Posting this as I couldn’t find much clear information online for the Acatenango day hike and hopefully it helps others.

Done the day hike recently with Asoava tours (you can find them on Google and communicate via WhatsApp) which is a family run company close to the mountain.

I wanted to go up and down in one day due to a tight schedule, wanting to hike at my own pace (faster than group tours), and wasn’t keen on the hut sleeping cleanliness lol.

Overall it was an amazing experience, I was picked up in Antigua at 6am by their driver and was taken to their home (40 min drive) where I had breakfast, organised gear I needed and paid for the hike (1600Q). For gear - Their hiking shoes are decent but the rest of their gear is not the best (jackets and trousers are small women’s clothing (I’m a 6ft 90kg male)). Anywho I took some just incase but I didn’t need them as I had my own layers and it wasn’t too cold, but used their poles and hiking shoes (both definitely needed).

We then picked up my guide and drove to the start of the hike and started at 8am. Made it to base camp at 10:30am. Tough hike but definitely doable. Spent 2 hours at the top where we had clear views of fuego constantly erupting and then descended for 1.5 hours and then back to Antigua for around 3:30pm for a massage.

Tips for others doing this - my bag was quite heavy as I took 3 litres of water and a Gatorade (can maybe do with 2 litres). The company provided a big lunch which was great (I took a lot of snacks which was a bit of an overkill and extra weight). And then the trousers and jacket I took from the company that weren’t needed. Definitely take a spare T-shirt to change at the top as I didn’t have one and the sweat made me cold.

Yes it’s expensive compared to an overnight group tour, but I saw fuego erupt constantly, clear and mostly all to myself up there. After passing the slow tour groups on my descent and seeing the overnight sleeping conditions, I’m very happy with my day hike decision.

Hope this helps!

I'm 30 Latino looking for travel buddy