When we think about that perfect blue water that everyone dreams of that has massive visibility and water clarity most people would probably think about some tropical beach somewhere like the Caribbean. The first time I ever saw water like that was on a high school trip to the Bahamas where one friend of mine and I, who were kind of social outcasts in our high school decided to skip the "beach week" where all the teens go to a nearby beach area and just get drunk and do drugs the entire time while staring at a beach that is a few hours from where they already live.
I think I made the correct choice because we still got drunk but we did so legally since the drinking age in the Bahamas is 18 and even it is wasn't nobody cares how old you are if you a foreigner anyway.
After traveling around the world I found out the wonderful aquamarine waters of the Caribbean aren't really all that unusual and they exist all over the place. In fact, The Bahamas was one of the more expensive places that a person could travel to in order to experience. This post isn't about that though, as delightful as that is. This is about something I encountered in a very unlikely place called Torch Lake in Michigan.
Now if i showed you that photo and then asked you to guess where it was I don't think that anyone who isn't from that part of the USA would ever guess that it is Michigan. That just isn't the kind of place that you would expect to encounter water like that.
This isn't an optical illusion, the water really is that clear. I first encountered this place actually, because of the Bahamas. I met a girl while I was there and I went up to visit her when we were both in college. I actually ended up attending the same college as her specifically because of meeting her and her friends in the Bahamas. Unfortunately our relationship didn't go as well as I had hoped but before we parted ways I went to visit her in the northern part of Michigan. We didn't want to just say in her parents' house - for obvious reasons - so she took me to a place that I had never even heard of. That place was called Torch Lake and honestly, after being to 6 continents and nearly a hundred countries, I can say that there is nowhere else like it anywhere that I have been in the world.
The big difference between this and tropical ocean waters are quite major actually. I don't think I am alone when I say that I prefer to swim in fresh water rather than salt. Salt just kind of sticks to you and feels icky. Fresh water on the other hand feels like a giant swimming pool.
The other difference was that even in the middle of summer, Torch Lake's water is really cold. You can get in an paddle around a bit but even in the dead heat of July, the water is remarkably cold. This can be a good thing and a bad thing.
The main thing isn't necessarily bad as much as it is shocking. For the uninitiated, like I was when I got there, that first jump in the water can be a big surprise. The water feels like it is damn near freezing even though it is probably only 30 degrees (F) different than the air around it. This is a massive body of water in a part of the world where it is extremely cold most of the year so it is understandable that it would remain cool year round.
The other downside of this place is that during peak months of the year the budget-conscious can all but forget about being able to afford to stay here. There is a very small window of opportunity for lodging owners to sell their rooms at the resorts and hotels so when they do have that chance, they charge an absolute fortune to stay there. If you want something right on the lake, plan on spending at least $400 a night for it. If you stay a bit away it gets a lot cheaper as you would expect, but then you are going to need a car to get to the actual lake.
Also, simply getting to Torch Lake is going to cost a bit since there are no major airports that operate in the area. The ones that do are small, regional airports with around 500 passengers a day. I don't know how much experience you have with minor airports, but the fewer people that travel to a place, the more they charge to get there.
So for most of us we probably wont ever experience the majesty that is quite possibly the most beautiful lake in the USA, if not the world. If you happen to live in that part of the world anyway, do yourself and favor and make the drive. I promise you it will be an experience you won't soon forget. I was last there over 20 years ago and I still talk about it today!