When you are in Antigua, you have to do the Acatenango Volcano hike! I’ve seen everyone do the hike no matter what their hiking levels are. Antigua is located near three main volcanoes, Acatenango, Fuego, and Agua. Most travelers hike the Acatenango volcano to see Fuego erupting now and then and to reach the summit to see the sunrise over Agua and Fuego.
If you are an avid hiker, you will love hiking Acatenango! The hike is strenuous but it is definitely worth hiking 4,000m above sea level to see Fuego erupting. Make sure to rent a walking stick to hike at the entrance of the Acatenango Volcano trail so your knees are happy. :)
Choosing the Hiking Company
Most people, if not all, hike with a tour company. I’ve not seen anyone hike on their own. Going with a hiking company ensures roundtrip transportation from Acatenango, but also secures your place to sleep at night as most companies have basecamp for people to stay overnight.
I was originally booked to hike with OX Expeditions but ended up going with Soy Tours due to last-minute schedule changes. Unfortunately, I couldn’t book with OX as they were full on the day I planned to hike. Soy Tours has good reviews too, so I thought it would work out okay. I paid Q500 including the park entrance fee (a mandatory fee for hiking Acatenango) and renting out gear (hat, rain jacket, extra pants). Food was also included and vegan option was available. I packed extra food to be on the safe side.
Itinerary:
Day 1.
7:45am Hostel pickup (from downtown Antigua)
9 am Arrived at Soy Tours to pick up gear
9:45am Started Hiking
12:30pm Lunch break
4:10pm Arrived at the basecamp
4:45pm People who would like to hike Fuego left basecamp
7:30pm Dinner for people who stayed in the basecamp
9pm Time for bed
10pm People who went to hike Fuego came back and had dinner at this time
Day 2.
4 am Wake up
4:20 am Hike to the summit to see the sunrise
5:30 am got to the summit (sunrise was at 5:45 am)
6 am hiked back down to basecamp
6:45 am packed our stuff at the basecamp ready to head back to Antigua
7 am breakfast
7:30 am started hiking down to Antigua
10:30 am Arrived at Soy Tours to return gear
12:30 pm Hostel dropoff
What I liked about Soy Tours vs. What could have improved
Overall, I enjoyed hiking Soy Tours and would recommend going with them.
The Positives
- Price: The tour was pretty cheap. Q500 for the entrance fee, gear rental, and food included? I think it is a good deal. I brought my hiking bag, but if you don’t have one, you can pay extra and rent one out.
- Luggage Storage: They provide luggage storage space for those who are coming straight from the airport or those who have checked out from the hostel and moving to another one.
- Meals: They provided three meals. Lunch and dinner for the first day and breakfast for the second day. I personally like to pack my own food, so being provided with three meals worked perfect. Some tour companies provide breakfast for the first day too, but I think three meals worked for me.
Things that could have been improved
- Tight Schedule: the itinerary was a bit hectic. We only had 30 minutes of rest to decide if we wanted to do a Fuego hike. Considering how strenuous the hike was, I wish we had more time to take a break between the Acatenango hike and the Fuego hike. I have a knee injury so I don’t like hiking for too long on a single day so I skipped Fuego to do the morning hike the next day. We had a total of 39 people in our group and had 6 guides. It was a big group, which I didn’t expect.
- It felt like we were rushed, and I had a feeling that we had to stay on top of the schedule ALL the time. A bit stressful.
- Lunch was at 12:30 pm and dinner was at 7:30 pm. I brought some snacks with me so I ate in between, but dinner was too late for me. A lot of people were hungry before 7:30.
Again, I would recommend Soy Tours. They are great. If you are staying in Antigua for a short amount of time, defintely do the overnight hike. I heard good things about V-hiking, OX expeditions, Tropicana, Barco Expeditions, Wicho & Charlie’s, etc too.
My personal thought: If you are in Antigua for a short time, hike with OX Expeditions for the overnight Acatenango hike. I volunteered here, and they are very structured. They provide pre-trip meetings so you can meet the guide and connect with other hikers in advance, and also you get to know what to expect for the hike.
When I got super close to the basecamp!!
If you are staying in Antigua long enough, I would recommend a 3-day hike in Acatenango so that you are not rushed to hike up Acatenango and hike Fuego same day. I wish I had known about the tour with Old Town Outfitters, where they offer a multi-day hike.
**By the way, this post is not sponsored. This is written based on my personal experience :)
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