Lake Calima
A 1966 reservoir with wind most afternoons. Here is what is known, and where it comes from.
A reservoir
A 1960s project that changed the valley
Lake Calima is a reservoir on the Calima River, built to produce electricity. It was planned and paid for by the CVC, the regional environmental corporation of Valle del Cauca. Work began in August 1961, and President Guillermo León Valencia inaugurated it on May 28, 1966.
Today it is run by Celsia, with a 132 MW power plant. Its shores touch three municipalities: Calima El Darién, Restrepo and Yotoco.
Hacienda Berlín II sits on the north shore, on the Calima El Darién side, about 100 kilometers from Cali: 2 to 2.5 hours by road. The estate is 23 years older than the lake.
«Did you know it isn't a lake?»
Celsia, the company that runs the reservoir (translated from Spanish)
Measurements from the CVC and recent studies
19
km²
Surface at full level, about 1,934 hectares
CVC, 2024
13
km
Long, and 1.5 km wide on average
CVC, 2024
1,400
m
Approximate water level at full height, above sea level
Peñuela et al., 2025
72
m
Maximum depth measured in 2023, by the dam
Peñuela et al., 2025
The wind
In 1960, before the lake existed, the CVC’s documents for the project already noted winds from the west, usually in the afternoons, between noon and 7 p.m. It is the same wind today.
People who sail the lake say it starts around noon, builds until about 6 p.m. and, on a good afternoon, blows 15 to 25 knots. The only published station record we know of, from October 2017 to December 2018, shows an average of 11 knots (about 20 km/h) from the west-southwest. It is a short record, and an average: good afternoons blow harder.
From July to September it blows strongest; October is the lightest month. No sun, no wind: when it rains, the afternoon is usually calm.
Why
Calima’s wind comes from the west-southwest, from the Pacific Ocean side, and from the same direction most afternoons.
The most likely explanation, not yet confirmed by any published study: in the afternoon the sun heats the land east of the Western Cordillera, and that heat draws cool, moist Pacific air through the low gap of the Calima and Bravo rivers. The lake sits right in that gap, so the air runs along it.
That would explain why the wind starts around noon, why it comes from the west and why cloudy or rainy days are calm. Sometimes it arrives with the mist locals call El Brujo, which rolls in through the Río Bravo canyon.
Competitions held on the lake, with sources
2004
Windsurf
About 60 sailors from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Colombia. According to the class report, there was wind to race every day.
2007
Windsurf
The Formula Windsurfing South American Championship came back to Lake Calima.
2017
Kitesurf
The lake hosted the first national kitesurf event of that year.
2021
December 2 to 4
All the sailing at the games was held on the lake, with iQFoil, the Olympic foiling windsurf board, and ILCA dinghies: 43 sailors from 20 countries.
2023
National Games
Calima El Darién was a sub-venue, and the sailing medals were decided on the lake.
2026
Announcement
Valle, La Guajira and Atlántico announced a kitesurf alliance with the goal of bringing a world competition to Colombia.
Weather and water
On the estate, temperatures run from about 18 to 24 °C year-round. Rain comes in two seasons, with drier spells in January and February and, above all, in July and August; October is one of the wettest months.
At access points 4 and 5, the public beach and water-sports area, surface water measured between 23.8 and 26 °C in the CVC’s monitoring. In the deep central part of the lake, where people sail, water-ski, windsurf and kite, the water quality is good.
It is a reservoir and it has rules: the water level rises and falls, and Celsia marks areas where swimming is prohibited because of the risk of drowning.
Tourism in Calima El Darién, with sources
992,011
visitors
Came to the municipality in 2023, almost all from within Colombia
SITUR Valle
19,420
residents
Population of the municipality in 2024
DANE
279
providers
Active tourism registrations in August 2026, fifth of 42 municipalities in Valle
Registro Nacional de Turismo
31 to 49
lodgings
Registered lodging establishments, from 2018 to 2021
MinCIT, in the municipal development plan
Calima today
Darién, the lakeshore and things to do near the estate.
Phase 1: Camping
Still mornings and windy afternoons, from your tent. Opens early 2028.
Phase 2: The Lakefront
With a floating pier, on the estate’s shore. In design, subject to permits.
Sources: CVC and Universidad de Antioquia, technical document on the Calima reservoir (2024); Peñuela et al., Ingeniería y Competitividad journal (2025); Correa Gutiérrez, Universidad del Valle (2023), citing CVC archives; Celsia; Global Energy Monitor; Windfinder (2017 to 2018 record); KiteJungle (2022); WannaKiteSurf; Formula Windsurfing (2004 and 2007); El Heraldo (2017); 2021 Junior Pan American Games; Gobernación del Valle (2026); SITUR Valle, DANE and MinCIT, in the Calima El Darién development plan (2024); Registro Nacional de Turismo, MinCIT (August 2026); El País Cali (2024).
News
We will write when the campground opens and when there is news about the kite and windsurf school and the other phases. News only.
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