Lake Atitlan Trip |
Last updated: Lake Placid, 10 Dec 2022 |
Visiting Lake Atitlán
in Guatemala has been on my bucket list for a while.
The famous quote from Aldous Huxley compares the lake to Lake Como, "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."
Ahh, the volcanoes...

Looking out from Panajachel at Volcán Tolimán and Volcán San Pedro
No, these volcanoes are dormant - those are rain clouds.
(Click on image to enlarge)
The famous quote from Aldous Huxley compares the lake to Lake Como, "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."
Ahh, the volcanoes...

No, these volcanoes are dormant - those are rain clouds.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Wikipedia has a great description of how the lake was formed. It is interesting to note that the lake does not drain to the ocean. The water level is continually rising causing the beaches, docks and land around it to gradually become submerged.
Guatemala is about 2½ hour flight from Miami. Then, I stayed in a hotel a short walk from the airport arrivals area. I had booked a shuttle from the hotel ($40 door to door, 3hr.) for the next morning to the Airbnb where I was staying in Panajachel on the lake.
Here is a pretty good guide to each of the most popular spots on the lake:
A SHORT GUIDE TO LAKE ATITLAN, GUATEMALA.
I will add a few of my photos and comments below.
Panajachel |
Panajachel (aka "Pana") is the principal town on the lake. From there, you can take water taxis
to the small towns around the lake. TripAdvisor has a good list of the restaurants, cafes and pubs in Pana. This map is copied from that page. As you can see, the main street (Calle Santander) is packed with them. Along with all sorts of souvenir shops and places to stay. I prefer to stay in the part of town away from the tourists - at where I am pointing to with the blue arrow. There is a decent restaurant about 20 yards from me (Los Pumpos), a restaurant I sometimes go for breakfast on Calle Santander about 1000 yards from me (Little Spoon) and lots of little grocery stores around for a quick snack. |
![]() Source:Tripadvisor (Click on image to enlarge) |
This is one of three places playing live music, Jazz Cafe. When I was there, the live music was on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 5:30. It was open-mic so anybody in the audiance could get up and play. But |
it was clear that there were regular
musicians as well as regulars composing the audience. The Thursday I went, there were more musicians
than regular audience (approx. 8
to 6). Everybody seemed to know everybody else and in short order, I had met everybody. Not quite half
were expats - the rest apparently locals. A very friendly bunch and I wish I had known of the place earlier
in my trip. The three places are very close to one another on Calle de Arboles - Jazz Cafe, Chapiteau and Circus Bar. The expat I talked to said Circus Bar (or maybe it was Chapiteau?) had the best pizza in Panajachel. Live music at Circus/Chapiteau was on Fridays and Saturdays. But, ask where you're staying or check at Circus or Chapiteau (same proprietor) for days and times. I appologize for the really poor video quality. My phone is old and about the cheapest there is. But, below are a couple good videos that David McKenzie (on the video) pointed me to, made in Chapiteau: don't come the blues Jiggy Jiggy live chapiteau 9 11 22 Thank you David. |
Santa Cruz, San Pedro and Santiago |
In San Pedro now.
Here is the front of a tatoo parlor. |
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Installing a motor at the docks in San Pedro. It felt like I was back on Man-O-War Cay. |
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Now in Santiago. Here is a view from my hotel room. That's Volcán San Pedro. |
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These were in front of a coffee shop in Santiago. |
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Food |
For a good guide to food in Panajachel, see this TripAdvisor page. Following are just a random bunch of meals. |
A breakfast smoothie concoction from Little Spoon in Panajachel. |
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Breakfasts: Huevos Divorciado, made with red and green salsas. And a Mushroom and cheese omelete, fijolies and spicy salsa. |
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Desayuno Tipico: eggs, toast, plantains, a little hot dog, frijoles, spicy salsa, some white sauce, coffee - Q28 (meal) + Q12 (coffee). And something to read. |
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Pepián de Pollo - a thick stew with a chicken leg, squash, potatoes, carrots, green beans and a few things I
didn't recognize. It is a very traditional Guatemala dish. Very tasty and filling. |
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There are venders selling all sorts of food just outside my Airbnb rental. Fried chicken and fries with corn on the cob was Q28 or about $4.00. |
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References |
Guatemala: The Land of Eternal Spring | Travel Documentary & Guide | Things to Know & Expect | Panajacel |
An afterthought |
Panajachel is thick with souvenir shops, cafes, restaurants, hotels, apt. rentals, the works. I stayed in the
less touristed part of town which I much preferred. The towns around the lake vary |
from San Pedro with the reputation as a party town to San Marcos, known as the hippie town of Atitlan to say, Santiago,
which
appears to be a very laid back, quiet town. Still, Santiago has a large tourist shoping area (mercado) next to the docks,
I assume for tourists taking the launcha from wherever they are staying looking for a good deal.
Too often the tourist industry dominates and it feels alien. That's not to say there aren't the kind of areas around Atitlan more to my liking - a few seasoned expats living harmoniously amongst the locals. I'm sure there are. It would be a matter of searching them out. |
Quetzaltenango (Xela) vs Panajachel (Pana) Weather |
Xela | Pana | ||
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Finally, here's kind of an interesting relationship between elevation and temperature at several locations in
Latin America. Source of data Analysis by Mike Niemi |
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