panajachel, gt
Panajachel or simply 'Pana' for short, is the largest town on Lake Atitlan. It's really big, and bustling. Especially compared to the generally quiet and quaint towns across the rest of lake. It's also generally known as not the nicest of them. I personally wasn't the biggest fan of Pana. Especially considering all the other options of towns to stay in. But if you spend any time at the lake, then Pana will be important. It being the biggest, means that it's a common place for people to come in and out of, and also is the hub for some of the civilized necessities and luxuries that may be a little more difficult to find in some of the other — especially the other small towns, in Atitlan. For example, here you will find a large supermarket. Additionally this is where CA 1, or the main highway goes through. So it's common to go to Pana first before getting on a boat to another destination. For me, Pana was just a stopover, but there is certainly some culture going on in Pana, a few really nice hostels and some great restaurants. Including, and especially one called 'The Little Spoon' owned by a few amazing friends from Australia. For the most part, Pana is not where the backpackers are going to congregate. It's more of a civilized place as compared to the other towns on the lake. It depends on what you want. For me, I would choose to spend my time in San Pedro, San Marcos or Free Cerveza.
When speaking about the places on the Lake, Pana is by far the easiest place to navigate. It's located right off the main highway, CA-1. Or the Pan-American Highway. So if you are coming from Antigua, it's a simple straight-shot to Pana.
BY SHUTTLE - Shuttles from Antigua Guatemala to Panajachel depart daily. The ride takes about 2.5–3 hours, and costs between Q125–150. The drive is about 75 km, and involves winding roads and inclines and declines. Just as a warning — the roads in and out are not good, and if you get car-sick be prepared. You can book a shuttle here. It will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel, wherever you are going. — For the most part.
BY CHICKEN BUS - So this is really the only town at the Lake I would recommend taking a chicken bus to. The other ones will just get complicated, and a shuttle is worth it to just make it easier. Certainly the most authentic way to get here is by chicken bus. If you are coming from Antigua, you can pick up a chicken bus here. The route doesn't take long, and will be very cheap.
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Antigua-Chimaltenango - 5Q. Buses depart every 20 minutes. The route is about an hour. Get off at the first stop in Chimaltenango.
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Chimaltenango-Panajachel. 35Q. In Chimaltenango, take the next bus to Panajachel.
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Arrive at the Panajachel bus stop. From here it won't be a long walk to wherever you are going. May that be your hostel, or the dock to catch a boat across the lake.
BY CAR - Simple enough. Just make the 2-and-a-half-hour drive from Antigua. Assuming you are coming from there.
HOSTELS, CAMPING, AND HOTELS (IF ANY)
There's not a large hostel scene here. Like I said a lot of the backpackers are going to be staying in different towns around the lake compared to being here in Pana.
But there is a really good one here that I knew a bunch of backpackers loved. I knew a lot of their volunteers, actually, who spent months here. So I will take their word, and decision to stay there, as an indication that the place is in fact pretty good.
So this is the most popular hostel to stay here in Pana. It's also probably one of the most popular hostels on the entire lake amongst backpackers. People here love it, and like I said I know a lot of people who spent a ton of time here. There's a pool. — A great bar, and you're certainly going to find a lot of partying. There's a lot of partying in general that goes on in Pana. But Dreamboat is going to be a nice place to stay. Always a lot of volunteers and things to do. But much of it will surround the party.
There's a Selina here. If that's your thing.
EATS
I didn't really eat too much in Pana. But it's the biggest town on the lake, so there are a lot of options for sure. If you spend a lot of time here, I am sure you will find plenty of places that I do not mention here.
I must say though, of all these places there is one you must go to. The Little Spoon. It's owned by a few absolutely lovely Australian girls. Go by and support. Their food is great, as is the vibe of their little spot.
Restaurants
I have mentioned this above, but it's an awesome little rooftop spot owned by a couple friends. The food is great, the people great. Come for the brekkie, stay for some drinks. They have parties every so often as well.
If you are craving something different, this place has good Indian food.
Popular spot to go out as well, but this place is a restaurant that is going to be a good time, while also serving up pretty good pizza.
NIGHTLIFE
The nightlife in Pana is good. There's really good nightlife in other parts of the lake as well, but often people will go over to Pana to go out to get a little bit of diversity.
If you are here, below are a lot of the names that you will hear about and go to. But certainly not the extent of it.
In addition to being a great little cafe and restaurant, The Little Spoon is also a bar that can be really fun. They have parties sometimes that get more rowdy than the normal just drinking and hanging as well.
One of the staples of Pana nightlife. It's a nightclub that will frequently have live bands perform. It's a great time, and one of the best places to go out here. — More local feel as well, which is nice.
Popular spot to go out as well, but this place is a restaurant that is going to be a good time while also serving up pretty good pizza. More local feel. Lots of times they have live music also.
Cool little cocktail bar. It's intimate and grungily designed, but it has a cool feel inside. Great spot to grab a drink.
Nice little cocktail bar to come get one of a few. Open late. Till 1AM.
The Hostel. It's a party hostel, so the bar here will usually have something going on. A failsafe way to go find people to get drunk with, at a minimum.
SIGHTS
The things to see here at the Lake are pretty uniform across the different towns. Much of it is going to be outside of the town you are in. Visiting other towns, some of the same hikes, some of the same activities, etc.
So for the towns on the lake there is going to be some crossover in this section, but there will be a few things that are unique to the individual towns.
Below is what there is to do and see at the lake.
Known as the 'hippy town' here in Lake Atitlan. Lots of spirituality stuff, hippies, and crystals. A lot more of that on the San Marcos page.
VISIT SAN PEDRO
San Pedro is my favorite city on the lake. Much more on that on the San Pedro Page.
This is an extremely tiny town, but it is home to two really amazing hostels. One of them is called 'Free Cerveza', and it's a beautiful hostel right on the water. It's called Free Cerveza because every night there is a family dinner with everyone staying at the hostel. You eat at a low table while sitting on the ground. The beer is free for an hour while you consume your dinner (that you pay for). There is also an amazing little hostel there called 'La Iguana'.
The town itself is super tiny, and 100% worth staying in for a few nights. At a minimum come walk around the tiny town for a day.
San Juan La Laguna is a cool town that sits right next to San Pedro. There's an amazing walking street that has a bunch of flags overhead, and the ground is made up of different-colored bricks. There's great walking and shopping here, and it's a perfect way to spend a day. A day trip here is probably enough.
There's a fun cliff-jump that you can do outside of San Marcos. It's pretty high up, and a really popular and fun thing to do.
This is a stunning and extremely unique market located a little bit outside of the lake town of Pana. You will need to get on a chicken bus to get out here, but it's worth it. The market days are Thursday and Sunday, and it's a sprawling textiles market that also showcases the tradition of textile-making that goes on here. The textiles and colors that you see being worn by the women walking around everywhere and adorning the table and in the restaurants. Buy something as a gift, or just a souvenir. It's an awesome day.
There's a lot of really great hiking that can be done outside of the Lake, including Volcan San Pedro, Atitlan, Toliman and the Lower Mayan Trail hike (Santa Cruz to San Marcos). I am just going to get into my favorite — hiking up to the top of Indian Nose. This is one of the best viewpoints you could ever imagine for the lake. The hike gets you up there at sunrise to watch it all, and there's not much walking at all, making the difficulty low. I would check with your hostel, and get involved in a tour to get you up there. It's one of the best things to do at the lake. Here is the Alltrails about the hike. Notably you need to get to Santa Clara to start the hike. But if you get on a tour, then they will handle this for you.
From Pana you can get on a sunset cruise trip that will take you on a boat around the lake right at sunset. It's a beautiful way to see the sun go down and experience the lake. I recommend. It's BYOB on the weekends, and the cruise only lasts about a half-hour, and costs 10Q ($1USD).
Taking a booze cruise around the lake is a good way to spend the day here in Atitlan if that's your thing. The booze cruise is put together by Mr Mullets hostel, and is a wild time for sure. It's going to be full of young backpackers, so just be aware of that. If you know what you are getting into, it's a fun time.
There's a beautiful little lookout point north of San Pedro, called 'Maravilla'. It costs a little bit of money to get in there, but you end up with a stunning look at the lake. I would recommend.
The lake is another great place to come and go to Spanish school. I did mine through Lake Atitlan Spanish School. There's tons of other people that are going to be doing the same, so it's not only a good way to meet people, but also a great way to support the community and improve your Spanish. You are in Latin America after all.
There's a pub crawl here in San Pedro that practically every young backpacker is going to go on. That's why, after you get here you will notice there are a bunch of idiots wearing 'Mr Mullets' shirts. You get the shirt for free for going. Whatever — it's dumb, but it's an excuse to go out, and you will meet a lot of people. The parties can be fun too, if you can somehow avoid all the 18-year-old guys from the UK.
There's an awesome DJ collective called The Wizards that are based here at The Lake. They pretty frequently throw amazing parties and raves. They aren't necessarily published, but keep your ears peeled and you may just hear of one. If you do, they are amazing.
SURFING
I think you can wakeboard here.