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Barton Creek Cave Tour: Explore Maya Underworld by Canoe
4.8
31 Ratings
San Ignacio
Explore the mystical Barton Creek Cave, the entrance to the Maya Underworld, on a half-day tour. Choose to add a zipline, butterfly farm, or waterfall visit for a full-day adventure. Includes lunch!
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Barton Creek Cave - We begin our journey through farmland where you can see the Mennonite community of Upper Barton Creek and experience their traditional lifestyle. We reach Barton Creek Cave, much of which is still to be explored and stretches for miles, of which 4.5 miles is navigable by open canoe. At the entrance of the cave we board our canoes, switch on our headlights and start to slowly paddle into the cave passage. While floating deeper into the passage we learn about the geology, archaeology and Maya history of these caves.
Our lights will bring crystal formations that are millions of years old to life. After exploring the caves, we turn around our canoes and float back to where we park them and complete our half-day tour with a refreshing swim.
What's Included
- Equipment
- National Park fees
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- Transport by private vehicle
- Lunch with a drink
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
Additional Information
Barton Creek Cave serves as a gateway to the Mayan Underworld and is exclusively accessible by paddling a canoe. As you peacefully sail into the cavern, an age-old sanctuary unveils itself, showcasing stunning crystalline structures and providing insight into the historical significance of this revered location. Moreover, this excursion offers a dual experience where you can select from ziplining, visiting a butterfly farm, or exploring a waterfall to complete your day-long adventure, inclusive of a sumptuous lunch!
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
Location
19 Burns Avenue
Burns Avenue
Tours depart our office in San Ignacio. free Pick up can be arranged if location is on route to tour site.
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
4.8
(31 Ratings)
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Croillet
Sep 5, 2024
A Great Guide to an Unforgettable Cave - Great Guide, a nice knowledge of the mayas, perfect transport, a little excessive all the same for only an hour in the cave, but we were only both with Jayson so it was a privileged moment!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
O5436wijamiec
Jul 20, 2024
Great time - Had a great time with our guide Richard. He was very informative, we learned so much about the history of the caves and Belize. We also had the cave and the waterfall mostly all to ourselves. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Phoenixb782
Jun 19, 2024
Family fun day - cave tour and zip lining - We chose the Barton Creek Canoe tour so we could see a cave from the water and learn some Mayan history. With our 8 and 10 year old kids, we decided against the ATM tour. This tour was great. The cave is beautiful and not crowded this time of year. Kind of magical.
We also added zip lining to the BBC tour. This is a must. We all absolutely loved it, even a couple of us afraid of heights. We did this at Calico Jacks. Tour guides were awesome.
Through MayaWalk we hade one primary guide and driver for the day named Jason. He was very knowledgeable, friendly and patient with us. Thanks Jason!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kristina_s
Jun 8, 2024
Family San Ignacio fun! - Damien was amazing! So fun and knowledgeable.
MayaWalk tours did an outstanding job with adjusting our plans when there was a mixup and delays!
Damien was great with my 5 y/o and including her in the fun!! First class!
Delicious food for lunch!! Local cuisine provided and even a fun extra of a few star fruit from a local tree.
Calico Jacks for zip lining was 5stars!! Great guides! Local history and laughter for my 5y/o enjoying her fist zip lining experience!!
Review provided by Viator
Joycefc3292sj
May 30, 2024
Fascinating tour - It was a fascinating tour. Our guides Richard and Kareem were excellent. Richard was very knowledgeable about the history of the cave.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lisa_r
Mar 29, 2024
Guide was great. He kept... - Guide was great. He kept us entertained on the drive with the history of Belize. He was very knowledgeable. my 6 year old son listened the whole time.
Review provided by Viator
Leanne_r
Dec 18, 2023
Thank you Gazelle and Ben - Gazelle and Ben were absolutely incredible. Everything you want in a tour guide and driver. Kind, knowledgeable, incredibly helpful, and patient. They went above and beyond in every aspect of our tour and it would not have been as great as it was without them.
*Wear water shoes or shoes with a hard bottom and back strap.
Review provided by Viator
Suri
Nov 24, 2023
Fascinating journey to Xibalba - We had a great, relaxed and very informative kayak tour with Giselle through this beautiful cave. Giselle is very personable, relaxed and patient. It was a special experience when we entered the cave in total darkness and silence and inevitably listened to ourselves. Swimming in the beautiful lagoon full of mineral water was great. But beware of the cleaner fish, they will nibble on you if you don't move for a while. :-D Afterwards we could optionally round off the experience with juice straight from a coconut and learned a lot about the fruits and plants from a very friendly gentleman on site. Highly recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
192stefanf
Aug 12, 2023
Go slow Tour to the Maya Underworld - We were warmly welcomed by Giselle and Michael who picked us up for this trip. The trip in to the cave is very easy, just a bit of canoe paddling and you are surrounded by complete darkness only your headlamps enlighten the fascinating world of stalactites and formations.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Brissie17
Jul 19, 2023
San Ignacio - Fantastic day out with Jason our guide. Started the day at Xunantunich Archeological Site early and gained alot if knowledge from Jason. He is very experienced and patient.
Afterwards we drove to Barton Creek and enjoyed a canoe ride inside the cave. Was amazing with the structure of the cave, the absolute quietness as we were the only ones and evidence of Mayan life. We also dropped by the butterfly farm, they are breeding butterflies due to their existence being threatened. Fantastic day out, highly recommend
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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