The Guatemala Volcano Trip

🇬🇹 The 7 day volcano run

  • 🥾The MisogiEight hours up an active volcano.
  • 🌋Sleep on a VolcanoBasecamp above the clouds.
  • 🔥Fuego EruptingLive lava show, all night.
  • 🌅Summit at Dawn3,976m, then breakfast.
  • 🛶Lake Atitlan DaysBoats, cliff jumps, swims.
  • 🏛Antigua NightsRooftops and cobblestones.

⚡ The Quick Specs

7 days, 6 nightsAntigua and Atitlan
18 travellers maxAges 25 to 45ish
Come soloYou won't leave solo
Photos and videoShot all week by pros

🌋 The highlight reel

Real moments from the volcano and the lake, no stock photos.

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SurfYogaBeer Guatemala volcano trip

#AntiguaArch

SurfYogaBeer Guatemala volcano trip

#FuegoSaidHello

SurfYogaBeer Guatemala volcano trip

#BasecampAboveClouds

SurfYogaBeer Guatemala volcano trip

#LavaAllNight

SurfYogaBeer Guatemala volcano trip

#ThreeVolcanoView

SurfYogaBeer Guatemala volcano trip

#SendItIntoAtitlan

SurfYogaBeer Guatemala volcano trip

#BoatDayEveryDay

SurfYogaBeer Guatemala volcano trip

#RecoveryPoolside

📆 Upcoming dates

One departure, one crew. Twenty percent down holds your spot.

Guat A Feeling

Volcano hikes, boat days on the lake and old colonial towns

9 - 15 February 2027
6 nights
Guatemala
From $2,950 / person
Pay later available
Info

Top 3 iconic moments

Three things you will do on this trip that you will still be talking about years later.

01Hiking above the clouds to basecamp on AcatenangoThe Misogi

Eight hours up Acatenango carrying your own kit. It is the hardest thing on any SYB trip and the whole reason this one exists.

02Fuego erupting at night seen from the Acatenango ridgeLava from your tent door

Fuego goes off every twenty minutes all night. You watch it from the ridge with a beer.

03Cliff jumping into Lake Atitlan in GuatemalaCliff jumps into Atitlan

Boat out, climb up, argue about who goes first, all of you go in anyway.

📅 The day by day

Seven days. Six of them optional, one of them the whole point.

The Santa Catalina arch in Antigua Guatemala
Day 1Land in Guatemala City

Transfer to Antigua, rooftop drinks, welcome dinner.

The full day

Land at GUA, our shuttle brings you 90 minutes up to Antigua. Check in at Socialtel Antigua, rooftop drinks with the crew, then the welcome dinner where strangers stop being strangers.

Fuego erupting in daylight seen from Antigua
Day 2Antigua, and the briefing

Workout, cobblestones, coffee farm, then we talk about tomorrow.

The full day

Easy morning workout, wander the cobblestones, coffee farm in the afternoon. Then the Misogi briefing: what you carry, what you wear, what the eight hours actually feel like. Gear check, early night.

Fuego erupting at night seen from the Acatenango ridge
Day 3The Misogi starts

Five hours up to basecamp at 3,600m. Fuego goes off all night.

The full day

You start after breakfast and you climb. Five hours, about 1,500m of gain, through farmland then cloud forest then volcanic sand. Basecamp sits at 3,600m facing Fuego. Dinner, a beer, and an eruption every twenty minutes until you fall asleep.

Above the clouds at dawn on the Acatenango summit
Day 4The summit, then the lake

Up in the dark to 3,976m, down by lunch, on the lake by dinner.

The full day

Head torches on at four. The last push to 3,976m takes about ninety minutes and it is the hardest part of the whole trip. You get there for first light with three volcanoes on the horizon. Down by lunch, then straight to Lake Atitlan.

Cliff jumping into Lake Atitlan in Guatemala
Day 5Lake day

Legs up, or boat out. Both are correct.

The full day

Nothing is compulsory today and most of you will not want it to be. Swim, kayak, boat out to the cliffs and jump, or lie by the water and do absolutely nothing.

Every day is optional. Do all of it, or sleep in and meet us at lunch.

Sunrise over Lake Atitlan in Guatemala
Day 6Indian Nose and the villages

Short hike, huge payoff, then San Juan and San Marcos.

The full day

Up early for Indian Nose, thirty minutes of climbing for a sunrise over the whole lake. Then San Juan and San Marcos for textiles and coffee, back for the farewell dinner.

Boats moored on Lake Atitlan
Day 7Head home

Transfer back to Guatemala City and out.

The full day

Transfer back to Guatemala City and out. It is Presidents Day, so you land home on a holiday and the whole trip only costs you four vacation days. Or stay on, plenty of people do.

✅ What's Included

  • +6 nights accommodation, Antigua and Lake Atitlan
  • +Acatenango overnight trek with guides, tents and gear
  • +All ground transport once you land
  • +Daily workouts and movement sessions
  • +Welcome dinner and farewell dinner
  • +Breakfast every morning
  • +Boat days and village transfers on the lake
  • +Indian Nose sunrise hike
  • +Photographer and videographer all week
  • +SYB leaders with you the whole trip

❌ Not Included

  • Flights in and out of Guatemala City
  • Travel insurance, which we require
  • Most lunches and some dinners
  • Drinks outside the group meals
  • Porters on the volcano if you want one
  • Tips for the local guides

FAQs

Because this is the first time SurfYogaBeer has run Guatemala, and we built the whole trip around one hard thing. Most operators walk you up Pacaya for an hour and call it a volcano. We do the Misogi: eight hours of climbing on Acatenango, a night at 3,600m with Fuego erupting in front of you, and the summit at 3,976m at first light. Then three nights on Lake Atitlan to feel smug about it. One departure, one crew, everything locked in with our partners.

Yes, and most people do.

Because you move as one crew the whole way, from Antigua up the volcano and on to the lake, everything happens naturally. You see the same people at breakfast, on the trail, on the boat and out at night. It does not take long before it feels like a group.

People who want a mix of energy and adventure.

Typically:

  • Late 20s to 40s (sometimes even 50s)
  • Active and social
  • Up for both workouts and nights out


It’s one of the more high-energy SYB trips, but still very approachable.

Yes, and one part of it is genuinely hard.

You will be:

  • Climbing Acatenango over two days, about eight hours of moving in total
  • Sleeping at 3,600m and summiting at 3,976m before sunrise
  • Up early again for the Indian Nose sunrise
  • Kayaking, swimming and cliff jumping on Lake Atitlan

The lake days are as easy or as hard as you want them. The volcano is not.

High energy, social, and a little wild in the best way.

Days are full of movement and adventure. Nights turn into dinners, drinks, and themed events.

It’s one of the most social trips we run, but still grounded in workouts and shared experiences.

Antigua, Acatenango and Lake Atitlan. Two nights in Antigua to get your legs under you and get briefed, one night on the volcano, then three nights on the lake with boat days, the villages and the Indian Nose sunrise.

A Misogi is one thing so hard you are not sure you can finish it. You do it once, it hurts, and it quietly resets what you think you are capable of. Ours is Acatenango.

Eight hours of climbing, split by a night on the mountain. Five hours up to basecamp on the first day with about 1,500m of gain, then ninety minutes in the dark to the summit at 3,976m where the air is thin. It is the hardest thing we put on any SYB trip.

You need to be mildly fit, not an athlete. If you can walk uphill for a few hours and you put in a bit of training beforehand, you will finish it. The group moves at a group pace with plenty of stops, and porters are there if you would rather someone else carried your pack.

Two options, and neither of them is a problem.

There are drivers who can take you most of the way up the mountain, so you still get the night at basecamp and the sunrise with only a fraction of the climb. Tell us before the day and we will arrange it. Or skip the volcano entirely, stay in your bed in Antigua, and rejoin the crew when we transfer to the lake.

Nobody gets left behind and nobody gets guilt-tripped. But the Misogi is the whole reason this trip exists, so we would rather you tried.

Shared puts you in a twin room with one other person from the trip: two single beds and a private bathroom, at both Socialtel Antigua and Socialtel Atitlan. Come solo and we match you up. Private is your own queen room and your own door for the whole trip. Same everything else.

February is the heart of the dry season, which is why we picked it. Warm sunny days at the lake, mid seventies to low eighties, and the clearest skies of the year over the volcanoes. Cold on the volcano overnight, close to or below freezing at the top, so bring layers. We send a full packing list once you book.

Eli Elmore, one of our senior leaders. He has done Acatenango more times than he can count and he is also one of our best shooters, so the photos come home with you.

Still on the fence?

Grab thirty minutes with Danielle. She has answered every version of every question about this trip, and she will tell you straight if it is not the right one for you.

No pressure, no sales script. Just a real person who has been on the trip.

New around here?

Get first access to new trips and dates, plus the occasional bit of nonsense from the crew. One email at a time, and you can leave whenever you want.