Traveler Description
This verdant, tranquil, 400-acre reserve contains interesting plants and animals, including monkeys, the raccoon-like coatis and exotic birds, such as Guatemala's national bird, the quetzal.


Traveler Reviews

A must-do!
Reviewed by PHPYTO on May 18, 2010


Allow yourself at least a half day for this.....lots to do. The trails are beautiful and the flora is incredible (oak trees, next to evergreens, next to banana trees). The ziplines are great and offer fantastic views of the lake. Helpful staff, cheap prices. Hit this on the way in, or out of Pana.

Wonderful place to enjoy Lake Atitlan
Reviewed by LuzHHdez on Apr 15, 2010


Definitely a great place to visit! I loved the cabins and the camping field (I?ve been there several times). Everyone in our family has also tried the canopy rides; they are really awesome as they are nicely distributed along an ecological site/trail. You can catch such a wonderful view of the lake and its surrounding areas in this ride... I also loved to walk along the ecological path. If you visit the reserve during the winter, and make a trail walk, you can see a really nice waterfall; the trail bridges are also great. My children also enjoyed the child-resting area with fun swings, also a special native attraction where children hang up from a rope and circle fly a tall pole. There are lots of things to do there; we love to walk to the lake shore; the area is neat. We liked the food very much, and they have great coffee. There is a visitor center with interesting information and a little store where you can buy souvenirs, ecological products, and snacks. Hope you have the same fun we had! Luz H. Hernandez.

Monkeys! Coatamundi! Suspension bridges!
Reviewed by hrhuntington on Mar 25, 2010


For our last day in Lake Atitlan, we decided to take a little foray to the nature reserve. it was very fun. Immediately there were coatmundi and spider monkeys all over the place when we hit the viewing platform area. We could barely tear ourselves away. The monkeys especially were terrific - one was swinging by his tail over and over again. We figured out from looking at it that the coatamundi are enclosed, but the monkeys can likely come and go as they please. So we lucked out - they were there in force and very cool to look at. The hike was nice also. It's very jungle-y and pretty. The suspension bridges are absolutely awesome. You didn't feel scared on them (I'm not a fan of heights), but you did feel cool getting to bounce along those big bridges. The waterfall was pretty, and there were coffee plants all over the place, too. I felt that the bird watching could have been better. We were looking, had our binoculars and all. We could hear lots of birds, but when we were there it was hard to see any really good ones. And the butterfly house gets a serious thumbs down--there were easily more butterflies outside the enclosure than inside it. There was a nice dead mouse lying on the floor by the bathroom inside it, though, so there was that. We skipped the ziplining here, but there were lots of people doing it and seeming to have a great time. Either way, it was a really nice place to go. Monkeys and pretty jungle walk! My tips: bring water and binoculars, give yourself ample time (it's nice for a more leisurely hike type place), and make arrangements with a tuktuk driver to get you (or get their phone # so you can call when you're done). it's a bit of a hot hike to the main road, where you will be able to find one, but if you would like to avoid that hot 10 minute walk, then make your tuktuk provisions at the outset.

Beautiful, natural escape!
Reviewed by suprchick77 on Aug 12, 2009


I stayed at the Lake Atitlan Nature Reserve for 1 night in July, 2009. Everything about the reserve was beautiful! For $50/night, the room (which included a free but substantial hot breakfast) was a great deal compared to US standards. The bedroom and bathroom were beautiful, although the room smelled a bit damp. The bed faced a wall of windows, providing a great view of the wilderness on the other side of the porch. I was slightly disappointed that I was in a room on the 1st floor because I was looking forward to having a view "over" the trees, but when I looked at the other rooms at the reserve, the views all looked similar. While I didn't have any hummingbirds or monkeys right outside my window, I did see a variety of animals/birds during my stay, and the walking trails were really beautiful. I woke up early to go for a walk, and I had the entire park to myself since it wasn't yet open to the public. This early-morning walk was a wonderful experience and extremely peaceful and relaxing. I considered doing the zipline, but I was mostly interested in seeing the wildlife, and since the noise from the ziplines seemed loud enough to scare all the birds away, I decided not to. I'm also afraid of heights and the ziplines were REALLY high, so that probably factored into my decision also. :) I would not say that the reserve is really within walking distance from Panajachel. I suppose I could have walked into town, but the road is long and deserted, and I would have been afraid to walk all the way back from town in the dark. It was easy and cheap ($1.50 max) to take a tuk tuk, and it was a lot more fun too! The night guard arranged for a tuk tuk to pick me up and the driver gave me his cell number to call when I was ready to go back to the reserve. My stay here was great and I'd definitely recommend spending the $50 for this natural escape.

One of the best places we stayed at
Reviewed by CAlittlemiss on Jul 11, 2009


A group of friends and I stayed here for only 1 night but it was really awesome. We had 1 room with 4 comfy beds, a balcony, and a private bath that had 2 sinks and 2 showers. I was really surprised at how cool the room looked. We had a huge rock boulder in the bathroom and the water from the sinks came out of bamboo shoots. The place was pretty clean and the staff were friendly. We were the only group staying at the Reserva that night and 1 of the girls made friends with the groundsman. He was really sweet, saying that he would be our protector for the night. We did the zipline in the morning, even though it was pouring rain. The equipment may seem a little shady but it was safe and we had 2 guides just for our 1 group. All in all, the place was great, the staff was cool, totally recommend it.