Guatemalans have a furious appetite for spectator sports and the daily papers always devote four or five pages to the subject. Football tops the bill, and if you get the chance to see a major game it's a thrilling experience, if only to watch the crowd. There's a great website, www.guatefutbol.com, dedicated to the national sport. Otherwise North American sport predominates - baseball, American foot-ball, boxing and basketball are all popular.

Hiking is perhaps the most popular sport among visitors, particularly volcano climbing, which can be hard work but almost always worth the effort - unless you end up wrapped in cloud. Guatemala has 37 volcanic peaks; the tallest is Tajumulco in the west, which at 4220m is a serious climbing and should only be considered when you've been acdimatized to an altitude of over 2000m for a few days. Among the active peaks, Pacaya is a fairly easy climb and a dramatic sight.
Sadly, there have been some occasional attacks, usually non- violent on hikers climbing volcanos, and around the shores of Lago Atitlan. It's much safer to walk in a group, and important to check knowledge about the security situation before setting out.

Fishing is also popular, with good ocean and freshwater fishing. On the Pacific side the coast offers exceptional sport fishing, with some of the best waters in the world for saltfish, as dorado, mahi mahi and some blue martin, jack crevalle, yellow and black tuna and bonito. The Caribbean side, including Lago de Izabal, also offers excellent opportunities for snook and tarpon. In Petén the rivers and lakes are packed with sport fish, including snook, tarpon and peacock bass, as do the Usumacinta and Dulce rivers. Sport-fishing trips are expensive however, and if you're looking for a more casual arrangement, talk to the local fishermen in Iztapa, Sayaxché or El Estor.

Guatemala's dramatic highland landscape and tumbling rivers also provide some excellent opportunities for whitewater rafting. Rafting on the rio Cahabon, Usumacinta, Nahualate or Motagua give you the chance to see some very remote areas and also visit some of the country's most inaccessible Maya sites.

Scuba diving is another growing sport in this part of the world, although Guatemala has little to offer compared with the splendours of the neighbouring Belizean or Honduran coastal waters. Nevertheless, there are some diving possibilities here, including Lago de Atitlan and Lago de Izabal, as well as some reasonable Pacific and Caribbean dive sites.

There is also some surfing in Guatemala, on the Pacific coast with a small, new surf camp set up near the village of Sipacate. However, if you've come all this way for the waves, you'll probably find better breaks in El Salvador or Costa Rica.