Lagoa Misteriosa, Jardim MS: a sinkhole lake with no known bottom

The Lagoa Misteriosa is a flooded sinkhole in the municipality of Jardim whose depth has never been fully measured. It takes snorkellers, a zipline and certified divers — and it is one of the few places in the region where the water is still rather than flowing.

What the Lagoa Misteriosa is

The Lagoa Misteriosa sits on a property in the municipality of Jardim, in the same area as the Rio da Prata. It is a doline — limestone ground that collapsed — which filled with water, forming a pool of modest surface and startling depth. Technical diving expeditions have descended tens of metres without finding the bottom at every point, and that is where the name comes from.

What separates it from nearly everything else in a Bonito itinerary is that the water does not flow. There is no current to carry you along and none to renew the clarity: the lake is a still body of water, and that changes both the experience and its predictability.

What a doline is

A doline is a depression formed when the roof of an underground cavity collapses. In limestone country this happens because water dissolves the rock from below, opening voids; when a void becomes too large to support what lies above, the ground gives way — sometimes over thousands of years, sometimes at once.

If the floor of the doline sits above the water table it stays dry, with forest at the bottom, like the Buraco das Araras. If it sits below, it fills and becomes a lake with vertical walls — which is the case here. Same phenomenon, two outcomes.

What you can do there

• Surface snorkelling with a buoyancy vest, mask and snorkel.
• A zipline that crosses the lake and drops you into the water.
• Scuba diving, restricted to certified divers with a specific briefing.
• Watching from the viewpoint, for anyone not entering the water.

Why visibility varies so much

This is what makes accounts of the place differ. In still water, clarity depends on what entered the lake in previous weeks and how long the sediment took to settle. After a long dry spell visibility is exceptional and the blue is intense; after successive rains the water darkens and takes time to clear.

So more than anywhere else around Bonito, it is worth asking the operator how the lake is that week before committing — rather than relying on which season is best on paper.

Why the diving here is technical

In a sinkhole lake the depth increases quickly and the walls drop vertically. That changes the dive profile: it demands fine buoyancy control, planned descents and, past a certain depth, procedures that are not part of an entry-level course. Hence the restriction to certified divers, and in some cases to advanced levels.

Fitting it into your itinerary

The lake is in the same direction as the Rio da Prata and the Buraco das Araras, which lets you build a whole day on that side without returning to Bonito in between. That is a meaningful saving: these are rural attractions and the driving takes a real bite out of the day.

Frequently asked questions

How deep is the lake?

There is no single definitive figure: technical diving expeditions have gone down tens of metres without reaching the bottom everywhere. For a snorkeller that is irrelevant in practice — you stay at the surface.

Are there fish like in the other rivers?

Far fewer. This is not a spring-fed river with shoals; what you see is geology and depth. If fish are the point of your day, book a river float instead.

Written by: Adriano Habermann Last updated: September 13, 2026