Quilotoa is a volcanic caldera in the Ecuadorian Andes with a lake at the bottom of it. The water is the kind of green that makes people assume someone edited the photograph. Most visitors look at it from the rim, spend twenty minutes taking pictures and leave. A smaller group walks down to the shore. A smaller group still tries kayaking in Quilotoa itself and paddles out onto the water.
That last part costs $3 on our Quilotoa Culture and Hike day tour. So it is the cheapest thing in this article by a wide margin. Here is what the paddle involves and what the walk down to the water costs you in effort. Also, you will see what to carry cash for.
How high are you paddling?
Higher than almost anywhere else you could do this. Our guides put the figure plainly on the tour page. Kayaking in Quilotoa happens at 3,914 m (12,841 ft), one of the highest kayaking spots you will find. That altitude explains most of what the day feels like. Expect thin air, fierce sun, and weather that can turn from still to windy while you are on the water.
The lake fills a caldera around three kilometres across, left by an eruption roughly 800 years ago. There is no river running in or out, and the water is mineral-rich and alkaline. That is partly why the surface stays so uncannily still. It also explains why the colour shifts from jade to deep emerald as the light moves across the afternoon. Not everyone who comes to the rim is here to exercise, either. For example, Quilotoa also draws people for yoga and meditation, and couples celebrate engagements and weddings up there. From a kayak, the only sound is your own paddle and the crater walls throwing it back at you.
What the kayak costs, and what else you pay on the spot
The kayak is optional and it is not part of the tour price. Neither are the community entrance fees. Carry these in cash, in small bills:
- Kayak: $3 per person, optional, not included in the tour price
- Quilotoa Lagoon entrance: $2 per person
- Toachi Canyon viewpoint: $1 per person, at the stop before the lagoon
- Horses for the climb back up: $10 per person, optional
The $56 tour price covers the bilingual Spanish-English guide and authorised tourist transport. It also includes a menu-type lunch and the protected area entrance permits. However, you pay for extra meals, drinks, snacks and gratuities yourself.
You have to walk down there first
The kayaks are at the shore, and the shore is inside the crater. The descent starts at the community viewpoint at 3,900 m. From there, the hike down to the water and back up takes about three hours in total. We rate it moderate, 3 out of 5, and you need no previous experience.
The honest part: going down is easy and the climb back is not. That is because it happens at altitude on a loose, sandy trail. If your legs are already spent from paddling, that climb gets longer. Two ways to handle it:
- Pace the descent. Walk slowly on the way down and you will have something left for the way up.
- Take a horse. You can hire one for the climb back at $10 per person. Also, using one is not a failure of character.
How long do you actually get on the water?
It depends on the day, on the size of the group and on how long the walk down takes. So we are not going to invent a number here. The whole tour is a 12-hour day from Quito. Also, roughly three hours of that is on foot inside the crater. If the kayak is the reason you are coming, say so when you book. Then tell your guide at the start of the day rather than at the shore. That way, we plan the timing around it instead of squeezing it in at the end.
What to wear if you are going on the water
Average temperature on this tour is around 12C / 54F at an average elevation of 3,800 m. Also, the wind on an open crater lake feels colder than the thermometer suggests. What we ask people to bring:
- Comfortable, warm clothes in layers
- A windproof jacket – the single most useful item of the day
- Gloves, neck and ear protection
- Sunglasses. The glare off the water at this altitude is punishing
- Sun hat and sunscreen
- Comfortable shoes for walking in mountainous and sandy terrain
- A camera you are willing to have splashed, or a way to keep it dry
Which tour gets you to the shore
Our Quilotoa Culture and Hike is the direct route: $56 per person on a shared tour, 12 hours. It departs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Pick-up is at Foch Square at 7:10 a.m. or at Zular Coffee Shop on San Blas Square at 7:20 a.m. The crater is not the only thing in the day either. Before it, you stop at a real trading market: Saquisili on Thursdays and Pujili on Sundays. Then come the Tigua gallery, where painters work on sheepskin, and the viewpoint above the Toachi river canyon.
Instead, you can avoid compressing it all into one day. The Cotopaxi and Quilotoa 2 Days 1 Night pairs the Cotopaxi refuge with the Quilotoa crater over two days. A night in a tourist-class hotel near Cotopaxi sits in between. The order can vary depending on the day your tour starts. Either way, the second day begins with a hotel pick-up at 8:30 a.m. instead of a pre-dawn departure from Quito. It costs $152 per person and runs Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Also, it includes the same three-hour hike down to the lagoon. Only the day tour lists the kayak as an optional extra. So if you want it on the two-day version, tell us before you book. Then we will check it for your date. Both trips sit in our day tours from Quito.
Ready to paddle inside a volcano?
We operate this tour ourselves, with our own guides and our own transport. That is why we can tell you what the extras really cost, instead of discovering them for you at the rim. Check dates and book on the Quilotoa Culture and Hike page, or browse the rest of our tours from Quito. You can also send us a WhatsApp at +593 98 094 2338. Then we will tell you straight whether the kayak is worth adding on your date.
