Belize Ruins Excursions

[queen14]

I am looking into the Ruins Excursions for Belize through Carnival. I know the ruins are generally longer tours so I dont want to take the chance of being left behind so going with Carnival on this one. Please help me pick one. I have three options:

 

Altun Ha Mayan Site & River Wallace - $85.99

http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/509049

 

Xunantunich Mayan Ruins - $85.99

http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/509052

 

Altun Ha & Belize City Tour - $59.99

http://www.carnival.com/Activities/Excursion/509048

 

Has anyone been on these tours? What's the best one? any advice would help...

[scchasgal]

We did the Altun Ha Ruins and Belize city tour and really enjoyed it. Comfortable bus and plenty of time to look around the ruins.

 

We took the cheapest one as we are cheap :D

[evandbob]

I've been to Altun Ha River Wallace in Jan 2011 and Xanantunich Dec 2010. Of the two, I preferred Xanantunich. Both are all day affairs, so a CCL tour is a good choice. The Xanantunich ruins were larger, more spread out and older, getting to the top of the pyramid was a challenge, it's quite high. Crossing the stream on the hand drawn pulley raft to get to the ruins was also a treat.

 

Altun Ha seemed restored, very small ruins, maybe only 4 or 5 small structures. The vendors stalls there were good to shop at and the river tour was a pleasant change from the bus.

 

Of course, Chichen Itza is tops, but then you didn't ask about that.

[thesawch]

We did the 59 dollar one also.it was good enough for us. The other one for 89 to xanaich or however they spell it would be best for ruins but it's a full day so we took the shorter tour and really seen how they live in the city. Anyone you will enjoy!

[Jifner]

We did the Altun Ha and River Wallace last September. I really enjoyed it, our guides were wonderful and knowledgable. The ruins were interesting (only ones I've ever been to) and the river tour was very nice. Also stopped for lunch at a nice local restaurant for a very reasonable price - we ate the local cuisine, the chicken was wonderful!

[uksaint]

We did Altun Ha River Wallace two weeks ago (Mar 3). It was an enjoyable day out - the river portion was fun and informative, plus quite refreshing with the breeze. We saw crocodiles, howler monkeys, manatee (briefly) and bats, plus numerous birds on our trip up river.

 

Lunch at a 'resort' - was pretty good - local chicken and beans dish (or burgers if you preferred).

 

Altun Ha was OK. If we hadn't been to Chichen Itza, then we might have been impressed - but we couldn't help comparing. Quite a few vendors at Altun Ha if you have time to browse - but we found some of their stuff more expensive than Roatan, and as we were to find out the next day, even some of the port shops in Cozumel were cheaper. All in all, it was an enjoyable tour and the 2 hour boat portion was a nice change from sitting in the bus for half a day.

[nature person]

Is the boat ride all speed boat or does it also cruise along the river so you can view the scenery? Would it be a comfortable boat ride for an older person?My MIL is coming with us for excursions.

[CorvetteLady]

It is a speed boat but they keep an eye out for animals and birds. They slow down for anything interesting. We took my husband's parents, both in their 70's, on this excursion and they really enjoyed it.

[Nanaimobound]

We did Xunantunich with RCI in 2006.

It was amazing, and as someone else said going across the river is a really cool thing also. You get to basically traverse the entire country by bus and go through several different eco- systems. it is bigger and more elaborate than Altun Ha. Be prepared to be gone all day, and come back exhausted!

My kids still talk about that exciting day.

[Izzziee]

Here are a few photos from when we took the Altun/River Wallace trip last October, the last shows the boat, take sun screen and a hat if you choose this one!

We loved the whole day, the trip down the river was fascinating with lots of wild life, croc, monkeys iguana etc :)

[Izzziee]

Is the boat ride all speed boat or does it also cruise along the river so you can view the scenery? Would it be a comfortable boat ride for an older person?My MIL is coming with us for excursions.

 

The boat goes faster along the coast, but then quite slowly on the river, our tour, they slowed to a stop many times for photos, and turned the boat around so that everyone got a look at everything :)