OVERNIGHT VOLCANO ACATENANGO HIKE

It had been a dream of mine after seeing Volcano Fuego erupt in many photos I had seen online. 

Volcano Fuego is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America and is known to have multiple eruptions per day… until recently. But about that later. To see Fuego very close up you would hike another volcano - Acatenango, which is just neighbouring. It has been dormant for many years and considered to be safe. Both volcanoes are separated by a valley so if Fuego were to have a larger eruption, the base camp is also considered to be safe. This hike has become very popular in the recent years and understandably why. 

COMPANY - AKT TOURS

After throughout research on the companies to do 2 day Acatenango hike with, we initially wanted to go with OX Expeditions or Wicho and Charlies, however they were booked up. I definitely wanted to stay in a cabin vs tent that many smaller companies offer. After not being able to secure a place with one of the well known reputable companies, I came across AKT Tours, however they did not have many reviews online, but we still decided to opt to go with them and I am glad we did. I have only the best things to say about the company. They offer ‘shared’ cabin for $80 per person or a private for $125 per person. It was comparable pricing to other companies that offer cabin accommodation. The best thing was that it was a very small group - only 5 of us and a guide…and dogs - yes there are many that will hike with you. I have also heard that smaller companies do not provide enough food or their sleeping bags were not warm enough - I cannot say that about AKT tours. We were given a bag with all our meals, which consisted of lunch, dinner and breakfast - sandwich, nuts, rice with curry (either chicken or vegetarian), breakfast sandwich, pancake and tea + coffee. All of us in a group felt it was enough food for the whole trip. In the evening when the guide made fire for us where we gathered for the dinner we were also given marshmallows and a hot chocolate. 

AKT Tours also offered to borrow a jacket or two, gloves, hiking poles and a torch free of charge. 

ACCOMODATION

We wanted to stay in a cabin for extra warmth and comfort vs tent and it was nice, however I did not think that it was much warmer - it is very basic and has many holes where the walls meet the roof so the cold air would still enter the cabin. I think it is the case for all companies as they all stay in the similar location and from seeing them those cabins looked the same. We were told that temperatures get to -1 at night but I guess we were lucky as it only dropped to +7 and with the sleeping bag and 2 extra blankets provided I ended up not even using the jacket I borrowed from AKT tours. We loved the location of our cabins compared to other companies - we were the highest up and there were only 4 cabins so it was much more tranquil. Other companies had 20-30 people in a group and all other cabins were much closer and lower so if you like a bit more privacy - AKT tours is the company to go with. Not to say that you will not hear other people but maybe from further away. Only one of us managed full nights sleep anyways.

ABOUT THE HIKE

The hike is 7km and 1200 in elevation to Acatenango Base Camp ||, which is located at 3900 meters. For our group it took 5h to hike it. We were picked up from Antigua town at 9am and driven to Base Camp |, where we borrowed extra equipment and started the hike at 10:30. The hike is divided into 3 parts:

Part 1 - hiking in direct sun through a very dusty road

Part 2 - hiking through the forest which was the nicest part

Part 3 - more steep hike again in direst sun with some rocks

There were frequent smaller and bigger breaks and the beauty of having a small group was that we could have our own pace and timeline and take as little or as frequent breaks as we wanted. We arrived at the Base Camp || at 15:30. 

After arriving at the base camp, you can either opt for Fuego hike which is another 5 hours or just rest at the camp. I was not sure of what we will do until we arrived at the camp. We opted not to do it - firstly because, unfortunately, Fuego has not been erupting much since February 2025 (except a large eruption on March 9th) and we did not see much point to see ‘better views’. Secondly, I personally felt like it can be too dangerous - Fuego is a little bit unpredictable and knowing that is recently has no activity and then had a large eruption and again was not very active made me a bit uneasy to get too up close. This is a personal choice though - we saw people who did Fuego returning around 9pm after the dark (the price was extra $40). 

After having dinner at 7pm we went to our cabins around 8pm ‘hoping’ for some sleep but most of us managed none. I personally never sleep much in tents/cabins so I was expecting not to get much sleep. Then our guide woke us up after 4am to summit Acatenango. The hike takes around 40min - we did not enjoy it much as ALL tourists do the hike, so there was a line to get up and we could not move at our own speed. The sunrise at the summit was beautiful though. Then we hiked back, had breakfast warmed up by our guide and hiked down a similar way for 3 hours. It is steep and slippery from the dust at places and I managed to fall down 3 times haha! We were back at the Base Camp | at around 10am and then taken back to Antigua by a minivan by 12noon.

TIPS & USEFUL INFORMATION

• It is recommended to take 3-4 litres of water with you. Except for the morning coffee you have to self cater all water for the trip. There are a few shops in the first part of the hike where you can buy water and snacks but after lunch on day one there will be none

• Bring extra snacks with you

• Self cater toilet paper, wet wipes - there are no showers and toilets may not have paper on the hike

• Take a warmer jacket for the night - most companies will have jackets to borrow (they are probably not washed very often though, but it did not bother me)

• During the day it was hot when we hiked but the weather can be anything and unpredictable so also prepare for rain