01
The Misogi
The MisogiFour to six hours a day up Acatenango, all the way to the top, carrying nothing but yourself. The accommodation is waiting up there. Still the hardest thing on any SYB trip and the whole reason this one exists.
The Guatemala Volcano Trip
🇬🇹 The 7 day volcano run
- 🥾The MisogiFour to six hours a day, all the way up.
- 🌋Sleep on a VolcanoBasecamp above the clouds.
- 🔥Fuego EruptingLive lava show, all night.
- 🌅Summit at Dawn3,976m, then breakfast.
- 🛶Lake Atitlan DaysBoats, cliff jumps, swims.
- 🏛Antigua NightsRooftops and cobblestones.
⚡ The Quick Specs
7 days, 6 nightsAntigua and Atitlan
18 travellers maxAges 25 to 45ish
Come soloYou won't leave solo
Photos and videoShot all week by pros
🌋 The highlight reel
Real moments from the volcano and the lake, no stock photos.
📆 Upcoming Dates
Same trip, different crew. Pick your week.
Guat A Feeling
Volcano hikes, boat days on the lake and old colonial towns
9 - 15 February 2027
6 nights
$3,650
/ person
Pay later available
Top 3 iconic moments
Three things you will do on this trip that you will still be talking about years later.
02
Lava from your tent door
Lava from your tent doorFuego goes off every twenty minutes all night. You watch it from the ridge with a beer.
03
Cliff jumps into Atitlan
Cliff jumps into AtitlanBoat out, climb up, argue about who goes first, all of you go in anyway.
📅 The Day By Day
Seven days, planned so you never have to think about it.
Day 1Land in Guatemala City
Transfer to Antigua, rooftop drinks, welcome dinner.
The full day
Land at GUA, our shuttle brings you 90 minutes up to Antigua. Check in at Socialtel Antigua, rooftop drinks with the crew, then the welcome dinner where strangers stop being strangers.
Day 2Antigua, and the briefing
Workout, cobblestones, coffee farm, then we talk about tomorrow.
The full day
Easy morning workout, wander the cobblestones, coffee farm in the afternoon. Then the Misogi briefing: what you carry, what you wear, what the climb actually feels like. Gear check, early night.
Day 3The Misogi starts
Four to six hours up, all the way to the top, carrying nothing. Fuego goes off all night.
The full day
You start after breakfast and you climb. Four to six hours, about 1,500m of gain, through farmland then cloud forest then volcanic sand, and you carry nothing but a small daypack. The accommodation at the top is waiting for us, facing Fuego. Dinner, a beer, and an eruption every twenty minutes until you fall asleep.
Day 4The summit, then the lake
Up in the dark to 3,976m, down by lunch, on the lake by dinner.
The full day
Head torches on at four. The last push to 3,976m takes about ninety minutes and it is the hardest part of the whole trip. You get there for first light with three volcanoes on the horizon. Down by lunch, then straight to Lake Atitlan.
Day 5Lake day
Legs up, or boat out. Both are correct.
The full day
Nothing is compulsory today and most of you will not want it to be. Swim, kayak, boat out to the cliffs and jump, or lie by the water and do absolutely nothing.
Day 6Indian Nose and the villages
Short hike, huge payoff, then San Juan and San Marcos.
The full day
Up early for Indian Nose, thirty minutes of climbing for a sunrise over the whole lake. Then San Juan and San Marcos for textiles and coffee, back for the farewell dinner.
Day 7Head home
Transfer back to Guatemala City and out.
The full day
Transfer back to Guatemala City and out. It is Presidents Day, so you land home on a holiday and the whole trip only costs you four vacation days. Or stay on, plenty of people do.
Every day is planned for you. Nothing to book, nothing to organise.
✅ What's
included
- +6 nights accommodation, Antigua and Lake Atitlan
- +Acatenango overnight trek with guides, tents and gear
- +All ground transport once you land
- +Daily workouts and movement sessions
- +Welcome dinner and farewell dinner
- +Breakfast every morning
- +Boat days and village transfers on the lake
- +Indian Nose sunrise hike
- +Photographer and videographer all week
- +SYB leaders with you the whole trip
❌ Not
included
- –Flights in and out of Guatemala City
- –Travel insurance, which we require
- –Most lunches and some dinners
- –Drinks outside the group meals
- –Porters on the volcano if you want one
- –Tips for the local guides
FAQs
Because this is the first time SurfYogaBeer has run Guatemala, and we built the whole trip around one hard thing. Most operators walk you up Pacaya for an hour and call it a volcano. We do the Misogi: four to six hours of hiking a day on Acatenango, all the way to the top, carrying nothing but yourself, a night up there with Fuego erupting in front of you, and the summit at 3,976m at first light. Then three nights on Lake Atitlan to feel smug about it. One departure, one crew, everything locked in with our partners.
Yes, and most people do.
You move as one crew the whole way, from Antigua up the volcano and on to the lake, so you see the same people at breakfast, on the trail, on the boat and out at night.
People who want a mix of energy and adventure.
Typically:
- Late 20s to 40s (sometimes even 50s)
- Active and social
- Up for both workouts and nights out
It’s one of the more high-energy SYB trips, but still very approachable.
Yes, and one part of it is genuinely hard.
You will be:
- Climbing Acatenango over two days, four to six hours of hiking a day, carrying nothing but a small daypack
- Sleeping in the accommodation at the top and summiting at 3,976m before sunrise
- Up early again for the Indian Nose sunrise
- Kayaking, swimming and cliff jumping on Lake Atitlan
The lake days are as easy or as hard as you want them. The volcano is not.
High energy, social, and a little wild in the best way.
Days are full of movement and adventure. Nights turn into dinners, drinks, and themed events.
It’s one of the most social trips we run, but still grounded in workouts and shared experiences.
Antigua, Acatenango and Lake Atitlan. Two nights in Antigua to get your legs under you and get briefed, one night on the volcano, then three nights on the lake with boat days, the villages and the Indian Nose sunrise.
A Misogi is one thing so hard you are not sure you can finish it. You do it once, it hurts, and it quietly resets what you think you are capable of. Ours is Acatenango.
Four to six hours of hiking a day, split by a night on the mountain. We go all the way to the top, about 1,500m of gain on day one, then a short push in the dark to the summit at 3,976m where the air is thin. It is the hardest thing we put on any SYB trip.
You need to be mildly fit, not an athlete. If you can walk uphill for a few hours and you put in a bit of training beforehand, you will finish it. The group moves at a group pace with plenty of stops. And you are not carrying anything: there is accommodation at the top that we stay at, so you just need to bring yourself.
Two options, and neither of them is a problem.
There are drivers who can take you most of the way up the mountain, so you still get the night at basecamp and the sunrise with only a fraction of the climb. Tell us before the day and we will arrange it. Or skip the volcano entirely, stay in your bed in Antigua, and rejoin the crew when we transfer to the lake.
Nobody gets left behind and nobody gets guilt-tripped. But the Misogi is the whole reason this trip exists, so we would rather you tried.
Shared puts you in a twin room with one other person from the trip: two single beds and a private bathroom, at both Socialtel Antigua and Socialtel Atitlan. Come solo and we match you up. Private is your own queen room and your own door for the whole trip. Same everything else.
February is the heart of the dry season, which is why we picked it. Warm sunny days at the lake, mid seventies to low eighties, and the clearest skies of the year over the volcanoes. Cold on the volcano overnight, close to or below freezing at the top, so bring layers. We send a full packing list once you book.
Eli Elmore, one of our senior leaders. He has done Acatenango more times than he can count and he is also one of our best shooters, so the photos come home with you.