Lake Managua — called Xolotlán in the indigenous Nahuatl language — stretches 65 kilometres along the northern edge of the city. At over 1,000 square kilometres it is Central America's second-largest lake, but it is also one of the most polluted: decades of untreated sewage and industrial waste have left the water unsuitable for swimming or fishing. Efforts to clean it have been ongoing since the 1990s with some progress, but the process is slow.
From the shoreline promenade the lake is nonetheless beautiful — a vast inland sea with the volcanic chain on the far northern shore. Sunsets over Xolotlán, with the cone of Momotombo silhouetted against the orange sky, are among the best in Central America. The lakefront area between the old cathedral ruins and Puerto Salvador Allende is the best stretch for an evening walk, and the contrast between the lake's troubled ecology and its visual splendour says something real about Managua itself.