"Tours" required for viewing Mayan ruins in Belize?
Replies: 21 - Last Post: Nov 8, 2012 9:18 PM Last Post By: cdffirefly
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"Tours" required for viewing Mayan ruins in Belize?
Hello. My husband and I will be traveling to Belize in March. After our arrival into BZE, we plan to go immediately to the Cayo district. We are thinking of doing this without a car; presently thinking of a private shuttle or public bus. While I know that I must have a guide for entry into ATM, is that the case with all Mayan ruins/temples in Belize? Or, if we have our own transportation to the Cayo District, is it possible to drive to the sites (such as Caracol, Cahal Pech, & Xunantunich), pay an entrance fee or guide fee at the door and save considerable money? I understand that the local people/economy depend upon the tours, and we will take one or two official tours, especially to Tikal in Guatamala. However, I suspect that we can drive to the sites ourselves and pay an entrance fee at the gate at many sites - true or false? If this is true, where and how do I find out what the entrance fees are, or do I have to wait until I get there? Thanks!2
Last time I checked (a few years ago), you still needed a guide to visit Caracol, just because it's so far off public transportation networks and (at that time) the army was leading people in caravan-style. Even so, it was a very reasonable $75 per person, and the guide will do you good at Caracol since there's nothing in the way of signage to explain the site.Jaime Awe does have a good visitors' guide to Belizean archaeology sites, which I'm sure you could pick up in a tourism info office in Cayo.
Everywhere else I can think of (ATM excepted of course) should be doable on your own.
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I'm not usually a guided tour sort of a gal but HIGHLY recommend Roxy Ortiz for Tikal and other Peten Maya sites. Here is her website and here are her reviews on Trip Advisor. We've enjoyed exploring Xunantunich and Cahal Pech unguided, had a guide for Lamanai (came with the river trip) and haven't visited Caracol yet. Just another excuse to return! Happy trails!4
As of last fall you still needed a guide for Caracol for the reasons aslukas mentioned. We did Xunantunich unguided and Tikal as well. ATM is well worth the cost of a tour.5
Just returned from 2 weeks in Belize and Guatemala. We did Xunantunich unguided, and met others who did Cahal Pech without a guide. You don't need a car for either of these - Xunatunich is an easy 10 minute cab ride from SI/Buillet Tree Falls, and Cahal Pech is walkable from downtown SI. As others say, you can only access ATM with an official guide/tour, but you'll understand why once there. Do it - it's a fabulous experience. Met a couple that did Caracol on their own in a rented car, and was not required to caravan in or have a guide. From what I understand the road is very bad - 4x4 required, and if you don't know how to handle one on rough roads, you might just want to do that with a tour group.We hired William Hoffman for our shuttle from BZE to Bullet Tree. Wished we could have found a few more people to split the cost with (it was $100 US), but it wasn't unreasonable and he makes it a fun ride. Everything else we did by bus or taxi/collectivo.
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I met people in San Ignacio that did Caracol on their own as well...though they did say the road was terrible,they had no problems getting into the site without a guide.7
Thank you all for your responses. I did find a site which listed the prices for entry to the archeological sites in Belize, which was helpful. I did not know until recently that Caracol was so difficult to reach (I read it can take 3 hours to get there?); that sounds like a tour as well! Thank you niffer for commenting on your recent travel and that Xunatunich and Cahal Pech are easily accessible. And, I understand that ATM is on private, family owned land (and the admission price is even steep for native Belizean's) and requires a tour.We are also considering hiring William Hoffman for the shuttle from BZE to SI. We are just unsure of renting a car vs. shuttle at this time. We will possibly do a combination of the two; shuttle from BZE to SI, then rent a car in SI for a few days. The "problem" logistically is that we will be going on to Placentia for another 5 nights and definitely want a car for that part of our journey. I was advised on TA that we could rent a car in SI and then turn it in at Dangriga and fly back to Belize City. What I need to find out is if any rental company in SI will allow us to return a car to BZE. Does anyone know??
How did you like Bullet Tree niffer?
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Budget, Cristal, Barefoot in Placencia and Matus in SI all allow you to drop off the vehicle at a location other than where you rented it; all for a fee, of course. I believe Budget charges the highest fee. Best thing to do is e-mail the companies and confirm the locations for pick-up and drop off and the fees charged. There may be others, but these are the ones I am aware of.9
We stayed at Parrot Nest Lodge, which was just perfect. It is about 3 miles outside of San Ignacio, but is easily (and cheaply) accessible by taxi/collectivo. The cabanas are well spaced out on the grounds, the grounds are lovely, the food was great, the owners are really nice and accommodating, too. To be honest, after seeing SI, we were glad we were not staying in town.I would suggest holding off on renting a car in SI until you get there. I think you'll find you don't really need one and it's not worth the cost/hassle.
On Caracol - from what I heard, the road going in is barely a road - you're pretty much in "off road" conditions - and that is why it takes so long. Slow, bumpy ride.
Yes, ATM is pricey, but well worth it. I didn't know about the private property thing, but there is no way you could navigate the inside of the cave (about 1-2k in the pitch dark, except for headlamps) without an experienced guide and find the archeological site.
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ATM is well worth it...maybe my favourite thing in Belize.The tour is about US$50 per person....including transport both ways,equipment,lunch and the guide.
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ATM is well worth it...maybe my favourite thing in Belize.The tour is about US$50 per person....including transport both ways,equipment,lunch and the guide.
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I agree - we paid $70US/pp for our extended family group of 7 in 2009 - a memorable day. We felt really grateful to get there before it was closed to the public (long rumored) and to be able to afford the steep fee. Last summer I visited Actun Chapat and Actun Halal with Ken Dart - another great day.
