indian nose

Get up early. Get to the top before sun rise and have a local guild. The view is Amazing. I went with a guild and I think it was a very good idea

We did this tour with language hub (close to hotel zoola), at a price of 95Q each. We had to be there at 4am, and the private shuttle took us in about 50 minutes to the start of the hike. A 30min hike in the dark (doable if you are in normal physical shape) brought us to the spot were we had a beautiful vieuw over 5 of the lake villages and could watch the sunset, but together with the sunset, the clouds came, so at 7, we could only see 3 villages and the clouds made the sunset a bit less spectaculair. Even though a must do if you're in san pedro for a night.While waiting for the sun to come up, ou guide build a fire to prepare us coffee (included in the tour). That was also nice because it kept us a bit warm. It's very cold that early there!After the hike down, we went back to the language hub and enjoyed our mayan breakfast, which was included in the price. Bean puree, rice, eggs, baked tomato and onion, tortillas and ofcourse coffee (or thea if you prefer).Would definately recommend language hub if you want to do a sunrise tour and not an entire big hike like us. Very easily to combine if you're leaving San Pedro that day. We were back at our hostel before 9.

We left San Pedro on the chicken bus at 4 AM with our guide. We were up in plenty of time to enjoy the sunrise then walk down to Santa Clarita for a tea before their Saturday market (also on Tuesday). Love Guatemalan markets. Our excellent guide Samuel then led us on the trails all the way back to San Juan and then to San Pedro. It was so much fun walking back versus taking a chicken bus! Well worth it if you can get a guide to do this with you :)

I have hiked Indian's Nose twice. The first time I went in September 2013 with a big group of people and we did not get a guide as several of them knew the route. This stunning peak sits between two towns on Lake Atitlan - San Juan and Santa Clara, and there is a route up from each side. The San Juan way is longer and steeper, and the Santa Clara way is a short walk to the top. Because the two towns don't collaborate, they each charge their own fee to enter the park. So if you go up from San Juan, as we did, you pay 30Q each to get in, but if you descend the other side you have to pay another 20Q. Sure enough, we were stopped on the way down to Santa Clara by a man requesting 20Q from each of us, as we expected. He then accompanied us down to make sure we didn't get lost. The view from the top is incredible and well worth the price of admission! If you are a quick hiker it will take you an hour to get up from the San Juan side, and maybe two hours if you prefer to take your time and stop at all the viewpoints.Since it is such a great "bang for your buck" hike I decided to take a friend who was visiting (I am currently volunteering and living in Panajachel). We went to San Juan, paid our 30Q and headed up, reaching the summit an hour later. After some lounging around we started to head down and were stopped by two men who refused to let us pass and were demanding 50Q from each of us, which they claimed was the price to enter the Santa Clara territory (when I know for a fact it is not), which apparently the actual summit belongs to. We showed them our ticket from paying down below and they said that the man at the entrance didn't inform us that we had to have a guide with us and that we were not allowed to go to the summit without paying more. We asked for identification, and at first they said they had ID in their backpacks, but then said they actually didn't have it and someone could bring it from Santa Clara for a fee of 200Q per person. They were basically just two guys with a radio, and completely full of s***. We said we had no money and they said too bad, maybe one of you can hike down to get money while the other stays here. After a lengthy heated discussion in the best Spanish I could muster, my friend gave them 100Q and they let us down. They never showed any weapons or made threats of violence, but they did physically block us when we tried several times to just walk down the path, and we weren't looking to get into a fight with anyone. Back at the bottom I told the nice man at the entrance what had happened, and he said he knew who they were and would report the incident to the police. He said that if we had a guide with us they wouldn't have taken advantage, and that if I go again without a guide I should turn around before the true summit to avoid the Santa Clara folks. I think it's really unfortunate that such a beautiful hike is plagued by this tension between towns, and that innocent hikers like us are put in the middle. Just a warning to everyone to either go with a very large group or hire a guide to avoid incidents like this. I will certainly think twice before taking friends there again.

Make sure you look around when organizing the Indians nose tour, prices very but up to 50Q. Did this hike last year and once again this year. Its a great way to see the sunrise for great heights without killing yourself. A proximity thirty minutes up and fifteen down. the way up is a lot of up hill, but more than doable for anyone with out serious heart or health problems. Make sure you dress warm and bring a flashlight/head and some water. The view is incredible!!!! Dont miss out on your chance to see a sunrise on a lake surrounded by volcanos.

amazing. its about a 45 minute car ride and a 30 minute hike. the view is unbelievable and you'll be back in town by 8 am for breakfast.

Be sure to get aclimated to the altitude before charging up this mountain and get ready for some amazing views. My only gripe is that it was not free.

What i liked was watching the sunrise while the active volcano Pacaya smokes!.We left San Pedro 4 in the morning to catch the sunrise.We stayed at the top of the hill about 2 hours taking fotos and stuff.And then our guide offered us to walk all the way back to San Pedro through the fields and trees.Enjoyed every minute of the eay back!We have passed 3 different towns,tasting some fruits from the trees or private gardens :) we have only paid 75 Quetzales per person.Depending on how many of you book it price differs!We booked 2 of us and there was other guy who paid 170 Quetzales!.Be aware of this when you book trips with the agencies here!

Indian nose sunrise is beautiful, just wish I could have seen the sunrise from the very top where every other tour group goes and not to a lower level we were unfortunately taken to with Bigfoot tours. We booked with BigFoot tours in San Pedro who charge the same as every other tour agency and the fee includes the entrance to the park like every other tour agency. Bigfoot however scam you out of the breathtaking view by taking you to some randoms farm and bringing you out to a much lower level platform. This way they do not have to pay park entrance fees and pocket your cash instead. When it became lighter, we saw there was an overgrown track to the viewpoint we were meant to go to. We began walking through it with the tour guide behind us trying to make excuses why we couldn't go as he didn't want to pay. We finally got to the top where everyone else was but by this time the sun was blazing and the sunrise gone! Because we caught a chicken bus up, we had no transport back and the guide made us hitchhike back to San Pedro. We went straight to the office to demand our money back but the lady turned extremely nasty and refused, trying to turn it back onto us. We therefore refused to leave the office until we got our money back and was finally successful after warning several potential customers who were walking in to not book with the agency as they are scammers. I won't be back to San Pedro and am extremely disappointed this agency made us miss this stunning sunrise.

Saw Indian Nose Mountain from village of San Juan as soon as you get off the boat dock. Pretty nice once our tour guide pointed it out for us.

Indians Nose offers a great view over the lake for very little effort. Nobody has an excuse not to go! I went with a group arranged through my Spanish school, La Co-operativa, and we went to the local market (forget village name) on the trip home. It's about 45m-1hr drive from San Pedro, as you need to go back up the mountain road, and the hike from the road is about 40 minutes, depending on your speed and the severity of your hangover.

Super early wake up to get chicken bus at 4am with our guide Samuel-who I would highly recommend (find him at the tiny booth right at the booth at the dock). Started the hike using our torches through corn fields etc. Was just my friend and I with our guide. We got stuck behind a big group of tourists so Samuel lead us down a different track. It wasn't as steep. Got to the top in time to see the brilliant colours in the sky. Samuel had taken us to the very top with no one else there. The big group of tourists were on the next level down. It was beautiful. Walked into town where we got coffee then walked all the way back to San Pedro. Paid $80 each. Don't miss this

My three friends and I hiked part of the Indian's nose because we were told the view was better than from the volcano. I can't compare because we didn't climb the volcano but the view from here was pretty spectacular. You could see I think 6 or 7 volcanos and of course the beautiful lake. The hike was slippery and a bit challenging. I was sweating a lot but I'm not a good hiker. But I slipped flat on my back a bunch of times going down because it was muddy, wet, and steep so do be careful.

You can't see it any other way! Sunrise was just breathtaking! The climb up is steep and in the morning make sure you take a torch with you! :) even in the rainy season it can still be amazing! I booked at language Hub as they offer it once a week check with them first before booking as they are cheaper

I didn't plan to do this hike, until a friend in the hostel told me about it. Eventually, it's true, you'll not regret to hike this. for about the price of a dorm you can hike here. The hike isn't hard but the view was great and astonishing! My advice is to bring jumper to go with you, because it's really cold during the hike and when you're up there. That's what I didn't do.