Guatemala City : Shared transportation to Lake Atitlan

Said we were booked for 12:30pm departure then said we were never booked in the first place. When we showed up nobody knew anything because they have no office in Antigua. Driver was a piece of work, leaving us stranded without a shuttle.

It was a great experience. They picked us up from our hotel in Guatemala City and dropped us off at our hotel by Lake Atitlan. Very convenient, easy, and smooth shared shuttle.

The shuttle companies themselves have their operations down, but as a first-time traveler to Guatemala, I found the Viator listing details could use some improvement. The meeting spot description was unclear, the listed operator was not the company that actually picked me up, and the phone number on the listing connected to an unrelated number — all of which made for a stressful start. To make matters more complicated, I wasn’t on the group pickup list, and after waiting 20 minutes past the scheduled time, I realized I hadn’t activated my eSIM correctly — meaning I had no way to contact the driver. Fortunately, a sister shuttle company stepped in and brought me to their offices in Antigua, where I was finally able to reach my original driver. He came to get me and we made it to Lake Atitlán without further issue. In hindsight, everything worked out perfectly fine. My advice to fellow first-time travelers: activate your eSIM before you leave the airport, and double-check that the meeting location on your Viator listing is accurate. In my case, the correct meeting spot (in front of a specific café) was only communicated to me afterward via message — it should be front and center on the listing. One fun observation: the shuttle driver community is tight-knit. I saw the same drivers going to and from the lake and around Antigua — so be friendly, because you’ll likely cross paths more than once! All in all, I’d absolutely recommend this experience. Just go in prepared.

I was not picked up. I waited at the airport and looked at all of the shuttles but never saw one with the company name. I called the company directly but no one answered. When I finally got in touch with someone at viator they were able to contact the company and let them know that I was looking for them. They had already left but “came back” and left again within 3 minutes. They didn’t have a sign with my name, call my name out, or ask for my description. After they left again they offered to return in 3 hours but I didn’t realize they were only going to take me to Antigua instead of Lake Atitlan as planned. After realizing this I had to find other means of transportation. I thought booking transportation in advance would be the best bet but now regret my decision. Next time I will arrange transportation with the options available at the airport upon arrival.

This experience was easy to book and the company easy to communicate with to schedule my ride up to Lake Atitlan. Initially, a driver picked me up and drove me to the shuttle meeting point in Antigua. At that point I had an opportunity to get coffee and use the restroom before the shuttle arrived. Tip: If you have a long wait between shuttles and your meeting point is Cafe Condessa, there is a beautiful Starbucks on the same street with adequate seating and restrooms. Otherwise, the shuttle was promptly on time and dropped me off close enough where I could catch a lancha to Lake Atitlan for my day trip.

I booked a shuttle with GuateGo from my hotel in Guatemala City to Panajachel. I confirmed with them via WhatsApp several times that the shuttle would pick me up at my hotel at 11am. While I was waiting at the beginning of the time window, I messaged them again to make sure. After waiting the full hour, the shuttle never came. After messaging them several more times, they told me that the company thought my shuttle was for later that day. I told them I had to get to Pana in time before the launchas stopped running, as I needed to get to a homestay in San Pedro. All they did is offer me the 1:30pm shuttle, which would arrive much too late. I also was concerned the shuttle would forget to pick me up once again. I asked if they could arrange an earlier transfer, and they refused. As such, I had to take a $120 uber to make it to Pana in time. GuateGo should have provided a transfer or offered compensation for my very expensive transport, after which I arrived the same time I would have had the shuttle not forgotten me, having waited several hours for the shuttle to arrive and then to try to sort out what happened. Avoid this company at all costs.