San Juan La Laguna | An Essential Travel Guide

Planning a day trip or stay in San Juan La Laguna, one of the Lake Atitlan villages?

Our essentials guide has got you covered!

In this little painted town of colourful streets on the western shores of Lake Atitlan, the rhythms of a traveller’s day usually revolve around sipping coffee, savouring chocolate, and exploring co-operatives led by the indigenous Tz’utujil Maya community.

Though now well-established as a popular day trip destination, San Juan La Laguna manages to maintain a delicate balance between preserving its traditions and local way of life while welcoming increasing tourism.

It’s the best place to appreciate the craft of Guatemalan weaving, and get an insight into the positive impact of the business model behind the town’s makers and producers.

If you’re looking for beautiful, high-quality handmade goods, this is the place you’ll find them.

In this travel guide, we’ve shared the best things to do in San Juan La Laguna, as well as personal recommendations on where to eat, drink, and the the pick of the places to stay if this laid-back town is going to be your base on Lake Atitlan.

How To Get To San Juan Laguna & Connections

The main transportation around Lake Atitlan is by boat, rather than road.

This is an affordable, scenic, and (largely) enjoyable way to move between the various towns and villages, and there are regular shared services across the lake to / from San Juan La Laguna.

If you’re ever stuck or in a rush, it’s also possible to commandeer a private boat service.

We’ve shared much more advice, scams, and tips for smoother journeys in ‘How To Get Around Lake Atitlan’ – and we highly recommend giving it a read before you arrive there.

However, for your visit to San Juan La Laguna, the key prices and times are:

· From Panajachel (30-40mins), Santa Cruz, Jaibalito and Tzununá – 25Q

· San Marcos – 7 mins – 20Q

· San Pablo and San Pedro – 15Q

The route and stops will usually be Panajachel – Santa Cruz – Jaibalito – Tzunuma – San Marcos – San Juan – San Pedro, and you’ll arrive at the main dock (here on Google Maps)

It’s first-come-first-served for seats, cash only, and paid on board; note that locals pay less than visitors.

Plan / How Do Lake Atitlan Boats Work?

If you’re staying in the nearby backpacker town of San Pedro, you also have the alternative option of a tuk-tuk to San Juan for 15-20Q per person (10 minutes).

They’re always zipping up and down the narrow streets but, if in doubt, you’ll usually find one at the main pier (here on Google Maps).

Some travellers also choose to walk the same road between the two towns, which takes about 25 minutes, but we recommend only considering this in the busier, daylight hours.

When you arrive at the dock in San Juan, getting around on foot is quite self-explanatory. However, if you’re a day-tripper that’s short on time, you will find lots of tuk-tuks waiting at the end of Calle de las Artes.

For departures, the dock in San Juan is amongst the most transparent and official on the shores of Lake Atitlan, with a banner up stating official prices for both Guatemalans and foreigners. If you miss the last boat, you may still be able to make a departure from San Pedro if you rush and take a tuk-tuk over!

Travel Tip // San Juan La Laguna was heaving with tour groups this time, which marked quite a change from our first trip in 2014. However, the reality is that this place is simply much more visited than before. If you’re doing a day trip from the other towns, we suggest setting off a bit earlier or later so as to avoid the crowds which tend to be at their worst in the middle of the day.

Things To Do in San Juan Laguna

Visit The Weaving Co-Operatives

In an age dominated by online shopping, fast fashion, and mass production, many of us don’t know the first thing about the human-led complexity and artistry that goes into textiles that have clothed us for centuries.

San Juan is the place to pick up the thread again.

The town is renowned for the presence of several weaving cooperatives, managed predominantly by Tz’utujil women, that preserve the craft of backstrap weaving as well as fostering pathways to education and financial independence.

A staple of Mayan communities, the backstrap method uses a simple loom that consists of sticks and a strap, which is worn around the weaver’s back. One end is anchored to a fixed object, such as a post or tree, while the other end is tightened around the weaver’s body, allowing them to control the tension of the threads.

Alongside the method, natural dyes and materials are still used to create the intricate, colourful embroidered traditional clothing one can still see so frequently worn across Guatemala in indigenous communities.

The cooperatives all have a shop and space where weaving demonstrations are given as and when you show up, and provide lots of insight on the dye process and how nature and Mayan culture is reflected in the fantastic designs of each garment.

Four we suggest stopping by are:

Casa Flor Ixcaco / It’s big, overly stocked, and popular with tour groups, which can detract a little at first and makes it feel just like any other souvenir shop you see all over Guatemala, rather than what one expects for a co-op. However, the labelling that details not just the materials and dyes used, but also but also the maker and how long it took her is a masterstroke in marketing. Emily got some wonderful baby clothes for her nephew here. Closed on Sunday afternoons.

Association Xkonq’a’ Arcoiris / A much smaller, quieter weaving shop with an excellent collection of Guatemalan worry dolls, a mainstay of Andrew’s life.

Casa del Tejido / A co-op shop of forty families that has a short, free educational tour and demonstrations, as well as a little coffee shop.

Note that whilst purchases are not obligatory and there’s no charge for the weaving demonstrations, if you do end up not buying something, we suggest leaving a small donation.

For us, the Lema Association has some of the nicest pieces one would want to take back and wear, rather than simply spur of the moment purchases from the co-ops, whilst retaining a similar values and ethos of positive community outcomes. They also offer three-hour weaving classes to make a scary using the traditional Maya weaving technical (200Q per person). Classes are in Spanish, but the lady speaks English. Reserve one day in advance.

Walk To Mirador Kaqasiiwaan

The trail up to the colourful boardwalk of the Kaqasiiwaan viewpoint is a worthwhile addition to any day trip in San Juan Laguna, and offers the best views back on the town and the lake.

You definitely shouldn’t attempt it straight after lunch though.

Also known as the Mirador San Juan La Laguna viewpoint, it starts in town and follows the same trail as the Indian Nose (more on that soon). The good news is that you don’t have to expend that much energy to reach its views out over the lake and that, unless you have mobility issues or are very unfit, the 10-20 minute walk up will be manageable for most.

It is still quite steep though, and don’t be surprised if you get a little bit sweatier than expected.

At the top, the circular wooden platform encircling the cross has been thoughtfully painted in bright colours and Mayan imagery, reflecting the street art down in San Juan. There’s shade and benches, and often quite a lot of stalls and vendors, plus plenty of places to grab a drink or food on the way up or down.

Cost | Entrance to the Kaqasiiwaan trailhead is now 30Q per person (cash only)

Where | You can find the start point here on Google Maps. It’s 1.3km in total – 0.65km up and back down the same way – and the walk to the viewpoint will take you 10-20 minutes.

The trail is quite well-maintained, mostly steps and concrete, but there are more rugged and narrow sections. It’s best to avoid doing it in peak heat of the day, and we recommend starting earlier in order to have a more serene experience of the walk up/down.

No guide is required – find more information and recent reviews here on AllTrails

The Street Art & Murals

The rich colours from natural dyes thread their way beyond the backloom and onto the walls of San Juan.

Thanks to a community-led initiative of the 2010s, the street art project was viewed as a way to preserve, document, and celebrate the Tz’utujil’s traditions and heritage. Many of the vibrant, large-scale murals highlight traditional themes, such as Mayan musical instruments, jícaras (gourds used in daily life), indigenous foods, folklore, and prominent local people.

It also meant an aesthetic transformation, with the colourful painted streets of San Juan becoming a defining characteristic of the town; a couple of other Lake Atitlan towns have drawn clear inspiration from this, but the original remains the most impressive.

There are lots of murals now – with new additions annually – and whilst some are more impressive and in better condition than others, they collectively they make exploring San Juan a real visual treat, especially when paired with the daily scenes and characters you’ll encounter along the way. A particular favourite of ours features Don Francisco Mendoza Ixtamer, one of the town’s best players of the chirimílla – a high-pitched woodwind instrument. The writing beneath the mural actually says that if you pop into the taqueria ‘El Chapin’ nearby, you can listen to some of his music.

Building on its reputation, and the tourism it helps to bring, San Juan also has installations on (or above) the main shopping streets running from the dock – Calle de las Sombrillas and Calle de las Artes – and the more impressive Calle de los Sombreros (maps). Unfortunately, the latter was being painted in preparation for Semana Santa, so we couldn’t actually walk along or photograph it properly.

The Art Shops & Galleries

Our views are a little mixed on the merits on the art shops in San Juan, but also infused with a little bit of frustration!

The walk up the aptly named Calle des Artes starts with an ‘oh, that’s cool’ appreciation of some of the bright, vivid paintings, but eventually becomes a sense of overwhelm, repetition, and a cynlical assumption that many of the canvasses are created en masse using a ‘paint by numbers’ approach to copy whatever next door has.

In short, there’s just far too much on display.

It’s a real pity because this lack of editing and curation detracts from the good, distinctive and original works by local artists that can be found if you have the patience to look a little beyond the clutter.

We had a better experience at the little Tz’utujil Art Gallery, where the self-taught Diego Isaias Hernández Méndez can be found sitting before an easel, and suggest you pop by there if in the market for something to roll up and take home. Find the studio here on Google Maps.

Eat At Alma De Colores

Alma de Colores provides social and employment opportunities for local disabled people, with fair wages to match. Their hidden-away restaurant is also a great pick for an affordable and tasty breakfast or lunch in San Juan La Laguna and, after our own positive experiences, we really encourage you to head there.

They also have a small shop across the road – the bright yellow one with a mural – with most of the items made by deaf and mute artisans. It’s a good place to support on your travels, and the personalised Mayan Nawal bracelets they make would be a meaningful present for someone back home.

You can find Alma de Colores here on Google Maps – note that you have to go through a very narrow alley to enter the restaurant.

It’s open 8.30am-5pm Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm Saturdays, and closed Sundays.

Sunrise At The Indian Nose

Our second trip to Lake Atitlan began with at its most stunning viewpoint, watching the sun rise above the peaks of Tolimán, Atitlán, and San Pedro, with the lake mirroring the changing light.

We both love to hike and travel slow, so the decision to walk for three days from Quetzaltenango to Lake Atitlan wasn’t actually difficult. There were so many meaningful memories from the experience, but hiking along the road in the pitch black at 4am to the Indian Nose with an armed police escort was certainly one of the most bizarre!

The peak – La Nariz del Indio in Spanish -isn’t difficult to access and is found at the end of the same trail you take to Mirador Kaqasiiwaan (though there are alternative entry points from Santa Clara). However, the section closest to the Indian Nose and a few other trails in Lake Atitlan are rife with robberies specifically targeting hikers in daylight and darkness, hence why the fantastic non-profit Quetzaltrekkers always has two police officers there for groups heading to Indian Nose for sunrise.

So, despite the walk being very manageable for most and something we’d usually do and recommend doing independently, we simply cannot do that for the Indian Nose at present – the risk just remains too high*.

Instead, you really do have to opt for a guided tour to give yourself more certainty, as well as a guarantee of making it up in time to actually beat and enjoy the sunrise. You can find them offered in San Juan and every other town, but this sunrise hike tour is very highly-rated if you wish to book in advance.

We’ve gone into more detail on the long-running disputes about land and access – as well as opportunistic muggings – in 23 Things To Know Before You Visit Lake Atitlan

We’ll also be writing a travel journal on our three-day walk from Xela to Lake Atitlan but, if you’d like to know more, we did it with the fantastic non-profit Quetzaltrekkers. They do great work, and also offer a number of other volcano hikes and multi-day treks in Guatemala.

*if the situation ever does improve, please do let us know in the comments or via e-mail.

Chocolate, Cacao & Honey Tastings

Licor Marron Chocolate Factory offers a free 10-minute tour with a small amount of samples that you can just show up for. It features as a stop on most San Juan day trip plans, but unfortunately on our visit it was too packed to enjoy or get a lot out of the experience.

So, if you want to go a little deeper, consider booking one of their paid options:

– Cacao Tour | Lasts for 25-minutes, with tastings of truffles, ancestral chocolate, and cacao tea. 35Q per person

– Workshops | The one-hour workshop (100Q per person) goes into more detail on the history of cacao and chocolate, and includes an proper, delicious hot chocolate. There’s also a three-hour version (300Q pp) which involves many more tastings and making different products, including your own bar of chocolate.

Find Licor Marron here on Google Maps, and contact them via their Facebook page to reserve.

A little further down the 6ta Calle is the unassuming Artesanal Chocolate Diego. A simple shop with free samples and a a few displays on the importance of cacao and chocolate in Mayan culture, their cigar-shaped chocolates wrapped in colourful paper tissue are sold in little tiendas all along the shores of Atitlan (sometimes for less than this shop). The soft and crumbly chocolate doesn’t last terribly well, and its texture is quite distinct, so we don’t recommend saving it for home. The lady who worked there was particularly friendly, and happy to answer several of our questions about the processes, so it’s a worthwhile stop-off as you wander San Juan’s backstreets.

Coffee Shops & Finca Tours

Guatemala grows excellent coffee and, you’ve already read our Quetzaltenango and Antigua travel guides, you’ll know just how much we love drinking it all the cool new cafes.

San Juan has several coffee shops, all of which are a bit more traditional in set-up and ambience, but they pride themselves from using beans grown and harvest in and around San Juan – and you’ll struggle to find a cup that’s as local this!

There are several cafes on both sides of La Calle de las Sombrillas, the tourist-focussed street you’ll walk up straight from the dock, and La Voz is our pick for morning or afternoon arrivals. Everything is made with organic coffee from the ‘La Voz’ cooperative, an association of several families of producers near the town, and it was wonderful. Find it here on Google Maps.

Unfortunately, we didn’t know about La Voz before we arrived, which meant we also didn’t know about the finca tour they offer. We simply didn’t have the time to squeeze it in after our coffees, but the reviews we’ve read from other travellers are effusive, so you can learn from our mistake.

It’s short and sweet, with a 1.3km walk through their plots, toasting, and bottling area, but offers a more intimate experience in comparison to a number of coffee tours in Guatemala. There’s also a tasting at the end. It’s 175Q per person, lasts 60-90 minutes, and the best way to reserve it is sending them a message via Whatsapp a few days beforehand: +50 269 566 582

If you do the tour, let us know your experience in the comments!

By the dock, Café San Juan is a pick for good coffee and a nice space, but not necessarily one to choose for the food.

Tip // If you wish to complete your tasting of all the local produce in San Juan, then you need to include a stop at one of two neighbouring honey farms that specialise in producing with tiny native stingless bees (who knew!?). The first is Xunah Kaab, a third-generation family business of apiarists who provide an informal tour as well as samples at their shop, which has lots of surprising honey-infused products for all manner of ailments. The other option, which we didn’t pop by, is Mundo de Abejas Mayas – a co-operative of 17 families that offers more formal 25Q 10-minute tour and tasting.

Lake Atitlan Day Trips

Wherever you base yourself along the shoreline, you need to get out and cross the lake to visit one or two of the other towns or beauty spots.

The boat transport system makes it straightforward to do independently and, from San Juan you’re easily able to go swimming in San Marcos, take a cooking class in nearby San Pedro, or search for Maximón in Santiago.

For more inspiration and ideas, make sure to check out our guide on The Best Things To Do in Lake Atitlan (published soon)

By the the way, as San Juan is so close to San Pedro, it’s a good idea to pair the two together – and with the tuk-tuks running all the time, heading over to San Pedro for drinks or dinner is a popular.

Where To Stay in San Juan Laguna

We think that San Juan would be a fantastic base for a certain type of traveller.

If you’re less concerned about traveller-focussed nightlife and restaurants, and the alternative health crowd of San Marcos and Tzunnnnn just doesn’t sit right, then San Juan is a natural choice.

Whilst there are other Lake Atitlan towns that are far less touristic and visited, they lack some of the amenities and elements many of you will likely want for your time by the lake – whereas San Juan offers a good balance of accommodations.

You’re also only ever a quick tuk-tuk ride from the social scene of San Pedro!

We’ve done the hard work for you, and shared our pick of the best places to stay in San Juan for every budget and travel style.

Hostels

4 Elementos Hostel | This small hostel has just three rooms (two dorms and a private) and is located along a quiet street just a short walk from the centre of San Juan. Ideally suited to those seeking laidback accommodation.

Eco-Hostel Mayachik | Surrounded by lush gardens with volcano views, this eco-conscious haven runs on solar power, features composting toilets, and serves vegetarian meals straight from its organic garden. They offer rustic private cabins or dorms made with natural materials, plus there’s a yoga platform, a herbal sauna, and a guest kitchen.

Chirris Hostel | One of the most popular hostels in the village, this local spot is super small and located in the middle of San Juan. The rooms (three doubles and one dorm) are very minimalist, but modern and clean, and the shared kitchen is well-equipped and has free drinking water. There’s also a really pleasant communal terrace area.

Guesthouses

Eco Hotel Uxlabil Atitlan | Located halfway between San Pedro and San Juan, so perhaps a little too isolated for some travellers, this peaceful accommodation overlooking the water is perenially popular. The rooms are simple but comfortable, and it also has lush gardens, an on-site restaurant, and free kayaks.

Posada Woochooch | This local family-run guesthouse is well-located in the centre of San Juan and features simple rooms around a lovely little garden. Previous guests speak of a wonderful homely vibe, and whilst it doesn’t technically have a guest kitchen, you can use theirs if you ask in advance.

Mundo Abu San Juan La laguna | Offering up European holiday park vibes (but with a bit of Guatemalan flare thrown in), this lakefront property isn’t really our cup of tea, but has so many really excellent reviews that it deserves to be on the list.

Airbnbs

Sacred Heart | This charming one-bed property is almost certainly the nicest Airbnb in San Juan, with beautiful and colourful decor (including the odd hand-mainted mural), well-maintained interiors and modern facilities. There’s a small terrace and garden, and private lake access.

San Juan Lake View | This two-bedroom apartment looks really lovely, and offers plenty of space to a couple or small family. Simply decorated, the kitchen is especially good with views out over the lake (and windows that let in loads of light), plus a patio area to eat or just enjoy the views. Guests speak very highly about the hosts who will go out of their way to help.

This apartment is actually part of a highly-rated guesthouse – you can find all listings here.

Lakeview Cabin | This rather rustic purpose-built log cabin won’t suit everyone, but if you’re wanting to disconnect into nature (but remain a short walk to civilisation) it could be ideal – especially with the lake access. Do be aware that its outside kitchen means this probably isn’t suitable for the rainy season.

Other cabins to take a look at in San Juan are this one and this one, but if it’s the isolation that you’re seeking, be sure to take a look at the super popular Cabin Chi-Yalocated halfway to San Pedro.

Casa Argentina | Owned by a local family that run the shop below, this collection of colourful rooms with a shared kitchen and lake-view terrace are simple but offer everything you’d need for a few days (although lots of guests have stayed weeks). It’s also incredibly good value. Find all listings here.

If you need more space, consider this peaceful five-bedroom lakefront house.

Our Lake Atitlan Travel Series

13 Wonderful Things to Do in Lake Atitlan

Our Lake Atitlan Travel Guide

Where to Stay in Lake Atitlan

A Short Guide to San Pedro La Laguna

A Short Guide to Santiago

A Short Guide to Santa Cruz

A Short Guide to San Marcos

A Short Guide to Santa Catalina Palopo

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