the wake of a boat.

Find it on the globe

Lake Cote is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.