After arriving in Guatemala City I headed straight to Antigua for three very active days – including summiting Volcán Acatenango and watching Volcán Fuego erupt through the night. From there, I made my way to Lago de Atitlán. More specifically, San Pedro La Laguna.
Instead of bouncing between towns like many travelers do, I decided to slow down and spend an entire month in San Pedro La Laguna.
An incredible little town that all too often gets deemed a “party” town, but it’s so much more than that.
Sure, you can find a few bars to get your party fix, but it’s also incredibly easy to stay somewhere away from the bars because they are primarily found on one street. The main street you arrive on from the ferry. And within that street they are mostly condensed within a one block strip. So don’t stay right on that street and voilà – you’re out of the party scene.
I feel this is worth noting because so many other gringos kept calling it the party town, which means a bunch of travelers only passing through for a few days have subjected a town full of amazing people and loads of things to do, to simply a party town. Such basic thinking, most likely transcending from other blogs that can’t resist over simplifying their experiences.
Oh and let me guess, you think San Marcos is the best town to go to? I spent one day there and felt no need to spend more time there. Too many pretentious yogis for me. I prefer an authentic experience with more locals and less gringos on a spiritual journey practicing ideologies that aren’t even native to the area. Go to Nepal or India if you’re seeking enlightenment. But whatever you may be searching for, trust me it sure isn’t in San Marcos or Guatemala.
Now if you want to explore some amazing terrain, ramp up your Spanish skills, or meet some of the most generous people in the world, then to that I say hell yeah. Time to get off your ass and get to Guatemala. More specifically San Pedro La Laguna.
Here’s a few things I did and learned in a month in one of the coolest little towns I’ve ever had the privilege to visit.
First, and more importantly of all, is to simply live. To exist. To be. If you’re unsure what I mean or how to do such a simple task, then one of the greatest virtues of travel has escaped you. You will likely go home unchanged, convincing yourself you are more cultured, wiser, or some other illusion of enlightenment. But the reality is you will probably be the same, you just acquired some new bragging rights on Insta. Whoopie.
Watching other gringos scramble from one town to the next constantly on the go is almost more exhausting than…well than being constantly on the go. If you only have 1-2 weeks away from your 9-5 grind, I get it. This article isn’t probably for you. If you’re traveling for several months then stay tuned.
How about taking some time for yourself in an obscure part of the world you’ve never been to. Sure, this could involve doing some yoga or mediation. But it doesn’t have to be an organized yogi event. Those you can find back in your own country. No need to fly part way around the world for group activities you can get at home.
Instead, simply take more time to literally just walk around (ideally on your own), find local markets, buy/cook your own meals if you have a kitchen (get an Airbnb or hostel with a kitchen). Sit in a hammock. Several times. For several hours. Read a book. Or multiple books. Find a place in town to sit and simply observe. Do the same along the lake. Interact with locals as much as possible. Guatemalans will gladly strike up a conversation with you. It’s a great opportunity to practice your Spanish (assuming you’re not already fluent). Which brings me to my next one.
First though, here are some of my favorite photos taken as I was strolling around town. They were taken with my Nikon Z5 and Nikkor 28-70mm f/4 lens in case you’re a photography buff and were curious. More of my work can be found here if you’re interested.
So glad I did this one. I studied Spanish for two weeks with four hours of one-on-one instruction each day, which is the standard format used by most language schools in San Pedro. It left me wishing I did the full month. It was an immediate boost to what I already knew, but immensely more helpful than my on-and-off Duolingo binges. Duo is a decent supplemental learning app, but nothing beats learning a new language more than a native speaker that actually forces you to speak the language.
I was fortunate enough to pick out an AirBnB that was right next to the Community Spanish School and I cannot recommend this school enough (or the AirBnB enough). This school was simply incredible. I’m sure most of them are as there are lots to choose from as the town is known for it’s Spanish schools, but I can’t imagine many others top this one.
In addition to being a beautiful location on the lake with incredible views and landscaping everywhere, the teachers are second to none. As mentioned, I did two weeks and had a separate teacher for each week as my weeks were split up, but you can request to keep the same teacher if they are available. They were both beyond exceptional and very personable.
My first teacher Francisco (seen in bottom left photo below) even met me for tacos at the end of my first week and joined me and a few friends for beers to watch a Guatemala international futbol match at a local bar. When there’s no other gringos around that’s how you know you’ve found the true locals and fans to watch the game with. These are the types of experiences I travel for. I just wish Guatemala won the match. That bar would’ve flipped on its head.
I also had the opportunity to take photos for Community Spanish School to help them better promote their school. Such an honor to be able to help them out. Although, as seen in the photos below, their school is absolutely gorgeous, so it kinda sells itself.
The school also offers extra activities outside of class. I took part in two different cooking classes and took photos for one as seen in the last two pics. They also do coffee tours, soccer/futbol events, teach dance and weaving. It’s the full package.
If you’re an avid hiker and want some grandioso views of Lago de Atitlán, then I have two hikes for you to tackle. The first and heavy workout option is Volcán San Pedro, which is only a ~25-30 minute walk to the trailhead (found here) from town – varies depending on where you’re staying. It is up hill to the trailhead, so it is more of a “hike” from town, but that’s part of the fun right? You can of course take a tuk tuk if you’re looking for a more leisure experience.
As covered in the video, tourists have to stop at the trailhead to pay an entry fee of 100 Queztal (50 GTQ for locals). Also, note that clouds often roll in during the afternoon, especially if you’re on the tail end of the rain season like I was (May – October), which can limit or completely block out all views if you get a late start. I would suggest starting by 7 AM and give yourself 3-4 hours roundtrip depending on your pace.
There was barely anyone on the trail when I went, which I always love. But if you’re worried about “banditos” or being robbed or whatever, don’t worry, they have officers positioned part way up the trail to keep it safe.
Now if a crowd is what you seek then there will be no shortage of people on the next hiking option.
This is probably the most popular day activity outside of San Pedro. Rightfully so as the sunrise hike does make for a pretty special morning. Very much a camera worthy hike as it’s only a 40 minute hike (straight up) from where you get dropped off, so I gladly trekked my camera up to get these photos and would gladly do so again.
The downside, in my opinion, is it felt like a school field trip with van-loads of people being dropped off around the same time and being forced to hike in a giant line of people. It was a known and accepted factor that I wouldn’t be able to hike at my own pace, but it was still a bit crowded for my liking, especially at the top where it turned into an Instagram party.
That said, the 3:45 AM meet up time with my shuttle ride was still worth it. And my teacher and new friend, Francisco, was kind enough to book the shuttle for me, so once again he gets another gold star.
Below are some of my favorite photos I took that morning. These were also taken with my Nikon Z5 and Nikkor 28-70mm f/4 lens for more of my fellow photographers. More of my work can be found here if you’re interested.
Avoiding swarms of people brings me to my favorite story from staying a full month in San Pedro. In an effort to avoid the crowd, me and a couple friends went back to Indian Nose via a tuk tuk from San Juan around noon (we first walked to San Juan from San Pedro, ~20-25 mins). The tuk tuk ride alone was quite the experience, from negotiating a round-trip price to chugging up the windy mountain roads. Worth the 300 GTQ for the three of us.
Upon getting to the drop-off point, I realize the driver is taking us to a different trailhead than the main one I previously hiked. He then walks us further down a dirt road towards a trailhead, which further confirmed we were not on the same trail. Based on what we were able to understand from him through our mediocre Spanish fluency and from a sign at the trailhead, the trail was on private land and at some point along the hike we were going to need to pay the land owner potentially 40 GTQ (just over 5 USD) each. Ok no biggie.
However, after a very short hike, we get to the top without having to pay anyone, but quickly find out the top is not actually the top. We can see the top from where we are but there’s no access point to continue on. It’s blocked off. The “top” that we did arrive at had its only questionable homemade patio or deck area that felt a little unstable, so we avoided it, but there was this cool open-hand object or statue, if you will, that you can climb up to take photos from. So naturally we did and that was easily the highlight.
We didn’t hang out long as it was kind of an odd setting and overall situation we were in so we headed down. Shortly down the trail, we were greeted by a little abuela (grandma) with a machete. Oh perfect. Just when I thought this hike couldn’t get any better. She’s huffing and puffing after charging up the hill to come collect her trail tax from us.
She’s mad. Like considerably pissed off, which became slightly concerning since none of us had machetes of our own (knew I should’ve packed one). Sure we’re three guys that could easy handle ourselves, but who wants to risk getting hit by a flippin’ machete. I sure don’t.
She’s yelling at us for money and we finally figure out that she want’s 80 GTQ from each of us (240 GTQ total). Quite a bit of a step up from the 120 GTQ that our tuk tuk driver told us. But the craziest part was just trying to calm here down. We clearly were misinformed on the fine print, that should have been in big bold font, which would’ve helped to clarify when and where at any point we were we supposed to pay this lady to avoid the tense standoff it turned into.
After talking to her for a bit, and putting my best Spanish skills to the test, I managed to negotiate the price to 200 GTQ for the three of us. Still 80 GTQ more than expected, but all-in-all we walked away without getting a machete to the face and it only cost us an extra 10 USD. I think that was a fair trade off.
We get back down to our driver who was napping in the back of his tuk tuk and proceeded to zip down the windy mountain roads. Upon telling him our experience he seemed surprised. He clearly was well intended and a very nice guy. We just asked that he take us all the way back to San Pedro, instead of the agreed upon roundtrip to San Juan. He gladly agreed.
We immediately grabbed beers from the closest tienda (store) and went and sat on a dock by the lake to reflect on our hike. Oh what a day.
*Avoiding crowds tends to come with a twist to say the least. Gladly would do it again though.
As mentioned in my last story, you can walk from San Pedro La Laguna to San Juan. I walked it twice, but don’t worry there was no machetes on this trek. It’s only about a 25 minute walk from the main town center area of San Pedro and requires walking along a section of the road with limited to no shoulder space, but I didn’t find it to be too bad. Just be cautious of trucks driving by.
And like most places, you can take a tuk tuk if you don’t want to walk, but you will likely get the gringo deal around 50 GTQ or possibly more if they take you for a sucker. For comparison, it usually costs around 20-25 GTQ to get anywhere around San Pedro. Maybe 15 GTQ if you’re good at haggling or don’t have far to go. Still more of course than the usual 5 GTQ for locals.
Once you get to San Juan you’ll find it’s a chill little town with one major street/area for shopping and restaurants. The main street is hard to miss. It’s a long hill filled with colorful umbrellas and tiendas that lead down to the water. It’s a lively area and one of the better priced areas if you’re looking to buy local apparel like the snazzy shirt I scooped up, as well as all the countless tourist trinkets you can think of.
My favorite stop I made in San Juan was Xunah Kaab, which is a honey farm with stingless bees. Simply show up, ring the bell and get a free tour. Pretty neat little spot (as seen in the photos below).
Naturally it’s encouraged to buy some honey, but good luck not buying a jar after all the free samples they give you at the end. I went with the honey cacao combo and it became the quickest jar of honey I’ve ever consumed. If you go there, please send some my way and I will Venmo or PayPal you. Seriously.
If you’re going to stay in San Pedro for multiple weeks (or any town along Lago de Atitlán) then you will have a plenty of time for day trips via ferry to other towns.
There’s of course the infamous (and kind of overrated) San Marcos. If the yoga quest is your main goal then sure, of course you’re going to enjoy it, but beyond that I found the cliff jumping area to be the best spot. However, you only need one day to zip over to check that off. Plus I’m not sure how many days or times you want to jump in the water. I came across multiple sources showing the water quality for Lago de Atitlán was, well, pretty awful.
One source was the Reserva Natural Atitlán just outside the town of Panajachel, which is the town everyone arrives at from Antigua and usually hops aboard a ferry to continue their journey to other towns around the lake. At the entrance of the reserva there’s a big informational board that talks to the water quality. In short, the increase in people from tourism and general population has led to more waste. I would add that it’s also still a developing country, so waste removal resources are limited in remote areas such as Atitlán.
Guatemala, like many developing countries, has also fallen victim to single use products like Coca-Cola bottles, candy bars and chips. Many items that can be found at convenience stores and is often deemed the “Western influence”, which really just means the United States. Guatemala is in the same central time zone as the U.S after all. Another reason I’m so proud to be from the states. We just spread greatness everywhere, am I right? (please read with sarcasm in case I wasn’t laying it on thick enough).
Oh and guess which company is the leading plastic polluter of the world? Hint: I just said their name.
Also, the river in the reserva, which feeds into the lake, was full of trash. This was quite unfortunate to find. Reserves and national parks are meant to protect and “reserve” the nature. That’s the point of these designated areas and what your money should go towards. To pay 80 GTQ (11 USD) to see the water ways not being properly up kept is upsetting and it felt more like a tourist trap at that point, so I would not recommend spending the time or money on it. Plenty of other great reservas you can visit throughout Central America.
Ok enough ranting about water quality and trash. But seriously, throw away your trash when you travel. Or wherever you are in the world. It’s really not that hard.
And continuing on…there’s also Santa Cruz. This might be the chillest of all the towns. No busy roads with tuk tuks zipping by. Didn’t hear any fireworks going off, which was almost daily in San Pedro (they love to celebrate). Just a bunch of people looking to relax along the water front with a couple nice restaurants with amazing views of the lake and the surrounding volcanoes. It was cool to look back across to Volcán de San Pedro after having hiked it already.
Spending a month in San Pedro La Laguna reminded me that travel doesn’t always need to be rushed.
Some of the best experiences came from the simplest moments — practicing Spanish with locals, sitting by the lake with a book, or hiking above Lake Atitlán with no one else on the trail.
If you’re planning a trip to Guatemala, consider slowing down and spending more time in one place. San Pedro might just surprise you.
Safe and bountiful travels.
Buen día, amigos.
San Pedro La Laguna is generally considered one of the safer towns around Lake Atitlán for travelers. Like anywhere, basic precautions apply — avoid walking alone late at night in quiet areas, keep valuables out of sight, and be aware of your surroundings. During my month in San Pedro I never experienced any safety issues, and locals were consistently welcoming and helpful.
For hikes such as Volcán San Pedro, there are even security officers stationed along parts of the trail to help keep visitors safe.
San Pedro does have a reputation as a party town, but that description is a bit misleading. Most of the bars are concentrated along the main street near the ferry dock, so it’s very easy to stay somewhere quieter if nightlife isn’t your thing.
During my month there, I found San Pedro to be much more than a nightlife destination. It’s also known for its Spanish language schools, hiking opportunities, and strong local culture, making it a great place to slow down and spend more time around Lake Atitlán.
Many travelers visit San Pedro for only a few days, but staying longer can be incredibly rewarding. Spending a week or more gives you time to explore nearby towns around Lake Atitlán, hike the surrounding volcanoes, and experience daily life in the community.
I stayed for an entire month, which allowed me to take Spanish classes, hike several times, and get to know locals and other long-term travelers.
Some of the most popular activities in and around San Pedro include:
Hiking Volcán San Pedro for incredible views of Lake Atitlán
Taking the Indian Nose sunrise hike
Walking to nearby San Juan La Laguna
Taking Spanish classes at one of the many language schools
Visiting other Lake Atitlán towns by ferry
Relaxing along the lake and enjoying the slower pace of life
Many travelers also use San Pedro as a base for exploring other towns around Lake Atitlán.
Spanish classes in San Pedro are some of the most affordable immersion programs in Latin America. Prices vary depending on the school, but many offer one-on-one lessons for around $150–$250 per week, often including several hours of instruction each day.
Because classes are typically taught individually with a local instructor, they can be an incredibly effective way to improve your Spanish while supporting the local community.
The easiest way to travel between towns around Lake Atitlán is by public boat (lancha). These small ferries run throughout the day and connect major towns such as:
Panajachel
San Pedro La Laguna
San Marcos La Laguna
Santa Cruz La Laguna
San Juan La Laguna
Boat rides usually cost 25–30 GTQ depending on the route and only take about 10–30 minutes depending on the distance.
The dry season (November–April) is generally considered the best time to visit Lake Atitlán, with clearer skies and better hiking conditions.
The rainy season (May–October) can still be a great time to visit, but afternoons often bring clouds or rain. If you plan to hike volcanoes or viewpoints like Indian Nose, starting early in the morning helps ensure the best views.
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