Pacaya is one of three currently active volcanos in Guatemala. While hiking Pacaya volcano hike considered to be safe, always enquire about recent eruptions and quality of the air in the area prior to your hike.
How to get to Pacaya volcano.
You have several options here: rent a car(preferably 4-wheel-drive) and drive to the volcano yourself, take an organized tour or hire a private driver.
I followed friend’s recommendation and arranged for a private driver(I will be happy to share the contact) to pick me up from Guatemala City Airport and took me to Antigua where I spent two nights. The same driver took me to Pacayo volcano and the Thermal Springs.
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Tips for visiting Pacaya Volcano.
Pacaya Volcano location
Pacaya Volcano is about one hour drive from Antigua, the drive is not particularly interesting. Once get out of Antigua, we were on highway majority of the time going through several industrial and agricultural areas. The last part of the trip right before the park entrance was unpaved.
Parking.
There is a small enclosed parking area near the ticket office, the area gets full fast, so if you are driving rental car there, try to get to the parking lot early (preferably before 7 am).
Hiring a guide.
You cannot visit the volcano without a guide. One guide required for the group. So, if you are travelling alone you can either try to meet people by the gate and ask to join them to share the cost of a guide or just hire a guide for yourself. Majority of the guides are Spanish speaking (of course), but the path is very well maintained, and all the signs have English translation. So, if your guide does not speak English, you will still be able to get some information about volcano from the signs.
Tickets.
Tickets sold in the Ticket office; small building located near the parking lot.
Ticket cost 50Q (Quetzales) per person and a guide is 200Q (about 25$). You can also hike a horse that costs 100Q each way.
Pacaya volcano hike.
The hike is about 3 miles and has about 1500ft elevation gain, relatively easy hike with some slippery section due to rain. It took about an hour to hike up and another hour or little less back. The first mile or so of the hike you will walk through the rainforest, with couple of viewing area, but majority of the hike have no views.
Later the view opens up. Depending on the clouds you might see the smoke and even lava when you get closer. The sky was a little cloudy behind the volcano and the smoke was not visible. The moment we got to the end of the trail, there was a tiny opening between the cloud and I was able to take couple of clear pictures. I walked on the lava field, took couple more pictures and headed back down to the parking lot. I really enjoyed the hike .
