The Lagoon Crater of the Rano Kau Volcano Viewpoint at 324 meters (1,062 ft) above sea level, Rapa N da ER's Eyes - Our planet is beautiful.

The inner lagoon of the crater: The word Rano, in the Rapanui language, is used to designate the volcanoes inside which water is stored, as is the case with Rano Raraku or Rano Aroi. The word Kau has several meanings such as “abundance of water” and “large, broad”. So the meaning of Rano Kau could be “a large or wide volcano with a lot of water”, an absolutely correct expression to describe this amazing phenomenon of nature. The accumulation of rainwater inside the large caldera of the volcanic crater, formed a large lagoon about a kilometer and a half in diameter whose shore is located about 200 meters from the upper edge. The surface of the lake, whose depth is estimated at about 10 meters, is covered to a large extent by numerous floating islands of totora reeds, which have a thickness of only one meter, which makes them very unstable. Several expeditions of scientists have gone down to the lagoon to extract samples of the sediments and study the different layers that have accumulated over time, which will allow us to better understand the environmental past of Rapa Nui. This lagoon was one of the available main sources of fresh water to the people of Easter Island until a few decades ago. On an island without permanent water courses, human activity was developed mainly alongside the small inland lakes of Rano Kau, Rano Raraku and Rano Aroi, apart from other settlements near some springs and small ponds formed in volcanic rocks. The importance that water had in the past is observed in that all the deposits had own name, although many have been forgotten, like the legendary name of the crater: Te Poko Uri To Haumaka O Hiva, the black abyss of Hau Maka, of Hiva.