The Pacific coast of Guatemala is known for calm ocean waters that encourage sportfishing, black sand beaches born of volcanic action long past, and vast unspoiled rainforests. Booking Puerto Quetzal shore excursions is without question the best way to explore and enjoy the area’s incredible natural beauty.

When you cruise to Puerto Quetzal, you’ll see that Guatemala’s Pacific side is home to an impressive group of Mayan ruins, a host of active volcanoes, and large coffee plantations that grow beans acknowledged by coffee aficionados to be among the finest in the world. As a cruise passenger with a Quetzal port of call, you’re able experience these and other awe-inspiring sights by scheduling Puerto Quetzal cruise excursions.

Sportfishing fans come from far to experience the thrill of sailfishing in the waters off Guatemala. If that’s a bucket-list item for you, join an experienced captain and crew for a day-long expedition in waters that see the largest number of sailfish releases every day.   

On Puerto Quetzal shore excursions to the capital city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, see impressive colonial sites including fascinating museums that include one dedicated to Mayan music and another to the art of coffee making. See the city’s historic buildings and fountains at Plaza de Armas. Be amazed at the collection inside the jade museum and factory and hear facts and folklore about the gem’s mystical connection to the ancient Mayan civilization.

Food lovers will rejoice in Puerto Quetzal shore excursions that delve into the making of two of Guatemala’s most delicious and sought-after exports, coffee and chocolate. Travel through the countryside, past sugarcane farms, up into the mountains, and past smoldering volcanoes to tour a coffee farm, learn harvesting and drying techniques, and enjoy a freshly brewed cup of the plantation’s finest coffee.  At a chocolate museum, you’ll learn the history of cacao, artisanal methods for making chocolate, and try your hand at making a chocolate treat to take with you.

If you’re fascinated by the ancient Mayans and their lost civilization, book a full-day shore excursion that starts with a short flight to El Petén and on to the Tikal National Park, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Drive through the rainforest and arrive at a site where you’ll hike through the ruins, see the Great Plaza’s huge pyramids, and be awed by Mahler’s Palace, part of the royal residential complex.