The Oriente and Atlantic Coast Things to See and Do

Most travelers visiting the Oriente and Atlantic Coast in Guatemala stay around the Río Dulce area. The river flows out of Lake Izabal, the largest lake in Guatemala where a Spanish fortress called Castillo de San Felipe was built in the 1500s to protect the lake from pirate invasions. Today, the river here is spanned by one of the largest bridges in Central America. The town of Fronteras is to one side of the bridge, and on the other is Rellenos. East of these two towns are several resorts and marinas and then flows into another lake called El Golfete, with a handful of houses and tiny business on the shore. Next comes a large gorge surrounded by wildflowers and animals such as howler monkeys, until the river enters the Caribbean Sea near Livingston, a town full of Garifuna people. The Rio Dulce National Park is located on the banks of the Río Dulce, covering an area of around 130 square kilometers (80 square miles). Other attractions in this part of Guatemala include the Quiriguá ruins along the Montagua River, where around 20 sandstone monuments from the Mayan Classic Period (200-900AD) have been unearthed.

Other Activity pages in The Oriente and Atlantic Coast that may be of interest: Río Lámpara Activities, El Estor Activities, Chiquimula Activities, Puerto Barrios Activities, Esquipulas Activities, Livingston Activities, Activities in Fronteras/El Relleno (Rio Dulce) and Puerto Santo Tomás De Castilla Activities.