Diving in Lago de Atitlàn

L
ake Atitlàn is a freshwater lake
formed in a volcanic caldera at an
altitude of 1560 m (5160 ft). The lake
is roughly 320m deep—one of the deepest
in the world—though because of altitude
diving considerations and reduced visibility
at depth, few divers go deeper than 25m.
Visibility averages 10 m in the dry season
but varies widely from 3 to 14 m depending
on recent rainfall, depth, and bottom
composition. Temperature varies year-round
from 23˚C in the wet to 20˚C in the dry
season.

Atitlàn offers rare diving opportunities

in a geothermically active, high-altitude,
temperate environment. There are few
places in the world where you can dive at
altitude while wearing a wetsuit, since most
high-altitude lakes are glacier-fed. If that’s
not enough, you can plunge your hands
into volcanic hot spots, search for ancient
Mayan pottery, swim next to gigantic rock
formations and through volcanic swim-
throughs, or join the fish among the branches
of the lake’s still-standing petrifying trees.
Our dive sites vary in bottom composition—
from stunning, sheer walls to sloping, silty
bottoms—and offer an assortment of plant
life, freshwater crabs and various lake fish,
including black bass, perch, crappie and
cichlids. The crowning feature of all dives
here is the stunning panoramic
view, upon surfacing, of what
Aldous Huxley called the most
beautiful lake in the world.
a hands-on experience with volcanism that
can be repeated in few other places on the
planet. If you’re on your way back from the
Caribbean, Lake Atitlàn makes an interesting
contrast to your tropical dives. It is a
unique experience that combines altitude,
geothermal activity, fresh water, and some
stunning volcanic walls: overall, a place like
no other you will ever visit.
“plunge your hands into
volcanic hot spots, search for
Mayan pottery, take in gigantic
rock formations and volcanic
swim-throughs, or join the
fish among the branches of the
lake’s petrifying trees.”

From beginners to experienced

instructors, guests of You may be surprised at how much of
Ati Divers are stunned a difference the altitude makes to your
at the beauty of buoyancy control. The reduced air pressure
the sheer walls at the surface—roughly 0.85 atmospheres
and incredible rock of pressure compared with 1 atmosphere at
formations that sea level—means there is a greater change
line the lake. The in pressure per metre of water you ascend
geothermal hot spots or descend. This means that buoyancy
make an exciting end adjustments are needed more frequently and
to a dive that give you it is harder to manage small changes in depth
using the lungs alone: be prepared to feel like
a beginner again for the first few minutes of
the dive. Ultimately, though, the experience
will improve your buoyancy control.
One important note: driving to altitude
considerations require divers to spend
the night on the lake after diving here.
Heading to Antigua, Chichi, Guatemala City,
etc. requires a climb up out of the lake basin
and can lead to decompression sickness if
done too soon after a dive. You must wait
until the day after your last dive before
leaving the lake.
“If you are used to diving in
warm, crystal waters filled
with tropical fish and coral
reefs, Lake Atitlàn is a
unique, exotic location.”
About Ati Divers
Ati Divers is one of only two dive centres
operating on the lake, and the only one in
Guatemala that caters to tourists. We offer a
full range of PADI courses, from Open Water
to Divemaster and, uniquely, the Altitude
Specialty Diver course.
Ati Divers and La Iguana Perdida, the hotel
that houses the dive centre, were established
10 years ago by Davina (Deedle) Ratcliffe and
her then-partner. The couple had originally
come to participate in an underwater lake
mapping project. When the project fell
through, they opened a dive centre instead.
Deedle now runs the Iguana and Ati Divers
with her American husband Dave Ratcliffe
(who, incidentally, started out as a hotel
guest seven years ago). Deedle is a PADI
instructor and Dave is a divemaster.
Local History and Archaeology
Occasional pieces of ancient Mayan
pottery have been found by divers on the
lake, particularly by Guatemalan Roberto
Samayoa. Many of the artifacts that he’s
recovered over the years have been restored
and dated and are now displayed
in the Museo de Lacustre, housed
in the Don Rodrigo hotel in
Panajachel.
The museum also has
a room dedicated to
the lake’s natural
history, explaining
how the lake was
formed over the
millennia. Guests
of Ati Divers get
a discounted
admission fee.
 The Origins of Lago de Atitlàn
M
ost active volcanoes in Mexico
and Central America occur in a
belt produced as the crust of the
Pacific Ocean is forced under the North
American and Caribbean tectonic plates. As
a result, Guatemala lies in the middle of one
of the world’s many volcanic hotspots. The
explosive eruption of Guatemala’s Santa
Maria volcano in 1902 was one of the largest
eruptions of the twentieth century.
Three large calderas have formed in the
Atitlàn region in the past 14 million years.
The modern Atitlàn (III) Caldera’s story
began 150 000 years ago, when a magmatic
batholith—a huge subterranean pocket filled
with liquid magma—formed in the area that
is now the lake. By 100 000 years ago, there
were at least three volcanoes in the area
being fed by the Los Chocoyos Batholith,
though these volcanoes are today partially or
completely destroyed.
After thousands of years of building up
pressure, the Los Chocoyos Batholith finally
discharged 84 000 years ago in a massive,
violent expulsion of over 250 cubic km
Major volacanoes of Guatemala.
of magma, ash
and sand. The
eruptive column
reached heights of
40–60 km. After
its collapse, the
batholith continued
to spew magma
and scolding
ash, scorching
everything it came Lago de Atitlàn as seen by
into contact with as satellite.
it advanced over a
massive area.
Finally, so much magma had been expelled
that only an empty cavity was left where
the magma had been. Unable to support
“After thousands of years of
building up pressure, the Los
Chocoyos Batholith finally
discharged 84 000 years ago
in a massive, eruption that
reached heights of 40-60 km.”
the weight of the earth above it, the entire
area collapsed, forming the 18km-diameter
cauldron (known to geologists as a caldera)
that became the lake, and collapsing the
existing volcanoes with it.
While to most people the lake is
only 300-or-so metres deep, its
geological depth is actually closer
to 900 m. The caldera is lined with
sediment for 300 m before being
partially filled by another 300
m of water. The last 300
m of the caldera are
filled with air: you can
see the geological top
of the caldera when
you look east across
the lake at the tops
of the cliffs above
Panajachel.
Atitlàn today
Since the major caldera-forming erup-
tion 84 000 years ago, three new
volcanoes have formed in and around the
southern boundary of the lake: Vulcan
San Pedro (60 000 years ago), Vulcan
Toliman and Vulcan Atitlàn (both
30 000–40 000 years ago).
Atitlàn is the youngest and most active
of these volcanoes and its activity
continues to give the lake its present
day shape. According to diving records,
ancient ruins from Mayan and pre-
Mayan cultures occur in Santiago Bay.
This and other evidence suggests that
Vulcan Atitlàn produced lava flows that
dammed the lake outlet (formerly located
just south of the town of San Lucas Toliman)
within the last 3000 years. A 30 metre-high
saddle now prevents surface outflow from
the lake.
The first recorded eruption of Atitlàn was in
1469. Vulcan Atitlàn last erupted from 1826
to 1856. The eruption in 1853 was short but
quite strong and caused complete darkness
around the lake for four hours.
Aside from the eruptions of Vulcan Atitlàn,
little is known about the unrest at Atitlàn
Caldera. Seismic activity has been low during
the past decade or more.
Volcanic activity does influence relatively
long-period fluctuations in the
lake’s level. The lake level was
reportedly low in the 1820s, 10–15
metres higher in the 1870s, low
again in the 1920s, and high again
from the 1940s to the present.
Most of the lake
level’s fluctuation
is due to variation
in annual rainfall
(increasing the lake
level) or the effects of
regional earthquakes
on the the lake’s
underground drainage system (generally
decreasing the lake level). Short-term
changes in lake level attributable to rainfall
may be as great as 3.3 m, an increase seen
during the exceptionally wet year of 1933.
Changes attributable to earthquakes may
be as great as 2 m, a drop recorded a month
after the Guatemala earthquake (magnitude
7.5) of February 1976. It is unknown
whether there is any uplift and shifting of the
caldera floor affecting the lake level.
Hurricane Stan
Early in the morning of October 5, 2005 a
lahar (a torrential flow of water and rock
fragments down the slopes of a volcano and
looking like a mass of wet concrete carrying
rock debris up to the size of boulders more
than 10m in diameter) generated by heavy
rainfall from Hurricane Stan destroyed the
town of Panabaj and buried hundreds of
people. As of October 10 at least 200 people
had died and hundreds more were missing.
Heavy continuous rains between October 4
and October 8 caused numerous mudslides
and debris flows throughout the Guatemalan
highlands. In the Atitlàn region, Santiago
suffered major losses. The towns on the
north side of the lake—including Santa
Cruz—were also hit, though not as badly as
those on the south side, nearer the volcanoes.
Flooding knocked out key highway bridges
and hampered rescue efforts.