Humpback whales pass Guatemala’s Pacific coast in the northern-hemisphere winter: Guatemala.com (February 2026) puts the season at November to April with January to March the busiest months, and an operator quoted by the state news agency in 2021 said December to March is when they are easiest to see. The 2025-26 trips that Prensa Libre listed (22 December 2025 and 5 January 2026) left from Marina Pez Vela at Puerto Quetzal at Q1,300 per person for about five hours on the water; that is the newspaper’s listing of the organiser’s details, not a price on an operator’s own website.
This page sets out which source says which months, where boats leave from, what the most recent published trips cost and included, and the rules every boat has to follow near the animals under CONAP’s 2015 regulation. It does not pick a single best week: the sources don’t, and neither do we.
When: who says which months
| Source | Season it gives | Date of source |
|---|---|---|
| Guatemala.com | November to April, with January, February and March the months with the most sightings | 18 February 2026 |
| Marlon Chilín, CONAP marine-coastal adviser, in Prensa Libre | large and small cetaceans commonly arrive November to April | 22 January 2019 |
| Tour operator Norman Raxón, in AGN | visible all year, easiest December to March | April 2021 |
The overlap of all three is December to March; November and April are in two of the three. Trips that Prensa Libre listed for the last season ran on 27-28 December 2025 and 10, 11, 17 and 18 January 2026, all at weekends.
Where the boats leave from
| Departure | What the source says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Marina Pez Vela, km 102.5, Puerto Quetzal (Escuintla) | meeting point for Ballenas Guate’s 2025-26 trips | Prensa Libre, 22 December 2025 and 5 January 2026 |
| Monterrico (Santa Rosa) | lanchas head several kilometres out to look for cetaceans | Guatemala.com, February 2026 |
| Sipacate (Escuintla) | fishermen and local guides offer tours in season | Guatemala.com, February 2026 |
| Las Lisas, Chiquimulilla (Santa Rosa) | Serviturismo ran trips with 10 tourists and three crew, 7:00 to 13:00 | Prensa Libre, January 2019 |
In 2021 AGN reported that Marina Pez Vela was the only authorised place with tourism boats. That is a 2021 statement. Guatemala.com’s 2026 report describes trips from Monterrico and Sipacate as well, and we found no current list of authorised departure points, so ask your operator for its CONAP permit whichever beach it leaves from.
For the road to the coast, see Guatemala City to Puerto San José, Antigua to Monterrico and, for the drive time between Antigua and the port, Puerto Quetzal to Antigua.
What the most recent trips cost and included
The organiser Ballenas Guate announces its trips on Instagram (@ballenas_guate) and takes bookings by WhatsApp. The details below are a newspaper listing: what Prensa Libre printed on 22 December 2025 and 5 January 2026 for its December 2025 and January 2026 departures, not a price list published on an operator’s own website.
| Item | As listed by Prensa Libre (22 Dec 2025 and 5 Jan 2026) |
|---|---|
| Price | Q1,300 per person, limited places |
| Meet / board | 7:30 meeting, boarding the yacht at 8:00 |
| Time on the water | five hours |
| Back | between 12:30 and 13:00 |
| Included | the yacht, five hours of navigation, about 30 minutes of open-sea swimming, a first-aid guide, a tour guide, digital photos, fruit and soft drinks |
| Booking | WhatsApp 5874-5938, as printed by Prensa Libre |
Prensa Libre’s December article notes that sightings are not guaranteed, because this is a natural environment. No 2026-27 dates or price had been published by any operator we could load on 1 October 2026, so the Q1,300 is last season’s Prensa Libre listing, not this season’s price.
Older figures you may find elsewhere are years out of date. AGN’s 2021 article priced a half-day boat trip for a group of six at $950 to $1,100 (Central de Turismo); a Puerto Quetzal operator page still online was last modified in March 2015. We do not carry either as a current price.
What you can see
- Humpback whales. AGN (2021) describes humpbacks of about 15 metres passing through on the way between Costa Rica and Mexico, about 25 nautical miles offshore, in groups of up to three, and says mating, births and calves can be seen in season.
- Bryde’s whales, smaller, which the same report says are in Pacific waters all year, 20 to 50 nautical miles out, in groups of up to 12.
- Dolphins and more. The same report names orcas and 14 dolphin varieties, plus manta rays and sea turtles. AGN reported in January 2024 that research in Guatemala has identified 33 cetacean species and 4 sea-turtle species.
The rules on the water (CONAP, 2015)
Guatemala regulates cetacean watching under CONAP’s Reglamento para la Observación de Cetáceos en Aguas Guatemaltecas, issued in June 2015 according to CONAP via Prensa Libre, and applied by INGUAT together with CONAP according to AGN (2024). We have not read the regulation’s text at CONAP: CONAP’s own page on it blocked our reader on 1 October 2026, so the points below are as reported by Prensa Libre (2019) and Guatemala.com’s summary of the regulation, not quoted from CONAP:
| Rule | As reported |
|---|---|
| Distance from whales | at least 100 m, engine in neutral |
| Distance from smaller cetaceans (dolphins) | at least 150 m, engines in neutral |
| If the animals come closer | engine to neutral, no sudden moves; resume only once they are at least 60 m away |
| Boats per group | at most three, at least 400 m apart |
| Speed near a group | at most 5 knots |
| Time with a group | at most 25 minutes, in daylight |
| Not allowed | swimming, diving, skiing, fishing or physical contact with cetaceans during a sighting; feeding them; following a mother with a calf; personal boats for tourist or recreational watching |
| Operator paperwork | registered with INGUAT; CONAP watching permit for 12 months, renewable, carried during the activity |
What that means for you as a passenger: a boat that speeds up to a whale, sits closer than 100 m with the engine running or stays with one group for more than 25 minutes is not following these rules. The regulation has the agency carry its CONAP permit during the trip, so you can ask to see it.
ID and children. Guatemala.com’s summary of the regulation says adults aboard must carry their DPI (the Guatemalan identity card) and that minors must be accompanied by an identified adult; it does not say what foreign visitors carry. AGN’s 2021 report says the trip is recommended for children over 8, because passengers need to keep their balance on the boat.
Before you go
Check the sea before you drive down: INSIVUMEH’s wave warnings for the Pacific coast are on our Pacific marine forecast, and heat and UV for the beach towns on our Pacific beach weather page. If you are on the coast anyway, the Monterrico turtle release and the Monterrico mangrove tour fill the rest of the weekend; everything else is in our activities index.
Where to stay
Last season’s trips, as Prensa Libre listed them, met at 7:30 at Puerto Quetzal, and our cruise-port page puts the road trip from Antigua at about 1 hour 20 minutes each way. Either leave Antigua before 6:00 or sleep on the coast the night before.
Where to stay in Puerto San José
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Season windows, departure points, trip details and rules were read on 1 October 2026 in the sources linked above; each carries its own date in the tables, and the oldest ones are flagged as such. CONAP’s regulation page could not be loaded that day, so the regulation’s text was not read at CONAP. Check the current season’s dates and price with the operator before you book.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When is whale-watching season in Guatemala?
The sources give slightly different windows, so here is each one. Guatemala.com (February 2026) says the cetacean season generally runs November to April, with January, February and March the months with the most sightings. A CONAP marine adviser told Prensa Libre in 2019 that large and small cetaceans commonly arrive from November to April. A tour operator quoted by the state news agency AGN in 2021 said the animals can be seen all year but are easiest to see from December to March. None of these is a guarantee for a given week.
Where do whale-watching boats leave from in Guatemala?
The 2025-26 departures that Prensa Libre listed for the organiser Ballenas Guate met at Marina Pez Vela, km 102.5, Puerto Quetzal. Guatemala.com (February 2026) names Monterrico and Sipacate as departure points where local guides and fishermen run boat trips in season. A 2019 Prensa Libre report quotes the Las Lisas company Serviturismo, in Chiquimulilla, Santa Rosa, which named Las Lisas, Puerto San José and the Bahía de Amatique as the usual places.
How much does whale watching cost in Guatemala?
The most recent published price we found is Q1,300 per person, the figure Prensa Libre printed for Ballenas Guate’s departures on 27-28 December 2025 and 10, 11, 17 and 18 January 2026 from Puerto Quetzal: about five hours on a yacht, with a guide, a first-aid guide, digital photos, fruit and soft drinks. That is a newspaper listing of the organiser’s details, not a price list on an operator’s own website. No operator we could load publishes a 2026-27 price yet (checked 1 October 2026), so ask the operator before you plan around that number.
How close can the boats get to the whales?
We could not read the regulation’s text at CONAP itself (its page blocked our reader on 1 October 2026), so this is the regulation as the press reported it. Under CONAP’s Regulation for cetacean watching in Guatemalan waters, issued in June 2015, boats must stay at least 100 metres from whales with the engine in neutral, as Prensa Libre reported in 2019. Guatemala.com’s summary of the regulation adds 150 metres for smaller cetaceans such as dolphins, a maximum of three boats on one group at least 400 metres apart, a 5-knot speed limit near the animals, and no more than 25 minutes of observation, in daylight.
Can you swim with whales in Guatemala?
Not with the whales. Guatemala.com’s summary of CONAP’s regulation lists swimming, diving, skiing, fishing and any physical contact with cetaceans as not allowed during a sighting, and feeding them is banned. Separately, the Ballenas Guate trips listed by Prensa Libre for 2025-26 included about 30 minutes of open-sea swimming; ask the operator where and when that swim happens relative to the whales.
How far out are the whales?
AGN’s 2021 report put the humpbacks about 25 nautical miles offshore, in groups of up to three, and Bryde’s whales year-round between 20 and 50 nautical miles out. The trips Prensa Libre listed for 2025-26 lasted about five hours, including the run out to the observation area and back.
