Start of the hike to Atatenango Volcano sommit | Tourist Attraction

The hike can easily be done without guides. It is a long and ver steep hike to the base camp. They say 3 to 5 hrs but I would expect rather longer. Of course depending on your fitness level.

It took us almost 3 hours to go back down and we hike quite a lot.

The trail itself is for the most part in good condition, just some short rocky sections.

Report Check-In

My girlfriend and I hiked this with our dog without a guide. We brought all camping gear up. $50/pp at the entrance. You have to fill out a form. Technically, it’s not allowed without a guide. But we told them we were solo, spoke with a friend (who’s a guide), have a map, hike often, and have a spot reserved up top to set up a tent. They didn’t seem to mind.

Towards the top, we crossed municípios and they charge $50/pp again, but we were close enough to another group that we weren’t stopped.

MapsMe has great trails for this hike. There are loads of people. You can’t get lost. We took the western route for the basecamps less frequented. Someone on here (and online) said there isn’t a good view. It’s nonsense. The view was spectacular. Can’t go wrong with either “side” for the basecamps.

I highly recommend Wicho and Charlie’s if you want a guided tour. We ended up hanging out with their group a bit and they had amazing food, accommodations, and small group size with active younger people. Plus a campfire!

Report Check-In

Beautiful hike. No problem do it on your own. Everyone was telling us it is forbidden but then you just show up at the gate, nobody asks anything. There is even a registration form at the gate where you can choose a solo option - so it must be officially OK. We payed 50q pp for entrance, another 50q pp for camping. Amazing views!

Report Check-In

Awesome hike totally doable officially without a guide ! Park your car at the Amigo Parqueo and go up. The entrance is Q50 per person. We didn’t have to pay for camping at night.
We started the hike around 12:30 and arrived at the campground at 16:30. After the entrance, we took the trail on the right, that goes higher on the Acatenango with supposely less people. We did not go to El fuego (if you want to go better stay on the left trail), and we saw it very well from our campsite !
We left the campsite to the summit of Acatenango at 4:50am and arrived 45min later. Don’t leave to early, it’s freezing cold at the top !! We packed everything with us going up because we went down from another trail but I think you could leave your tent if you feel like it.
I was happy to have my sleeping bag at the summit. Then it took us around 3h to go down but we took a longer route that the usual

Report Check-In

Very nice hike. Totally doable without a guide, it's just a hiking trail always very obvious. The way up to El Fuego is also totally doable without a guide. Watch out for the ASOAVA comments, the agency is on iOverlander too.

Report Check-In

We did the overnight hike without a guide and it was completely doable if you are reasonably fit and ok with carrying tent etc. yourself. Trails are very obvious and Maps.Me is accurate. What we wish we would have known:
There are 2 main options: 1.: You follow the green route and stick to the left all the time and end up around the "Amazing informal campsite" iOverlander spot. Most tour companies take this route and have their camp around there somewhere. 2. option: You take the red route (stick to the right all the time) and end up around the "View on the Fuego" iOverlander spot. Info on which route is better was conflicting online, some say you can't see Fuego from the red route which is nonsense, you see it from both.
If you don't want to continue to ascend Fuego, I would take the red route, as its beautiful and there are almost no people around (we just ran into 2). Also you end up higher, making the ascent to Acatenango easier in the morning. If you want go keep the option open to continue to El Fuego, I would take the green route because the starting point for the hike is just there and it will save you lots of time and effort compared to the red route. But I would pay a tour guide to tag along from the campsite to El Fuego, as that hike is quite dangerous if you're not an expert in volcanic activity. We were surprised by how fit we still were arriving on the campsite and therefore bummed that we didn't take the green route allowing us to continue further to El Fuego.. you can get from the green route to the red but then you have to descend what you've ascended already and later for the sunrise ascend it again. Long story short: Stick to the right unless you want to hike El Fuego too.

Report Check-In

It is definetly possible to hike up to Acatenango and the viewpoint of Fuego without a guide and in one day if you start in the morning. As far as I know you would need a previous arrangement in order to camp at the top. But maybe it is possible without.....
If you need/want a guide to hike up to Acatenango volcano you should enquire at Hospedaje Maya in the village of San Jose Calderas, rather than choosing a rip off tour company! Jonas is the chief of the local guides and explained everything to me about how BAD the tour operators treat them!
He would make a very fair price and you would even support the local community with your payment!

Report Check-In

Nous avons choisi ASOAVA que l’on joint par WhatsApp au +50255004707.
Nous avons passé 2 journées inoubliables. Très bonne organisation, merci à Werner et Fernando qui sont très professionnels et ont été très attentifs et bienveillants avec chacun d’entre nous, sans tomber dans l’angélisme. La montée fut annoncée très dure et elle le fut. Mais nous avons fait des pauses aux bons moments. Le froid, une fois le jour tombé, est glacial. Il faut bien le prendre en compte pour faire votre sac. Pas besoin de brosse à dents ni de savon, ni de serviette, ni de brosse à cheveux ( vous ne quitterez pas votre bonnet ou bandeau), il n’y qu’un WC naturel. Pour la nuit prévoir de bonnes chaussettes supplémentaires et quelque chose de chaud pour les jambes, dans la tente il y a un vrai matelas confortable et des duvets adaptés mais il faisait 5 degrés donc très très froid, on dort tout habillé. Prévoir également de la place dans son sac à dos pour 2 bouteilles d’eau d’un litre et le sac avec le pique nique ( délicieux) + 2 bananes et une pomme. Emmenez du chocolat ou des fruits secs.
Je répète il fait glacial en haut, pour monter nous avions le soleil donc short et tee-shirts, mais une fois en haut mettre les épaisseurs teeshirt manches longues mérinos, sweat fin et moins fin ou pull et legging. Si vous n’avez pas de doudoune, ils vous en prêtent ainsi que bonnet et gants. Ils louent des bâtons (5Q un gros bâton en bois) indispensable si vous n’avez pas les vôtres. Autre indispensable la lampe frontale pour la marche du matin à 4h et pour le repas autour du feu le soir (vérifiez les piles ) il n’y a pas d’éclairage, sauf celui d’El Fuego !
Les capes de pluie sont également à emporter car s’il pleut ( ce qui n’a pas été notre cas ) je n’imagine même pas être trempé ainsi que le sac à dos avec le froid glacial.
Prenez des photos et exercez-vous avec votre appareil avant de partir pour être prêt au moment où il crache de nuit.
Avec tout cela vous passerez des moments magiques à admirer El Fuego et vous serez fier(e) d’être monté(e) à 3976 mètres.

Report Check-In

We are the kind of persons who prefer to go guideless by ourselves. But in this case we are very happy that we chose to go with a guide from ASOAVA. You don't need to carry camp equipment, wander arround base camp to find a campspot and look for wood to start fire and cook. Apart of this there are a few intersections where the correct path is not 100% clear and you could end up on the peak instead of base camp.

Most commonly the hike up is as follows:

a) Start at 08:00 - 10:00 hike 4-5 hours to base camp (incl. lunch break) from aprox. 2300m to 3600m
b)Rest at base camp and see vulcano burp and smoke (for the last couple years about 20 times per hour, bigger more impressive erruptions happen usualy 4 times per night)
c) Option to hike closer to Vulcan de fuego (3 hours return from 3600m down to 3300m and then back up to 3600) if vulcan activity and climate conditions permit. Start normally at 16:00 to arrive at sunset and see lava sprout into the air and run down the vulcano. Hike back to base camp in the dark.
d) Dinner at base camp while watching vulcano
e) Next morning at 04:00 hike for 1,5 hours to Acetenango peak at 3976m to see sunrise and look down on El Fuego
f) When back at base camp breakfast and at about 08:00 hike down for 2-2.5 hours

As groups are private or very small with ASOAVA the itineary can be adapted to your needs and wishes. Their guide are hard working and attentive. After living 6 years in Latinamerica and travelling another 1 year we do know that booking at an agency many do make promises only to sell you a tour and then put you together with others which booked at different agencies to reach a bigger group size. Apart of being in a group of people with very different physical conditions you will figure out that everybody paid very different prices and some promises don't turn out as sold to you and the poor hardworking guide needs to take all the grunt of the dissapointed clients earning a fraction of what you paid.
There are good agencies out there too but make sure to only book with recomendations from other travellers you meet.
My recomendation is ASOAVA as we did appreciate the attentiveness and approach to service and in no moment rushing us. ASOAVA works just with guides from Catalino's family and the money you pay goes to them and not an agency which has to pay rent and employees selling you a tour. This makes you being in a smaller group or by yourself and you are not paying extra to pay the rent of the agency, salary to the seller and earnings to the agency owner.

ASOAVA 325Q incl. 3 meals and NP entry
Others often more then twice as much incl. 3 meals and a guide with a nicer branded t-shirt/jacket (for example OX adventure at 710Q without NP entry at 50Q in much bigger groups)

We can confirm stories of people going arounnd base camp and steal stuff out of your tent at 4am just minutes after leaving to the peak. Two days ago there was even a robbery with machete taking stuff from people who were by themselves inside the tent and not beefy enough. Take your stuff with you or make sure that one guide stays at the camp. Your guide recognises the culprits and this makes the thieves refrain from stupid ideas.

Camping at Catalino's is dusty when windy. Anyhow it was a very nice family experience and fun to play with the kids and share dinner. He has an electric shower which was broken when we were there.
After the hike his son and our guide went with us to a simple thermal bath 35min from their house to take a hot bucket shower and relax our muscles. Entry 10Q
Mostly paved but steep downhill and narrow.

Report Check-In

The view at the end is definitely worth the hike and the pain after 😁
We startet at 23:30 and arrived at 5.30, short before sunrise, but we were slow, and wished we had some more time in darkness at the top to see the lava.
We did the tour without a guide, which is in our opinion not necessary, because on maps.me you have all the tracks, which you can’t really loose. Make sure you are prepared for the cold and wind on the summit, we had -6°C on the top. Also the high altitude close to 4000m is not to underestimate.

Report Check-In

If you are planning to do the Acatenango hike (and you should!) we can highly recommend ASOAVA as well.
They are a small association of highly qualified guides who have been hiking the volcano for years, many of them since they were children!
They are trained as rescuers as well and know lots about the natural environment of the area.
You can get in touch with them via WhatsApp (‭+50255004707‬) and talk to Catalino.
You can either stay at Catalino’s house (lovely and very welcoming family) either in one of their rooms or parked at their entrance for a true Guatemalan experience; or, if you are parked in the Policia Turistica of Antigua they can also pick you up there.
They have a established campground on top with quality tents and sleeping bags, they offer really good and yummy food for the hike and they will have patience and help you if you are a bit slow going up.
All in all, an amazing experience which is definitely one of the highlights of this trip! 100% recommended!

Report Check-In

We make a trip with this association , a very good trek with very good guide . Past two days ,start early , at 6:30 am before a lot of agency from Antigua. We payed for 2 adults and 2 childrens 1350 quetzals . included a horse for my two childrens 4&6 years old . Included good food ,guide,sleeping bag ,and tent on the base camp . Good position of the base camp to see the Fuego during the day and the night . When you arrive at the position of the ioverlander spot , ask Catalino Soy at neightbourg . You continue the small hall during 50 meters, the green door on the right .
It's an familial association with a nice hospitality . Here you paid directly guides and they refill a part of money in the community of San Jose Calderas.
Here With the association ASOAVA ( asociation amigos del volcan Acatenango ) , it's the half price of Antigua agency and you stay in a small group (just a guide for us+ a guide for the mule.
We travel since one years around Americas and it was one the best thing we see and one of the best meeting with the family of Catalino . Warner ,his son ,was our guide , and Gorje was our mule guide ...
you can ask information at Catalino on Whatsapp at +50255004707 or on the facebook page @asoava

Report Check-In

It's the start of the hike to this volcan. We take a guide at the association Amigos del volcanos . We hike 2 days , for hours to the base camp .

Report Check-In