Xiloá Lagoon

Laguna de Xiloá fills one of the craters of the Chiltepe volcanic complex on a peninsula jutting into Lake Managua, and it is the closest clean swimming water to the capital, which is what it is used for: a public recreation area with a beach, shaded tables and boats, busy with families at weekends and in Holy Week. The lagoon is also of scientific interest because it holds several species of cichlid fish found in this crater and nowhere else, a small case of the kind of rapid evolution that isolated crater lakes produce. Forested slopes rise around it and the neighbouring Apoyeque crater is a harder walk. Facilities are basic and the site has been redeveloped in phases.

What you actually see

• The crater lagoon - clear water enclosed by wooded slopes.
• The public beach - shaded tables, boats and swimming areas.
• Endemic cichlids - fish species confined to this one crater.
• Chiltepe peninsula - the volcanic ground between lagoon and lake.

When to go

December to April for dry weather. Weekends and Holy Week bring very large crowds from Managua; weekdays are calm. The access road is poor in the rains.

Honest expectations

It is a public recreation site rather than a wild lagoon, and it can be crowded and littered at peak times. Facilities are basic and vary with whichever redevelopment is current. The road in is rough. Swimming areas are unsupervised.

Nearby

Managua lies southeast; Lake Managua is on the other side of the peninsula.