Belize and Tikal: Caves, Cayes and the Reef

1. Day 1: Arrive in Belize, west to San Ignacio

   Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (BZE) to San Ignacio

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in San Ignacio
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (BZE) at Ladyville, about 16 km north of Belize City. Plan to land by about 2 pm so you reach San Ignacio before the evening briefing; the exact latest arrival is confirmed with your final itinerary. English is the official language and US dollars are accepted everywhere, so arrival is simple. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the run west on the George Price Highway, about two hours past savanna, citrus and cattle country, the small capital Belmopan and the first forested hills of the Cayo District. San Ignacio sits on a ridge above the Macal River, a market town with a lively main street and good small restaurants, and it is our base for three nights, in a hotel we choose within walking distance of the main street. In the evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing, including who wants the ATM cave tomorrow and who prefers the gentler option, then we sit down together to a welcome dinner.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (BZE)
   • Transfer to San Ignacio
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Into the ATM cave, or the gentle option

   San Ignacio to Actun Tunichil Muknal and back

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in San Ignacio
   Day 2 details

   Today is the trip's most demanding day and its most remarkable. After breakfast we drive about an hour east, the last stretch on gravel, to the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve. Actun Tunichil Muknal, the ATM cave, can only be entered with a licensed ATM guide, in small groups. A walk of about 45 minutes through forest crosses a river three times, then a short swim across a deep pool takes you into the cave mouth. Inside you wade, scramble and squeeze along the underground river to the dry upper chambers, where the Maya left pottery, stone tools and human remains during ceremonies more than a thousand years ago, including the calcified skeleton known as the Crystal Maiden. Cameras and phones are not allowed, so you see it with your own eyes rather than through a screen. Lunch is a sit-down meal near the reserve before the drive back. If the cave is not for you, take the gentle option instead. The evening is free in San Ignacio.

   Included

   • Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM cave) with a licensed ATM guide, entry, helmet and headlamp
   • Sit-down lunch near the reserve

   Easier option: Paddle by canoe into Barton Creek Cave, a calm river cave with Maya pottery on its ledges, then walk the Cahal Pech ruins on the hill above San Ignacio, back by mid-afternoon. Included in the price.

   Free time: Evening free in San Ignacio

   Activity: The ATM cave means about 3 hours underground, wading in water up to chest height, a short swim and some climbing, plus about 45 minutes' walk each way. The cave can close after heavy rain; if it does, we swap days or everyone takes the Barton Creek option.

3. Day 3: Tikal across the border

   San Ignacio to the border at Benque Viejo and Melchor de Mencos, then Tikal National Park and back

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in San Ignacio
   Day 3 details

   This is the one day that runs past our four-hour driving cap, because Tikal is worth it. We leave at about 6:30 am, the trip's only early start, so we cross the border at Benque Viejo and Melchor de Mencos before the queues and walk the park before the midday heat. From the border it is about 100 km, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours, through Petén to Tikal National Park, and we arrive mid-morning. On the Guatemalan side a licensed Tikal guide joins us. Tikal was one of the most powerful Maya cities between about AD 200 and 900, and it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979. We walk forest trails under ceiba trees to the Great Plaza, where Temple I and Temple II face each other across the grass, then the North Acropolis, the Lost World pyramid and Temple IV, about 70 m to the top of its roof comb and the tallest at Tikal, whose wooden stairs climb above the canopy. Look out for howler and spider monkeys, coatis, toucans and ocellated turkeys. A sit-down lunch near the park entrance breaks the day, and we are back in San Ignacio by early evening.

   Included

   • Border crossing at Benque Viejo and Melchor de Mencos, with the border fees on both sides paid
   • Tikal National Park entry with a licensed local guide: the Great Plaza, Temples I and II, the North Acropolis, the Lost World and Temple IV
   • Sit-down lunch near the park entrance

   Easier option: Skip the Lost World and Temple IV: rest in the Great Plaza or at the visitor centre while the group walks the far loop, about 3 km less.

   More active option: Climb the wooden stairs of Temple IV for the view over the forest to the roof combs of Temples I, II and III.

   Activity: About 8 to 10 km on forest trails over about 5 hours in heat and humidity, with steep wooden stairs if you climb. About 4.5 hours of driving in all: about 15 minutes to the border and 1.5 to 2 hours on to Tikal each way, plus border formalities both ways. Bring your passport, water, insect repellent and a hat.

   

4. Day 4: Xunantunich and the Hummingbird Highway to Hopkins

   San Ignacio to Xunantunich, then Belmopan, the Hummingbird Highway and Hopkins

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Hopkins
   Day 4 details

   We check out after breakfast and drive a few minutes west to San José Succotz, where a hand-cranked ferry carries us across the Mopan River to Xunantunich. Arriving close to opening, we have the site nearly to ourselves: a Maya ceremonial centre on a ridge above the river, dominated by El Castillo, about 40 m high, with a carved stucco frieze on its upper walls. From the top you look across the valley into Guatemala. Then we turn east, past Belmopan, onto the Hummingbird Highway, which winds through the foothills of the Maya Mountains between citrus groves and green limestone hills. A stop at St. Herman's Blue Hole National Park gives a swim in a spring-fed sinkhole pool, and lunch is a sit-down meal on the road. We reach Hopkins, a Garifuna fishing village on a long beach south of Dangriga, by mid-afternoon. We stay in the village close to the beach, and the rest of the day is free on the sand.

   Included

   • Xunantunich with your guide, including the hand-cranked ferry across the Mopan River
   • St. Herman's Blue Hole National Park and a swim
   • Sit-down lunch on the Hummingbird Highway

   Easier option: Stay at the foot of El Castillo in the shade while others climb, and watch from the bank at the Blue Hole.

   More active option: Climb to the very top of El Castillo for the view into Guatemala.

   Free time: Late afternoon free on the beach in Hopkins

   Activity: El Castillo has steep steps and narrow ledges near the top. About 3.5 hours of driving with two stops.

5. Day 5: Cockscomb's jaguar forest and a Garifuna evening

   Hopkins to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary and back

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Hopkins
   Day 5 details

   We drive about half an hour south to Maya Centre and up the dirt road into the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, set aside in the 1980s as the first protected area for the jaguar. The cats are rarely seen, though their tracks sometimes are, and the forest is full of birds, with toucans, motmots and trogons, and the peaks of the Cockscomb range behind. We go in the cool of the morning and walk with a local guide on the Tiger Fern trail to a waterfall pool for a swim. On the way out we stop at Maya Centre, where Mopan Maya families sell slate carvings and embroidery, and lunch is a sit-down meal on the road back. The afternoon is free in Hopkins for the beach, a kayak or a hammock. In the evening we meet Garifuna drummers for a session on the drums and dances of a culture whose language, dance and music UNESCO proclaimed part of the world's intangible heritage in 2001, then sit down to hudut, fish in coconut broth with mashed plantain.

   Included

   • Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary entry with a local guide
   • Waterfall walk and swim on the Tiger Fern trail
   • Sit-down lunch
   • Garifuna drumming and dance session in Hopkins
   • Garifuna dinner

   Easier option: Stay on the flat riverside trails near the sanctuary headquarters and wait for the group by the river.

   More active option: After the swim, walk a longer, hillier loop with the local guide while the rest of the group heads back to Maya Centre.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Hopkins

   Activity: The Tiger Fern trail is a steady climb on a forest path with some steep sections; we confirm its length and time with the sanctuary. Wear shoes with grip and bring swimwear.

6. Day 6: Back to the coast and out to Caye Caulker

   Hopkins to Belize City by road, then the water taxi to Caye Caulker

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Caye Caulker
   Day 6 details

   A slow breakfast by the sea, then we drive back up the Hummingbird Highway and along the George Price Highway to Belize City, about three and a half hours with a coffee stop. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Belize City, the old colonial port where wooden houses on stilts line Haulover Creek and the old swing bridge crosses it. From the water taxi terminal it is about 45 minutes across the shallow lagoon inside the reef to Caye Caulker, a car-free island where the sandy streets are shared by bicycles and golf carts and nobody hurries. Bags go by cart to the hotel, which we choose a short walk from the dock and the Split, and your guide walks you through the village to the Split, the channel across the island that began as a shallow cut after Hurricane Hattie in 1961 and was dug out by villagers, where the water is clear enough for a first swim before sunset. The evening is free; from December to mid-February grilled lobster is in season at the beach barbecues.

   Included

   • Drive from Hopkins to Belize City with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Belize City
   • Water taxi to Caye Caulker
   • Walk through the village to the Split with your guide

   Easier option: Skip the village walk and rest at the hotel; the guide meets you at the Split for sunset if you like.

   More active option: Rent a kayak or a bicycle for the last hour of light; your guide points you to a rental near the hotel.

   Free time: Evening free on Caye Caulker

   Activity: The water taxi can be bumpy when the wind is up; sit towards the back if you feel seasick.

   

7. Day 7: A full day on the Belize Barrier Reef

   Caye Caulker to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley, and back

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Caye Caulker
   Day 7 details

   Today is the reef. We head out in the morning, before the afternoon wind usually picks up, with a licensed snorkel guide and a boat for our group, gear included. The first stop is the Hol Chan Marine Reserve off the southern tip of Ambergris Caye, protected since 1987. Hol Chan means 'little channel' in Maya, after the cut in the Belize Barrier Reef where coral and fish are richest: expect parrotfish, angelfish, eagle rays and often sea turtles. Next is Shark Ray Alley, where nurse sharks and southern stingrays gather around the boats. Lunch is on the waterfront in San Pedro, then a calmer afternoon stop at a coral garden closer to Caye Caulker, where manatees are sometimes seen in the seagrass. We are back on the dock by mid-afternoon, with time to rest and rinse off before walking down to the Split for sunset.

   Included

   • Full-day snorkelling trip with a licensed guide and a boat for the group: Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Shark Ray Alley and a coral garden
   • Snorkel gear and marine reserve fees
   • Lunch in San Pedro

   Easier option: Snorkel in a flotation vest close to the guide, or stay on the boat at any stop; Shark Ray Alley is easy to watch from the deck.

   More active option: Strong swimmers can follow the guide along the edge of the Hol Chan cut, where the coral wall drops away.

   Free time: Late afternoon free

   Activity: About 3 to 4 hours in the water over three stops, in open water with some current at Hol Chan. Reef-safe sunscreen and a rash vest help.

8. Day 8: Caye Caulker at your own pace

   Caye Caulker

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Caye Caulker
   Day 8 details

   A free day on the island, and the trip is built around it, so nothing is scheduled until late afternoon. Rent a bicycle and ride the sandy back streets, swim off the docks at the Split, paddle a kayak along the mangroves on the lagoon side, or read in a hammock. Your guide can help book the trips the island is known for: a manatee watch at the Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary, a day of diving, or a scenic flight over the Great Blue Hole, the round sinkhole on Lighthouse Reef, about 300 m across. In the late afternoon we board a sailboat together for a sunset sail along the reef side of the island, with fruit and rum punch on deck, and come back ashore for a farewell dinner of grilled fish and island cooking with the group.

   Included

   • Sunset sail
   • Farewell dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Manatee watching at Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary
   • Scuba diving for certified divers
   • A scenic flight over the Great Blue Hole
   • We give a price for each when you book.

   Free time: Free until the late-afternoon sunset sail

9. Day 9: Water taxi back and home

   Caye Caulker by water taxi to Belize City, then Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (BZE)

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   Breakfast on the island, then the water taxi back across the lagoon to Belize City, about 45 minutes, where our driver meets the boat and takes you on to the international airport at Ladyville, about half an hour. Water taxis run from early morning, so we time your boat to your flight: book a flight leaving after about 12:30 pm to make the morning comfortable, or tell us your flight and we arrange an earlier boat. If you would rather skip the boat and the drive, a short local flight from the Caye Caulker airstrip to the international airport takes about 15 minutes; we can book it and quote it when you book. Your guide sees the group onto the water taxi and the airport transfer before saying goodbye. If you want more time on the reef, we can add extra nights on Caye Caulker before you fly home.

   Included

   • Water taxi from Caye Caulker to Belize City
   • Drop-off at Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport (BZE)

   Optional experiences

   • Local flight from Caye Caulker to BZE instead of the water taxi, priced when you book

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 12:30 pm.

   

Wildlife and weather: December to April is the dry season. December and January can still bring short showers and cool northerly fronts; March and April are the hottest and driest, with the calmest, clearest water for snorkelling. Lobster season closes on 15 February. The hurricane season runs from June to November, which is why we do not run then.

• San Ignacio3 nights
• Hopkins2 nights
• Caye Caulker3 nights