Santo Tomas de Castilla

[jpcdds6]

Will be on the 9 day out of NOLA on the Pearl in December. The itinerary is usual Western Carib. with Grand Cayman and this port in Guatemala added. Has anyone been there? Not many ships stop in.

[ColinIllinois]

Check out the Guatemala ports of call forum. There are several threads pertaining to this port.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=460

[Clay Clayton]

We were there a number of years ago. There is (or was) a little market at the port with local crafts folks - not a Diamonds International in sight! There were a number of private excursions available that took you up stream to visit the area. The one we did, was great - included a stop at a hot mud spring. Beautiful scenery all around. But the highlight is the farewell the locals give when the ship leaves the dock. Be sure and be somewhere outside where you can see the pier...it's unforgettable.

[roger001]

As mentioned, only an industrial/commercial port and small. The area outside the gate is not good. You don''t want to exit there on your own. We've stopped there twice. Did a boat tour up stream with a visit to another community there. Very enjoyable but very rustic. Did a bus tour of the local area and was very interesting, unfortunately the interest was seeing what a very poor area it is. The shame is that the locals are absolutely wonderful. They've got it tough there in Guatemala with high crime and drug gang issues...and politics of their government. I'm glad it is a port stop again. Santo Thomas deserves any help it can get. We will be on a Pearl 9 day the cruise before you I believe.

[asalnars]

Santo Tomas de Castillo and the nearby town of Puerto Barrios are a real dump and not worth seeing. Also not recommended for safety reasons to go walking around by yourself. I live in Guatemala and so qualified to give an opinion.

 

There are some really beautiful places close by that are well worth visiting but better if on an organized tour. The best place to visit is Rio Dulce and Lake Izabal. You will not regret a visit to this place. A boat trip down Rio Dulce is highly recommended.

[kitkat343]

I loved our private tour of the rio dulce with go with Gus. But it was 3 years ago, and some of the more recent reviews on TripAdvisor are a little scary - people seemed to have problems and were required to pay in advance, and then were told the website had been hacked and the money hadn't been received. we had a great experience with them, but I'm not sure we'd feel completely comfortable sending money in advance for the tour (although maybe trip insurance would cover this?).

[SandyBeaches54]

Will be on the 9 day out of NOLA on the Pearl in December. The itinerary is usual Western Carib. with Grand Cayman and this port in Guatemala added. Has anyone been there? Not many ships stop in.

 

We will be on the Pearl in November with a stop in Guatemala, but no shore excursions are listed. What did you end up doing? I see that some people took a river cruise from this port. Thanks!

:)

[Clay Clayton]

It’s been years since we were there but we bought a boat tour inside the little rented market. We went with “go with Gus” based on the trip advisor reviews at that time.

 

Be sure to be on deck at sailaway for the best farewell from the locals you will ever have. One of the buses handling the ships excursions was three hours late in returning so even though we left hours late we still got then great sendoff.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ggTexasGal]

We will be on the Pearl in November with a stop in Guatemala, but no shore excursions are listed. What did you end up doing? I see that some people took a river cruise from this port. Thanks!

 

December 2017:

My husband and I booked through NCL (with Platinum Plus discount and ShorEX $50 credit, under $85 for both of us) Quirigua Archaeological Explorer. It was educational/informative. The Jade museum was interesting. The weather was not the best for our day (rainy), but we did enjoy the ride, the tour guide, the sites, and the tour!We saw banana plantations along the way. *** DO take BUG SPRAY and sunscreen!!!

[cruisinmeme]

We went there a while back. Only shopped at the big building at port.

Had been warned about roaming the town but saw a lot of people took off and did it anyway. We had met these two brothers traveling with their grandmother. They took off and went into town. One of the guys got bitten by a dog. Dog just walked up bit the guy and ran off. Well he had to be taken to some clinic for anti rabies shot. Then he brought one aboard for doctor to give to him, then arrangements was made for next port of call for another one. Hate to think what the cost of that trip into town cost.

BTW each of the booths in the market all had pretty much the same thing.

I do remember everyone complaining about the excursion that involved a long boat ride and going to some random town.

[napper777]

Totally agree with posters in regard to the sailaway goodbye from the locals. People (including me and partner) were brought to tears. The trolley excursion we took was actually nice/educational. Shopping here is the best!! Bartering at its best so don't be afraid to do it!

[newmexicoNita]

Will be on the 9 day out of NOLA on the Pearl in December. The itinerary is usual Western Carib. with Grand Cayman and this port in Guatemala added. Has anyone been there? Not many ships stop in.

We were there on the Pearl about a year ago when it was a new stop. For us, it wasn't much. We did the trolley ride, nothing special and it is very poor. However we talked to others who took excursions away from the town itself and came back with very favorable reports. I was impressed with our guide; he was filled with so much information about the area. I didn't like his rant about how much he disliked the politics in the region.

[sns1009]

We were there this past March. We took an NCL excursion to Amatique Bay Resort. It was a wonderful day. The resort is beautiful and really clean. They have a restaurant, big pool, a kids swim area and nice beach area. Loungers are free and there were plenty both in the sun and shade. Restrooms were spotless with showers and lockers to rent. Lunch was included with our excursion and was really good. There is an area with vendors but they were really expensive compared to the port area. We took a boat right from the pier to the resort. It was a little bumpy but you follow the shoreline so it's good sight seeing.