Lamanai vs. Chaccoben(costa maya)

[missinde]

Has anyone done both Lamanai and Chaccoben? We will be on our first cruise in 3 weeks, and aren't sure which one. We only want to spend one day at ruins. Lamanai sounds bigger and the river trip sounds fun, but there seems to be so many other great things to do in Belize (cave tubing, ariel trek, snorkeling, skuba). In Costa Maya chaccoben would only take about 1/2 the day and we could still go to the beach. Any thoughts? Thank you so much this message board is so interesting it is consuming all of my time!

 

nicole

first time cruiser

[thatbloominplace]

yes, i have done both. would definitely do chacoben(sp?) because of the reasons stated. we did the ruins in the morning and then went to the town and beach in the afternoon for costa maya. enjoyed this very much. lamanai takes the ENTIRE day and then some. there are many other options in belize whereas the above is, i think, the best of costa maya. the ruins in costa maya are relatively small, but are in a very unique and intimate setting. i think you will enjoy them.

[BellinghamBoaters]

My wife and I just got back from Belize visiting there on Royal Caribbean's Splendor of the Seas. We took the Lamanai tour and it was great. It was all day as stated but the river trip was amazing and the ruin site was large. We saw much wildlife and the fast ride back was amazing. The guide sure knew how to drive that boat through the meandering river fast.

We booked directly through the ship. Had no time to see anything else though.

Costa Maya was very touristy and despite the raves about Majuahal I would never go back. Too mutch hastling anytime you walked by anyone.

[missinde]

Thanks for the replies, we are down to one week and think we have decided on Lamanai.

Thanks again,

Nicole

[CaribbeanBound]

Highly recommend Lamanai.

Here is a VERY detailed review...

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