Puerto de San Jose, Guatemala

BEACH!

Austin and I landed in the Guatemala City Airport (GUA) and were a bit surprised by how cold it was.

Please keep in mind, that we had a direct flight from LAX to GUA.  In January, (at least this one) Guatemala is colder than Los Angeles.  Our flight left at 12:01 am and arrived in Guatemala four and a half hours later at 6:30 am. (That is neither a typo nor poor math, it is two hours later in Guatemala than it is in Los Angeles.)

We were picked up by Hergil, and from there I don't really remember what happened, because I was really, really tired.

I know that I dropped off most of my stuff, took a short nap, then Austin and I embarked with duffle bags.

We took a "chicken bus" to Puerto de San Jose and arrived quite late, because the bus was constantly picking up more passengers at dozens of stops along the way.  Due to all these stops, the chicken bus took three hours to reach our destination instead of an hour and a half.

The first night, we arrived late, and got a small motel room right next to a discotecha. Which means that some powerful dance beats were vibrating through the neighborhood until midnight.

The next day, we ate breakfast at the motel.

Then we found a fancy four star resort on the beach for about $100 USD per night. (Soleil Pacifico for anyone who's interested.) We told everyone that it was our honeymoon; then the resort upgraded us from a normal room to a bungalow, (with a kitchen, and living room) for no extra cost.  (I would like to think it's because we are such a cute couple, but it is in fact the slow season for them.)

Aerial photo of Hotel Soleil Pacifico: courtesy of the internet.
The big thing on the left is the restaurant we stood in front of for the last picture.

The beach was amazing! It was between 80 and 90 degrees (F) the whole time we were there.  The beach had black sand (from volcanic rock nearby) which made the pacific ocean about 75 degrees (F).

Such cute honey-mooners!

We went to the beach every day that we were there.  

SuperAustin: the hero of kittens everywhere.

The bridge we crossed every day on our way to the beach. www.hotelessoleilguatemala.com

The gorgeous view of the jungle from the bridge. We crossed it every day to get from the bungalow to the beach.


Our first morning in Puerto de San Jose, I woke up in our darkened room, because I heard a sound-effect of a jungle bird. I thought "It's really early for someone to be watching TV." and went back to sleep.  I realized later, that a real  jungle bird was on our roof.

On our way back from the beach.  We're standing in front of the outdoor restaurant.

Austin and I had a good time.  Overall: everything was really affordable, especially when compared to a similarly-priced crappy hotel in Los Angeles, the weather cannot be beat, and it is such a beautiful place.  If you want a strictly R&R vacation, Hotel Soleil Pacifico in Puerto San Jose is the place to be.

Overall, I recommend vacationing near the ocean in general, but most especially in places where it's warm enough to interact with the waves without turning purple.

I really love Puerto de San Jose (Puerto San Jose), and hope everyone gets a chance to visit it sometime. (Bring your own sunscreen.)

Much love,

Meagan Michelle