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Lake Atitlán Sightseeing Cruise with Transport from Antigua

Name: Lake Atitlán Sightseeing Cruise with Transport from Antigua
Brand: Guatemalan Adventure
SKU: 5555ANTATIT
Price: 114.50 USD
Rating: 4.5 (84 reviews)

Badge of ExcellenceAntigua, Guatemala

Lake Atitlan Sightseeing Cruise with Transport from Antigua

10 hours
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Spend the day discovering the gorgeous Lake Atitlán, along with the picturesque villages that line its shore, during this 10-hour sightseeing excursion from Antigua. Take in breathtaking views of this mountain lake, its southern shore ringed by volcanoes, as you visit the town Panjachel and take a boat cruise to the hamlet of Santiago de Atitlán. This Lake Atitlán adventure finishes with time for browsing the handicraft stands and businesses along Panjachel’s Santander Street. Your tour also includes a guide and round-trip transportation from your Antigua hotel.

Sightseeing cruise on Lago de Atitlán including transportation from Antigua
Admire the lake’s stunning volcanic scenery from the boat
Cruise across the lake to the Tzutujil village of Santiago de Atitlán.
Walk along Santander street in Panajachel with your local guide
Complimentary hotel pickup and drop-off

What's Included

Professional guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Boat sightseeing cruise

Food and drinks
Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

07:30 AM

Pickup details

Pick up time will be within 15 minutes of the established departure time in your confirmation.

What To Expect

Explore the stunning environs of Lake Atitlán, a serene body of water ringed by towering volcanoes and idyllic villages, as you visit the towns of Panjachel and Santiago de Atitlán. Best of all, you’ll get to see this natural wonder by boat, the best vantage point of all, as you take a scenic water cruise between the two cities.

Start your trip with a pickup at 8am from your Antigua hotel, continuing with your guide to the town of Panjachel along the shores of Lake Atitlán. Upon your arrival at Panjachel, transfer to a boat for a sightseeing cruise of the incredible scenery visible on this amazing lake. Lake Atitlán, or Lago de Atitlán as locals call it, was formed by the eruption of the massive Los Chocoyos volcano thousands of years ago. In the many eons that have passed since this momentous event, several 9,000-plus-foot (3,000m) volcanoes such as Volcan San Pedro, Volcan Atitlán and Volcan Toliman have all risen up around its shores, lending the lake its stunning scenery.

Soon you’ll arrive at the colorful town of Santiago de Atitlán, home to the Tzutujil Maya people. Observe the unique way of life of the local residents, and take some time to browse the main street stores selling oil paintings, woven baskets and more before re-boarding your boat for the sightseeing trip back to Panjachel.

Once you’ve arrived in Panjachel, check out the village’s intriguing Santander Street, where you can shop for handmade crafts before stopping for lunch (at your own expense) at a nearby restaurant. Take time for some more shopping if you wish after lunch, before heading back to Antigua to conclude your day with drop-off at your hotel.

Lago de Atitlan

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Volcan San Pedro (Pass By)

Volcan Atitlan (Pass By)

Volcano Toliman (Pass By)

Santiago Atitlan

2 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Panajachel

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible

Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 12 travelers

Operated by Guatemalan Adventure

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Adnan_A

Davis is wonderful tour guide. Very knowledgeable and friendly. We had a great time. Highly recommend

Reviews

4.5

84 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 84 reviews

Nice Tour

Sakina_M, May 2024

I love our tour. Carmen was our guide and she was very knowledgeable and accommodating. She brought us to the best stores San Juan and ended our tour at a nice restaurant and the food was great.

Fun adventure

Jorge_Z, Feb 2024

The whole experience was amazing. Great tour guy and driver. The educational experiences were a nice touch.

Unforgettable

ShawnDrury, Jan 2024

Lake Atitlan is stunning as any place on the planet and only enhanced by the charming community of San Juan.

The visit to the women's...

GEOFF_S, Dec 2023

The visit to the women's weaving cooperative was interesting....the rest of the the trip was adequate but not at all inspiring...lots of opportunities to improve this trip

Go With a Guide

Zoe_D, Jun 2023

Visiting San Juan was great! The town was incredibly beautiful and I would highly recommend going here. The only reason I give it 4 stars was because the driver was late, but he did communicate that with me via WhatsApp. I will say it would have been really hard to get to the town by ourselves and I speak conversational Spanish. There aren't a ton of signs out and with out a guide we wouldn't have known what boat to get on. Therefore, although this wasn't the best tour I've been on, it was much better to go with a guide.

Waste of time and money

julie_t, May 2023

The only enjoyable part was the ride across lake Atitlan. We were only 2 (husband and myself). This tour was like a school outing, with the guide taking us to mini seminars of weaving, chocolate making, and attemped to take me to a honey making seminar. And I just walked out. No time to explore the beautiful city. And he took us to 3 different hotels to visit the gardens. This is not what Guatemala is about. And there is nothing worst them being ask "do you have money on you to support the village?" Rude! I am supporting your country by visiting, buying local products, and restarants. What more do you want! The guide was upset because we wanted to eat at a local restaurant! He even asked my husband why I was upset, the tour is not good at all. The day could not end any sooner. We told him to take us back to hotel. This is me and only me, when you are 2 on a tour and the guide pulls out his green umbrella for you to follow him, it's ridiculous! Also is was quite obvious that the places he took us he was rewarded with a small comission and freebies at our expence.

Not worth it

Soumya_G, May 2023

Overall, this experience was one of the worst tours we have taken. We were given a 7:30-7:45am pickup and we were outside and ready waiting for our pickup by 7:28am with our toddler. We were not picked up until after 8am, at which point we had been waiting for over 30 mins and had contacted the tour operator via WhatsApp. Upon pickup, the guide never apologized, didn't introduce himself, nothing. Just gathered us into the car and off we went. There was no communication from the guide on what to expect for the day, when we would get breaks, how long the drive would be, historical background... Nothing. After a midway break, we arrived at a restaurant at the Lake and folks went to use the restroom and were taking their time as there was no communication on what was happening or what was coming next. Few folks also ordered an appetizer and coffee as we didn't know how long we would be there and it was lunch time. The guide was so flustered, asked people to pay quickly, and hurried us along to the "cruise." The "cruise" was not a cruise. It's a water taxi that takes you across the Lake to a small town for exploration. But once you get there, you go from small business to small business learning about chocolate, weaving, medicinal plants etc. It felt like we were trying to check off places on a checklist and we didn't get time to enjoy each place and explore and learn. We ended up ditching the tour and telling the guide we would meet him at the boat at the designated time. With a toddler, we felt rushed and didn't get the time to relax and explore. After taking the boat ride back across the Lake to the restaurant, we were given the opportunity to order lunch. It was nearly 3pm and it was crowded. We didn't get our food til after 4:15pm and half the items were missing. Service was terrible and slow and we had to follow-up with the restaurant staff multiple times to get a menu, to get our drinks, to get our food... The ride back to Antigua was fine as everyone was tired and sleepy. Once we reached Antigua, the driver/guide stopped a few blocks from our hotel and opened the door and told us to walk back as there was too much traffic and roads were blocked. A little heads up would have been nice...and an apology? Nothing. Just opened the door and said, "you walk from here." We walked off (with our toddler) and didn't look back.

Panajachel day trip

PatriciaStride_C, Apr 2023

Nice tour that included a boat tour to a small town and a visit of a Women’s Weaving Cooperative. Not a lot of English spoken by the guides but we managed. Lunch was not included and I was disappointed that we were brought to an extremely expensive restaurant for lunch. I would rather the guide direct us towards good street/market food. It was a nice day.

Beyond my wildest imagination.

Brian_B, Mar 2023

The mountains and valleys to the lake were breathtakingly. The lake made me speechless in how humongous it is. With the clouds, it was difficult to the see the other side of the lake, so it felt like a sea or ocean. Amazing friendly people in the towns we visited by boat.

Beautiful but needed more time

Giovanna_I, Feb 2023

The lake was beautiful but it was too far for only 3 hours that we spent there. The tour guy was rushing

Okay only if short on time or not SOLO due to charging double the price for being Solo

Mellissa_K, Jan 2023

First, I want to say that as a SOLO traveler Viator charged me double the price. I don’t understand how this is fair if I’m not the ONLY person on this tour or even if I am, it’s not cool. So be aware solo travelers, this “cruise” is NOT worth it for double the price, BUT if you are a group if may be worth the price if you are short on time and would like to pass through Lake Atitlan/San Juan for one day not Santiago de Atitlan as per the description. Our guide was Oscar who was very knowledgeable & safely navigated the roads to and from Antigua. The drive takes the entire say, about 4-5 hours to Panajachel then to brief boat ride to San Jan. You will spend the majority of this 12 hour tour in the car. Pros: Beautiful along the lake and ride there, You visit the colorful town of San Jan & learn about their culture, how clothing is made from cotton in pure form, how chocolate is made, and also about plants used for medicinal purposes. Very fun, informative, & very interactive. This was my favorite part. Oscar stopped at pre-selected place for breakfast. Cons: Tour is supposed to be in English. I had two Spanish speaking ppl also along tour and Oscar initially did his best to speak English to me & translate on the other stops. However, in my opinion didn’t take initiate to translate for me on several occasions in San Juan on the cultural tours leaving me feeling a little isolated especially since I paid double what everyone else paid. There is very little time for browsing stores for food or souvenirs (although Oscar asked our group of 3 did we want to, but I got the idea that this wasn’t ideal for staying on scheduled time frame). Boat ride is nice, but don’t expect anything fancy and if you’re easily sea sick might want to rethink it. This was not a cruise, Its about 20-25min ride across the lake to San Juan there and back (although really gorgeous views/scenery). Oscar also stopped for dinner which I think takes away an hour of your time. Will you be hungry? yes, but Antigua is only an hour away at this point. I would have rather kept going back to Antigua instead of having dinner at the same place we had for breakfast which ending up. I recommend suggesting a group vote to see who wants to have dinner and who would rather keep going. Wear comfortable shoes, Bring water, snacks, sunscreen, and a hat. Again, if traveling solo, would not recommend as this tour wastes an entire day.

Perfect excursion!

Joan_J, Jan 2023

Beautiful sites, superb tour guide, interesting artisan demonstrations! Oscar was the perfect host - so knowledgeable and gracious. What a wonderful experience!

Davis is wonderful tour...

Adnan_A, Jan 2023

Davis is wonderful tour guide. Very knowledgeable and friendly. We had a great time. Highly recommend

Our guide was wonderful....

RamRang_K, Dec 2022

Our guide was wonderful. He was well informed about the history of Guatemala and its people. We enjoyed the boat ride across Lake Atitlan, our visit to the town, and our meals in the restaurants we stopped at.

Book it.

Julienne_P, Nov 2022

We had an amazing experience. We got to learn about the people and culture on the island of San Juan. Our tour guide was very informative and patient with us.

Our guide was great!!!...

Damien_G, Oct 2022

Our guide was great!!! Very knowledgeable of the area and history. We loved the honey and coffee tour and great pictures

Lake Life For A Day

Kai_H, Jul 2022

Incredible! My guide was phenomenal. It was just the two of us and he was so kind, knowledgeable, and interesting. The Lake is beautiful, and the towns are charming.

Experience was far from description

Andrea_B, Jun 2022

If you are looking for a private tour that is highly scheduled without free time to explore on your own or choose your own restaurants, this is a good choice for you. We were disappointed as that is not the experience we were looking for and the tour did not match the description. Here are a few examples: 1. We did not know it was a private tour, as that was not clearly labeled in the description on the website. The guide and driver picked us up and we were confused about why it was just us. 2. The description states we would go to Santiago de Atitlán. We were instead taken to San Juan, because "I could get more for you there," said our tour guide. This ended up meaning that she took us to four stores, back-to-back, each with a 5-10 minute demonstration of what they had for us to purchase. It was clear we could have walked into each of these stores on our own and asked for the demonstration if we wanted it. San Juan seemed like it would have been interesting to explore more ourselves, but we were unable to. We did not end up seeing Santiago de Atitlán. 3. We asked for time to rest and sit down to take in the views of the lake and our guide was annoyed with us and said we had to go to the last "tour" she had "set up." 4. She did not ask us about our food preferences and did not give us an option for breakfast or lunch. Breakfast is understandable because we were on the drive from Antigua to Atitlán, but lunch is disappointing as we weren't able to choose ourselves from the wide variety of option available in Panajachel. 5. Because she so tightly booked the day, we had no free time to explore in Panajachel, either (as the descriptions states we would have been). This was very disappointing. What is most disappointing about this day is that she treated us like unexperienced tourists that wanted her with us every second. We feel like we were babysat all day. We had no time to ourselves, including at breakfast and lunch when she sat with us. We had absolutely no time to explore on our own at any location. If that is the type of tour you like, then this will be great. For us, it was very far from how we prefer to travel and what we thought we had signed up for based on the description.

Stunned by the beauty of the lake

Viviana_M, Jun 2022

Excellent service, the boat ride in the lake was absolutely stunning, Mikor was super friendly. The visit to the towns was brief but not rushed. There's not much time for eating until the last part of the tour so make sure you bring snacks if you want to eat something on the way and make sure you have had breakfast before they pick you up. Overall a highly recommendable tour.

A mandatory experience

Anya_K, Mar 2022

The most memorable part for me was seeing all the indigenous people and learning about how they make textiles and weave scarves.

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