Refugio del Quetzal — Attraction in San Marcos

We did not see the park because attendant wouldn't accept 75Q for parking our Fordf150 overnight and 50Qper person entry fee. We are really bummed. Something didn't feel right.

We went to pay for entry to park. We parked in lower lot which we read was free to overnight in. It is not. They wanted 75Q/night for truck and demanded we pay 50Q per person/ per night for entry to hike in the park even if you only enter the park one time. I tried negotiating for about 20 minutes. Attendant made a call and came back with 350Q for 3 nights and 3 days of park &entry. We said no and said we will pay for 1 night and 2 people entry =175Q He said no. Hopefully you will have a different attendant and can successfully negotiate. I explained that 75/night for no water no electricity and bathrooms was way too much. Fell on deaf ears.

To the owners: if you are going to charge for overnight camping you need an official sign stating the price per night and give official a receipt of payment. The pricing must be fair for what you offer. It is a parking space overnight with zero amenities, no security, no water, no electricity, no bathrooms 24/7, no showers, no restaurant on site. A fair price as of March 2025 is no more than $5/night for...

This place is absolutely worth visiting. Easily reached from Xela by public bus - bus to San Marcos from terminal Minerva (first bus leaves at 5am) and then bus to San Rafael (ask to get off at the refugio).

Guides are amazing and very enthusiastic about their job. They take the time to help you spot the quetzals and give lots of interesting facts.

Today we saw four quetzals including a male and female pair building their nest.

Really good example of positive tourism - this place is doing a great job to protect the natural habitat of the quetzals.

There is also a lovely walk through the forest which finishes at a...

Beware of the lack of entrance signs. You can easily miss it. Half a mile down the road, there's a side road you can use to turn around. The place mildly cared for. You need to enquire what's the best time of the year for quetzal bird watching. I didn't see any, but it didn't matter, I saw plenty of others and the trip was worth it. Take you sun screen, and bug repellent. Don't dive in the water ponds, and make sure you take plenty of pictures. There are a couple of small sized waterfalls. Get some good footwear. A fall here is eons...