Altun Ha or Chacchoben?

[navybaby1113]

For those of you who have been to both Belize and Costa Maya, I need help. We're trying to decide whether we should go to Altun Ha in Belize or to Chacchoben in Costa Maya. Which of the two do you think has better ruins?

[crewsweeper]

I'd do Altun Ha in Belize (and use Carnival's excursion, not an independent as time can slip away quickly) and then do the Mahahual beach/malecon in Costa Maya. There are no nearby beaches like that in Belize and many cruisers are afraid to leave the Tourist Village, due to the overaggressiveness of tour operators/vendors just outside the TV gate. I've never had an issue with this behaviour but admittedly without an excursion planned in Belize, it's not your best port.

 

That said, if you're not into beaches, Native Choice's Chacchoben tour gets raves here. Then use Belize as a quiet ship day, or jsut tender over to the pier and go to the Wet Lizard for lunch and stroll around some of th eshops and stalls. The ebony wood carvings there are very nice.

[navybaby1113]

We plan on doing a beach day in Roatan, so I'm trying to find an excursion for both Belize and Costa Maya. I've heard rave reviews on the Altun Ha and River Wallace excursion though. Maybe we'll do two days of ruins.

[Ladyvdr]

We have done both the Altun Ha ruins in Belize and the Chocchoben ruins in Costa Maya. Both were very nice. The Altun Ha ruins can be climbed, so that is nice. The Chacchoben ones are more of the traditional pyramid shape.

 

We really enjoyed Native Choice for the Costa Maya Chocchoben ruins. We used Major Tom for the Altun Ha ruins in Belize.

[Tiggertastic]

We used native choice in Costa Maya and we were there for about an hour and half. The trip was ok money wise and we had a mini bus between 7 people with a driver and a guide.

 

We did however beat in all the large coaches but then they sat us at a table and we watched them all go in before us - we ended up complaining after 30 minutes of sat doing nothing and then the guide did a really good job but he saw his tip dwindling away fast.

 

However on return - the cruise port area has its own shops, pool, beach and a fantastic bar in the middle that serves amazing large frozen margaritas - 2 and a plate of nachos for $18. Music and the staff have fun - we will be doing this next time we are there.

 

We did Lamani in Belize - this place is huge - the coach travels for about an hour North, then you get in a speed boat for about 45 mins to the site. You can climb all the ruins, including a huge one that you had to come down on your bottom. The trip in the coach and boat were rather a bit long. But don't sit at the back of the boat, you will get very wet.

 

We did enjoy both but if we had known about the coach and boat and the real length of these journeys, we would have not booked it.

 

Jan

[navybaby1113]

We ended up going to Chacchoben through Carnival and it was awesome. The tour guide wasn't the best, but the ruins were amazing.

[Cayoooga]

For those of you who have been to both Belize and Costa Maya, I need help. We're trying to decide whether we should go to Altun Ha in Belize or to Chacchoben in Costa Maya. Which of the two do you think has better ruins?

We have been to both. To answer your question simply Chacchoben is the better ruins. We have also been to Lam. and Xuan. in Belize. Lam was the most fun to get to, even on a private tour. Xuan. is large and Altun Ha the least impressive.

[CRUISERTN]

Have done Lamanai and Altun Ha and enjoyed both. It is more of an advanture getting to Lamanai. Highly recommend both.