Transportation guide for Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Lake Atitlan is a beautiful, serene area a few hours outside of Guatemala City and Antigua. There are many towns around the lake that you can visit by water taxi or lancha and each has its own unique character. You can spend just a few days here or get stuck here forever. The lake as a bit of everything you could ask for plus amazing Volcanos as your backdrop!

Getting To Lake Atitlan

Lake Atitlan is 3-3.5hrs from Guatemala City and 2.5-3hrs from Antigua but could take longer if you leave during rush hour. Most would travel to Lake Atitlan from either Guatemala City or Antique by Uber, private car or shared charter bus. It’s recommended that you leave directly from Guatemala City Airport because the city is pretty dangerous without much to do or see. Additionally, it’s better to plan your travel to Panajachel (or “Pana” for short), the biggest city in Lake Atitlan, then take the water taxi to the other islands. The land roads around the island are pretty bad and would take a lot longer than by water.

Charter Bus

There are buses that leave regularly from Guatemala City, including directly from the airport, and Antigua. Tickets can be purchased at just about any tour operator store in Antigua and Guatemala City. They’ll be around 50-80Q or ($6-10). You don’t need super advance booking for these shuttles as they can be booked the day before.

Uber

Ubers are the most convenient since you are able to leave whenever you want and have your own car that goes directly there. It’ll be faster than a charter and be more comfortable. They’ll cost about 400-500Q or ($45-65). Ubers are abundant in Guatemala City and you can schedule for one the day before or plan to call ~15 mins before you’re ready to leave. However, this might not be the case in other cities/towns so don’t depend on being able to call an Uber wherever you are.

Private Shuttle

Like an Uber, this is a convenient and comfortable way to travel since you can arrange for the car to pick you up whenever and drop you off directly to where you need to be. The vehicle will typically be a passenger van so if you have a bigger group or more luggage, it would make sense to choose this over an Uber. The cost for the whole trip will be around 800Q ($100).

Getting Around Lake Atitlan

Water Taxi / Lancha

As mentioned before, the best way to travel between the towns are via the lancha, or water taxi. The public ones will cost around 10-30Q and operate between 6am and 5:30pm. You can just walk to the dock and tell the workers where you’re going and they’ll put you on the right boat. They leave very frequently so you won’t wait more than 5 minutes before getting on a boat.

Tuk Tuk

You’ll find these red tuk tuks in the towns to take you around town for 5-15Q. They aren’t meant for long travel but useful to get from the bottom of the town to the top. They’re pretty much everywhere so you shouldn’t have trouble waving one down. Make sure you ask for the price beforehand.

ENJOY YOUR TIME!