UBC October 2026 - Caumasee

 

Caumasee has been on my travel bucket list for quite some time.

The problem is that everywhere I heard roughly the same thing:

“It's gorgeous, but it's terribly crowded.”

Apparently, Caumasee had become one of those Instagram places that escalated.

So when we found ourselves in Graubünden on a weekday at the end of September, summer holidays over, fall school break not yet started, it seemed like one of those rare opportunities to see the place without half of Switzerland having the same idea.

And it worked.

We parked and walked for about half an hour to the lake. You can take a paved path, or a slightly more rugged shortcut through the forest on a pebbly forest trail. The latter is steeper, but perfectly manageable.

And then you see it.

Oh.

I understood the Instagram problem immediately.

The Caumasee is small, you could probably walk around the entire lake in about 40 minutes, but the color of the water is absolutely ridiculous.

Blue. Turquoise. Almost pale green in places.

And crystal clear.

It looks less like a real lake and more like someone has dropped an enormous piece of tropical paradise into the middle of the Swiss Alps.

There is a reason it looks so different from an ordinary lake. Caumasee sits on the enormous debris field of the prehistoric Flims rockslide, and its water is connected to a subterranean system rather than having the obvious streams and rivers flowing in and out that you'd expect from a conventional lake. 

The water level can fluctuate considerably over the course of the year as the underground water system responds to snowmelt and other seasonal changes.

And yes, there is an official swimming area.

By the time we arrived, at the end of September, it was closed.

Which was absolutely fine with me.

Because I can imagine exactly what Caumasee must look and sound like in the middle of summer.

People stretched out on the little beach.

Children screaming with joy.

Someone playing music from their phone speaker because apparently everyone within a 50-metre radius has voluntarily subscribed to their playlist.

And, inevitably, the smoker who considers being outdoors a constitutional right to light a cigarette wherever other people are trying to enjoy themselves.

Suddenly, the empty swimming area at the end of September felt like a gift.

We had the lake.

We had the colors.

We had the peace.

And we didn't have everybody else's soundtrack.

There is also a self-service restaurant with a terrace.

And before I complain about the prices, let me be fair.

Caumasee is a seasonal destination. Like pretty much every somewhat remote alpine destination, it depends heavily on weather and tourism. You have a relatively short window in which the place is busy enough to generate the income needed to operate and maintain everything for the rest of the year. And Caumasee has the additional problem of having become very popular, popular enough that visitor numbers have actually had to be managed.

So yes, I understand that things aren't going to be priced like the local supermarket cafeteria.

But still.

A salad bowl, a grilled sausage and two bottles of water came to about CHF 43 = USD 51.

For lunch.

At a self-service restaurant.

Fifty-one dollars.

I understand the economics.

I also understand daylight robbery when I see it. ;-)

Interestingly, the very next day, we stumbled upon an equally wonderful mountain lake. Keep tuned.