How Locals Cool Off in Guatemala

On the pacific coast of Guatemala there is a place as magical as any fairytale you’ve ever read. Where the water flows like wine and the smiles are contagious.

The name is Xocomil, and the game is water slides.

Guatemala’s largest (and I think only) water park is a grueling three and a half hour ride from my homebase in Sololá, but I was able to experience all of its splender because I was already in the neighborhood.

I had traveled to the city of Mazate (Mazatenango) the day before with some local friends and co-workers to have dinner and check out a new nightclub in the area.

While Mazate itself is nothing to write home about (pretty sketchy), a fun night out of dancing and singing karaoke made it almost worth the trip.

The icing on the cake was the decision we made the following morning when we determined that the best cure for our tired eyes and heavy heads was to spend a day at Xocomil before returning home.

What a great decision!

For those of you who know me personally, you know that water parks are up there with pool parties, pulled pork and Rihanna playlists as one of my favorite things on this planet.

After a nice breakfast at Pollo Campero, we waved down a crowded microbus to take us the half hour journey to the main entrance of the park.

Luckily for us, as soon as we got in line a lovely little lady informed us that if you were a resident of the Suchitepéquez department of Guatemala, the price was 10Q ($1.25) per person, instead of the usual 100Q ($13).

We were not, but she happily obliged to buy our tickets for us with her ID. What a sweetheart. Despite the nice gesture, we still couldn’t avoid the hour long lines thanks to Latin America inefficiency and lack of customer service (watch the video below).

Regardless of the long lines, once we entered the water park it was sunshine and smooth sailing from then on. We hit up all the water slides, lazy river, dunking booth and wave pool until we were too water logged to do anymore.

And the best thing about it… You won’t find any foreigners here! Travel like a local : )

SIDE NOTE: One of the greatest things about going to a water park in Guatemala is that people are deathly afraid of the super fast/steep slides so there was no lines at all to ride those. Rinse and repeat!

Gareth

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!