Guatemala with kids: 10 great days out around Lake Atitlan

There are so many things to do on Lake Atitlan. You could easily spend a week on Lake Atitlan and it deserves so much more than just a day trip from Antigua.

We spent 11 days on Lake Atitlan as part of a worldschool hub, and we loved it for a slower pace of life and natural beauty. The people are also wonderful and every town around the lake is worth visiting – with the lanchas (small boats) bouncing you there all day long.

It takes around 4 hours to arrive in San Juan which is where we suggest basing yourself, and is where we joined our worldschool hub. We think San Juan is the best place to stay on Lake Atitlan. Panajachel is too busy with day trippers, and San Pedro doesn’t have the colour and beauty of San Juan.

Here’s our list of the ten best things to do on Lake Atitlan with kids.

Enjoy the San Juan street art

San Juan is a colourful lakeside town offering plenty to explore. Just wandering the streets is a pleasure. The streets are decked out with so much colour, some with hanging hats and umbrellas and lights at night. The main church is also beautiful. There is also a playground by the beach, a basketball court in the centre and so many tiny colourful streets to explore.

Visit the market and the tortillerias

For a local immersion experience this is a great thing to do on Lake Atitlan. Within San Juan there is a market at the top of the umbrella street which is a community cooperative market run by women. The quality of the fruit and veg there is out of this world and you’ll be contributing to a great cause by shopping there. Around the whole town you will also see tortillerias including the ladies sitting there and making them. It’s such a beautiful site – and Guatemala tortillas with avocado are just the best snack ever!

Visit the Bee Farm

The bee farm in San Juan is small but educational and a fun thing to do on Lake Atitlan for the kids. Learn about the various types of bees they have here, including non-stinging ones! Also enjoy the various honey products from the shops. Entrance is free, presumably as everyone will go away with something – from honey shampoo, to soap to jellies.

Learn how cotton is made

Within San Juan there are also 3-4 cotton factories which off tours of how cotton is made – this is a wonderful thing to do on Lake Atitlan with kids. It is both educational and really interesting and our kids learned a lot. The demonstrations are around 30 minutes long and they talk about how the cotton comes from the trees, how they spin it, and how they dye it. There is naturally a shop tour included, but this was one of our favourite tours we did – worldschooling at its finest!

Make chocolate from Cocao beans

Central Amercia is a haven for chocolate making and Guatemala is no different. We had done a making chocolate lesson during our time in Nicaragua, so we just opted for the cocao bean tour this time in San Juan. You can see all the various stages and also try some of the very bitter chocolate. The highlight was the choco bananas and choco strawberrys at the end – and of course you will buy some of the flavoured chocolate in the shop. From ginger, to chilli, to orange – it all looks so good!

Go rock and cliff jumping from San Roques national park

Visit the national park at San Roques for some swimming and cliff jumping. This is the only part of the lake we felt safe to swim in. There is an entrance fee of £5 per adult, kids are free. They also provide life jackets for kids.

There is a 10m high diving platform that they call the trampoline and then a smaller 4-5 metre one which we enjoyed jumping off into the lake. Alicia managed it, but Nyle preferred to play on the beach at the entrance. From the entrance to the jumping areas, it’s around 5-10 minutes walk, and very unsuitable for tiny children or strollers. There are some big steps, large drops and uneven ground. But once you are there it is a lot of fun – and nice to finally swim in lake Atitlan!

We will let you do your own googling and decide whether swimming in the lake is a good idea in other areas – we felt it wasn’t worth the risk!

Go kayaking on Lake Atitlan

Kayaking on Lake Atitlan is a great thing to do on Lake Atitlan (just don’t fall in!). San Pedro is a town similar to San Juan but with more shopping and restaurants and also kayaks and SUPs available to rent – it’s only 10 minutes in a tuk tuk or 5 minutes on a lancha (boat) from San Juan. There are also paddleboards to rent, and they all come with life jackets and are in good condition.

Take a sunrise hike up Indian Nose

One of the best things to do on Lake Atitlan is to enjoy a sunrise. We would also recommend doing the sunrise walk to Indian Nose – this was one of our most favourite experiences – the sun rises at 6am so it is an early start, but with only a 30 minute walk required from the drop off point, it is good for little legs at that time in the morning.

Visit Panajachel

Panajachel is the usual gateway into Lake Atitlan and is where most of the day trippers from Antigua will get dropped off. You can spend the day here and do kayaking, wander the markets and enjoy the many restaurants but we would recommend getting a boat to explore other areas of the lake as well. The town is the largest on the lake and actually only visited to enjoy a day swimming in a hotel pool using a day pass (as we didn’t want to swim in the lake around San Pedro or San Juan). In fact Panajachel has several hotels you could pay to use the pool as a day-pass visitor.

Explore the ceramics at Caterina

Caterina is one of the quietest and less visited towns on the lake, and it is built on a steep mountain side. There are various ceramic factories, shops and tours to be enjoyed and it’s actually a great half day out to escape the crowds of some of the other towns. There’s various restaurants and cafes, and a coffee and cocao shopping just where the lanchas land.

Summary of our time on Lake Atitlan

No Guatemala roadtrip is complete without a few days minimum stay on Lake Atitlan. We recommend staying in San Juan de Laguna for easy access to so many things to do on Lake Atitlan with kids.