I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to see so many sunsets and sunrises, oceans, and lakes, and other different landscapes around the world. I’ve seen black sand beaches, and white sand too! I have trekked up a volcano, sailed across the Mediterranean, off-roaded through the desert and bungee jumped in the jungle. My travels have brought me here and there, so I’ve got a few beautiful places under my belt, but I’ve never ever seen something like this. I’ve never even come across anything like it until now.
Have you heard of a pink lake? A naturally-occurring, unpolluted, one-of-a-kind magenta-colored lake? Sounds like something out of Harry Potter but it’s not. Mother Nature has yet another stunning natural phenomenon up her sleeve.
Lake Hillier is a salt lake off the coast of Goldfields-Esperance, Western Australia, and oh yeah, it’s freakin’ pink! It is permanently pink, and even when you bottle it, the water still retains its vibrant color. It’s a small lake reaching only 1,968 feet long and 820 feet wide, but its flamboyant hue and white sand have tourists flocking in to check it out and pinch themselves. Yes. It’s real!
And it’s not dangerous. While its level of salt is comparable to the Dead Sea, it’s perfectly safe to swim in. Maybe just keep your eyes and mouth closed while you do it!
So, what on earth gives the water this flamingo-colored hue? The only living organism in Lake Hillier is the microorganism Dunaliella salina, a micro-algae found in salt fields that creates a large number of carotenoids. Does the term carotenoids sound familiar? It should because they give carrots their color! The reason why they’re pinker in the lake as opposed to orange is because of the full exposure to light.
Lake Hillier isn’t the only body of pink water around. Hutt Lagoon is another cotton-candy water phenomenon, and it’s in Western Australia too. This 27-square mile baby pink lagoon doesn’t keep its color permanently like Lake Hillier, but it fluctuates, changing to a red or purple depending on what the weather feels like doing given the time of year!
Across the pond in Bolivia, Laguna Colorada loves all things pink! This rosy lake has many rosy friends that come over to say hi. A flamboyance of flamingoes can be spotted hanging out and grazing amidst the stunning background of the Andes Mountains. I’d say these guys have a pretty picturesque lunch spot, don’t you think?
And over in Valencia, Spain, Las Salinas de Torrevieja, a natural park, is yet another pink sensation that spreads across 1,400 hectares. There isn’t much vegetation because of the lagoon’s high salinity, but it commands beauty and every tourist’s attention! The water is a murky pink with a salted shoreline that provides a gorgeous backdrop for one heck of a crimson sunset.
Sign me up to see any one of these incredibly colored jewel tone lakes and lagoons. What a feast for the eyes and a pretty cool box to tick off the travel bucket list.
Click below to watch this video of yet another collection of pink lakes, a gem hidden away in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, the lakes of Las Coloradas. It’s absolutely magical!
