If Laguna Catemaco would dry up a few meters there would be another lake in Los Tuxtlas. The laguna averages 23 feet in depth and at its deepest central point measures about 34 feet.
But there is a hole between the city of Catemaco and Agaltepec island that is 70 feet deep. Since that island was a ceremonial center for pre-colombian inhabitants, it would be interesting to to see what's lying on the bottom of its murky waters.
There are a total of 6 marvelous lakes and lagunas in the Catemaco Municipio. The most famous and largest is Laguna Catemaco, followed by Laguna Sontecomapan. Catemaco City is surrounded by lagunas Chalchoapan, Nixtamalapan and Amaloapan. On the Sierra Santa Marta side, near Miguel Hidalgo is the small Apompal lake.
All of the smaller lakes are of volcanic origin, are filled with ground water, and are described in Wikipedia as follows: A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater that is caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption, an explosion caused by groundwater coming into contact with hot lava or magma. A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow crater lake.
Laguna Catemaco is a true lake, created by volcanic activity blocking off a valley that accepted streams from the surrounding hills. Laguna Sontecomapan is a true lagoon connected to the Gulf of Mexico.
