Getting There
Semuc Champey is a natural next step from Antigua along the well-worn Central American backpacker trails. I don’t love taking the well-worn trail but sometimes it’s that way for a reason. In this instance, local buses take much longer, none go direct, and they are much less comfortable. Usually, I prefer to suck it up, as far as comfort goes, but the ride from Antigua to Semuc is NOT short. It’s an all-day situation. 5-6 hours to Coban and a couple of hours to Lanquin after that. All that being said, just take a stroll to any tourist place in Antigua and book a one-way to Semuc. Or wherever is next, there are options to all the backpacker hot spots, whichever parts of the traditional loop you’d like to head to.
But Where Is It We Are Going?
Okay so we’re headed there, but what IS Semuc Champey? Literally, the words mean “where the river hides under the earth” in Q’eqchi’, one of the 24 indigenous languages in Guatemala. Because that’s literally what it is. A natural limestone bridge over a river that runs under the earth.
Where the river heads underground.
For the traveler, it’s a jungle paradise. Complete with bright aqua limestone pools.
The last bit of your long mountain drive from Antigua will take you down into green valleys thick with all the vegetation you would expect from a tropical region.
The town of Lanquin isn’t very big, but there and immediately surrounding it are where most travelers will stay. I say most. It’s probably all. I don’t know what other options there would be. Many of these places provide food too since the town itself doesn’t have much (that we saw, very happy to be proven wrong). So life continued to get a bit more expensive on this leg of our trip. Mini-monopolies on the food situation did not yield 10Q tacos. We booked two beds in the dorm at El Retiro Lodge.
Pros: Buffet family style dinners, on the river, beautiful landscaping, tubing excursions, all you need to book your time in Semuc. Cons: Food felt expensive, a bit removed from town, very minimal “local” experience, no need to practice Spanish at all. There were many options in and around Lanquin and Semuc Champey, including more remote eco-lodges and a handful of party hostels. Choose your own adventure.
We booked 3 nights and spent two full days here. Many folk only spend one full day, because that is really all you need to see the main attraction. It’s a tiring day though, and we appreciated the extra day to enjoy the beauty of where we were staying and rest. We weren’t on any time limitations though, and if you’ve only got a week or two in Guatemala and are trying to see as much as possible, one day here is sufficient.
I recommend just booking your tour of Semuc Champey with wherever you are staying. Even if you can save a few dozen Qs with one of the guys who will swarm you as you get off the bus. We went with one of the guys, and while our day touring Semuc was wonderful, we did get pretty good and swindled on our way out. We thought we had booked a spot in one of the tour buses going on to Flores, but our promised spots did not exist come the morning we were trying to leave. We ended up having to basically sit on the laps of folks who had booked properly and get dropped off at the local bus depot in the next town. If I wasn’t with someone who spoke fluent Spanish I would have been screwed. We were kinda screwed anyway. Our all day ride to Flores ended up being with at least 20 other folks in a 12 passenger van with no air conditioning. Oh, and Flores is out of the mountains so all day it was SWELTERING. It’s a story now. But that was a miserable day.
On the day exploring Semuc, you will be loaded into the back of a pickup and driven (standing) to the water. Likely several groups will be picked up by the same truck. Just roll with it. You’ll be driven at least 30 minutes up and down the hills through the jungle and some pretty dang stunning scenery. You’ll come to a river. There is optional caving and tubing. DO IT.
Kan’Ba Caves
This was one of my favorite experiences during our entire 4 months in Guatemala. This Missouri girl grew up exploring limestone caves and I really love them. The less developed the better. This cave isn’t huge, but it does require swimming and climbing all by CANDLELIGHT. That you hold yourself. You do need to be a fairly comfortable swimmer and at least able to haul yourself up about seven feet of rope ladder. None of it is excessively dangerous, but just enough so to make it really fun. For me anyway.
Swimming & Tubing
We then walked on down the river to these falls and enjoyed just swimming around a bit. You can climb up several places and jump off. One I did, one required more physical ability to shimmy up a rope than either of us possessed. Whoops.
We then tubed back to where the trucks dropped us off and had lunch. Really the only option is a big buffet, but it’s not bad and very filling.
El Mirador & The Pools
After lunch is the main attraction. The pools. You can also take this hike to up to “El Mirador” for an epic view. Our earlier hikes in and around Atitlan had made me very aware of how out of shape I was though, and my body just wasn’t ready for the incline. It’s one of the only times I’ve passed up something like this, but my body was begging me to acknowledge my limits. So I listened to her.
The pools are best paddled in than seen from above anyway :)
This bright unreal water in the middle of the jungle comes up through the limestone from groundwater below and makes these pools and steps perfect for playing in. No need to be a strong swimmer, most of it is quite shallow. And don’t worry about the little fish. If you sit still they’ll give you a little pedicure, if you can handle the tickling.
Whenever you’re done just head back across the bridge and wait for a truck to load into. Especially if you hit the late afternoon long sunshine the ride back through the hills is even more epic than the ride there.
A beautiful, adventurous, and refreshing day :) Also a very wet day. A great day to have a dry bag like this one. I have the 10 gallon and I’ve taken it kayaking, scuba diving, and on beach days all over the world. Infinitely useful. Mine was a Christmas present so I didn’t do any brand research or comparison. It works great but I’m sure most brands are also great. It’s not a complicated product.
Budget
What We Spent
Links You Might Like
There are more than a few articles like this one. Semuc is in no way a “hidden gem.” I have fun documenting my own experiences, but that doesn’t mean those experiences are unique. Here’s some important stuff about the area I have no first hand knowledge of:
Top Guatemalan Beauty Spot Mired in Indigenous Rights Conflict
The Best Way to Protect the World’s Forests? Keep People in Them
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