Lamanai or Altun Ha

[mitchmagi]

Hi all

 

Which is better the Lamanai plus new river safari or Altun Ha plus river trip ?

 

Thanks

[ute_fan]

Good question. We've been to both, and it depends upon your individual tastes. The Lamanai/New River safari was very interesting, and the boat ride along the river added to the experience. It did, however, take almost the entire time that we were in Belize, and didn't leave us any time at all to look around the tourist village, which we had enjoyed on our previous trip when we went to Altun Ha. The trip to Altun Ha was probably closer to a 3 1/2 to 4 hour excursion.

 

We didn't see a whole lot of wildlife along the river, but it was extremely hot when we went, and the tour guides indicated that the wildlife would be hiding in the shade to keep out of the heat. We did see several birds, some howler monkeys in cages at some resort along the river, and a juvenile crocodile about 2' long.

 

The ruins themselves cover a much wider area than the ones at Altun Ha, and the temples are much taller. There is a lot more walking in between the temples at Lamani -- the ones at Altun Ha are grouped much closer together. My DH climbed two of the temples at Lamanai -- while the rest of us waved at him from the ground :D . I don't like heights to begin with, and it was far too hot and humid for me to want to exert any additional exercise -- just walking around the ruins was enough for me. I did climb the one temple at Altun Ha that you're permitted to climb, and that was enough for me. One other difference in climbing the temples is that at Altun Ha they have built steps around the side of the temple -- you don't go up the temple stairs themselves. At Lamanai, you climb directly up the front of the temples.

 

I probably enjoyed Altun Ha more than I did Lamanai, but I think a large part of that was due to the weather. We were in Altun Ha in January. It was warm, but probably in the mid 80's, and not terribly humid. On the other hand, we were at Lamanai in May. Our tour guide estimated that it was 95 degrees with 85% humidity -- I'm from Utah, and used to my heat with dry desert air, and my kids and I both had real trouble with the humidity.

 

Both excursions were enjoyable, so I'm trying to factor the weather out. Advantages to Altun Ha -- shorter excursion with time to shop after. Ruins closer together, with easier walking in between the ruins. Advantages to Lamanai -- larger ruins, more of a true "jungle" setting (which was interesting), the river trip itself.

 

Hope that helps!

[smilesntravels]

Interesting review, and pretty thorough! I'm thinking of doing one of those tours if I don't do the cabe tubing. Have you been to the ruins near Cozumel, or Costa Maya? If you have, can you compare those with the ones in Belize?

Thanks.....:D

[ute_fan]

We've also been to Tulum -- did that one that same cruise where we went to Altun Ha. That one is really hard to compare to the others, because the setting is so different. We went to Tulum from Cozumel, which involved a ferry ride over to Playa del Carmen, and then a bus trip to Tulum. Again, it took more of the time we had in Cozumel, but did include time to shop for about an hour in Playa del Carmen, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

 

The weather the day we went to Tulum, again in January, was cool and quite windy, which I enjoyed much more than I would have done a really hot day. The ruins are very different in that they're not in a jungle setting at all, and seeing Altun Ha later that cruise was an interesting contrast. The temples at Tulum aren't as tall as the ones at Altun Ha, and when we were there, they weren't permitting you to climb any of them. Our tour guide at Tulum was very easy to understand, and had some interesting insights into the Mayan culture. The beach that is located at Tulum is beautiful -- I know some of the other people on the tour had worn swimwear under their clothes and went in the water. If you're looking for traditional Mayan ruins, I don't know that Tulum is quite as spectacular as either Altun Ha or Lamanai, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. I also saw a recent list somewhere in my internet travels that listed Tulum as one of the top 10 things that everyone should see in their life.

 

Those are the only 3 ruins we've been to so far -- guess the ones at Costa Maya will have to wait for another trip :) .

[rjscott]

Have also done both Tulum and Lamanai. Enjoyed them both for different reasons. Tulum has a spectacular setting, backing up to the ocean, but it is all out in the open, so it can get very hot, with no relief from the sun. At the time we visited, we were allowed to climb the temple. A great excursion, if your ship offers it, is to combine the Tulum visit with a stop at Xel-ha, a beautiful park with great snorkeling.

The visit to Lamanai was good in that the ride to the river gave us a good trip through the Belize countryside. The river ride was fun, with our guide stopping to point out wildlife. Lunch was a typical local meal of chicken, rice and beans, with a variety of beverages to choose from. The walk into the ruins was like entering Jurassic Park with the howler monkeys screaming away. :) The ruins were very interesting and our guide was very knowledgeable. We had about an hour to spare at the pier for a bit of shopping when we returned to the terminal.

[smilesntravels]

Okay thank you both. I think it will be hard to decide which to do/not do. When either of you went to Laminaria (sp?), did you notice lots of bugs and worms etc? I mentioned that in another post about cave tubing. Although I love nature and seeing different countries, I am terrified of creepy crawlies, snakes, and anything slimy. I wish they didn't bother me, but unfortunately they do. So if that was very noticeable, please let me know! Thanks a bunch!

[ute_fan]

We didn't have any trouble with bugs or anything at Lamanai. I'd had my family wear long pants in case there were mosquitos, but we didn't have any trouble. There was also no sign of snakes or other crawly creatures. I think it depends a lot on the time of year, but we didn't have any trouble.

 

The only slightly creepy thing we saw was a bunch of bats that were sleeping in a tree that they pointed out to us from the boat. The guides pull the boat close so people could get pictures, and then at the end, reved the motor back up, and they went flying. A couple of ladies in the rear of the boat screamed -- it was quite amusing.

 

At Altun Ha we did see iguanas, but they don't bother me. There was one in particulary, sunning himself on top of the wall surrounding Tulum that was huge -- I'd say over 3 feet long.

[smilesntravels]

Okay, that helps. Yes those iguanas like to sun themselves. I was at a resort in Tamarindo, Costa Rica and they would come right by the lounge chairs (on grass), and sun there. Suprisingly bats don't bother me either, but a three inch worm etc, or a big bee would make me scream....hehe. I too don't like the humidity, but being in VA for the past four years has gotten me a little used to it.

Vicky

[rjscott]

Vicky, no problem with bugs at Lamanai, not even mosquitoes. I took a small package of "Off" towelettes, which are great to throw in a small backpack in the event you need them. Nothing bothered us while we were eating lunch, either, which, if you're going to see bugs, food will usually bring them out! :)

 

Ute fan, I had forgotten about the bats. That was pretty funny. One flew really close to my friend, and I thought she was going overboard. :D

 

Becki

[ute_fan]

Those bats were pretty funny -- sounds like that must be something they do routinely to get them to fly away. We were sitting near the front of the boat, so I actually didn't even realize what had happened as the bats flew off when they turned the back of the boat to leave, but the people screaming was funny.

 

I'm jealous of your description of the howler monkeys. The only ones we saw (or heard) were the ones in the cages along the river. I was hoping to see them at Lamanai, but they were noticably absent that day.

 

We enjoyed the lunch that was served at Lamanai -- my family thought it was interesting to get a typical Belizean lunch.

[kirbmeister]

We saw lots of monkeys, but they were quiet.

 

We did have a few mosquitos. Also being from the dry climate in Utah, I couldn't keep the repellant on in the 90% humidity. I ended up with 3 or 4 bites on my legs.

 

To bad this guy blinked. :D

[rjscott]

Great picture, Kirbmeister! I guess we were lucky, then, b/c the day we were there the monkeys were constantly roaring. Those monkeys were so loud, I expected them to be huge. :)

 

Becki

[kirbmeister]

Most of the monkeys ignored us and stayed high in the trees, but this group came down low in the trees to check us out.

[CaribbeanBound]

We strongly recommend Lamanai. The Lamanai Ruins / Jungle River Cruise was one of the best excursions we have ever been on. Here are complete details of the cruise. Scroll on down to the section on Belize and this tour.

Western Caribbean: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/westerncaribbean.html

 

 

[carolecruiser06]

this message is for all that did the Lamani and River tour.

did you book thru ship or independent?

we are going 11/4 LOS out of Tampa.

[ute_fan]

We booked ours through the ship -- in our case, the NCL Sea. I don't think I'd feel terribly comfortable booking this one independently, as it doesn't meet my comfort level for independent booking.

 

In case you're interested, here's my rationale:

 

1) Do you dock at the port or tender? Belize is a tender-only port, and I'm more comfortable with an independent tour if I don't have to worry about making the tender back to the ship.

 

2) How long is the tour compared to the length of port time? This one pretty much takes up the entire time. By the time we took the tender to Belize (first tender, if I remember correctly), took the tour, and got back to the tourist village to catch the tender back, we were on the next to last tender. Not enough extra time for me to want to be on an independent tour.

 

3) What is the cost differential? In our case, it was only about $10 pp cheaper to go with an independent -- the extra $40 is just added insurance as I NEVER want to miss my ship!

[rjscott]

We did book the Lamanai tour independently, but I have to admit, I was a bit nervous about it. However, when we met our driver at the pier, I conveyed my concerns to him and he assured us we'd be back in plenty of time(there were 6 of us from our ship). As it turned out, we were back at the pier with about an hour and a half to spare. Here is the company we used:

http://belizecruiseexcursions.com/Lamanai_Belize.htm

[BobbieSu]

this message is for all that did the Lamani and River tour.

did you book thru ship or independent?

we are going 11/4 LOS out of Tampa.

We went on the lamanai/new river trip in Jan. We loved it, it was the best shore excursion we had. Good weather, no mosquitos. I agree with all of Utefan's reasons to take the ships tour. An independent company was not that much of a savings and the stress of worrying would have lessened my enjoyment. I know not every ship has a tour, in that case you have to decide whether to go to Lamanai on your own or go another direction.

 

There were some friends on our ship who took an independent trip to Lamanai. They were only able to visit two of the areas and were not given time to climb any structures. We on the other hand visited four areas and were able to climb two structures. I felt we had a better tour.

 

Su

[BobbieSu]

Oh, ps, Kirbmeister, I loved your picture of the monkey. They were howling the whole time we were there and were very impressive, but we never saw a single one, they were far up in the trees and well hidden.

[crusinpsychRN]

Caribbean Bound--good job on your site! Thanks for the reviews.