Water Sports at Lake Atitlan
A guided boat trip from Panajachel or San Pedro cruises to several villages, providing a solid introduction to the lake. You get some time to go ashore for shopping and sightseeing in San Pedro, Santa Cruz and Santiago.
Some kayak tours include a dip in the hot springs at San Antonio Palopo, where the hot water spills down into the lake. This enables you to choose your temperature by moving farther or closer from the shore. (A few guided kayaking, tours allow you 45 minutes in the hot springs.)
Other guided kayaking tours include snorkeling, which is particularly good from Santa Cruz. You can rent your own kayak for Q30 an hour at the Santiago dock in Pana (or Q10 in San Pedro).
For a sky-high view of the lake, try paragliding from a mountaintop. This tour is based in Panajachel.
Water Skiing, Surfing, Swimming
When the lake is calm, water skiing is on the list of things to do in Santa Cruz. The PADI scuba diving outfit based here offers high altitude and other courses, and scuba tours to see underwater volcanic formations and a sunken village.
Panajachel, San Pedro and other villages have small beaches for swimming. In San Pedro, La Piscina is a swimming pool with volleyball and a bar next to the Santiago dock, Q15.