The Lake of Santa Maria del Oro is a natural and secluded lake in a volcanic crater. The crystal clear waters of the lake experience changes in color throughout the year as seasons go by. Excellent year round temperature, huge diversity of wildlife, and a quiet and relaxing atmosphere make this lake a truly unique place.

The Lake of Santa Maria del Oro is located on the west end of the Transmexican Volcanic Strip, a mountain chain that goes across the country. Thus, there are many volcanic mountains in the surrounding area. The lake is on a volcanic depression formed by the collapse of the roof of a magmatic chamber left empty after the volcano erupts. This is why the shape of the lake is conical and very deep.

Even though the lake is close to the Pacific Coast, it is actually located right in a transition zone from tropical weather to the cold, mountain weather of the “Sierra” behind it. Being a volcanic area, even though the lake’s water is fresh-water, it is alkaline and has high contents of minerals that have been considered by locals for many generations to have certain healing and curative characteristics. The average annual temperature is 25°C (77°F) and the area is considered sub-humid with rain season in the summer that can start in May at the earliest and extend through October, totaling up to 1200 mm (4.75 in) of rain per year. Because of the transitional area the lake is located in, you can find three different types of vegetation – low tropical (lots of flowers), medium tropical, and oak forest on the higher hills of the south-east border of the crater. Being a secluded spot, there is not much infrastructure or services except the LAGO ESCONDIDO Hotel Boutique.

The LAGO ESCONDIDO Hotel Boutique is comprised of 25 luxury rooms, one master suite (kitchen, bar, living area, dining area, 3 bed rooms, 3 bath rooms, outdoor Jacuzzi, etc.), and two luxury junior suites in addition to 2,000 m2 garden lake view (21,520 ft2), swimming pool, sky bar, conference room, lobby, front desk, lake deck, etc. The lake is a little over a mile long on its widest part and around three quarters of a mile on the narrowest. Most of the day the waters are very calm, mirror-like waters preferred by water skiers and other water sports enthusiasts. Wind sport enthusiasts, windsurfers or sailors, can count on a constant and hard wind everyday from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm with calm wind the rest of the day.

Traditional dishes bring people from nearby cities to eat at the Lake’s restaurants on weekends (the lake gets very busy on Sundays with people from Tepic and Guadalajara). The most traditional dishes are “Chicharron de Pescado”, “Cuachala”, “Capirotada” and a very good “Ceviche Santa Maria style”. There is no telephone service in the lake and cellular phones do not have services either. There is only one rural public phone.

There are two small towns near the Lake (Cofradia and El Buruato) both at about 3 miles on unpaved roads but neither of them have services or infrastructure either. Santa Maria del Oro town, at 6 miles away (paved but twisty road) is the closest town with some more services (stores, doctors, pharmacy and a small market). There is an emergency doctor on call in Santa Maria del Oro, but the closest hospital is in Tepic (20 minutes away from Santa Maria del Oro town or 40 minutes from the Resort).

Santa Maria town is quite interesting itself and has one of the oldest churches in what used to be the “Nueva Galicia” territory. The Church “De la Asensión” dates from 1594 and is really worth visiting. The town was created as a mining town (hence the name Santa Maria del Oro, which translates to “Saint Mary of the Gold”.

Santa Maria del Oro is located on the edge of Huichol territory. There are some Huichol communities in the area and thus it is not rare to find Huichol natives around town. Huicholes are one of the most interesting ethnic communities in Mexico. They have fought for generations to conserve their cultural practices and have managed to do so.