Mayan Ruins tours - how to dress.

[rjack22]

I have noticed on all the Mayan ruins tours that "they" suggest long pants and closed sturdy shoes.   I get the shoes.  But why long pants?   Is that really necessary?  I am assuming it will be hot.   This is for late February if that matters.

[crewsweeper]

There are weeds and foliage and insects.  Especially mosquitos.  If out they'll go for your legs and arms.  February is relatively mild so you should be ok.  

[Mike45LC]

I like to wear rugged jeans and closed toe boots when scrambling around on rocks.

 

This creates an internal conflict when I climb around waterfalls.  Long pants/boots versus bathing suit and water shoes.

[Denverite]

Did both ruins in January. I wore crops and tennis shoes. My husband wore shorts. I see no need for long pants. There is not a lot of climbing around. There are steps for both ruins and not everyone climbed the steps. The steps can be a bit slippery and are uneven and steep. That is just my experience and others may have different views.

[harryfat1]

My best guess for the long pants is mosquito protection.  We have only been to the Chacchoben ruins in Costa Maya back in December 2016.  Had to dig down to archives to retrieve some of these pictures.

 

I know for our excursion, they made a big point on telling everyone to get insect repellent prior to the cruise on the excursion web page. At the gift shop area at the beginning of the tour, you can pay them to spray the insect repellent on you for a fee. So maybe if you have more clothes protection, harder for insects to get to you?

 

Most people from our tour wore shorts as even though it was in December, it was still pretty hot and humid as it's pretty far inland but we brought our own insect repellent.

 

Mostly shorts in our tour group from the ship:

 

 

Most of the path is pretty flat but there is one step set of stairs to climb:

 

 

Tip - most people congregate at the beginning wanting to take the picture.  Wait until the end of the tour when many of the bus tours have departed and you can have the place to yourself:

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

 

[Lizabu]

People are worried about mosquitoes. I literally wore shorts and flip flops and I was fine. there’s a ton of stairs to climb though, so just consider that 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Lizabu

[JimmyVWine]

Shorts are fine but even if you look like a geeky tourist, I would wear socks and shoes suitable for climbing wet, slippery stones. We did encounter fire ants and the socks were a game changer. Not perfect protection against biting bugs, but better than bare legs. 

[Thrak]

We didn't visit the ruins shown above but did visit some that were far more "degraded". We wore shorts. At one place the guide stopped to talk about a certain feature and everybody started slapping at their legs. We had failed to prepare with insect repellent and ended up with about a bazillion extremely itchy and painful bites from some kind of sand flea all over our legs. It was really extremely unpleasant. People on the ship asked us what the heck had happened as our legs were covered in red blotches. If insect repellent is recommended for your excursion take it to heart.

[LMADAMS91]

We've done both of these ruins. I wore capris and everyone else wore shorts. We wore closed toed shoes because of uneven grounds and rocks. We had no problems.

[rjack22]

Thank you all for the replies!   Now I have a better understanding of why they suggest long pants.  I did plan on bringing bug spray.    They pictures were very helpful, thanks!

[lifes-a-beach]

Consider Deep Woods Off wipes instead of spray. When we went to Lamanai the mosquitos were pretty hangry.  Someone offered us the wipes and they were so much better than spray.  There were folks spraying and overspray was just going everywhere.  The wipes were awesome.

[80sGal]

What is the weather and mosquito situation like in July/August?  We've been in March to Lamanai and it was pleasant with no insects, but have July planned this coming year.   

[Mum2Mercury]

This information is new to me, but (insert toddler voice here) I DON'T WANT TO WEAR LONG PANTS ON VACATION!  I'm glad to hear so many of you wore shorts and were fine.  I have climbed similar pyramids near Mexico City, and I know the sturdy tie shoes are 100% necessary.  

 

Good info about insect protection -- I've added it to our packing list.  

Any comment on how the bugs are likely to be in October?  Late October.

[ABQrobin]

Its the jungle.... bugs don't have seasons.  That said, I have never had a problem in Belize but I always take the Off wipes to use.

[Mum2Mercury]

55 minutes ago, ABQrobin said:

Its the jungle.... bugs don't have seasons.  That said, I have never had a problem in Belize but I always take the Off wipes to use.

Bug have seasons here in North Carolina, but I see your point.  

Thanks for the info.

[RCmommy]

On 8/24/2022 at 8:08 PM, Lizabu said:

People are worried about mosquitoes. I literally wore shorts and flip flops and I was fine. there’s a ton of stairs to climb though, so just consider that 

Which ruins has a ton of stairs?

[Lizabu]

1 hour ago, RCmommy said:

Which ruins has a ton of stairs?

Chacchoben. You will notice the stairs in the picture Harryfat1 posted earlier in the thread.