Randonnée Pacaya depuis Antigua, une aventure avec des guimauves rôties

We are a family of 13 with a 9 and 12 yr old! 6 older people end up riding a horse but the rest of us, including the kids, hiked up and down on a hot and humid day. The view at the top had stunning views and well worth the sweat soaked shirts we end up with. We had marshmallows to roast and the kids loved roasting them for us.

Convenient shuttle pickup. Blocks from our hotel. The guided tour was great! My adult children really enjoyed it!

The experience was amazing! The guides were so nice and helpful! The trip started when the shuttle bus picked us up on time at the agreed location. Once we arrived at the beginning of the hike, the guides provided all the necessary instructions. The team is very organized and were making sure that all of us were fine along the hike. A bit disappointed about the weather as we got to the top and weren’t able to do the marshmallows and see the surroundings because of the heavy rain. We managed a peak of the volcano before going down under the rain! Overall it was a great experience and really recommend the local tour team!

Very fun, challenging hike. For an extra charge there are horses to ride if needed and the guide is knowledgable and spoke English well. I'd say it's a great activity for families.

The place itself is absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately the experience was badly managed. First, the drive there was rough. The driver was going extremely fast on very curvy roads, and at least half of the people on our tour got motion sickness because of it. Be sure to bring a couple of blastic bags in case you need to vomit. Also, the tour description says the hike is “easy,” but once you arrive they immediately start pressuring you into renting a horse, insisting that the hike is actually very difficult. The horse costs an extra 300 quetzales, and if you don’t have cash, they charge an additional 20% fee for card payments. What bothered me the most was the constant pressure from both the guide and the horse handlers. I wanted to hike at my own pace, but they kept insisting that I ride a horse instead. They wouldn’t let me stop and rest peacefully, and the pressure continued almost the entire way. It was also impossible to have a calm or mindful hiking experience because you constantly have to watch out for horses coming and all the horse manure left on the trail. I would not recommend going during the rainy season. If you do go, make sure to bring a good rain jacket and proper waterproof hiking shoes. Also, bring proper water protection for cameras and electronics, and extra clothes in a sealed plastic bag. Otherwise, you will have to drive back in wet clothes. The volcano and the scenery are stunning, which makes it even more disappointing that the experience is affected by poor communication and misleading information about the hike.

The Pacaya tour was an amazing experience. The pickup was prompt and everything else was as advertised. The hike was quite challenging but there are horses for rent if needed. The tour guides were great and helped us with anything we needed. Overall the experience is absolutely a MUST!

Getting to see Pacaya was great! However, the guides lost someone for a little bit and could not keep count of who was in the group. A few of us thought we got lost again because the group was so spaced out. Also, I watched the guide haggle a customer to get them to take a horse.

Unfortunately, we were unable to attend the excursion. Because our visit coincided with Holy Week, the organizer had to change the location. Although they sent an email, I wish they had informed us of the change when they confirmed that we were still going. I didn’t have a reliable internet connection and didn’t receive the email until it was too late. I was able to join another group a couple of days later, but I wish the communication had been better.

Overall enjoyed the experience. It was well-organized. We did it during the Holy Week ot Semana Santa so the regular series pickup locations weren’t available. But it wasn’t far from our hotel. The touring van they used was very cramped for bigger people. I am 6’2” and 250 so it was cramped. But I am sort of used to that. My wife and I don’t move as fast as others. My only complaint was the pressure campaign by the tour guide who was the in the rear of the group who was guiding a horse. There were 5-6 people trying to rent us a horse for like $40 USD and visibly frustrated that we weren’t accepting the pressured offer. It was odd to us that it was one of our tour guides engaged in that. I finally had to be really clear that we were really stubborn and would NOT be asking for a horse from them and to go away so we could enjoy the hike. They finally took the “hint” and left us alone. I know they are just doing their thing. The sites were beautiful. It was a nice trip.

The experience itself was amazing. It was incredible to hike the volcano and see the views. The hike was no small feat. We pushed through but it was difficult at times for our 9 and 13 year old. We knew horses would be an option if we could not make it on foot but we did not expect them to be competing with us on the trail. We were often directly behind horses, which felt unsafe. Adding to our frustration was that my husband has severe allergies and was miserable due to the proximity of the horses. The guides are assigned at random upon arrival so there’s no guarantee you’ll be accounted for the entire hike. Our group got separated in a storm and half of us navigated our way down the mountain on our own, which was a bit unnerving. Be sure to pack clothes and hiking boots for this trek. And rain gear as we walked off the mountain drenched. Also bring a flashlight! While I would recommend the experience (we hiked a volcano!) you should definitely be prepared for all of the things I mentioned above!