French Southern Territories · TF

Lac de la Deception

Lac de la Déception is a small, nameless-to-tourists lake sitting on the Central Plateau of the main island (Grande Terre) of the Kerguelen archipelago, a French territory in the subantarctic southern Indian Ocean. Recorded at roughly 200 metres above sea level near 49°25′S 69°39′E, it is one of dozens of tarns and ponds that France catalogued across this remote volcanic land. There is no resort, trailhead or viewing platform here. The lake's real appeal is its location at one of the most isolated places on Earth—within a national nature reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage property that almost no traveller ever reaches except scientists and resupply crews.