On Lake Atitlán the preferred means of transportation are the boats that function as public transportation, due to the high demand for them it can become a challenge to understand how they work so in this post we hope to provide you with all the information to use it without additional worries.
Boats are a public transport operated by shipping companies that are private companies owned by local people. These shipping companies create their own routes and boarding services that often operate outside of government regulation, so don't expect to find much information about this transport on official websites or in tourist information offices.
Getting into the subject at hand, in Panajachel there are two piers, one is the Tzanjuyú pier and the other is the Public Beach pier, keep this in mind, the boats are subdivided into several services which are:
Linear Boats: These boats function like a transportation bus that anyone can board to get to the destination you need if it is on the boat's route.
Private boats: These are the boats that do not have fixed lines, these are the equivalent of renting a car except that in this case you also hire the captain.
Tour boats: These are larger boats that only go around a fixed, short stretch of the lake. They are not for transportation but are intended for recreation.
What's at the Tzanjuyú pier?
This pier is exclusively for scheduled boats, from here you can board to San Pedro, San Juan, San Marcos, San Pablo, Santa Cruz, Jaibalito, Tzununá, Santiago Atitlán and San Lucas la Laguna but you should know that these boats stop in each town, if you want to get to know that area of the lake, seeing the mountain with its hotel zone is an excellent idea but if what you need is speed it will not be the best option because it stops in each town makes the trip last around an hour not counting the waits for boarding, below I detail the routes that you can find at this pier:
San Pedro la Laguna Route:
This route starts at the pier and makes stops in Jaibalito, Tzununá, Santa Cruz, San Marcos, San Pablo, San Pedro and San Juan la Laguna. If you want to go to one of the hotels in that area such as La Casa del Mundo or Free Cerveza, this is the route you should take and you should tell the captain where you want to stop so he can drop you off at that location.
Direct Line Routes
The other routes are a direct departure from Panajachel to Santiago Atitlán and from Panajachel to San Lucas.
What's on the Public Beach Pier?
This pier is the largest as it covers the entire public beach of Panajachel, to get there you can walk the public boardwalk until you reach the private dock, this boardwalk begins at the Ventana del Tiempo viewpoint and ends at Atitlán Rest and Café , as you walk along this boardwalk you can enjoy the beautiful view of the lake, the place where you can take the boats is at the public dock, now I will detail the routes there are at this pier:
Line boats
San Pedro and San Juan Route
There are boats with a direct line to San Pedro and San Juan la Laguna (without going through the towns) so they are usually faster. These are taken at the dock in front of the kayak rental stand.
Other direct routes
There are also direct lines to San Lucas Tolimán and Santiago Atitlán, these boats are taken at the docks next to Atitlán Rest and Café.
Private Boats
In this area there are also private rental boats parked, usually there are people who offer them to you since there is no specific place to rent them, these people are known locally as "commissioners"
Tour boats
These boats are large, for many people and as we said before they are only for recreational purposes, you can see them parked at the public dock and to one side of it.
Additional information
Possible schedules
Panajachel-San Juan route from Tzánjuyú: Monday to Friday from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm with 15-minute intervals between each departure. Please note that the last boat from San Juan to Panajachel leaves at 5:00 pm. **Schedules may be inaccurate .
Panajachel-San Juan Route from Public Beach: Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 7:00 pm at 30 minute intervals between each departure, (more expensive) the last boat returning from San Juan is at 4:00 pm and on weekends (Saturday and Sunday) 8:00 pm to 5:00 pm at 30 minute intervals between each departure, the last boat returning to Panajachel leaves at 5:00 pm. **Schedules may be inaccurate.
The boats to other towns like Santiago Atitlán have very imprecise schedules and depend more on how many passengers there are on the boat for it to leave. Also, as we mentioned before in the blog, the lack of regulation makes the schedules in general for the entire boat service imprecise.
Cost
The cost on any shipping company and from any town is Q25.00 per person one way and Q25.00 on the way back, so in total a round trip should cost you Q50.00.
Security
As with all transportation, take many precautions, always wear your life jacket as a rule all boats must have one, if you need to file a complaint call 110 of the national civil police they will be able to help you, keep in mind that the boats do not even have internet so you depend on your cellular data and there is also no electricity so do not go with a low charge on your cell phone.
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