East Region | Porta Hotels

East Region

Jutiapa, called The Cradle of the Sun, is the door to the vibrant Guatemalan east. It is a land of varied climates, beautiful women, cattle ranches and excellent rum distillers, as well as hard working and brave people. Their “mestizo” inheritance gathers the most attractive characteristics of the East. Crafts of all types, especially excellent leather-made products. Equestrian tradition. Religious devotion and native fervor.

Playa del Jiote beach it is one of its best known attractions, due to the remains of shipwrecks around its coasts, that can be explored by scuba diving. Likewise, Lake Guija dazzles with a shine that, according to a legend, was created by a rain of stars. There are many sites to visit in the East, from the Tatasisrire falls in Jalapa and  the Ipala volcano, in Chiquimula whose beautiful lagoon is worth the mountain hike.   

Religious fervor finds its greatest expression in the Basilica of Esquipulas, visited every year by devout pilgrims who seek the miracles attributed to its worshipped image, the Black Christ. This department has been the center of historical meetings such as presidential summits, and it is the ideal place to explore one of the most diverse regions in Guatemala.   

Zacapa is the Rum Department per excellence, because distillers here produce world famous liquors. The department offers a dry and warm climate, excellent for breeding cattle. It also has beautiful spas and places of paleontological interest, like the Bryan Patterson Museum of Paleontology in Estanzuela, which possesses complete skeletons of prehistoric animals and remains of the Mayan culture that inhabited the area.