The blue lake
About 90 metres deep.
Luiz Felipe Sahd — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Bruno L Wagner — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Marcel Favery — CC BY-SA 3.0
The Blue Lake Cave is the emblem of Bonito, the town that has become Brazil's capital of ecotourism. From the cave's wide mouth a stone path leads down into a great limestone hall, at the bottom of which lies an underground lake more than 50 metres long, its startlingly clear water some 90 metres deep, making it one of the largest flooded caves in the world. When sunlight falls through the opening it turns the water an intense blue, strongest between September and February, in the morning hours. Delicate stalactites and stalagmites surround the lake. A local Indigenous man found the cave in 1924, and fossil bones of Ice Age giants were found in it, among them giant sloths and sabre-toothed cats. It has been protected since 1978. Tickets are not sold at the entrance: all of Bonito's sights are booked ahead with a voucher from the town's licensed travel agencies, for a set time and with a compulsory guide. The steps down to the lake are long and sometimes slippery, so wear closed shoes. Going into the water is not allowed.
About 90 metres deep.
Stalactites and stalagmites.
Through the cave mouth.
West of the town of Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul
No. It is booked ahead with a voucher from Bonito's licensed agencies, for a set time with a guide, at R$120 or R$180 depending on the season.
