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Guatemala Guatemala volcano

Pacaya

You can see 209 km from here, looking south-east.

92Viewyas Score

SummitSea view360°Long viewMany peaks

Calculating the panorama…

Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.

The view

Up to 209 km away.

Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.

92out of 100

Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).

  • 209 kmFarthest ridgelooking south-east
  • 100%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
  • 39%Seaof the circle where the horizon is the sea
  • 13Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
  • 2,556 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint

The 13 peaks you can name from here

From west to east as you turn around: height, distance and direction. Each one links to its guide on Peakyas, our mountain atlas.

Volcán Jumay2,176 m · 74 km · north-eastSuchitan2,042 m · 88 km · eastVolcán de Flores1,600 m · 66 km · eastChingo1,775 m · 99 km · eastIzalco1,952 m · 122 km · south-eastMoyuta1,662 m · 67 km · south-eastTecuamburro1,845 m · 33 km · south-eastVolcán de Fuego3,765 m · 32 km · westAcatenango3,976 m · 32 km · north-westVolcán de Agua3,760 m · 18 km · north-west

From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.

The sun

The best sunsets are from December to March.

When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.

  1. Janwest-2 min before the sea-level sunset68%
  2. Febwest-2 min before the sea-level sunset66%
  3. Marwest-2 min before the sea-level sunset62%
  4. Aprwest-4 min before the sea-level sunset50%
  5. Maywest12 min before the sea-level sunset25%
  6. Junnorth-west12 min before the sea-level sunset20%
  7. Julwest10 min before the sea-level sunset26%
  8. Augwest2 min before the sea-level sunset25%
  9. Sepwest-4 min before the sea-level sunset19%
  10. Octwest-2 min before the sea-level sunset29%
  11. Novwest-2 min before the sea-level sunset54%
  12. Decsouth-west-4 min before the sea-level sunset66%
  • Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
  • Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
  • %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).

The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.

The place

Pacaya.

Mountain and national park in Guatemala

Pacaya is a volcano in Guatemala, 2,556 m above the sea.

On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 209 km away, looking south-east.

The sea fills 39% of the horizon.

13 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Acatenango (3,976 m), 32 km away.

The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 100% of the circle.

The skies are clearest from December to March.

Pacaya2
MatSi · Public domain

Get there and stay

Plan the visit

A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.

Tours, cable cars and tickets for PacayaGetYourGuideSee prices Stays with a view near PacayaBooking.comSee prices Car hire at GUA airport (Guatemala City)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The viewpoint and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.

Pacaya seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 7other viewpoints within 5 kmPacaya, Mirador Laguna de Calderas, Primer mirador Cerro chino and 4 more
  • 4named peaks within 5 kmCerro Grande, Cerro Chino, Cerro Chiquito and 1 more
  • 4car parks within 3 km
  • 1visitor centres within 5 kmParque Nacional Volcán de Pacaya
  • 2campsites within 10 kmFunka La Escondida, Automariscos
  • cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
  • marked trails within 3 km
  • shelters and huts within 5 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • places to stay within 10 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

In our other atlases

What you see from Pacaya, and what is near.

Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.

Peakyas11 mountains within 25 km
Pacaya · this placePacaya2,552 m · volcano · 0.2 kmCerro La Portezuela · 3.8 kmCerro Hoja de Queso · 4.4 kmCerro La Mariposa · 9.7 kmCerro La Cerra · 12 kmVolcán de Agua3,760 m · volcano · 18 kmCerro Guachisote · 22 kmCerro Ladino · 25 km
Lakeyas2 lakes within 15 km
Laguna de Calderas0.3 km² · 3.7 kmLake Amatitlán15 km² · 8.6 km

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.

Photographs

The view, as people saw it.

II2A0950
Njker87 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Pacaya-08
Rolfcosar · CC BY-SA 2.5
El Volcán de Pacaya
young shanahan · CC BY 2.0

Other viewpoints nearby.

Pacaya

Guatemala

  • 92Viewyas Score
  • 209 kmFarthest ridge
  • 13Peaks in view
  • 2,556 mAltitude

Volcán de Fuego

Guatemala · 32 km

  • 92Viewyas Score
  • 249 kmFarthest ridge
  • 14Peaks in view
  • 3,784 mAltitude

See the guide

Santa Ana Volcano

El Salvador · 120 km

  • 92Viewyas Score
  • 190 kmFarthest ridge
  • 18Peaks in view
  • 2,365 mAltitude

See the guide

Santa María

Guatemala · 110 km

  • 88Viewyas Score
  • 235 kmFarthest ridge
  • 8Peaks in view
  • 3,744 mAltitude

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q753924) · CC0
SunJ. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms
Peaks in viewPeakyas (Wikidata, CC0)
Panorama and altitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
CloudsNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Lakeyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.You are here
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Visit forestsForestyasEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Visit