Caracol Day Trip & Mountain Pine Ridge from San Ignacio: Explore the Largest Mayan Site in Belize
4.8
27 Ratings
San Ignacio
Embark on a thrilling day trip from San Ignacio to Caracol, the largest Mayan site in Belize. Explore ancient ruins, learn about Mayan culture, and witness the historic defeat of Tikal. Book now!
Duration:
10 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- The Maya Ruins of Caracol - Largest Maya site in Belize.
- Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve - Enroute to Caracol Maya site you will be driving by the Mountain Pine Ridge while having the chance of spotting flora and fauna typical to this region.
- Rio On Pools - After enjoying touring around the Maya site and enjoying a delicious packed lunch, you will have the option of choosing either between the Rio On Pools or Big Rock for a quick swim in the cooling water holes.
- Big Rock Falls - After enjoying touring around the Maya site and enjoying a delicious packed lunch, you will have the option of choosing either between the Rio On Pools or Big Rock for a quick swim in the cooling water holes.
What's Included
- Expert local guide
- Complimentary bottled water
- Convenient hotel pickup and drop-off within San Ignacio Town
- Tasty snacks provided
- Delicious lunch included
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Box lunch
- Hotel Pick up and Drop off outside of San Ignacio town limits
Additional Information
Travel through time to the mysterious world of the ancient Maya at Caracol, the largest Mayan site in Belize! Located deep within the Chiquibul Forest Reserve and nestled amid high-canopy jungle, the archaeological complex includes five plazas, an astronomic observatory and thousands of buildings. You’ll learn about Caracol’s agricultural practices, sacred rituals and their historic defeat of Tikal as you tour the site with your knowledgeable guide. This day trip from San Ignacio includes round-trip hotel transport by minivan or SUV.
- Please note: a minimum of 2 passengers is required in order for this tour to operate. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund. Hotel pick up and drop off included is for hotels within San Ignacio town limits. For hotels outside of San Ignacio town, a surcharge applies.
Location
6 Far W St
Far West Street
Ground floor of Elviras Building by Ervas Restaurant
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(27 Ratings)
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Jerod_f
Mar 30, 2024
Informative adventure! - Our guide was great! What an interesting day! I felt like I was on a private tour. Caracol was very difficult to reach so I was thankful we had such a competent driver. The entire ride and experience he was giving us history of Belize and recent political situations. Very informative.
Review provided by Viator
Pmaloney2
Mar 26, 2024
Impressive location with skilled interpretive guide - A vast archeological site with impressive temples and structures and very few people visiting when we were there. Selwyn, our guide, is extremely knowledgeable and loves sharing the history of the site and explaining what we’re looking at. This particular tour, we also visited the Rio Frio cave and the Rio On pools on our return. Long day, VERY bumpy road, but well worth the time, especially thanks to our guide. I highly recommend this activity.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elaine_g
Mar 18, 2024
Extraordinary!!! - We booked a private experience and our guide Leo was SO knowledgeable. He had been part of the archeological excavation team in the 90’s and in addition to sharing his vast knowledge of Maya culture and history he also shared his personal experiences as part of the team working in the Barrio area. Beyond that he also gave a wonderful cultural and historical tour on the drive to and from the site.
About the drive-we came to Belize thinking that we would not be making the visit to Caracol as we had read a number of descriptions of the trip as a 4 hour drive each direction. Turns out that was the case as recently as a year or two ago. However there is a major road improvement underway that reduces the travel each way from San Ignacio to about 2 hours.
The climb to the top of Caana was strenuous but manageable for a couple of moderately fit “senior citizens” and truly a highlight of our time in Belize
Review provided by Viator
Econoline82
Feb 4, 2024
Awesome Belizean Adventure! - Excellent tour! Our tour guide, Leo, was fantastic and shared his vast knowledge with us. Expect rough walking terrain. Avoid wearing sandals, but no need for heavy duty hiking shoes either. I managed fine with my Toms shoes. The lunch was a very delicious traditional Belizean meal. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joe_h
Feb 1, 2024
A Grand City in the Jungle - Leo, our guide, did a wonderful job of adding background and data to the visual experience of Caracol. His expertise included spending three 6-month seasons working with the archeologists at the site. Imagine a city of up to 150,000 people living in a jungle over 1,000 years ago that built 30,000 structures, some over 100 feet high - on stone platforms, with the biggest built of carved stones that took many people to even move horizontally, much less getting them up over 100 feet vertically! We were also entertained by the spider and howler monkeys at the site.
Review provided by Viator
Mike_k
Jan 21, 2024
Great tour. - Our group enjoyed our day trip to the ruins.
Leo, our guide, was so very knowledgeable, interesting and personable. I would recommend the tour to any one visiting the area.
Review provided by Viator
Thelangs76
Dec 11, 2023
Caracol Tour with Leo! - Fantastic trip out to Caracol with Leo as our guide. He was super knowledgeable about Mayan and Belize history! It ended up just being us two on the tour which made it super fun and interactive. Caracol was amazing!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mayam423
Sep 27, 2023
Leo Caracol Tour - Leo our guide has been leading tours for over 23 years and it shows. Leo was extremely knowledgeable about Mayan History, Belizian History, World Events and the local terrain. He speaks clearly and consise and can answer all of your questions related to Mayan history.
I highly recommend touring Caracol or any of the other Tours Leo leads! It will be informative and high quality.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Christopher_b
Mar 25, 2023
A full day of pleasures - Our knowledgeable guide/driver Bryton gave us a rewarding full day of experiences. A clamber into the Rio Frio cave on the trip out to Caracol was a sleeper highlight, Caracol is the most fascinating Mayan site you’ve never heard of, and a hike to a dip below Big Rock Falls was a refreshing, uncrowned dessert.
Review provided by Viator
Alexbs2923bi
Aug 8, 2023
Great educational site - Nice Maya adventure. The key to going here is to hire a great guide. We were staying at Mystic River Resort and booked a horseback ride up to the ferry, met our awesome guide Aaron, who was an amazing source of information on Caracol. Learned alot, saw everything at the site in about 2 hours. I have been to Tikal, a larger site, but Caracol was no disappointment. Took my 11 and 13 year boys, they we glad they could scale the grand stairs and "look down on the countryside like Mayan kings"! Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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