Lake Hillier

A remarkable pink lake on an island just off the west coast of Australia

Lake Hillier is a striking pink lake in Australia. When you visit the lake you will see a true explosion of colours, you can call it that. From the ground, but especially from the air. This is worth a detour, although it is usually a long detour in this country.

What gives the lake the pink colour

Scientists are not sure why the lake is so pink, but it is unique. Especially so close to the blue sea and between the green trees. Scientists often take samples at the lake to do research. They suspect the pink colour is caused by different kinds of bacteria in the lake. If you hike around the area you’ll come across other lakes, with other colours, also caused by bacteria. 

Social media has made this lake world-famous, for obvious reasons as it’s incredibly bright pink. Even though you might have seen pictures beforehand, you will still be surprised by the bright pink, purple and sometimes red colour. The colour depends on the number of different bacteria in the waters which are determined by climate. 

Small but extremely pink

It’s not a very large lake, it is only six hundred by two hundred meters wide. If you walk around the lake you can see salt all around the shore.

Scenic flight over Lake Hillier

As you can best see this magnificence from the air, there are some tour operators offering scenic flights. Most are operating from Esperance Airport in Gibson. The view is spectacular, aside from a view on Lake Hillier, you will also get a great view of the coastal line and might even see a shark roaming the shores.

More information: scenicflightbooker.com

Swimming in Lake Hillier

There is ten times more salt in Lake Hillier than in the ocean, which is only a few dozen meters away. Keep that in mind if you want to swim in the pink lake. It’s not very accessible, but swimming in the lake is allowed and not dangerous, though you might want to keep your head above water, the salt will really sting your eyes.

Visiting Lake Hillier

Lake Hillier is located on Middle Island, the largest of the 105 islands in the Recherche Archipelago in southwestern Australia. It is a fairly remote place. This makes a flight to the island and Lake Hillier the best option.

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