After extending my stay in Antigua while I recovered from being sick, I was next off to Lake Atitilan, a 3 hourish shuttle bus ride away.
Lake Atitilan is a beautiful lake in Guatemala that has an area of 130km2 and was formed over 85 000 years ago as a result of volcanic eruption. The average depth of the lake is 150m with the deepest section being 341m deep. There are 11 towns that surround the lake and all of them are accessible by a cheap water taxi from the towns boat docks.
I spent majority of my time in San Pedro La Laguna, which is known as the young, backpacker town famous for its nightlife and Spanish Schools. Each town has a very different vibe which was quite interesting to observe. San Marcos for example, only a 10 minute boat ride from San Pedro is quite the opposite. A slightly strange hippy town, where people visit to do yoga and go on ayahuasca retreats. I couldn’t walk 5 minutes in this town without someone offering me weed or magic mushrooms. San Marcos is also the best place to swim as swimming in certain parts of the lake is not recommended. They have a national park sort of thing which has a 12m cliff jumping platform into the water – definitely the highight of San Marcos.
During my time in Lake Atitilan I managed to visit 5 of the 11 surrounding lake towns:
San Pedro – Where I spent majority of my time and did a week long Spanish School (post coming soon). A hub for young backpackers looking to enjoy the nightlife and practice their Spanish.
San Marcos – The hippie town of the lake as I explained above. The best place to swim in all of Lake Atitilan
Santa Cruz – Not too much to do here but has the prettiest views of the lake and surrounding volcanoes. Has a famous hostel ‘Free Cerveza’ that books out for months in advance. Went here on a day trip and just chilled at the hostel.
San Juan – Can’t comment too much. Seemed less touristy than some of the others but a bit quiet.
Santiago de Atitilan – One of the bigger towns around the lake that doesn’t”t much cater to tourists. We went here ona bird watching tour to try and spot the National emblem of Guatemala – the Quetzal bird.
The 4-5 days here in Lake Atitilan before my Spanish School started were spent enjoying the different towns around the lake and enjoying the nightlife after a few days of nothingness being sick in Antigua.
Some notable highlights:
- Cliff jumping in San Marcos. A great day trip from San Pedro and as stated above, the best place to swim. The 12m platform cliff jump could be the highest I’ve ever done?
- Mr Mullets boat party. Every Thursday the San Pedro party hostel ‘Mr Mullets’ hosts a boat party. They dub themselves as ‘Central America’s best boat party’ and it certainly lives up to the name. Pre drinks start at the hostel and around 9-10am with the boat departing San Pedro at 11am. Boat returns to the hostel at about 4pm where the night continues.
- San Pedro Futsal Court – bit of a strange one but there was a very cool astro turf 5 a side court on San Pedro. The gates were never locked and I never saw anyone playing there. There was always 4-5 balls that remained inside the court for people to play. I think I visited this place on 7/12 days that I stayed at San Pedro.
- Mr Mullets pub crawl. Good old fashioned pub crawl – vibes were high and was a general good time.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9ZEQdTMhT1nvepRj7
Great pics! ❤️