Antigua and Lake Atitlan advice - please

Lots of questions, I can answer some.

I travel to Guatemala for about 5 months out of the year on business. I stay at Lake Atitlan and in Xela and Antigua.

I have not been here for Christmas so sorry but no help there.

I would recommend the walk between Santa Cruz and San Marcos, about 3 hours. If you stay at the Iguana Perdida in Santa Cruz, the staff there can help point you in the right direction and you can make the hike on your own. It is a bit more complicated between San Marcos and San Pedro, so I would take a Lancha.

I often stay at La Iguana Perdida in Santa Cruz. I bring groups of volunteers to Guatemala and many stay at La Iguana. Our feedback forms show La Iguana as a highlight for people. Beautiful place, friendly staff and a number of options for staying - dorm, rustic room, cabin, nice hotel room etc. The food is really good too.

I don't know your budget but if you spent one night in San Pedro I would stay at Sac'kari. It is a beautiful place. The rooms with a view of the lake are great, I often stay in one of the rooms toward the back just to keep within a practical budget. Great staff, and San Pedro has tons of great restaurants.

You can schedule shuttles from Antigua to Panajachel and take a Lancha to Santa Cruz. I sometimes call Ruben Travels rubentravels.blogspot, Ruben speaks English and he can usually travel at your convenience. A private shuttle is more expensive than a public shuttle but on a short trip I find it is usually worth the cost. It costs a bit more but I spend more time where I want to be.

For Christmas day I might consider staying at a hotel that serves meals. They have to be open. There is also a really nice Korean restaurant near Parque Central that might follow the American tradition of being open on Christmas. Located 5th Avenue South #10-A, Antigua, Guatemala.

Should be a fun trip!

-John

Forgot to add - best to get local currency. The "Cajeros" or ATMs are all around Antigua, there are a few in San Pedro and you can pay with local currency or pay online at La Iguana in Santa Cruz. I would recommend having local currency, Lanchas, Taxis etc. will require local funds. I am not sure if a British card will work in the local bank machines best to find out first. The local machines have better exchange rates than the exchange at the Airport.

-John

I highly recommend staying in Santa Cruz, when visiting Atitlan, and I agree w/ the above: the best walk is between Santa Cruz and San Marcos. You can continue on walking by road, not footpath to San Pedro, but you're better off taking a boat to San Juan, and you can walk to San Pedro from there. And yes, of course there are periodic public boats that go back to Santa Cruz and Pana from San Pedro. But in some seasons there is too much wind on the lake in the afternoon, and then the boats don't go.

December 24 in Antigua will be great: processions, and music and fireworks in the central park at midnight.

You can't just walk up Agua. It is a serious volcano climb. It is also the one volcano in Antigua with safety issues so a guide is highly recommended. Look at Acatenango instead. It is a prettier and more spectacular hike (you will be close to Fuego and Fuego erupts regularly). It is a very tough hike (make sure you are acclimatized) and I recommend the overnight trek. The two best known tour operators for Acatenango are OX and Old Town Outfitters. OX (and probably Old Town as well) requires 4 people minimum. They both will have a day that they have a group going that they can add you to. Right now that is on Wednesdays for Acatenango overnight with OX. If you want to go on a day that they don't have a group going you have to find two more people or they will try to find two more people. So best to contact them. The easier option would be to climb Pacaya, that is a much shorter hike, great views, old lava flows but you can't go to the top any more and you won't see lava. Still, a great outing if you have not been close to an active volcano before. OX actually has an overnight Pacaya trip on December 25: http://www.oxexpeditions.com/PacayaOvernight.html

Antigua to Panajachel takes 2.5 to 3 hours by bus (several buses) or shuttle. We walked from Santa Cruz to Jaibalito, great views. You can walk on to San Marcos but we were told to that part with a guide. Other things to do at the lake: take a boat to Santiago (visit Maximon, the market, the church with the saints, the weaving museum...). From Pana you can take a pick-up truck to Santa Catarina Palopo, a quaint village with weaving and great views. There is the nature reserve in Pana (hiking, waterfalls, hanging bridges, butterflies, monkeys, coatis and (extreme) ziplining with great views). You can climb volcano San Pedro or Indian Nose (San Pedro is a good base for that).

We get our money from ATMs with our debit card. We always get the maximum amount possible which seemed to be Q2000. We usually also bring $100-200 (for emergencies and we try to use it when USD are accepted for example for shuttles and tours). We stop at the ATM at the airport when we arrive and get our first quetzales there.

As mentioned, Christmas Eve will be a huge party. You'll love it. There will be tons of people out and everything is open. Make sure you stay up till at least midnight, which is the focal point for the celebrations.

You're not going to want to walk between Santa Cruz and San Pedro IMO... a lot of that goes along a tight, dusty road that will be filled with speeding tuk tuks and other vehicles. Easy to follow but not pleasant. The hike between Santa Cruz and San Marcos is epic enough. Personally I'd recommend staying in a village instead of Pana, but regardless, there are boats operating from morning till early eve every day. The boats run year round, even on windy days, though they can be a lot less pleasant then... the only thing that would stop them would be a severe windstorm, and I've taken them many times in those (just try to sit near the back).

Thank you so much for the feedback. We are really excited about Christmas Eve now!
I think you are right about the volcano – my guidebook obviously gave me the wrong information we shall try and climb Pacaya. Although I have been reading it is not as easy as everyone says it is.
I am relatively healthy, but I am no gym bunny, what does everyone think?
We already have our accommodation (we’re just outside Pana) booked as part of the tour – but thank you so much for the advice.
We might try to walk Santa Cruz to Jaibalito and then maybe try to walk to San Marcos.
Thank you for the lake Atitlan other trips – they sound great.

Thank you everybody!

If you are just doing the Pacaya day trip you can choose between the morning or afternoon trip. You can book this trip at any tour agency in Antigua. The hike up is not that hard (in my opinion). It is not an easy walk but not an intense hike either. It takes 90 minutes or so. Kids will be selling cheap walking sticks and they will also offer to take you up on a horse so that is another option.

Santa Cruz to Jaibalito is 45 minutes. Great views.

Go check out La Casa Del Mundo at Lake Atitlan in Jaibalito. Must be one of the most beautiful hotels i've ever been. We stayed there for three nights and hiked to Santa Cruz (not 45, more like 30 minutes) from there and used a kayak and lanchas for exploring the lake and other villages.