Lamanai or Altun Ha? Has anyone used this company?

[M&M Mousers]

I found belizecruiseexcursions.com on the web and opened the page. This is how the page starts:

Lamanai Mayan Ruins Belize

It advertises this tour for $75/person including lunch.

Has anyone used them? Has anyone got anything to say about them?

The ad says that they are part of Island Marketing, does anyone know anything about that company?

Has anyone been to both sites so they can compare the two?

Thanks.

[HRHMadonna]

We are in wanting to tour Lamanai but Carnival doesn't offer the tour. Belize Excursions offers exactly what we want...our concern is that since it is a full day tour and we are worried about missing the boat.

Would love to hear reviews from anyone who has done this tour recently!

 

Also FYI...A friend who spent a week in Belize recommended Lamanai over Altun Ha to us...I'd be interested in knowing how others compare the two sites because our cruise ship does offer Altun Ha shore excursions.

Thanks!

[Toyz711]

if you haven't check this out:

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

this is the page for lamanai, but to see altun ha, click on "go to site list" and go down the list.

has maps of the area, information about each site.

lamanai was very COOL....jungle, with howler monkeys in the trees. very indiana jones feel to the place. the sites is not all worn down...they are still in great condition. one thing, the boat ride to get there is 1/2 the fun.

BUT it's a very long day...a private tour, you could more a little faster and maybe not have the time problem. we left on a ship excursion, got the 1st tender of the day and still just made it back for the last tender. we did see a couple of private tours, walking around the site...with only 3 or 4 people to the tour, they made is around much faster then our group did.

[seafun]

I was on the Glory last November, and 9 of us from our roll call pre-arranged to take this trip and we all loved it!

It was exactly as described on their website -- pick up inside the terminal area, air-conditioned van to the river, great boat ride up and down the river stopping occasionally to explore the animal and plant life, a nice homemade lunch and drinks at Lamanai, a detailed tour of the site, which includes getting to climb several of the temples if you wish. VERY wonderful! One of the best shore excursions I have ever done.

And as they note, there are never more than 10 people on the tour (due to the size of the boat). The only downside was that we only had about fifteen minutes for shopping in the port area when we got back, but I was still able to pick up a couple hand carved wood bowls so I was happy.

I would HIGHLY recommend this trip. :D

[Jenbo57]

We used them to tour Altun Ha in May, and it was wonderful. Our guide (Gus) was a native Belizean, and he so obviously loved his country and was very knowledgeable about its history, culture, etc. We chose Altun Ha over Lamanai because it was a shorter excursion; I wanted to be able to wander around a little bit after we returned and before we got back on the ship. We were not dissapointed! Altun Ha is one of the smallest Mayan centers, but it was extremely important, since it was a trading center. The core site includes 13 structures clustered with two Classic period plazas. Very, very interesting!