The best sport spots and adventures in Guatemala – travel tips, packing lists and first-hand experience from DOMISPORTS.
Sacatepéquez · Hiking, Cycling · Best time: Nov–Apr
A colonial town as base camp: from here you climb Acatenango and watch Fuego's glowing eruptions from camp at night — a trekking moment you won't forget. The push to almost 4,000 m demands fitness, but nothing technical. Acatenango trek from Antigua — 2 days, guide mandatory.
Sololá · Kayaking, Hiking, SUP · Best time: Nov–Apr
A crater lake between three volcanoes: mornings are glass — the best time to get out on a SUP or kayak before the Xocomil wind kicks in around midday. In between, you run trails to viewpoints above the lakeside villages. Volcanic lake ringed by Maya villages — water taxi between shores.
Alta Verapaz · Swimming, Caves · Best time: Nov–Apr
Turquoise terraced pools deep in the jungle — and getting there is part of the deal: a rough ride in, a sweaty climb to the viewpoint, then the plunge into cool water. The cave tour next door has you swimming partly in the dark — not one for claustrophobics. Turquoise limestone pools over a river — add the candle cave tour.
Petén · Hiking, Sightseeing · Best time: Nov–Apr
A Maya metropolis in the rainforest: moving between temples racks up serious jungle mileage, howler monkeys included. Start early and you'll have the site almost to yourself — watching pyramid tops pierce the canopy from the upper platforms. Maya temples above the jungle canopy — sunrise tour from 4 am.
Escuintla · Surfing, SUP, Swimming · Best time: Apr–Nov
Black sand, a beach break with lefts and rights, and a whole village that lives off surfing. The inside reforms roll in slow and clean — perfect for your first weeks on a board — while the outside peaks get properly punchy on a southwest groundswell. A good two hours from Antigua, but it feels like another planet. The beach break generates strong rips — as a beginner only paddle out with a surf school and stay on the sandbar.
Izabal · Kayaking, Sailing, Swimming · Best time: Jan–Apr
43 kilometres of flat water from Lake Izabal down to the Caribbean: drop a kayak in and go — no rapids, just current, mangrove side channels and howler monkeys overhead. The best part is the final ten kilometres, a gorge with jungle-covered walls up to 90 metres high. If sailing is more your thing, the cruising fleet sits at Fronteras — the river is a classic hurricane hole. Livingston at the river mouth has no road access — the only way in or out is by water.
Quetzaltenango · Trekking, Hiking, Mountaineering · Best time: Nov–Apr
A solid 1,200 metres of climbing in one go, starting in the dark at Llanos del Pinal outside Xela, topping out at 3,772 metres. The payoff: you stand above the active Santiaguito lava dome and look down on it as it puffs ash in bursts — one of the few volcanoes you get to watch erupt from above. Nothing technical, but you need fitness and a head for altitude. Start at 3 am — cloud rolls in almost every day by late morning and the view down onto Santiaguito is gone.
San Marcos · Mountaineering, Trekking, Hiking · Best time: Nov–Mar
4,203 metres — nothing in Central America goes higher. It's about five hours up from Tuichán on a decent trail, nothing technical, but the thin air noticeably kills your pace. Most people do it as a two-day trip from Xela with a night camped just below the summit, because sunrise over the Sierra Madre is the real reason you came. At 4,000 m the night drops towards freezing — pack a 0 °C sleeping bag and a beanie, even if it's 25 degrees down in the valley.
Huehuetenango · Hiking, Trekking · Best time: Nov–Apr
The highest non-volcanic mountain range in Central America, and up top it looks more like the Andes than Guatemala: páramo grass, sheep, scattered Mam villages on a plateau above 3,000 metres. You hike village to village with Todos Santos Cuchumatán at 2,500 m as your base; the high point is La Torre at 3,837 m. Between November and February nights can drop below freezing — almost everyone underestimates that. The Mirador Juan Diéguez Olaverri sits at 3,300 m right on the road up from Huehuetenango — on a clear day you can see Tajumulco, Santa María and the Atitlán volcanoes from there.
Sololá, Lago de Atitlán · Yoga, Meditation
Villa Sumaya sits on the shore of Lake Atitlán near Santa Cruz La Laguna and hosts seven-night group retreats for 12 to 50 guests. Solo travellers can book guided personal retreat packages with studios, spa, ceremonies and an on-site restaurant. The property is reachable only by boat: public lanchas leave Panajachel every half hour from 7am to 7pm for 25 quetzales — tell the driver to drop you at the Villa Sumaya dock, otherwise it is a 20-minute walk from the public Santa Cruz dock.