Lake Attitlan is magnificent. It’s the sort of place you could see yourself living quietly (if you’re the sort of person that’s capable of living quietly.) Its surrounded by majestic cliffs and two enormous volcanoes. The sunsets are simply orgasmic.
Transportation
Shuttle bus from Antigua to Panajanchel (or Simply Pana as most people refer to it) on Lake Attitlan is about $12 per person. It’s usually a 2.5 hour ride in a van. If the can is 30 min late picking you up or an hour late getting there, don’t be surprised. You’re on Guatemala time.
There are towns of varying sizes around the perimeter of the lake. Many of them can’t be reached by car. The general mode of transportation is taxi boat. The prices vary depending on distance, whether you get the gringo discount and time of day. Each town seems to have a cutoff time in the evening after which the “public” boats no longer run and you have to get a private boat. Sometimes that just means you have to pay more per person and sometimes you have to charter the whole boat. We’ve paid 25Q per person for Pana to Santa Cruz, 20Q/p for Santa Cruz to San Juan, 15Q/p for Santa Cruz to Pana and 40Q/p for an after hours ride from San Pedro to Santa Cruz. From San Juan to San Pedro is a short Tuk Tuk ride that costs about 10Q.
If you’re not instantly accosted by locals once you get to a dock asking you where you want to go, you can simply wait at the end of the dock until the next water taxi shows up. They run every 10 to 30 minutes or so. This also works with private docks by the way. Just stand by the water looking like you want to go somewhere and someone will pick you up. Ever hitchhiked a lake? Here’s your chance.
Where to stay
La Casa Rosa in Santa Cruz was great. It has its own dock complete with day beds, a wonderful jungle garden with little nooks, complete with arm chairs and couches and a beautiful outdoor dock front restaurant and bar. The food is nothing to write home about but a tequila sunrise hits the spot when watching the magnificent sunset from one of the couches.
The place is run by Rosa. Duh. She speaks some English. (She speaks excellent Spanish and German.) Her daughter and the daughters boyfriend/husband (who knows) run the bar and restaurant. They speak perfect English and are incredibly friendly. A few local girls help in the kitchen and with the rooms. The rooms are simple but how much time will you be spending there anyway. For $40 a night, its paradise. For $60 you can get a bungalow with your own kitchen and spend a month. The WiFi is pretty good if you sit on the terrace of the main house. They have a sauna they can fire up for you (don’t be shy about asking them to raise the temperature), occasional yoga classes and a massage can be arranged right in the garden. We’d highly recommend it.
The towns
Pana is the largest and most chaotic. it lacks charm and should really only be used as a jump off point. No real point in visiting it or staying there.
Santa Cruz is a tiny town. The water front is comprised of a few hotels and private homes and the local town is located uphill in the mountains above the lake. You can take a Tuk Tuk or walk up to the town. The town is minuscule and poor but it gives you a good feel for want the locals live like. Children, dogs and chickens roam the streets all seem to be quite friendly. local women dress in colorful garb. Everyone says hello and smiles as they pass and you should too. There is one restaurant which is run by an organization that provides vocational classes to locals. You cant miss it. Its to the right (cliff side) as you enter the town center. To be clear the town center is a flat piece of concrete in front of the church that the local kids have dubbed the deduction football (soccer) field.
San Juan is big on textile weaving and art. There are lots of local textile cooperatives and a lot of textile works for sale for those interested. There are also several art galleries and art cooperatives. We were told that many of the cooperatives offer weaving classes and tours where they show you how the textiles are made. There are also tours of small coffee plantations. A Tuk Tuk from the dock will take you around to all of these tours and stay with you for the day for 50Q. The town itself is small but has a few local restaurants and is mostly local without a lot of tourists or tourist amenities. We were also told of above wine and cheese restaurant in the town but frankly we couldn’t find it.
San Marcus is considered the hippie town on the lake and is a good stop for things like acupuncture, massage and yoga. It’s tiny.
Hibalito is even tinier than San Marcus and its one claim to fame is a German restaurant. Ask for Posada de Hans.
San Pedro is the larger of the small towns. That being said you can walk across it in 15 minutes. It’s more touristy with several restaurants, bars and hostels/hotels mostly aimed at foreigners. It’s quite hippie with a readily evident expat community. It’s a nice place to grab a bite or a drink. We ate at La Puerta. It was tasty and the atmosphere was great. It seems like a great place to just chill, read or do some work. It’s a little bit north of the Mikaso hotel which itself is a little north if the Santiago dock. That’s as close of an address as you’re going to get.
What to do
There is lots of hiking. You can hike up the volcanoes or around the towns. You can kayak around the lake which we’d highly recommend. We rented kayaks from Los Elementos in Santa Cruz but other towns seem to have them as well. You can also dive the lake. La Iguana in Santa Cruz has a PADI dive center. Keep in kind that the lake is actually the caldera of an ancient volcano and is at 1,500 meter and these would be considered high altitude dives. There are also the coffee farm and textile tours mentioned above. Other than that I would just chill. It’s a beautiful place to just chill with a book or a beer or if you want to be really extreme, both.
From what we were told, hiking around the lake from town to town is not recommend for small groups without a guide due to safety concerns.