The Best Spanish Schools in Lake Atitlan Guatemala

Lake Atitlan is famous for many things, like volcanos, the lake and deep Mayan culture. But, it’s also one of the best places to learn Spanish in Guatemala and even Central America. In my opinion, the Spanish schools in Lake Atitlan do a really good job of culturally immersing you into their ways and everyday lifestyle. A lot of people stand strongly by saying that this is the best way to learn Spanish. Find out about things to do, where to stay and information about all the different towns in my Lake Atitlan travel guide.

A lot of these schools have different types of learning options for people to choose from, including online, in-class and a type of learning that has you doing a lot of exploration, activities and having conversations with locals, that they incorporate as part of the lessons.

Lake Atitlan is also very touristy and lively place. When you’re learning Spanish here, there’ll be much more things to do around Lake Atitlan. When you’re not actively learning Spanish you can do hiking, kayaking on the lake, explore the different towns, eating local cuisine and shopping for artsy locally made items, along with many other things. Lake Atitlan in general is a great place to visit for vacation and there are really nice hotels around the lake to pamper yourself if you want to. let’s get into learning about some of these Spanish schools.

Town Cheat Sheet

San Pedro La Laguna: The “Student Hub.” Most of the schools are here. It’s perfect if you want a social atmosphere, plenty of cafes, and affordable nightlife.

Panajachel (Pana): The “Convenient Base.” Best for those who want easy transport links, more shopping, and a slightly more “modern” feel while still being on the lake.

San Juan La Laguna: The “Artisan Village.” Quieter and more traditional. Best if you want a more authentic, low-key experience near San Pedro.

San Marcos La Laguna: The “Spiritual Center.” Ideal if you want to combine Spanish lessons with yoga, meditation, or holistic workshops.

San Pedro Spanish School

• Location: San Pedro La Laguna
• Price: There’s a starter package for $135 /week. Most popular package for $320 /week. Extended package for $350 /week
• Time: Students can choose to study from 8am or from 2pm. These prices may change and everything depends on the availability of spaces.
• Accommodation: There are 2 options for the homestay family, inclusive of private bathroom or shared bathroom. Shared bathroom is $140 /week while the private is $170 /week.

San Pedro Spanish school in Lake Atitlan is probably the most popular school. This school also offers exclusive activities created by the school in order for people to see, enjoy and fully experience the Mayan culture first hand in San Pedro and the places around Lake Atitlán. They have different activities every week: Culture, Adventure and food.

The San Pedro School has starter kits included in their packages. The package includes: Pens, pencils, notebook, workbook, worksheets, Wi-Fi, level certificate, coffee bar, snacks and a diploma at the end. There’s a private teacher for each student and all the teachers A1 to C2 can speak English.

The homestay Accommodation is basically you staying with a family for 7 nights. You get three meals a day, Wi-Fi and get an opportunity to do activates with the family.

There’s also a travel starter kit that lists all your weekly activities, tourist map and a Guatemalan souvenir. Every day there are different activities, with a mix of outdoor and cultural.

There’s also a gym at the school, luggage storage, high speed Wi-Fi, a cafeteria and you get free access to San Pedro Museum.

Lake Atitlan Spanish School

• Location: 8VA. CALLE 2-86  ZONA 2 San Pedro La Laguna. Lake Atitlan, 07018 Solola, Guatemala. From the Panajachel dock, turn left on the first street, continue walking approximately 300m, on the right you’ll see the sign. It’s located right next to from D’Juice Girls.
• Price: The prices of this school varies by the number of hours per week, as well as whether you’re studying with a teacher one on one or two on one.
• The price ranges from 15 hours per week at $181 to 20 hours per week at $245. There’s also a non refundable fee to hold a spot for you at the school for $15.
• Time: Classes are offered in the morning and afternoon, with flexible scheduling to accommodate students’ needs.
• Accommodation: The Lake Atitlan Spanish school offers a homestay program. This is 7 nights with a room from Sunday to Saturday, 6 days with 3 meals of food per day from Monday to Saturday. This is also to get you talking as much Spanish with the local host family as possible and fully immerse yourself.

The teachers here are all qualified to teach all levels of the program according to European common framework and each Spanish teacher is certified by the ministry of education of Guatemala, by the Guatemalan Institute of tourism and by the rural University of Guatemala.

To help with communication, learning and cultural immersion, this Spanish school offers some extracurricular activities. These are offered after the classes at no extra cost. Here’s a list below of these activities.

Spanish Club
The Spanish Club helps to create groups of students who have the same level of understanding in Spanish. With the help of a teacher, they discuss different topics to improve their language skills. This activity is offered twice a week.

Cultural Interaction
The main objective of this activity is for each participant to talk about the culture of their country, including important dates, traditions, food, and more. All interactions are conducted in Spanish, helping students improve their listening and speaking comprehension.

Art Classes
In this activity, they invite important local artists who have excelled in various art forms. They will come to demonstrate some of their artistic abilities.

Painting Classes
In San Pedro La Laguna, art is one of the most important activities. They have an artist who will teach the basic techniques of painting, starting from the simplest to the more complex.

Films on the Civil War
Guatemala is a country that has suffered from civil war, which is a significant part of its history. They show films related to this theme, helping students learn about what happened during the 1980s.

Conferences
They will have several speakers discussing different cultural, political, and economic topics, including peace agreements. These talks will help students improve their listening comprehension.

Maya Ceremony
The School will have a Mayan priest who will demonstrate the Maya culture through a traditional Mayan ceremony, explaining the objectives and petitions made during the ceremony.

Football Game
For fun, the school will organize football games where students and teachers can play together.

On the weekends there are some special activities offered that I think are really run and also provide somewhat of a break from the hardcore learning.

Excursion to the Mayan Face / Indian Nose
One of the most exciting activities carried out by the students is the excursion to the Mayan Face, also known as Indian Nose. Most students do this activity to observe the dawn or the sunrise. They depart at 4 AM and return by 8 AM. The cost is GTQ 125 per person, which includes a guide and transportation.

Hiking to the San Pedro Volcano
Hiking up the San Pedro Volcano is one of the most common and important activities for tourists. The hike takes approximately 5 to 6 hours, including the round trip. The cost is GTQ 125 per person, which includes a guide.

Rural Biking
This activity allows students to become familiar with the town and its natural environment. After biking, students will have the opportunity to swim in the lake at a spot where they can relax. The cost of this package is GTQ 160 per person, which includes a bike, helmet, and guide. The activity lasts for 2 hours.

Mountain Biking
Mountain biking is one of the most entertaining activities that students can do during weekends. Participants will visit places with incredible views of the lake and enjoy its natural beauty. The cost is GTQ 220 per person, which includes a bike, helmet, and entrance to the viewpoints.

Excursion to the Largest Market in Central America (Chichicastenango)
In this activity, students will have the opportunity to interact with the vendors in the market, and they can also be evaluated on their level of Spanish. This activity takes place every Sunday and costs GTQ 60 per person, which includes transportation.

Orbita Spanish School

• Location: 8a Calle 4-26 Zona 2 San Pedro La Laguna Lake Atitlan Solola, Guatemala, C.A.
• Price: The Orbita Spanish School has several course options with different prices. There are also different payment options. Paypal, Wise, Revolut, Bank transfer and cash are all accepted.
  • option 1: Standard Course – 1 Week – $169 USD Per Person
  • option 2: Standard Course + Family Stay + Meals – 1 Week – $298 USD Per Person
  • option 3: Standard Course + Lodging – 1 Week = $235 USD (Single) – $428 (Couple). I like this one. Chloe and I could go together.
  • option 4: Standard Course + Lodging – 1 Week – $249 USD (Single) – $439 (Couple)
  • option 5: Standard Course + Study – 1 Week – $265 (Single) – $459 (Couple)
  • option 6: 3 Hours per Day Classes (1 Week) – $129 USD
  • option 7: 3 Hours per day of Classes + Family Stay + Meals (1 Week) – $258 USD
• Time: Orbita Spanish school holds morning classes from 8:30 am to 12:30pm and afternoon classes from 2:00pm to 6:00pm.
• Accommodation: There are different types of Mayan Host Families, with some of them having children and some have grand parents.

When you enroll in a class with Orbita School you also the following at no charge: Note books, work books, Wi-Fi, Coffee, afternoon activities and optional trips to local tourist sites with your teacher.

All the host families live within 10 minutes average from the school. All host families have Wi-Fi. These host families are there just to aid you in cultural immersion and give you a place to stay for the duration. They are not your parents and don’t really care what you do in your own free time. I recommend taking a room with a private toilet at an additional $20 USD. I think spending 20 dollars for your own toilet is a no brainer.

The School offers a movie night in Spanish with English subtitles on a Tuesday. On Wednesdays you get to celebrate a Mayan ceremony according to the day. After studying there are games to play with the locals. I’m not sure what the names of the games are or if they are even played anywhere else. Orbita also offers a chocolate tour to sample authentic Guatemalan local chocolate. Beach walking where you can see birds and butterflies. They offer a hike to Pa Kamb’al park with an entrance fee of $5 USD. Five versus five soccer and Salsa are also offered on Thursdays.

On Friday there’s a honey tour and painting. Also, at 3pm you get to visit the Nature reserve Tzankujil. The locals also teach you how to make local foods at a very small cost, some as low as $2 USD.

Corazon Maya Spanish School

• Location: 6a. Avenida 5-34 zona 3, San Pedro La Laguna, Sololá.
• Price: Like most of these schools, Corazon Maya Spanish is very flexible with their courses and prices. There are several options to choose from.
  • option 1: Study one on one $103 per week with 15 hours
  • option 2: Study one on one $122 per week with 20 hours
  • option 3: Study one on one $155 per week with 25 hours
  • option 4: Study one on one $181 per week with 30 hours
  • option 5: Study in Pairs, 2 students and 1 teacher $142 Per week with 15 hours and $187 per week with 20 hours. $218 per week for 25 hours and $261 per week for 30 hours.
• Time: Corazon Maya Spanish school holds morning classes and afternoon classes, I’m not sure exactly when.
• Accommodation: It holds 2 types of housing for students. Family home stay that costs $120 per week and School housing that range from $60 to $80 depending on which bungalow you choose. Prices depend on how many people stay in one bungalow and this price is special for students. The Bungalows look very nice with red brick design and red tile floors. You get a shower, free Wi-Fi, a double bed, kitchen area, coffee area and it’s very close to the lake.

Family home stays are popular with students because they allow them to learn more about authentic Guatemalan life and practice their Spanish at home with fluent speakers. You get a private room with your own key, a shared bathroom with hot water and three meals a day, six days per week. All the host families live in San Pedro and treat you like just another member of the family.

There are free daily activities offered by the School. These are designed to be fun and to culturally immerse you among the locals. These activities are Coffee tours, cooking classes, hikes, games, dance classes and weaving.

The Corazon Maya Spanish school has, what I think to be a really cool ongoing project. Where they try to give back to the community in some way. They want to be active and impact their society to change for the better. If you choose to study here you help to support that project. They are currently assisting  eighty local indigenous girls, from low-income families. A lack of education really affects there people in Guatemala and you get to help pay for their education.

The families that you stay with and live among also get paid by these schools. Your money helps each one of them out a lot. Maybe if you enroll and you can donate something, like buy them clothes, computers, accessories, appliances etc.

Jabel Tinamit Spanish School

• Location: Callejon las Armonias, Panajachel, Sololá, Guatemala
• Price: These prices are separate from the homestay cost. I will give the homestay cost below in the accommodation section. The payment method accepted here is will be either cash or Paypal on the website. For one on one lessons that range from 2 hours per day to 6 hours per day costs from $245 to $360.
  • There are also flexible hourly rates. 10 hours for $105, 20 hours for $190 and 30 hours for $260.
  • For study packages with 2 students and one teacher costs from $455 to $575, ranging from 10 hours to 25 hours per week.
  • The study package for 3 students and one teacher is from $750 to $790
• Time: School is open from 8 am to 6 pm.
• Accommodation: I think this school is very accommodating to it’s students. They offer the typical homestay where you live with the local families and there are also rooms and even entire apartments for rent, if you come with a group. The homestay comes with a private bedroom and a shared bathroom, 3 meals a day. For some reason no meals on Sundays are provided. You can also pay an extra fee for a private bathroom, which I highly recommend to anyone. Jabel Tinamit offers rooms in a boutique hotel with the option for self-catering accommodation. It’s near the school with rentals per night, weekly or monthly. You’ll have to rent this via the website.

The Jabel Tinamit Spanish School offers transport from the airport and shuttle services to. They go from Guatemala City Airport to Panajachel. Panajachel to Guatemala City Airport, Antigua to Panajachel and the reverse, Panajachel to Chichicastenango. This costs $35 to $120.

This school is authorised and registered by the Ministry of Education of Guatemala (MINEDUC) and the Tourist Commission of Guatemala (INGUAT). If some of you travel with friends and family and want to learn together, you can choose to study in that group if you like. But, only up to three students per teacher. You can study with one or two friends. You will have your own teacher and to maintain the quality of learning 3 students per teacher is the maximum.

This school also offers online Spanish classes. You can just visit the website and pay for the service via paypal. Just schedule the class 12 hours prior.

This school also offer something called “Learn & Travel”. This is where your teacher who teaches you Spanish everyday also becomes your travel guide. Your teacher will accompany you and guide you to explore all the tourist attractions around the lake and to explore the different towns. You simple just have to let them know where you want to go or you can ask for recommendations if you’ve got no idea what there is to do.

If you have no idea what to do in Lake Atitlan check out my article to find out things to do in Lake Atitlan.

This school offers activities just like all the schools on this list. Some of these activities help you as well as a student going to school in Lake Atitlan. You could assist with conversational English, computer teaching, mathematics or reading. You could participate in a learning center, help with a Saturday tutorial, or support a student with homework. A cool thing to think about is that a number of the students achieved scholarships in the USA while others are contributing to the Guatemalan economy by working in technology.

Other activities include Guatemala cuisine, Maya Cave exploration, nature reserve and zipline, planting trees, visiting Santiago town, Weaving, volcano hikes, shopping trips, a tour to Iximche Archaeological Site, bike tours and Zumba contests.

Cooperativa Spanish School

• Location: 7ª. Avenida, 7-37 zona 2, San Pedro La Laguna
• Price: There’s basically 2 types of plans, a one on one plan and a two on one plan. That’s 2 students and 1 teacher. Classes range from 15 to 30 hours per week and from $120 to $240 for the one on one respectively. For the two on one classes, prices range from $180 to $360. There’s also online classes for $12 for 20 hours of classes. Payments can be made in the school office including: Classes, Homestay, transportation and other activity payments. There are several ATMs of the 5B company that work with VISA cards and not always with MasterCard. This is the most common way people her use to obtain local bills and there are generally no problems, it is easy and fast. You can also pay via debit or credit card.
• Time: Classes are 3 to 6 hours per day.
• Accommodation: The homestay fee is a separate cost. For a shared bathroom you pay $130 and $145 for a private bathroom. Take she private bathroom ad part with your precious $15 dollars. This is for a 7 night stay with meals from Monday to Saturday. I’m still unsure why Sundays they don’t provide meals, maybe they don’t cook on Sundays for religious reasons or something.

Regardless of your level, San Pedro La Laguna is one of the most perfect settings to learn Spanish. The small town of under 20,000 Maya-Tz’utujil residents allows you to immerse yourself in local Mayan culture and the stunning scenery of the mountainous, Guatemalan countryside.

San Pedro also offers a wide range of affordable guest houses, hotels and hostels for those who choose not to live with a family.

The activities offered by the Cooperativa Spanish School area Chocolate tour, Weaving classes, cooking classes and kayaking.

This school also does a very charitable activity and help poor families in the community. Building houses, providing food and money are a few of the things they help with. Your money also goes towards helping the disabled people of the Somos Hijos Del lago center. You can even volunteer to help out here if you like.

The Kamon Project is about building homes. There are many houses in bad condition that need rebuilding. I remember in my time in Lake Atitlan not long ago, we went into a house for some food and the floor was just dirt and the roof was leaking. While we were eating there were kids just playing all around us from the family serving the food.

Lake Atitlan is a wonderful place to go on vacation, much less learn Spanish. I think if you learn anything in an enjoyable environment you just relate more positivity to it and be good at it quicker. Almost all the packages are the same, the same type of family integration homestay and on board housing across all the schools. I think what really separates the schools apart is the extra activities they offer and tours.