Guatemala Beaches. In Monterrico Guatemala you will find many inexpensive hotels, some as low as $49 US a night for beachfront. As you travel north from Monterrico you head into what is considered among the prime sport fishing sites in the world! Most sailfish all time records are held in Guatemala! Whether it’s fly-fishing for sailfish or tarpon, conventional light tackle marlin, dorado, wahoo, tuna or rooster fish this area offers incredible fishing.
The town of Monterrico is situated on the Pacific coast of Guatemala in the department of Santa Rosa. Known for its volcanic black sand beaches and annual influx of sea turtles, the town also serves as a major weekend beach resort for citizens of Guatemala City. The town is growing more popular with foreign tourists largely because of the local sea turtle conservation efforts as well as the laid-back atmosphere of the area.
Monterrico is the most popular beach in Guatemala and also the closest to Guatemala City and Antigua. The beach is 50 – 80 feet wide and stretches for miles. It is busiest (not crowded by any measure) on Sunday with mostly Guatemalans. Most local girls prefer to swim in sweat shorts and t-shirts although you will find a few who brave a bikini. The beaches are mostly clean, and the hotels between the Dulce y Salado and the Eco Beach place generally keep it the best. You can take a 2 hour boat tour of the mangrove swamp for $5. The main road leads from the beach to the mangrove swamp dock and is a pleasant little 10 minute walk.
On the other side of Guatemala is Livingston. Livingston is the name of a town in Izabal Department, eastern Guatemala, at the mouth of the Río Dulce at the Gulf of Honduras. The town (whose name is occasionally adapted into Spanish orthography as Lívingston) serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. It was Guatemala’s main port on the Caribbean Sea before the construction of nearby Puerto Barrios.
Livingston is a very small town and it does not take long to become familiar with the place. The main street running through Livingston is Calle Principal. The majority of the towns shops, restaurants and bars are situated on this road. Everything else is situated on roads directly leading from Calle Principal.
Livingston has an unusual set of beaches to offer travelers. Livingston is considered an Island not as we think of one. However you do need to take a boat from either, Rio Dulce Town and Puerto Barrios. Rio Dulce is the best ride versus Puerto Barrios.
Guatemala Beaches
Livingston is noted for its unusual mix of Garífuna, Afro-Caribbean, Maya and Latino people and culture. In recent decades Livingston has developed a large tourist industry, on the Atlantic side of Livingston which is a ten minute walk through this sleepy Caribbean town. On the other side of the town of Livingston Guatemala is the Rio Dulce river. Thus you get the best of both Guatemala Beach offerings, River Rio Dulce and the Caribbean.
Livingston is a cheap place to hang out and enjoy the weather.
