Half-Day Barton Creek Cave with Optional Zipline, Butterfly Farm Or Rock Falls
4.7
26 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 learn more
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
  • Rum punch
  • 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
4.7
(26 Ratings)
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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
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
Amanda_o
Jun 19, 2023
It’s a Must - We were picked up in the morning by our amazing tour guide Eddie. Eddie is one of the best tour guides I have ever met, he was so down to earth, easy to talk to, knowledgeable, and funny. My Mom and I did the Barton creek cave where Eddie guided us smoothly in the canoe. In the later half of the day we went to Big Rock falls for some relaxing swimming and rock jumping! We got to enjoy good conversation, fresh coconuts, fresh mango, a delicious Belizian lunch, and of course some Rum Punch!! Special thanks to Eddie for the memories my mom and I will never forget. Highly recommend this tour to anyone who wants an outstanding experience.
Review provided by Viator
Bayne20
Jun 11, 2023
A Serene experience with a Great Tour company - We did a few tours during a 7 day stay in the Cayo area and Maya Walk Tours is definitely the company to choose! They handle all of the pre-trip organisation on Viator well, their guides are knowledgeable and their rides are comfortable. You can arrange local pick-up or meet them at their shop in central San Ignacio, and if you are driving, there is affordable day parking in a lot just down that same street. For this trip we went to the beautiful and serene Barton creek caves with our guide Abby and driver Karim. Abby had many interesting stories and shared plenty of facts from archeological research about Mayan culture and their uses of the cave, we really appreciated his paddling too. The cave is stunning with amazing stalactite formations. Go see it for yourself to really appreciate the beauty! Afterward we went to the Mariposa butterfly farm where we first enjoyed a delicious local lunch with tasty rum punch and then we got to experience the butterflies with their guides (reviewed separately). The rides are scenic and both Abby and Karim are super friendly so we enjoyed the day. We even got to stop to buy litchi’s which are always a tasty treat!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Florisc28
May 16, 2023
Relax, while exploring caves. - A relaxing day exploring the caves in a kano with Jason. A very good guide, where we could enjoy the caves on the kano. Jason explained a lot about why and how the maya's used caves.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Donaldp560
Apr 8, 2023
Amazing and relaxing half-day tour of a spectaclure Cave and Butterfly Ranch - Our Guide Jayson picked us up at our Hotel in the morning. He was very personable and gave us background history of Belize on the way and the story behind Barton Creek Cave as we approached. Jayson made sure we were comfortable and properly suited up for our journey. You slowly paddle into the cave for about a mile as Jayson explained everything we were seeing in detail. Each turn in the Cave brings you a different type of Cavern, from narrow areas open hundreds of feet high to areas just above your head and even large Cathedral type rooms. It was an amazing experience that I would highly recommend for all age groups. Jayson then took us the the Green Hill Butterfly Ranch were a guide from the Ranch took over. Our guide did a wonderful job explaining each area of the tour which included each stage from egg to full grown butterflies. There is a large netted room where you roam freely with the Butterflies float about you. Another area outside is a Hummingbird feeding area which you can stand only a couple feet away watching the Hummingbirds feed. Jayson had Lunch set-up for us to finish off our tour before headinbg back to San Ignacio. This was a very wonderful half-day tour that I would do again. Having a excellent guide like Jayson is a big bonus.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Seaside773664
Mar 22, 2023
One of Our Favorite Days - We went for 1/2 day from our resort, Mystic River Lodge. We did not swim at the cave, as we don't like water you can't see through, although I think it was just deep. We loved the canoe ride; however my 73 yr old sister who is claustrophobic, did not. I would definitely recommend !
Review provided by Tripadvisor
B_s
Feb 1, 2023
Truly amazing experience!... - Truly amazing experience! Guide was amazing! We truly enjoyed our time seeing some of the ancient history!
Review provided by Viator
Shiring382
Apr 18, 2022
Barton creek/ziplining/big rock waterfalls, highly recommend! - Our day tour with a Jeremy was truly one of the best days we had throughout our whole 9 days in Belize! We did the Barton Creek Canoe + ziplining + big rock waterfalls and It was truly a wonderful experience. The canoeing was a very relaxing experience since you’re just sitting while the guides rows for you. The zooming was super fun bc the guides were showing us cools things all along the hike like tarantulas and teaching us how to use the palm branches for roofing haha ziplining was fun and great for my first time, super safe and reliable! And the highly was absolutely big rock falls!! It was so stunning, quiet, water was warm and such a thrill. I have to say having Jeremy as our guide was also a highlight. He was so kind, funny, knowledgeable, and flexible and you could tell he really enjoys his work :) huge thank you to him for making the day as wonderful as it was! One last note is that if you’re looking for a more interactive and exciting cave experience we recommend doing ATM bc it’s supposed to be amazing though we didn’t get a chance to do it. Thank you Maya Walks!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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