Ooty Lake is an artificial reservoir created in 1824 by John Sullivan, the Collector of Coimbatore who effectively founded the hill station. The lake is pleasant enough on weekday mornings — pedal boats and rowing boats for hire, a promenade lined with eucalyptus trees, and views back up to the Dodda Betta ridge. On weekends and holidays it becomes extremely crowded, with a funfair atmosphere that bears no relation to the tranquil retreat the British imagined.
If you want to enjoy the water, a morning midweek visit is entirely different from an afternoon on a public holiday. The boat hire is cheap, the circuit takes about an hour, and the lakeside tea stalls serve reasonable cutting chai. The surrounding park area is also the start point for horse rides up the hillside, an activity beloved of domestic tourists.