El Tortugal Marina, Guatemala

Sign on the road to Tortugal Marina

 El Tortugal Marina on the Rio Dulce in Guatemala is very cool! We have been here for two weeks now and have enjoyed every minute.  There is so much to do here and on the Rio Dulce that we haven't even scratched the surface.  We have been busy setting up an air conditioner and building a cowling to cover it. When that is finished we need to get busy trying to fix our engine.  But in between we are planning to do a little exploring. There is a fort on the river, a beach up in Lake Izabel, hot water falls and a lot more! This last week we have had a manana attitude, resting and working very slowly on the air conditioner - we don't want to overdue it!  

Ka'imi at dock

The marina has 20 slips and is basically full.  The majority of the people go home for the summer and leave there boats here so there are only a handful of people here right now. They have a restaurant and a bar that serves food all day, a lounge area upstairs with a pool table, TV and lots of books.  There is a resident pero (dog)  named Hefe that is large and a love bug but he hates gatos (cats).  There are two gatos on the premises we have named them Tiki and Sandy so we will be able to get our animal fix on a daily basis.  We also see them run really fast when they see Hefe coming!

Restaurant at Tortugal Marina

The outdoor lounge next to the restaurant is a great place to relax, drink some coffee or booze, read a book or catch up with friends.

Lounge area at Tortugal Marina

The kayaks are for the guests to use, this is right behind our boat. We haven't had a chance to take one out yet but plan to, there is lots of exploring to do on the river.

Kayaks at Tortugal Marina

They have rooms and bungalows for rent.  The one we can see from our boat has 4 beds and is open air. They are $14 dollars a night, not bad.  Underneath is a common area that is very cool and breezy.  We hang out here a lot.

Bungalow at Tortugal Marina

Another view of the common area with a hammock and a few picnic tables.  You can see Ka'imi in the background.

Common Area at Tortugal Marina

This path leads from the common area to the showers and restrooms.

Walkway at Bungalow

This is a view going back to the common area from the showers and bathrooms.

Path coming from showers and bathrooms

A private outdoor shower.  The showers here have only cold water so we use them when it is really hot. There are other showers behind the restaurant that have hot water that we use in the evening.

Shower at Tortugal Marina

Here are the private outdoor bathrooms.

Bathrooms at Tortugal Marina

The path below goes to the dirt road that leads to town and beyond.  It is a beautiful walk just going down this path.  Lots of birds, lizards and other wildlife.

Path leading to the dirt road

It takes about 20 minutes to walk to the town of Fronteras from here.

Road to town

We met Deborah and Kris on s/v Sea Sister and had drinks at Sundog Cafe.  They are refitting their boat getting ready to cruise!  We had a great time.  Sundogs is a great place for food also, they have a lot of vegetarian choices and enough meat to make Mike happy.

Deborah and Kris s/v Sea Sister

Cheers for now Mike and Kim