Xunantunich and Belize Zoo - Awesome! - My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our day with Abel. He was very knowledgable about the ruins and the surrounding areas. Walking around the ruins on a hot day is tough, so make sure you have good walking shoes and lots of water. We added on a side trip to the Belize Zoo (extra cost) and had a lovely traditional Belizean lunch there. We had a bit of extra time before we needed to catch the water taxi back to San Pedro, so Abel drove us around Belize City to show us some sights. A long day, but enjoyable and glad we did it.

Truly impressive - My wife and I had a wonderful tour to the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins. The long car ride helped us learn about the Belizean countryside, and our guide kept things fun with 80's hits on the radio. Upon arrival, we were treated to some great historical perspective on the truly impressive ruins, and even some insights into local flora and fauna. Our guide was very conscious of safety, and helped us navigate the steps to the top of el Castillo. Highly recommended for couples who have a day to kill while in Belize City.

Don’t hesitate! Book with Jose Tours - We were staying in San Pedro and all the excursions we saw online were for Jose Tours, so took the water taxi and Jose picked us up from there and made sure we got back in time to take it back over later that day! It’s was nice having a private tour because we really got to talk and connect with Jose! He is a great guy and will go above and beyond to accommodate you and your party. He also took us to a local spot after our tour was over because had some time to kill. He also took us to the airport a couple days later! He’s a reputable guy and we felt very safe with him. He’s part of our family now & we will always use him from now on when we head back to Belize!

The Best Team - We booked last minute because our original arrangements fell through. Jose and his team could not have been more accommodating. We were picked up by Said and Jose's daughter, the brilliant Johanna. They were fun and informative and relaxed and professional. A perfect tour and we were thrilled. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Upselling Annoyance - The Xunantunitch ruins were nice to see. The tour operator/guide (Jose Tours) was a huge detraction to the experience and here's why: 1) He never called us, so the evening before I attempted to call him to be sure someone would actually show up at 8. The number provided by Viator did not work, so a Google search found him and I got through. He confirmed the pickup for the next day and then spent 10 minutes trying to upsell me in additional trips cave tubing, ziplining, and visiting the zoo. 2) His car was filthy inside. Empty water bottles and Red Bull cans all over the place, stuffed into every seat and door pocket. My kids said there were boogers wiped all over the seats and walls in the back. 3) it was HOT this day, 90F+ outside and he had no drinks in the car. No ice chest, nothing. We did stop to get some eventually. 4) He continued to annoyingly attempt to upsell us the additional trips for the rest of the day. I kept count: 6 times he tried. Once it was clear we were seriously not interested in anything else he began asking personal questions about what we do for a living, what our situation was, what kind of car we drive, etc. Definitely fabricate this info anytime on a tour with a stranger in any country. I just found it absurd he would continue to dig for this info, so I readily gave him a fanciful but plausible story. 5) He made a stop at a shop to get parts for his personal vehicle back home. Good thing the merchant wasn't there or we could've been stuck waiting in the hot car while he did his business on our paid time. 6) Unsafe driving- once we were done with the Mayan site and on our way back, he drove like a madman on the way out of the park, so fast that a group of pedestrians on the side of the road waves their arms frantically at him to slow down! 7) Anytime he was around his other tour guy buddies when they asked what he was doing with us he would quickly switch to thick Creole or some other language we couldn't understand but by the body language and tone it was clear he was not happy we weren't doing any other stops like the zoo or ziplining... 7) Continual complaining about how the cost of things has gone up and he can't make as much --cue in another attempt to upsell another stop at the zoo. We had the feeling this tour was an annoyance for him. He did a very minimal effort explaining things at the Mayan ruins...we had to stop and ask "whoa, wait....what is this here?" as we walked by some interesting structure. Good luck with your tour. Go with someone else if you can.

Bad tour guide. - Our guide was not good at relaying information about the area we past through and at the ruins we learned more from listening to other tour guides talking near us and information posted inside the vistor center. He was friendly but poor tour guide.