Río Dulce Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Beginning at 7am, 14 Fuente del Norte buses a day head north along a paved road to Poptún (US$4, two hours, 99km) and Flores (US$6.50, four hours, 208km). The 12:30pm, 7:30pm, 9:30pm and 11:30pm buses continue all the way to Melchor de Mencos (US$12) on the Belize border. With good connections you can get to Tikal (279km) in a snappy six hours. In the other direction, at least 17 buses daily go to Guatemala City (US$6.50, six hours, 280km) with Fuente del Norte and Litegua. Línea Dorada/Fuente del Norte has 1st-class buses departing at 1:30pm for Guatemala City and at 2:30pm for Flores (both US$18). This shaves up to an hour off the journey times.

Minibuses leave for Puerto Barrios (US$2.50, two hours) when full, from the roadside opposite Tijax Express.

Atitrans’ shuttle minibus operates from the Atitrans office on the highway. Shuttles to Antigua cost US$37, to Copán Ruinas US$30 and Guatemala City US$30, with a minimum of four passengers in each case. Otitours and Tijax Express offer much the same service.

Dilapidated Fuente del Norte buses leave for El Estor (US$1.30, 1½ hours, 43km) from the Pollolandia restaurant at the San Felipe and El Estor turnoff in the middle of town, hourly from 7am to 4pm. The road is only paved for 15km.

Colectivo lanchas go down the Río Dulce (from the new dock) to Lívingston, usually requiring eight to 10 people, charging US$12 per person. The trip is a beautiful one and they usually make a ‘tour’ of it, with several halts along the way. If everyone wants to get there as fast as possible, it takes one hour without stops. Boats usually leave from 9am to about 2pm. The three tour offices offer lancha service to Lívingston and most other places you’d care to go, but they charge more.