Pacaya Volcano Horseback Riding: Lava-Cooked Dinner at Sunset

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/49

Duration6h

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Pizza cooked in active lava, eaten at the foot of a volcano you just rode up.

This horseback riding activity from Antigua takes you to a private area of Pacaya Volcano where a lava chef cooks your dinner in volcanic coals while you watch from Mayan fabric picnic tables. You ride with a private English-speaking cowboy guide and a second guide who explains the volcano; no riding experience is needed. The meal includes homemade salsa and chips on arrival, pizza paired with wine, and a gourmet chocolate tasting with marshmallows you roast yourself over the lava. The experience lasts around six hours and includes door-to-door pickup from Antigua; your booking directly funds the care and rescue of the working horses.

The Experience

Pacaya Volcano sits in Guatemala's Central Highlands near Antigua, and this tour takes you there on horseback instead of on foot with the crowds. You're picked up at your hotel in Antigua and driven to the volcano's private area—not the main park entrance where hundreds of other tourists arrive each day. A private cowboy guide and an English-speaking guide who knows the volcano's geology are with you the whole time. The horses are rescue animals, and the operation that runs them is built around their welfare; choosing this tour means your payment goes directly to their food, medical care and future.

The ride itself doesn't require any experience. You climb the volcano on horseback at a pace the guides set, and when you reach the base of the active crater, the real experience begins. A lava chef has set up at the foot of the mountain with a picnic laid out on Mayan fabrics across lava tables. You start with homemade salsa and tortilla chips while the chef prepares your pizza in the volcanic coals—the heat from the lava cooks it. Wine is available to order, and you eat the pizza at the base of the active volcano, looking out at three other volcanoes on the horizon. After dinner, you taste gourmet Guatemalan chocolates and roast marshmallows over the lava yourself, turning them into s'mores. The sunset happens while you're there.

The whole experience takes around six hours from pickup to return. Children from age four are welcome, and the tour accommodates infants in specialized seats or on an adult's lap. The horses and the guides make this a private tour—you're not sharing the mountain or the chef's attention with other groups.

What’s included

Door-to-door hotel pickup and return from Antigua.
private horseback ride with a cowboy guide and English-speaking volcano guide.
homemade salsa and tortilla chips.
pizza cooked in lava coals by a private chef.
gourmet Guatemalan chocolate tasting.
marshmallows roasted over volcanic heat for s'mores.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfant seats availablePets welcomeNot for pregnant travelersNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Finca In The Clouds

Is this one for you?The ride climbs at a steady pace suited to all fitness levels, and no riding experience is needed—book this if you want the volcano and the lava-cooked meal without the main-entrance crowds or the logistics of arranging your own transport from Antigua.