Mayan Ruins

[gkrnjlr]

On one of our previous cruises to Cozumel we saw the Mayan Ruins of Tulum. We enjoyed that and have considered doing a Mayan Ruins tour again in Belize. The brief "explanation" of the tour makes it sound extremely similar to the Tulum tour.

 

If you have seen one Mayan Ruins site, have you pretty much "seen them all?"

 

Thanks!

[Toyz711]

not to me...

we did a tour in santo tomas, it did have a ball field..but it was known for other things then buildings (quiriqua). very interesting and totally different from the tour we took the next day..in belize to lamanai.

next trip i have a couple of other places earmarked.

here's a good page for information on belize sites.

http://www.belizeexplorer.com/cgi-local/explorer.cgi?db=explorer&uid=default&Category=Mayan+Sites&view_records=1&nh=1

our ships only offered excursions to lamanai (great site..photos in my webshot link in signature...under the "belize") and altun ha. the trip to

Xunantunich wasn't available, they had problems getting back on time. it's a longer trip then to lamanai.

for lamanai and the river safari, we got wildlife viewing, a great boat ride and over an hour at the site....3 ruins, one you can climb...they are in great shape, protected by the jungle. speaking of which, there are howler monkeys in the trees around lamanai...really cool to hear them.

[Jenbo57]

If you're really into ruins...go! Tulum is pretty spectacular; I don't think the ruins in Belize can compare just for the fact that Tulum overlooks the Caribbean. However, we found Altun Ha to be a worthwhile trip. We booked through Island Marketing; had a guide named Gus who was fabulous!

 

[gkrnjlr]

Thanks for all the info! We're not totally sold on the ruins in Belize only because of the 1.25 hour trip each way, BUT they are really neat to see.

 

The two ruins tours offered on our cruise are Xunantunich and Altun Ha (combined with the city tour).

 

We're also traveling with a 9 month old. She's happy go lucky, and easy going, but it is also a factor to take into consideration!

 

Thanks again!

[mrsneurotic]

Loved Xunantunich! Totally different that Chichen Itza. Beautiful setting in the rain forrest, very exciting. If you can take this excursion...it's great!!

[gkrnjlr]

Sounds great! Ok....would you take it with a 9 month old, considering the motorcoach ride is 2 hour each way?

 

She is happy go lucky, but two hours......I am sure she'd sleep on the way back, but on the way there I would worry that she might disturb other passengers.

 

YES, I am one of those parents that DOES care about the other passengers! I don't want to be "the nuisance family."

 

Thanks for your input!

[NSgal]

We will be on NCL in December and are considering the Altun Ha & Old Belize River tour or the Lamanai & New River Safari. HAs anyone done either of these. I would love to hear your experiences.

[Toyz711]

i did the NCL's lamania and river safari...great trip!!!

we had a tour guide names "jewell"..loved her. the bus ride was OK, the bus was in need of interior repairs..the seats were uncomfortable, we had to move to find good seats. but the air worked and the engine was fine, the driver was great. the stories jewel told made the bus ride fun.

the boat ride was outstanding, we didn't see a lot of critters...but what we saw was interesting. the site was amazing, much better then i had hoped.

i have photos in my webshop link (in signature) under "belize". you can climb the tallest of the site...i didn't, don't have good balance. we had a young man with us, he trailed behind out group...helped those with walking problems, helped an older gentleman climb. that area has howler monkeys in the trees, the guides watch to make sure they stay in a certain area and don't bother the tourists.

http://www.belizeexplorer.com/cgi-local/explorer.cgi?db=explorer&uid=default&Category=Mayan+Sites&view_records=1&nh=6&mh=1

you can check out the other belize sites on this web link.

you get water/potty break when you change from the bus to the boat. you are handed a bottle of water at the site, plus get lunch there. we had another group in front of us, instead of eating with them, we went on to the site and came back for lunch. that worked very well, we got to walk around with just our group...then a nice relaxing/cooling lunch.

the only think i would say, if you have problems walking over uneven ground...don't do this. there is a path, but it's muddy (at times), tree roots to walk over and stone steps (even if you don't climb the site)

it's about a mile to mile 1/2 walk...in a loop. restrooms are flushed toilets, but like some at county/state/national campgrounps, they don't have air conditioning, may be out of soap..but better then i expected.

[deuceybean]

We have booked the Altun Ha/River ride trip through Carnival while in Belize. I love the picture above that was posted. We had originally booked the Tulum ruins in Cozumel, but wanted to do something else while in Cozumel. Are the Tulum ruins so much better that we should do that excursion?

[mkinmidtn]

Just got off my cruise and it was wonderful. We did the Altun Ha/City tour and it was great. The ruins are amazing to see!! The walking can be a little rough at times. I had my 77 yr old Grandmother with me and she did everything but go to the top of the ruins. We booked thru Carnival and had a wonderful guide named "Vanessa". She kept us entertained on the way out there and on the way back. With all to see going and coming the trip there seemed to go by fast. I would definitely recommend this excursion.

 

Have a great time!!

[deuceybean]

Thanks for the info, it sounds great!

[terrymtex01]

We have booked the Altun Ha/River ride trip through Carnival while in Belize. I love the picture above that was posted. We had originally booked the Tulum ruins in Cozumel, but wanted to do something else while in Cozumel. Are the Tulum ruins so much better that we should do that excursion?

 

If you go to Cancun or Cozumel and you do not go see Tulum, you are literally doing yourself a disservice. Of all the places we have traveled to Tulum is on the very top of the most spectacular, magical, mystical and just jaw dropping we have ever seen. Pictures do not do it justice.

[impcinder]

We just returned from 6/14 cruise and did Xunantunich. We booked through Carnival - I think it was $88 per person. It is a two hour coach ride to the ruins, a two minute ferry ride across the river, a 2 minute van ride up a steep hill and then a 5 minute hike up the hill. The site is wonderful, part excavated, part in ruins, and part unexcavated.

 

There is a bathroom at the site entrance. I don't recall seeing one on the coach. There is a stop for lunch on the return trip.

 

We have toured Chitzen Itza and Tulum, we found Xunantunich to be different. Tulum is on the cliff overlooking the Sea, Chitzen Itza is an excavated city, Xunantunich is a jungle site that is a 'work in progress'.

 

The day we toured Xunantunich we found the weather to be very hot and muggy. And it was a long day. We were the first group off the ship (tender) and did not return to Belize City (port) until about 30 minutes prior to the last tender.

[bmacri]

We did an independent tour of Altun Ha just last week.

We found the guide outside the "fence" in Belize.

It's called Rose's Travel Guide. Rose was the driver.

Just ask anyone for her. She knows everyone.

 

It only took 45 minutes each way. We spent about 1.5 hours at the site.

The total tour was about 3 hours.

She is very informative and knowlegable about the ruins.

 

But as she would say, they are not ruins, ruins are crumbled and fallen.

What we saw were Mayan temples. (still standing!)

 

And, when we got back, she told us which vendors to buy from.

[terryde]

We did Altun Ha and River wallace with Carnival - and we usually book private but liked this one - only 39 in our group. One couple took a 4 1/2 month old baby who fussed a lot - made it hard to hear the guide sometimes on the bus. (We figured they would sleep on the bus ride, as our kids used to do, but this one didn't!) They also carried the baby up slippery steps at the temples - whoa!

[margincall]

We did the Altun Ha tour with Carnival and loved it . There were about 35 people in our group and our guide was slow and thorough. If someone had a question she stopped to answer it and she never rushed us

 

I would definitely recommend them