San Pedro La Laguna

About San Pedro La Laguna:

San Juan La Laguna wraps around San Pedro to the north and west, Santiago Atitlán lies to the east and south, and on the far side of the volcano the municipality meets Chicacao, in Suchitepéquez. Most people arrive by water. The public lancha from Panajachel covers 13 km of lake in around 45 minutes, and boats from Santiago Atitlán take half an hour. By road, you leave the Inter-American Highway at kilometre 148 and drive 30 km down through Santa Clara La Laguna, which puts the town 178 km from Guatemala City; direct buses from the capital take around four hours, and others run from Quetzaltenango. A second road follows the bay east to Santiago Atitlán, the link toward San Lucas Tolimán and the Pacific slope.

Farming still gives work to more people than anything else. Coffee climbs the lower slopes of the volcano, with maize, beans and avocado in between, and some women still weave belts, shawls and skirts on the backstrap loom. Tourism is the other half of the town: Spanish schools take students for weeks at a time, and the footpath between the docks is lined with cafés, hostels, yoga spaces and bars. San Pedro also trains a large number of teachers, who go on to work in schools all around the lake. The town banned plastic bags and straws in 2016, and the market at the top of the hill, where the buses stop, is still where local families shop.

At 1,610 metres the town is lower and warmer than the highland towns on the rim of the basin. Afternoons reach 24 to 27 °C in most months and nights rarely fall below 13 °C, so there is no frost to plan for. Rain is heavy, over 2,000 mm a year, nearly all of it between May and October, with June and September the wettest months and December to March close to dry. Behind the town the San Pedro volcano rises to just over 3,000 metres, and its slopes are a municipal ecological park, with a summit trail that starts among coffee and maize plots before entering thick forest. Near the Santiago dock there is a small beach where people swim and paddle kayaks, and from midday the wind often turns the lake choppy.

Pedranos, as locals call themselves, are almost all Tz’utujil Maya, and Tz’utujil is the first language in most homes. The town is divided into six cantones: Pacuchá, Chuacanté, Chuasanahí, Tzanjay, Xepacoral and Bella Vista, the last two added as the town spread. Alongside them lives a small foreign community of long-stay residents from North America, Europe and Israel, most of them close to the water. The visitor year peaks in the dry months, and the fiesta of San Pedro on 29 June brings several days of fireworks and loud music. If you are choosing a house near the centre, keep that week in mind.

Houses in San Pedro La Laguna:

In the cantones up the hill, families build their own homes in block and concrete, often several storeys on a narrow lot, with a shop or rented rooms on the ground floor. That is why many of the buildings for sale in the centre are mixed-use, and some are sold with tenants in place. Nearer the lake, houses and small hotels sit on steep lanes and footpaths that no car can reach, so furniture and building materials arrive by tuk-tuk and by hand. The houses for sale in San Pedro La Laguna with a view of the water are on the slopes either side of the ridge and along the shore. For anything right on the shoreline, ask how high the lake came after 2009, when rising water flooded shoreline buildings here and in the neighbouring towns.

Rentals in San Pedro La Laguna:

Most newcomers start by renting, and San Pedro has long had some of the cheapest monthly rents on the lake. Language students, volunteers and long-stay travellers take rooms, small apartments with a kitchen and whole houses by the month, nearly always furnished. The cheapest places are close to the docks and the footpath, which is also where the bars are; for quiet nights, look higher up the hill or toward the edges of town. Short stays follow the dry season and the rhythm of the language schools. Before you buy, a month of monthly rentals in San Pedro La Laguna will teach you more about the noise, the stairs and the walk to the dock than any weekend visit.

Land and Lots in San Pedro La Laguna:

Building land is scarce in a municipality this small. What comes up is mostly compact town lots with water, electricity and drainage already connected, plus coffee plots on the lower slopes of the volcano. Much of the town was once municipal land: in 1925 the government authorised titles for the plots families held on it, and the municipality divided its land into lots in 1930 and 1932, and some lots are still sold today as terreno ejidal. Ask exactly what document the seller holds, and have a lawyer check it at the property registry and the municipality before you agree a price. Guatemala’s constitution also reserves to the State a 200-metre strip around lake shores; urban land and plots registered before 1956 are exempt, but a foreign buyer needs government authorisation to acquire them. On the slopes, walk the plot in the rainy season and see how a vehicle reaches it, because the coffee lanes are steep. Good land for sale in San Pedro La Laguna is the kind where all of those answers are clear.

FAQ:

• How do I get to San Pedro La Laguna?

  The quickest way across is the lancha from Panajachel, around 45 minutes on the water. By car or bus, turn off the Inter-American Highway at kilometre 148 and follow the road down through Santa Clara La Laguna; from Guatemala City the bus ride takes around four hours.

• Can a foreigner buy property near the lake?

  Away from the shore, yes, in your own name. Within 200 metres of the water the land belongs to a State reserve, and only urban plots or those registered before 1956 are exempt, with government authorisation required for a foreign buyer, so get a lawyer involved before you sign.

• What is the weather like?

  Warm for the Atitlán basin: 24 to 27 °C in the afternoon and mild nights around 13 °C or more. Rain falls mostly from May to October, and June and September are the wettest months.

• Which part of town is quieter?

  The footpath between the two docks holds most of the bars and hostels. The cantones higher up the hill are calmer, though the whole town gets loud around the San Pedro fiesta at the end of June.

• What should I check before buying a lot?

  Find out whether the lot has a registered title or is sold as terreno ejidal, and confirm water, electricity and drainage. Then check how vehicles reach it and, close to the shore, how far the lake rose in recent years.