Highly recommended for its knowledgeable guides and the variety of interesting tours, Exotic Travel (Calle Principal, inside Restaurante Bahía Azul, tel. 7497-0133 or 7497-0151, www.bluecaribbeanbay.com [1]) has daily transport to Río Dulce [2] ($11) as well as a daily Jungle Trip.
The Jungle Trip encompasses a walk through town past Garífuna neighborhoods before heading up to a lookout spot with wonderful views of the town and sea. You then take a canoe ride down the Río Quehueche to Playa Quehueche [3] before hiking through the jungle to Siete Altares [4], where you have a few hours to relax and eat lunch at an on-site restaurant. The last leg of the journey is a five-kilometer hike back to town along the beach. The trip leaves daily at 9:30 a.m., returning at around 4:30 p.m., and costs $7. Entry fee to Siete Altares ($1.50) is additional.
Another option is a twice-daily half-day mountain bike ride to Río Quehueche, continuing to Los Siete Altares and returning via the beach. This trip leaves at 8 a.m., returning at 12:30 p.m., or at 1 p.m., returning around 5 p.m. and costs $10, including gear, box lunch, and hydration fluid.
A final option is a full-day horseback-riding trip to Finca Río Blanco, where there are some waterfalls. The trip costs $25, including horses, guide, entrance to the farm, and a box lunch. There’s a 400-meter zip line at the finca, costing an extra $15, if you want to zip between the trees on a metal cable. Exotic Travel also does trips to Playa Blanca [3] with a six-person minimum, stopping at Los Siete Altares [4] and Río Cocolí along the way.
Hotel Casa Rosada (tel. 7947-0303, www.hotelcasarosada.com [5]), Happy Fish (tel. 7947-0661 or 7947-0268, $5–25), and Hotel Río Dulce (tel. 7947-0764) do trips to Los Siete Altares ($10) and Playa Blanca ($13) with a minimum of six people. Hotel Río Dulce’s Playa Blanca trip also stops at Los Siete Altares and Río Cocolí along the way.
Hotel Posada El Delfín (tel. 7947-0056, www.turcios.com/eldelfin [6]) offers a number of adventurous itineraries, including a full day of deep-sea fishing, an overnight scuba-diving trip to San Nicolás caye (in the Belize cayes), and a hike up a nearby mountain for an overnight stay in a jungle villa.
Links:
[1] http://www.bluecaribbeanbay.com
[2] http://www.moon.com/destinations/guatemala/el-oriente-and-izabal/rio-dulce
[3] http://www.moon.com/destinations/guatemala/el-oriente-and-izabal/livingston/sights/beaches
[4] http://www.moon.com/destinations/guatemala/el-oriente-and-izabal/livingston/sights/los-siete-altares
[5] http://www.hotelcasarosada.com
[6] http://www.turcios.com/eldelfin