Recently Viewed
Caracol Maya Ruins Tour: Exploration of Ancient Pyramid Temples and Jungle Monuments in Belize
4.9
151 Ratings
San Ignacio
Embark on an adventure through Belize on a guided tour of the Caracol Maya Ruins. Explore ancient pyramid temples, jungle monuments, and enjoy a refreshing swim in crystal waters. Book now!
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
learn more
Highlights
- Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve - We embark on a 1.5-hour drive from our office up rough dirt roads and through small Maya Villages and scenic countryside.
- Rio Frio Cave - Rio Frio cave is a must see cave while in Belize especially if you are looking for a reduced mobility cave to explore This amazing cave has the largest cave entrance in Belize and was once a sacred burial site for the ancient Maya.
-
The Maya Ruins of Caracol - Revel at the engineering and architectural sophistication of the Maya people as you climb up the temple pyramid structure of Caana (Sky Temple), the highest man-made building in Belize still to this day. Once at the top, nearly 135 feet above the plazas, you will get impressive panoramic views of Belize and neighboring Guatemala.
Caracol is a major and dominant site in Maya history. It is a fantastic site to visit, and it is an expansive city covering nearly 80 square miles and rivaling the ancient metropolis of Tikal in size, power and riches. The histories of the inhabitants of Caracol are documented by scribes of the past in hieroglyphics and carvings on the monuments, stelas, and altars that are found throughout the site.Your guide will illuminate the rich and complicated past of this glorious civilization with a fully guided tour of the excavated portions of the Caracol site.
You might get lucky and see a family of howler monkeys in the trees over the ancient Maya ball-courts. - Rio On Pools - After touring the ruins, refresh yourself with drinks and a picnic lunch. We then continue back through the Pine Ridge area where we take a break at the Rio On Pools, a series of natural swimming holes, to cool down and relax in the clear water.
What's Included
- Round-trip transportation
- Picnic lunch with a drink
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- National Park fees
- Guide
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
Additional Information
Embark on a journey through Belize as you tour the Maya Ruins embedded in the historic city of Caracol. Investigate the jungle-based archaeological sites which feature pyramid temples, squares, and landmarks. Navigate the Mountain Pine Ridge visiting both the Rio On Pools and Rio Frio Cave to take a rejuvenating swim in the clear waters. Relish a homemade Belizean picnic lunch paired with soft beverages and rum punch. The tour encompasses a guide, admission charges, a meal with beverages, and two-way transport.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Difficulty: Easy to moderate
- What to bring: Hiking sandals or trainers, towel, small backpack, liter of water, bug spray, snacks, swim wear with shorts, camera
- There is no minimum age. All are welcomed
- Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there is not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund
- Comfortable walking shoes are recommended
Location
19 Burns Avenue
Burns Avenue
Tours departs and returns to our office located on #19 burns avenue san ignacio.
Directions: MayaWalk Tours Main Office located between Tandoor Restaurant and Belize Bank
Return point: Returns to original departure point
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(151 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
C2797tppetert
Aug 20, 2024
Don't bring a spotting scope - The birding was fantastic and the Mayan ruins were wonderful.
One thing. They say bring your spotting scope and I didn’t have one so I bought one and carried it to Belize. However, the tour guide had a fantastic Zeiss Spotting scope and I didn’t need mine at all.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jeroen
Jul 31, 2024
Beautiful day Maya culture and cooling off - We had a great day with Edeone our guide and Ronald the driver. In two hours we were from San Ignacio, at the Caracol temples. It was wonderfully quiet, not as touristy as Tikal, and you got a beautiful picture of what the temples looked like, because you were also allowed to climb them. The guide really knew how to tell SU-PER a lot. He also showed us how incense was made, using resin he got from a tree. The driver provided a fine lunch after the Mayan walk due lasted about two hours. Then after the Rio Frio cave, a nice spot and finally a splash in the Rio on poles. Cool in different puddles. We could ask anything and if we wanted to take a picture on the way that was no problem. A TOP day!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Z8873sdheatherm
Jul 11, 2024
An Amazing Caracol & Pools Trip with Etiardo & Richard - MayaWalk Tours came highly recommended by my colleague, and I'm SO glad she told me about them! Etiardo and Richard were incredibly knowledgeable, passionate, funny, and patient tour guides! My brain *still* feels pleasantly full after everything I learned about the fascinating ancient Mayan culture and Caracol! I was fortunate enough to be on tour with one other person (there's a minimum of 2 for each tour), and we and our guides had the entirety of this ancient Mayan site to ourselves for nearly two hours.
Etiardo was full of Mayan history, etymology of words, and jokes. Richard was helping me identify all the bizarre bird calls I was hearing. We had a blast! And they put out a delicious spread of Belizean food for lunch (tablecloth and everything!). And time for a refreshing dip in the beautiful volcanic pools post-temple-climbing.
I am only sad that I didn't have time to do more tours with these two!! Thank you, Etiardo and Richard!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
James_d
Jun 3, 2024
Fantastic tour and tour guide - Fantastic tour with Edoudi! Our group (with one other person) were the only people at the ruins. This made the experience spectacular. Other ruins might be bigger, but you don't get the crowds at Caracol, and there is a lot of cool history. After the ruins, we had lunch of chicken and rice. The cave was cool to see, but we just did a quick stop by. The pools were also a quick stop by to cool off from the heat. If you plan to do the ATM cave, the Rio Frio cave isn't very exciting. Lots of walking up the ruins and paths to/from the caves and pools. Be prepared to sweat! Bring a waterbottle (our tour guide had a refill cannister for us to fill up our waterbottles). Great tour company and great guide! We were picked up at our hotel. The drive to Caracol was about an hour. Some of the roads are bumpy, but not as bad as we were expecting (and very manageable for someone who gets motion sickness).
Review provided by Viator
Andreacg9342nl
May 30, 2024
ABI IS THE BEST - Abi made my husband and I's honeymoon one to remember. He took us zip lining and cave tubing, which were incredible experiences. However his passion for birding and knowledge of Mayan/Belize history was what really what made the trip memorable. Abi told us so much about the birds and jungle around us that we started keeping an eye out for more in the canopy than we would've normally noticed. He was so incredible we booked him for a second day to see Caracol. Can't recommend Abi enough is an absolute gem who goes above and beyond.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joycefc3292sj
May 30, 2024
Well worth your time! - Very interesting tour! Our guides Jason and Damian were excellent! We especially enjoyed their sense of humor and helpfulness! The ruins were fascinating.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sue
May 9, 2024
Easy to get to - We had already visited several other ruins. What made this different was you could actually go inside some of the ruins. Gives a person more perspective of size etc. it was somewhat smaller, meaning only what has been excavated
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marcel_z
May 3, 2024
Cool Mayan site - Caracol is abiut 1.5h from San Ignacio, half the time on a dirt road, but it is pretty.
I had an almost private tour - 2 people, so that was nice as well.
Review provided by Viator
Connor_h
Jul 22, 2024
Exciting - This was a very fun trip. The trip to Caracol is very long and bumpy but worth it. We saw some cool monkeys there and learned a lot. The Rio frio part was semi disappointing. We didn’t see the cave and just visited the pools for like 30 minutes. Still worth it, but keep that in mind.
Review provided by Viator
Toris162
Jul 21, 2024
Caracol Ruins tour - Guide Ediando and driver Ronald were great, sharing information and spotting wildlife on the roadside on the way to Caracol. I was part of a tour group of only two, and our group was the first to Caraol for the day. It made it feel like we had the site all to ourselves. Ediando shared everything he knew with us in an informative and relatable fashion, and guided us all the way to the top of the main temple! On return to the entrance, Ronald had a delicious, traditional Belizean lunch all set up for us! We had time to explore the welcome center and artifacts before we left. On the return, we made a stop at a viewpoint for the Rio On Pools (neither of us on tour wanted to swim), but we did miss out of the Rio Frio cave because they were worried about the road accessibility after the rain.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
More activities from this operator
