Retalhuleu

Guatemala has some pretty complex place names, but no one even bothers trying to pronounce this one. It's ray-tahl-hoo-LAY-oo if you care to venture a try—that means "sign of hollows in the earth"—but everyone just goes with "Reu" (RAY-oo) for short. This friendly, one-time cacao town has become Guatemala's very own Orlando, with two huge amusement parks just outside town. Water sports beckon between here and the coast, and on the way east to neighboring Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa. The nearby indigenous ruins of Takalik Abaj are just a short trip west toward the Mexican border.