The Acatenango Day Trip is the best choice for those travelers looking for some great trekking and an adventure filled day hike; it’s perfect if you are short on time. This tour leaves our office in Antigua, at 5am and you will be back in Antigua by sunset.
| DEPARTURE/RETURN LOCATION | OX Expeditions office | ||||||
| DEPARTURE TIME | 5:00 AM | ||||||
| INCLUDED |
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| NOT INCLUDED |
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| WEAR | Hiking clothes (a synthetic base layer, fleece, rain jacket and quick drying leggings or shorts), a good pair of trainers or hiking boots, hat and sunscreen. |
Acatenango Volcano Day Hike
The Acatenango Volcano has a reputation for being a tough but beautiful hike with epic views. The special characteristic of this tour is the fact you reach an elevation of 13,044 feet (3976 meters) at the summit and overlook the angry volcanic neighbor below, Volcan Fuego. So if you love a good day out hiking and are short on time (unable to book the overnight tour) this tour is perfect. This adventure tour begins at a height of 2400 meters, ascending through several zones; farmland, cloud forest, high alpine and volcanic. Overall there is an elevation gain of over 1500 meters.
TRIP HIGHLIGHTS:
Undoubtedly having lunch on the summit of Acatenango. If you’re lucky Volcan Fuego will put on a show; coughing up huge plumes of smoke and shooting red hot rocks hundreds of feet in the air. All in a days work with Volcan Acatenango’s 5 to 5 tour.
ACATENANGO VOLCANO DAY HIKE RECOMMENDATIONS:
We recommend you do the Acatenango Day Trip if you are short on time. It is a long day, we leave early to beat the rain and give you the best chance to see Fuego before the clouds move in. But if you have time, definitely camp overnight with us on our Acatenango Overnight Hike. This way you get a chance to see an amazing sunset and sunrise, not to mention possibly some lava fireworks from Volcan Fuego below.
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Acatenango Volcano Day Hike: Difficulty
This is one of the more challenging hikes we offer. It is a long day hike with a fairly large elevation gain (over 1500m) so we recommend you have acclimatized properly for this tour; we suggest being in Antigua, Guatemala or a similar elevation for at least 48 hours prior to the trip. It is more difficult than our Acatenango Overnight Hike in that you hike up and down in one day, however you only take light day packs and we also take a different route up the volcano which makes for a shorter and slightly easier ascent.
Acatenango Volcano: Temperature
The weather and temperature on Volcan Acatenango varies greatly. On the Acatenango Day Trip you are likely to experience temperatures ranging from 5 – 25 degrees Celsius (41-77F). Normally on the way up you will feel hot;partly due to the temperature and partly due to the fact that you will working up a sweat! Please bring sunscreen and a hat. At the summit it will be cold and you will be grateful for a warm layer. We always recommend a 3 layer system as the weather can turn bad very quickly so you need to be prepared.
Acatenango last eruption?
The Acatenango volcano has not erupted since circa. 1925 but it’s noisy neighbour Volcan Fuego is constantly erupting with the last major eruption being on June 4th 2018 tragically killing hundreds of people in some of the villages on the volcano’s lower slopes.
Acatenango weather forecast
The weather here is very unpredictable and the forecast in the rainy season (April – October) is nearly always thunderstorms and is often wrong. Each of the volcanoes has its own micro-climate and it is not uncommon for in to be raining in Antigua and not on Acatenango or vice-versa! For this reason we cancel our Acatenango Volcano Tour if there is a tropical storm or severe weather forecast warning.
Acatenango deaths
On January 8th 2017 6 people tragically died of hypothermia on the Acatenango Volcano. It was reportedly due to mix of factors: the weather on Acatenango changed dramatically for the worst and the hikers we said to have been ill prepared (lacking the correct equipment and knowledge to deal with the inclement weather). It was a terrible accident made all the worse as it could have been prevented. This is why we always stress the importance of doing the trek with a reputable tour company.
5 AM – 5.15 AM: Meet at OX and finish packing
5.15 AM – 6.15 AM: Transport from Antigua to the volcano
6:30 AM – 11/12 PM: Hiking time
Not every group and not everyday is the same, our itinerary is based on an average timing of our hikes, but everything will depend on the size of the group, level of fitness, and weather. During the hike you will pass through four different zones; farmland, cloud forest, alpine tree forest, and volcanic.
12:30 PM – 1:00 PM: Lunch with a view
1:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Hike back down
4.00 PM – 5.00 PM: Transport back to Antigua
