The lake at 3,300 m
Clear blue water.
Fortunat — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dick Culbert from Gibsons, B.C., Canada — CC BY 2.0 · rodoluca — CC BY-SA 3.0 · xxxx — CC BY-SA 2.0
Laguna del Diamante, «Diamond Lake», is a mountain lake at 3,300 metres in the Andes southwest of Mendoza, some eleven kilometres from the Chilean border, covering about 14 square kilometres and up to seventy metres deep. It takes its name from the cone of the Maipo volcano, rising two and a half kilometres to the west, whose reflection on the water forms a diamond shape. It is one of the province's main freshwater sources, feeding the Diamante river, and is ringed by a basalt plateau and high peaks. The French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry described it in «Wind, Sand and Stars». Visitors come to hike, fish and camp in season. It opens only in summer, roughly January to March, and online advance booking through Mendoza's protected-areas system is compulsory. The road is long and mostly gravel, about four hours, so you need a high-clearance vehicle and a full tank.
Clear blue water.
The reflected diamond.
A long adventure.
Laguna del Diamante reserve, San Carlos department, about 220 km southwest of Mendoza city
In summer only, roughly January to March, with compulsory online booking.