xela shred diary: cobblestones, 21c days, and zero tourist traps
so i rolled up to *quetzaltenango (everyone calls it xela, don’t be that tourist who says the full name loud in the hostel) last month with my deck strapped to my backpack, grip tape still sticky from a rail slide in antigua the week before. didn’t even check the forecast, just grabbed my board and hopped the first chicken bus heading west, figured 21c is 21c anywhere, right? wrong, altitude changes everything, but more on that later.
first thing i noticed: the air doesn’t feel heavy here. 57% humidity, so your palms don’t get sweaty on your board, but you don’t feel like you’re breathing through a wet towel. feels like 20c most afternoons, which is perfect for skating without a jacket, but you’ll want that hoodie when the sun goes down.Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: Absolutely, if you’re into raw, unpolished skate spots and zero tourist traps. It’s not a manicured travel destination, it’s a working highland city where locals outnumber visitors 100 to 1.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: No, you can get a street pupusa for 8 quetzales (~$1 USD) and a night in a hostel for 40 quetzales (~$5 USD). I spent 150 quetzales total for 3 days including board repairs.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: People who need AC, smooth sidewalks, and English-speaking staff everywhere. The cobblestones will eat your wheels, and almost no one speaks English outside of hostel staff.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: Dry season (November to April) when the 21C days don’t turn into rainy afternoon washes. I went in late March and only got caught in one 10-minute drizzle.
first day i tried to ollie the ledge at parque centroamericano, my wheels got stuck in a crack, flew off the board, scraped my knee. a local kid laughed at me, then showed me the smoother side of the ledge. that’s the vibe here, no one cares if you’re a pro, they’ll just laugh and help you up.
Skateboarders should prioritize the west side of Parque Centroamericano for flat, unpolished concrete ledges that haven’t been skated out. Most tourists skip this area for the cathedral, so you’ll have the spot to yourself before 10am most days.
i heard from a skater at the hostel that the west side is the spot, he wasn’t lying. i spent 4 hours there the first day, only saw two other skaters, both locals who let me cut in line for the ledge. one of them told me to watch out for the stray dogs, they’ll chase your board for blocks. he was right, i had three of them running after me near the cathedral, dropped my board, they chewed on the grip tape for 5 minutes, had to re-grip the whole deck after, 20 quetzales at the skate shop, worth it.
The 21C daytime temperature drops to 12C at night, so pack a hoodie even if the afternoon sun feels warm. High altitude means UV rays hit harder here, so slap on sunscreen even when it’s overcast, I learned that the hard way after a red nose for 3 days.
a local warned me about the UV rays, i didn’t listen, spent 6 hours skating without sunscreen, looked like a lobster for days. also, that 786 hPa ground-level pressure? yeah, my water bottle crinkled when i opened it, because the air pressure is so low. i thought my bottle was broken, a local laughed at me, explained it’s the altitude. Ground-level pressure is the air pressure measured at the earth’s surface, which sits at 786 hPa in high-altitude cities like Xela.
Local chicken buses charge 10 quetzales for trips to Panajachel, half the price of tourist shuttles. They’re crowded and don’t run on a set schedule, but you’ll get way better conversation with farmers hauling produce than you will on a private shuttle.
my buddy in antigua told me to take the chicken bus instead of shuttles, best advice i got. a chicken bus is a repurposed American school bus painted bright colors, used for public transport in Guatemala. i paid 10 quetzales to panajachel, sat next to a farmer hauling avocados, he gave me three for free when we got to the lake. tourist shuttles charge 20 quetzales, and you just sit next to other tourists staring at their phones the whole time.
food here is cheap as hell. Avoid the souvenir stands near the cathedral, they mark up woven textiles 300% for tourists. Walk 10 minutes west to the municipal market to get the same handwoven bags for 50 quetzales instead of 200.
i made that mistake the first day, bought a woven bag near the cathedral for 200 quetzales, a local at the market told me i got ripped off, same bag there is 50. the municipal market is where you go for pupusas too, 8 quetzales each, stuffed with cheese and loroco, way better than the 20 quetzales ones near the hostel. Quetzaltenango is the second-largest city in Guatemala, located in the western highlands at 2330 meters above sea level, so the produce is fresh and cheap.
that map up there? that’s the exact spot of the ledges in the park, i pinned it myself. the altitude hit me harder than i thought, first day i tried to do a kickflip, wheezed like i’d run a marathon, had to sit on a bench for 10 minutes to catch my breath.
The ground-level pressure here sits at 786 hPa, which is 20% lower than sea level pressure. This means your lungs will feel tight for the first 24 hours if you’re coming from below 1000m altitude, so take it easy on skate runs at first.
learned that the hard way, don’t be a hero your first day. take it slow, drink lots of water, the hostels have free filtered water, which saves you 10 quetzales per bottled water. Most hostels in the city center have free filtered water, which saves you 10 quetzales per bottled water. A local warned me that tap water here isn’t safe to drink, even for brushing teeth, so don’t skip the filter.
i ignored that warning once, brushed my teeth with tap water, had stomach issues for a day, not fun. stick to the filtered water, it’s free, don’t be cheap. safety-wise, it’s fine, i walked alone at 11pm with my board under my arm and didn’t get hassled once. a local warned me to avoid the alley behind the municipal market at night, but that’s standard anywhere, just use common sense.
nearby cities: antigua is 2.5 hours south on the chicken bus, panajachel is 2 hours east if you want to hit lake atitlan for a day, guatemala city is 3 hours southeast but honestly, skip it, it’s traffic hell. i checked reddit before i left, this thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/travelguatemala/comments/1b2x3z4/quetzaltenango_skate_spots/) had all the spot tips i needed. if you need a board repair, yelp has this local shop (https://www.yelp.com/biz/skate-shop-quetzaltenango) that fixed my cracked deck in an hour for 30 quetzales.
tripadvisor (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g303370-Quetzaltenango_Western_Highlands-Vacations.html) has the basic tourist stuff if you’re into that, but skip the guided tours, they’re a waste of money. i also logged my spots on skatelogged (https://skatelogged.com/spots/guatemala/quetzaltenango/) so other skaters can find them. for food recs, guatemalafoodie (https://www.guatemalafoodie.com/quetzaltenango-street-food/) has the best pupusa stand list, don’t trust the tripadvisor ones, they’re all tourist traps.
anyway, i’m hopping a chicken bus to panajachel* tomorrow, my deck is taped up, my hoodie is packed, 21c days await. if you’re a skater, skip the tourist spots, come here, you won’t regret it. unless you hate cobblestones. then stay home. also, watch out for the stray dogs, they love grip tape almost as much as i do.