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Updated 05/09/08

Petén Information.

  There always seem to be stories out there about the safety aspects of travel in Guatemala and, despite major

 improvements in recent years,  even the guidebooks have not really kept up with facts on the ground.  Some things that were

  happening some years ago are still told as if they are going on today. See the web page of the US embassy in Guatemala for

dates  and details of major crimes against foreigners in order to better figure out any trends and situations to avoid.  My opinion is that it has never been entirely safe to visit anywhere, but knowing what to look out for will be a great help.

Local companies  ~ Airlines   Buses and Shuttles  Car Rentals   Hotels   Ruins 

 Petén Tour Agencies  Miscellaneous  Volunteering in Petén.   Useful Flores phone numbers 

Navigating  the Guatemala City  and the Flores Airports. Current Weather and Ten Day Forecast for Flores

Use this Trip Planner for Flores. Current and Historical Exchange Rate to the US dollar.  Do you need a visa?

How to get to El Mirador  --- Getting to Uaxactún without a tour. Going from Flores to Palenque on your own, 

Getting to Tikal and back. Dramatic Increase in prices to see many sights in Guatemala.

Getting to El Mirador by Helicopter is affordable if you can go on one of their  selected

 dates and  enough people sign up for all of the other flight options or see exploremirador.com.  

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General Petén Information     Petén is the northern most Department in Guatemala. In its forests are a number of ruin  sites that were major centers of the Pre-classic and Classic Maya civilization.  Flores, the capital of Petén, is built on an island on Lake Petén Itzá, and is connected by a long causeway to the nearby town of Santa Elena on the lakeshore.  The city was founded by the Itzá and was known as Noh Petén or Big Island. Sometimes it was also called Tah Itzá, or the Place of the Itzá. At the time of its conquest in 1697, it  had been the last still functioning independent Maya city anywhere, having been founded by the Itzá people after they left Chichén Itzá and later Mayapán in Mexico during the late Post-Classic Period . There was some belief among some of the Itzá that an 8 Ahau period ending date was prophetic for turning over the area to the Spanish. The latter tried to use the prophecy to convince Itzá to do so, but most of the indigenous locals were not taken in. However, the Spanish were never put out by a lack of invitation, they came, built large canoes, massacred many and took the city.  The Spanish destroyed the pyramids, temples and religious icons of Noh Petén. They  mispronounced Tah Itzá as Tayasal and replaced the rubble with the Spanish city of Flores. The dispersal of the survivors into the jungle may have even  given rise to the myth of a surviving and lost Maya city.  Although a boatman may offer a visit to a "Tayasal" on the other side of the lake, this can be doubtful. Much of Noh Petén or Tah Itzá lies beneath the city of Flores, and it doesn't require any boat trip.  However, if your boatman takes you on the other side of the very close  peninsula where San Miguel sits, you can see impressive remains of part of the city.    Online Services    Airlines to and From Flores                      International           USAir does some International Flights via Cancun. Grupo TACA to and from USA, Belize, Cancún and Guate. See TACA Flight Schedules between Guate, Flores and Cancun.   National TAG flies between Guate and Flores and from Guate to Copan. Maya Airways to Belize City. Tropic Air to Belize only You may very well do better to book via an agent when you are in Guatemala. Check out the weather in  Flores   Local Rental Cars in the Flores (FRS) Airport    Koka Rent Autos  Phone: 7926 1233, 7926 0526     Rent Autos Garrido Phone: 7926 0079 Auto Rental San Juan  7926 0041 Tabarini   Note that the airport is only a couple of miles from Flores.  If not renting or bringing a lot of baggage, just walk out to the highway and turn right to hop a 5-10Q tuktuk or to enjoy a relatively short walk.    Van Rental If you have a group and want reasonable prices for getting to places in Petén, toward Palenque or to Belize, take a look at  Mayan Adventure.com   Petén Tour Operators    These are not necessarily recommendations.   INGUAT Petén List   Adonis Lopez, who is  right across the lake from Flores in San Andrés, arranges trips in Spanish to El Mirador and other places from there.   Cafe Yaxhá has affordable day trips to Yaxhá and another ruin, La Blanca, and some two or three day trips by 4 wheel drive vehicle that include those sites, Nakúm and Tikal. You can choose to camp or for more, stay at a nice hotel at Yaxhá.  If you have a group, you can also come up with affordable trips to some of the more obscure Maya sites in 4 WD double cab trucks.   You could arrange a trip to El Mirador and/or Nakbé directly with the Carmelita, but you need to speak Spanish. Cooperative prices are also set, so that you are likely to find a better price in town.   If you are alone or in a small group and your Spanish is limited, but you want to trek to El Mirador or from El Zotz to Tikal, try Los Amigos Hostel to arrange things. You will still have a Spanish speaking guide, but arranging it would be simpler.   Exploreguate.com in Santa Elena has a number of one plus day trips to Tikal, Uaxactún, El Ceibal and the Petex-Batun sites, but no prices are listed online.    Fanny's Tours has offices in Santa Elena, Guate and Chiquimula.   Iwana Tours is based in Flores and offers tours of Tikal, Dos Pilas and Aguateca, Yaxhá, and Cancuén.   La Casa de Don David in El Remate does a number of tours.   Martsam Travel lists a lot of tours, but shows no prices at present. I  asked them for an estimate for both El Mirador/ Nakbé and just a van both ways to Carmelita, but got no response, except an automatic one acknowledging my initial request.  I am not impressed, but a later e-mail to info@ the address came back with a response.   Nitun near San Andrés sounds impressive if you can afford to pay a bit more.   San Juan Travel.  If they had a website, I would not list it. I have read too many bad things about them over time to recommend anything but avoiding them, especially for the Flores-Palenque trip.   Tikal Canopy Tours. The price includes shuttle to Tikal, but extra from island of Flores?   Tikal Connection, formerly Ecomaya,  runs some relatively low-priced tours to El Mirador, El Zotz and El Peru, but you can usually do better elsewhere.  My brief experiences in dealing with them suggests that they are somewhat more likely to respond to an email in Spanish. E-mail them and follow up if needed.   Tikalpark.com will arrange various trips from Tikal, with returns to either Tikal or Flores. Just keep in mind that you can visit Uaxactún overnight via bus much cheaper than what is listed there. Tikalpark.com also does affordable helicopter day trips to El Mirador.   Tikal Travel is based in Melchor de Mencos, Petén and advertises many different tours, but has no prices listed.      See Flores Phone Numbers for other agencies and sources.     Miscellaneous Items Apparently Villa del Chef rents mountain bikes. Listen to Guatemalan Música from Poptún Scarlet Macaw Biological Station A Satellite Photo of the Flores Area  These could simplify paying deposits for treks. Escuela de Español Bio-Itza (Spanish  School), San José  Information about Tikal Park Goodtime Bob's many photos of Tikal How to not travel between Palenque and Flores. How to travel between Flores and Palenque Interesting trip between Guate and Flores via Coban Continued environmental  problems of the El Mirador/Río Azul park area. The Story of Carmelita and El Mirador Allianza Verde. (in Spanish) The Green Alliance is a group of local businesses that believes that the only hope for saving even a part of the Peten jungles is through responsible tourism that involve the local populations.  Fiestas in Petén  Learn about efforts to  save the Mirador Basin. A review of Petén Conservation  efforts and problems Read abut Propetén       Satellite Photos  A Petén Journey.  Mike  Reed made it to Dos Pilas, El Ceibal and Uaxactún. Tikal Ruins, a good description of  a traveler's view of Tikal. A Trip to El Mirador. It's not all that hard. A Recent Article about the Pre-classic Collapse.   Plundering the Petén,  an article by archaeologist Richard Hansen.   Thoughts on Food Safety   Volunteer Opportunities Volunteer Petén in San Andrés also  has a language school. Volunteer to work with repatriating wildlife with ARCAS.  The Scarlet Macaw Biological Station is located on the San Pedro River, which has nice bass and tilapia in it.   BYO fishing equipment for spare time activity.     La Muerta, near El Mirador             Tourist in the  Mirador Basin

Buses and shuttles   To Tikal Asociación de Transportes runs buses between Santa Elena and Tikal, leaving the bus  station at 6:00 AM, 6:30, 7:00, 8:30, 10:00, 11:30,  and 12:30 PM for 20Q.  There are also buses to Tikal  and Uaxactún at 1300 and 1500.     Schedules to Guatemala City   Getting to Cobán Night bus and shuttle to Antigua Getting to Belize City Getting to Palenque, Mexico   Linea Dorada runs Tikal Mayan World, which runs luxury buses to and from Flores to Belize and to Chetumal, Mexico.  It looks like you could book online if you need to. Take the reference to bar and food with a grain of salt. BYO adult beverages and food consisted of soda and a sandwich on the overnighter I was on. Autobuses del Norte runs regular first class buses between Guate and Flores, including a night one. Note that if you type in autobusesdelnorte.com without the www, you will wind up at a sneaky Linea Dorada website instead. Turansa runs shuttles between Flores and Cobán. Scroll down that page.    ________________ City Information and Hotels by Location   INGUAT List $50 and under   Bethel Posada Maya Bethel is not online but has a restaurant, allows camping and can arrange transportation down the Usumacinta to Mexico.  (502) 5801-1799 or 1800, but you can do that yourself when there. This is an important stopover only if you are late in the day and are heading to Palenque and Yaxchilán.   Carmelita The Cooperativa has rooms for 35Q per person as of January 2006  call 7861 1809. Ask for Brenda Zapata.   El Remate La Casa de Don David    List   Flores:  Why I love Flores Inexpensive list Info Or in Nearby San Miguel   Hostel Los Amigos has e-mail, and is a good budget place with a decent inexpensive restaurant. It also has extensive directions and bus and shuttle schedules on its website. Hotel Doña Rosa a is a friendly family run place  that includes a water bottle for guests. It is on the north end on Calle Fraternidad.  7827 5279 Hotel Mirador del Lago, 15 de Septiembre,  7926 3276 is not online, but is clean and inexpensive. Hotel Sabana is less expensive than the other hotels in town with pools that I am aware of and has a beautiful view from the northern end of the isla. The Hotel Santana has a pool and some rooms with balconies and a great view of the lake and it made a great splurge in early January of 2006 and February 2007. La Casona de la Isla was great for a splurge after  the Mirador Basin in 2002, because of its pool. Casazul looks nice for a splurge. Inexpensive List   San Miguel (a 5 minute boat ride from Flores) Posada San Miguel costs       Also see Tikal and El Remate   Melchor de Mencos The municipal website does not list  a whole lot, but there at least is one.  Rio Mopan Lodge is a bit expensive, but  has a tour agency right there.  Hotel y Restaurante La Cabaña advertises a pool and AC.    Poptún Hotel Tropical Inn has parking and a pool  in town and is not expensive.   South of town Finca Ixobel   Listen to Música from Poptún.   Raxrujá (right across the border from Petén toward Cobán) El Amigo is inexpensive, nice, has a pool and  provides purified water.   San Jose (Across the lago from Flores} Hotel Bahia Taitza has rooms and bungalows, hot water,  parking and a restaurant.    San Luis (south of Poptún) See the city website and hotel list   Santa Elena Jaguar Inn  See a good comparison of the merits of staying in Flores vs. Santa Elena.     Sayaxché. The Guayacán is not terribly pricey and it is one of the the best places in Sayaxché, which isn't saying a lot. I have enjoyed sitting outside sipping a beer on its large porch after a hard day.    7926 6111 Posada Segura is not online, but it sounds like it could be a better buy. 250 meters to the right of the dock.  7928 6162,   Near Sayaxché (Anything listed below tends toward very expensive. If on a smallish budget, Sayaxché might be the place to stay) Posada Caribe is  one hour by  boat from town, and also has camping and e-mail. Petex Batun Lodge also has dorm rooms. Chiminos Island Lodge is on the Río de la Pasión. It is expensive, but it is in a wonderful location if you want to get away from it all and see some nearby ruins. However, if you are looking to see the ruins on the property, don't expect to be impressed.   Tikal   These hotels are all expensive, but the Jungle Lodge probably still has some small cheaper rooms. Check on them in person. The Jaguar Inn rents hammocks and mosquito nets that are already set up. These are first come; first served and cost $7.  Room reservations made by e-mail without a deposit are held until noon of the arrival day. There is a 10% surcharge on credit cards, so bring cash or traveler's checks.   Tikal Inn has direct e-mail that works for reservations and info, but think twice about booking with them and maybe paying more than the amount you booked for.   Comedor Imperio Maya has good food  at decent prices. So does the one next door.   Check in the restaurant at the Visitor's Center to see if one of their very basic lodgings is available for 50Q. You can also camp there for less, but you will need to leave belongings for safekeeping at the center while visiting the park.   You can also leave your pack at the Visitors' Center for a small fee if you are either heading to Uaxactún for the night or you decide to not spend the night at Tikal and return to Flores.       Check out El Remate   Uaxactún How to get there without a tour. EcoCampamento is basic and has hammocks with mosquito nets under a palapa.  7926 0077 El Chiclero has friendly management, inexpensive rooms, camping and good food in its restaurant.   Yaxhá  Eco-Sombrero is a bit steep, but it  is nice and it is the only one there, in case you are planning to spend the night.  The owner can also arrange trips to Nakúm and other sites. Correct phone numbers are (502) 7926-5228, fax (502) 7926-5528 , tel. (502) 7926-5229.   Some Other Petén Hotels. Most are not online, but it does include some budget places.          Ruins For the best discussions of Maya ruins in Guatemala, see Authenticmaya.com Aguateca or see many photos and a youtube view Altar de Sacrificios Cancuén and getting there.   Dos Pilas El Ceibal   El Ceibal photos  El Mirador   Holmul La Corona La Sufricaya The Melchor de Mencos Stelae (a collection of artifacts in town) Motul de San Jose Naachtún Nakbé Nakum  Piedras Negras See some photos You can get to these ruins   as a day trip from Palenque and here is how to do it. San Bartolo   Tikal Links Tikalinformation.com Tikal Map Tikal Lots of Photos! Tikalpark.com Youtube tour starts at Sayaxché.   Uaxactún and getting there   Waka' Thoughts on getting there   Yaxhá in Spanish

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Center for Information on the Culture, Nature and Arts of the Petén (CINCAP) 

Located in Flores, the capital of the Petén region, this center serves as an information clearinghouse for tourists looking for low-impact alternative attractions in the region. CINCAP exhibits local natural and cultural history and highlights regional arts and crafts. As a center for regional environmental education and training in tourism, the center will work with local communities as well as with tourists.

Adonis Lopez does tours to El Mirador, Nakbé and other places from San Andres, across the lake from Flores. 

He speaks  Spanish only:  7928-8106 or e-mail brenda_aventuras (at) hotmail.com.  His quote for a 6 day trip to El Mirador and Nakbé  for two people in August 2005 was $300 each, including transport from San Andres.  More people would be less, as would a  5 day trip just to El Mirador. To get to the departure point, you would take one of the frequent buses and minivans that go to San Andres/San José from the bus station.