Lake · Mauritius
Mare aux Vacoas
Mare aux Vacoas is the largest lake in Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean. It lies in the highlands of the island, about 600 metres above the sea, south of the town of Curepipe.
Picture credit: Z thomas (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Z thomas (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Mare aux Vacoas?
Countries on its shores: Mauritius.
Largest body of water of: Mauritius.
Middle of the lake: 20.37° S, 57.50° E
The story behind it
Mare aux Vacoas lies in an old volcanic crater in the Plaines Wilhems district. In 1885 it was made into a reservoir, a lake used to store water. Mauritius has no natural lake of this size; its largest body of water is this reservoir. Today it holds about 25.9 million cubic metres of water and supplies homes in the upper Plaines Wilhems and in Moka. It covers about 2.6 km², although one source gives more than twice as much, 5.6 km². The lake is named after the vacoa, a tree that grows only on the Mascarene Islands, the island group to which Mauritius belongs. Green forest surrounds the water. Because the lake supplies people with water, it is not a place for swimming.
Find it on the globe
Mare aux Vacoas 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.
Questions children ask
How big is Mare aux Vacoas?
Mare aux Vacoas covers about 2.6 km² and holds about 25.9 million cubic metres of water. One source gives a larger area of 5.6 km², so the exact size is uncertain.
Where does the name come from?
The lake is named after the vacoa, a tree that grows only on the Mascarene Islands. Mauritius belongs to this group of islands in the Indian Ocean.
What is the water used for?
Mare aux Vacoas supplies water to homes in the upper Plaines Wilhems and in Moka. That is why it is not a place for swimming.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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