Laguna de Apoyo

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I visited Apoyo as a day trip from Granada. Hotel Oasis (which I recommend) in Granada offers "free" day trips (10 AM - 3 PM) to their hostel, which is right on the shore of Apoyo. The roundtrip in a van is 6 USD and it takes more like 45 minutes rather than the advertised 20.

If you have a sunny day, I definitely recommend taking this daytrip. The lake is clear and blue, and the water temperature is perfect. There is a floating dock about 50 meters from the beach all visitors get a free hour and a half with a kayak. They also have a fairly-priced snackbar and comfortable chaise lounge chairs.

The lake is bigger than it looks. A few of us paddled for about a half an hour and didn't even get halfway across. There are a few homes along the side of the lake, but most of the area is forests and cliffs. Because it's a crater lake, there is an added feeling of seclusion and tranquility. Though it appears to be clean, however, we did find a live fish whose eyes had fallen out, apparently a tell-tale sign of bacteria. I was glad we found this after I had already swum in it for hours.

The Hotel Oasis at the lake was empty, but it looked like a great place to hang out for a night, especially since it is so close to Granada. Swimming would be safe in the evening and night and the area is peaceful other than the locals blasting music about a half a km down the lake.

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