Balneario Aguas Amargas
- Location
- Zunil, Guatemala
- Water type
- bicarbonate
- Temperature
- 35 °C
- pH
- 7.2
Water profile
Soothing — neither hot nor cold, perfect balance.
Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).
Soft water — natural, classic buoyancy.
Balneario Aguas Amargas near Zunil in Guatemala's Quetzaltenango Department is a bicarbonate thermal bathing site in the shadow of the Santa María and Santiaguito volcano complex — one of Central America's most active and visually dramatic volcanic systems — where mineral springs emerge from the volcanic geology of the western Guatemalan highlands in a landscape deeply rooted in Mayan K'iche' cultural identity. Zunil is famous for its colourful market, the veneration of the folk saint Maximón (San Simón), and the extraordinary sight of Santiaguito's daily volcanic activity visible from the surrounding agricultural landscape. Aguas Amargas' bicarbonate springs provide a natural thermal complement to Zunil's rich cultural life, embedded within a highland Maya community where the relationship between human activity and volcanic landscape is daily and immediate.