Private City Tour and Altun Ha

[Travel_Lover28]

What is the best way to do a city tour and Altun Ha without going thru the ship? We have 5 in our group. Belize is one that is hard to plan for since we don't want to do Cave Tubing or Snorkeling. Anyone has done anything like this with a private tour? We will be on Carnival in November.

[jaxfl]

Travel_Lover28 we are doing the Atlum Ha and River tour but with Carnival. 1st reason is a time factor. The tour is about 7 hours and we will only be at Belize for an estimated 9 hours. If somthing was to happen (flat tire, run out of gas, tree falls in the road, etc) then we might miss the boat if on a private tour, that would not be cool. Being on the Carnival Tour the ship will wait for you to get back or will get you back to the ship. 2nd reason is Belize is a tender port and that can take a while also.

[wantocruisemore]

Altum Ha is not that far from port but we did the Altum Ha but with River Wallace. The boat ride took the most time.

 

Honestly though, although I normally just book private or DIY, when we go to ruins we normally do a ships tour. They're just normally too far from port. Plus, Belize is a tender port.

[jollycruise]

We got off the ship, hired a driver for a private tour and had the best day with him! He was a fantastic tour guide and got us to the ruins before all the tour buses arrived, this provided us some great pictures before people were climbing all over them. He also took us on a little hike into the rainforest and told us all about his days of growing up in Belize. It was a wonderful day! :D He got us back to the port with plenty of time to shop the local vendors and then back on the tender to the ship.

[simplealman]

We got off the ship, hired a driver for a private tour and had the best day with him! He was a fantastic tour guide and got us to the ruins before all the tour buses arrived, this provided us some great pictures before people were climbing all over them. He also took us on a little hike into the rainforest and told us all about his days of growing up in Belize. It was a wonderful day! :D He got us back to the port with plenty of time to shop the local vendors and then back on the tender to the ship.

 

Hi jollycruise can you give any info on your trip. We are thinking of doing this also. I have a few questions if you don't mind answering.

 

How much do they charge for the day?

How long did it take to get to the ruins?

Did you see any vehicles that would accommodate 5 people?

Would you've felt safe with 5 year old child?

[jollycruise]

Hi jollycruise can you give any info on your trip. We are thinking of doing this also. I have a few questions if you don't mind answering.

 

How much do they charge for the day? Im sorry I don't remember, it was a while ago and that detail has left my brain...

How long did it take to get to the ruins? It took about 30-40 minutes to the best of my memory.

Did you see any vehicles that would accommodate 5 people? Yes! The van we took would have held at least 5. We opted for a private tour, so he took the 3 of us for a little higher price than if he would have filled his whole van.

Would you've felt safe with 5 year old child?

Yes, if our son was 5 at the time I would have felt safe. Going on our own in Belize is something I would not have done, but with our tour guide I felt very safe. He was WONDERFUL! His name is Manny, just in case you happen to find him!

Edited November 1, 2013 by jollycruise

[simplealman]

Yes, if our son was 5 at the time I would have felt safe. Going on our own in Belize is something I would not have done, but with our tour guide I felt very safe. He was WONDERFUL! His name is Manny, just in case you happen to find him!

 

Thanks for the info. This sounds like something we would be interested in.

[vtoria98]

We got off the ship, hired a driver for a private tour and had the best day with him! He was a fantastic tour guide and got us to the ruins before all the tour buses arrived, this provided us some great pictures before people were climbing all over them. He also took us on a little hike into the rainforest and told us all about his days of growing up in Belize. It was a wonderful day! :D He got us back to the port with plenty of time to shop the local vendors and then back on the tender to the ship.

 

Did you just walk out the gates to find this guy? Was there an admission fee to the Ruins? I want to go to the Ruins but i am not a fan of the big tours since they run you ragged with travel and time schedules and you get way less time than needed at the actual site.

[jollycruise]

Did you just walk out the gates to find this guy? Was there an admission fee to the Ruins? I want to go to the Ruins but i am not a fan of the big tours since they run you ragged with travel and time schedules and you get way less time than needed at the actual site.

 

Yes, we found him right when we walked off the tender. There were several standing there and we asked him about a tour. We told him we wanted it to just be us with him and he gave us the price for the 3 of us. (Sorry I can't remember the price) I also don't remember if there was a charge at the ruins (it was a while ago, the little details have left me)

 

The best part about our tour was, he was there to do anything we wanted. He walked us around the ruins told us all about them, took pictures of us, walked us into the rainforest and was telling us all about the plants and fun stuff we would have never found out on a large tour. He was a great driver which is always good since you drive down "chicken" road to get to the ruins :D.

[cpayne]

I would recommend Richard Lord Taxi and Tour Service. 664-6279 or richard@belizeprofessionaltourguide.com

 

We just retd from 9 days in Caye Caulker. We took the water taxi from the cruise pier to CC. Richard approached us while waiting for the water taxi and said when are you returning and I can pick you up to take you to the airport. He offered us a discounted fareof $20 instead of $25. I gave him the date/time of our return knowing there was a 50/50 chance he would not be there upon our return. I had no worries, though, as I could have easily gotten another cab if necessary.

 

Sure enough our water taxi landed and there he was holding a sign with our name. The weather had been iffy that day so he even came to the earlier water taxi arrival just in case we changed our plans and came early to avoid bad weather.

 

When it came time to collect our bags from all the others he jumped right in and made sure the porters grabbed our's first. Along the entire route to the airport he gave us a narrated "tour/history" of his island.

 

He also provides transport to a variety of activities in/near Belize City including zip line, zoo, cave tubing and beach day/resort/water parks. I do not recall his prices, but email him and he'll be able to tell you the various tours he offers and prices.

 

He's very reliable, polite and efficient.

 

 

Have fun!

[fab4cruisers]

We went to Belize last March and used experience belize tours. We had 6 in our group. My parents in their 70's and my young girls. Allen was very accommodating to my parents. My daughter was afraid that we might miss the ship but Allen assured her that we weren't. After the tour he had beer, sodas and water for all of us. I would highly recommend his company google him and you will find him. There is a cover charge to enter the ruins but it was included in the price.

[jsjjkelly]

Hi!

 

We are returning to Belize next week. The first time we did cavetubing through cavetubing dot bz. Vitilino jr was our Guide, and although our group thought the caves were kinda boring, they did a pretty good job.

 

So this time we wanted to visit a ruin, but don't want to pay the cruise line price. So i emailed him again and said we're returning and would like to see Altun Ha and do a city tour. The whole thing is 4 hours. There's other sites out there offering less than he is on his website,but he said he'd match it and give us a private driver versus being in a big group like his competition. It was $50 for adults and $30 for kids. I wouldn't hesitate to go with him again. I'll post a review when we get back. He also gives a break if you have 10 or more people. Last time we had 10 but we only have 4 this time.

 

Being Altun ha is pretty close, i felt going independent was fine. The other one is like 2 hours bus ride away.... I think I'd do carnival for that one.

 

Hope this helps!

Shawn

[vtoria98]

We just got back from Belize and ended up using Experience Belize Tours. It was 45 per person and well worth it. The van had fantastic AC. They also had all the water and beer you could want.

 

The tour was great, Allen stayed with us and gave us info on all the structures at the site. There were lots of tours and people there and we steered clear of them and he tried to keep the group in the shade since we had a few older and mobility limited folks.

 

If you are heading there i would suggest bug spray for sure. I am never bothered by mosquitos but it has rained for weeks there and is now dry so bugs are hatching and i got a few very nasty bites.

[jsjjkelly]

Hi!

 

We are returning to Belize next week. The first time we did cavetubing through cavetubing dot bz. Vitilino jr was our Guide, and although our group thought the caves were kinda boring, they did a pretty good job.

 

So this time we wanted to visit a ruin, but don't want to pay the cruise line price. So i emailed him again and said we're returning and would like to see Altun Ha and do a city tour. The whole thing is 4 hours. There's other sites out there offering less than he is on his website,but he said he'd match it and give us a private driver versus being in a big group like his competition. It was $50 for adults and $30 for kids. I wouldn't hesitate to go with him again. I'll post a review when we get back. He also gives a break if you have 10 or more people. Last time we had 10 but we only have 4 this time.

 

 

 

Being Altun ha is pretty close, i felt going independent was fine. The other one is like 2 hours bus ride away.... I think I'd do carnival for that one.

 

Hope this helps!

Shawn

 

 

Hi! We just got off our boat this morning and I'm already suffering from withdrawal. So I thought I'd come on here and let y'all know how it went

 

We used cave tubing dot bz the last time we were in Belize, so I emailed him again and said we wanted to do a city tour and Altun ha. For just the 4 of us, we had our own guide (jenny) who stayed with us the whole time. We got the first tender off, and by the time we got to Altun ha there were only a few people here. It was nice to have it so quiet and private.

 

As we were done, you should see all the people offload from the busses!! We would have been miserable for sure with all those people. Jenny answered our every question which we all agreed wouldn't have happened in a big group like that.

 

We did get eaten up by these little black gnats. We thought they were like the ones we have here in the states (harmless). Nope. I didn't bring off but I'm now wishing I should have. They itch really bad. I didn't think they were sand fleas because we were nowhere near a beach! Whatever they are, make sure when you go to spray with bug spray.

 

Hope this helps someone else make a decision on their excursions. We'd go with vitalino again if we go back to Belize!

 

Shawn z:-)

[pokerpro5]

Hi! We just got off our boat this morning and I'm already suffering from withdrawal. So I thought I'd come on here and let y'all know how it went

 

We used cave tubing dot bz the last time we were in Belize, so I emailed him again and said we wanted to do a city tour and Altun ha. For just the 4 of us, we had our own guide (jenny) who stayed with us the whole time. We got the first tender off, and by the time we got to Altun ha there were only a few people here. It was nice to have it so quiet and private.

 

As we were done, you should see all the people offload from the busses!! We would have been miserable for sure with all those people. Jenny answered our every question which we all agreed wouldn't have happened in a big group like that.

 

We did get eaten up by these little black gnats. We thought they were like the ones we have here in the states (harmless). Nope. I didn't bring off but I'm now wishing I should have. They itch really bad. I didn't think they were sand fleas because we were nowhere near a beach! Whatever they are, make sure when you go to spray with bug spray.

 

Hope this helps someone else make a decision on their excursions. We'd go with vitalino again if we go back to Belize!

 

Shawn z:-)

 

Thanks for this review. I am considering Altun Ha because the various islands on Belize have poor reviews, and I don't think I want to do Cave Tubing, especially with my 3-year-old.

 

One thing that appealed to me was the combination Altun Ha & Olde Belize River tour, but I do NOT want to be in Altun Ha with the crowds. As you mentioned, it sounds like a huge plus to beat the buses there. I would do the ship's tour (and in fact it would save me from being nervous about not being back in time), but I don't want the crowds, so that option is out.

 

Is there some sort of private Altun Ha & Old Belize River tour where you go to Altun Ha first, then return via the river? That would be ideal. If we got an early start and skipped lunch (just carry snacks), we could easily be back to the tenders in time.

 

Does such a thing exist?