ruins

[travsmom]

Could someone tell me about the ruins in Belize.Are they far away from the port,are they worth the money. Is it easy to get around on the grounds.Thank you for your response.

[k2excursion]

We did Altun Ha through Carnival. It was a very long ride, seemed to be almost 2 hours each way. The tour took 2 hours longer than was advertised. There was a guided tour of the grounds, but it would be easy to get around on our own. It's a simple layout. It was nice that we got to climb the tall structure. Great views from up there. Not the best ruins tour that I've done though. I don't know if it would be worth the money anymore. We felt that it was overpriced 4 years ago, but since Belize is such a tough port to deal with because of the long tender ride, we just did it and didn't worry about the money. If there is a next time, we'll either make it a ship-to-ourselves day or book a beach excursion through Carnival.

[MTdreaming]

we just did the river cruise and Altun Ha.. we enjoyed it. We were on a princess excursion, due to the tender port issues. The river cruise was about 2 hours, saw quite a bit of wildlife and lunch was good (not great but good). The bus ride into the ruins is on a poor road, so the bus must go slow, the ride back took about an hour and 15 minutes. The ruins were not crowded at all, we had both a wheelchair guest and a guest with a walker and they managed fine. Obviously they did not climb the ruins but then neither did I. The tour guide we had was very good and informative. The guide you get probably makes a big difference.

[jaasb0808]

We have done both Altun Ha and Lamanai, they are both wonderful sites, if you enjoy history at all they are a must see when in Belize!

 

A few years ago we did the Altun Ha tour with Coral Breeze Tours it was wonderful, I was nervous not booking through the cruise line but they were great. Altun Ha is the closer one, about an hour drive from the port. It is a smaller site and is a much quicker to get to and tour than Lamanai. I would recommend booking through a private company as it saves a lot of $ and seems to be a more intimate experience.

 

More recently we booked the Lamani Ruins through the ship, it is a little over an hour bus ride and then a one hour boat ride to get to the ruins. They are truly in the middle of the rainforest which is very cool. Their were howler monkeys all over in the trees and we saw a jaguar print in the mud. It is a little tougher to get around than Altun Ha, the day we went it was pretty muddy and there were tree routes and things in the trail, but anyone in moderate physical condition should be okay if you are not planning on climbing the temples. This is a much larger site, but because it is so far away there is a lot more time spent traveling than actually seeing it. If you do Lamanai I would recommend booking through the ship just in case there are any delays. Our boat broke down on the way back and we were cutting it pretty close to the last tender...nice to have the ship guaranteed to be waiting for you!

Edited February 21, 2014 by jaasb0808

[JimAOk1945]

The ruins at Lamanai are fantastic. Our tour also included the ride on the river to and from the ruins and lunch.

 

You might like to see the slide show my wife made with the pictures she took for her website. The link below will take you right there. You also might like to turn up your speakers to hear the background music while you watch the slide show.

 

Lamanai Mayan Ruins

 

Happy cruising!

[zounds]

Great photos and mellow sound track. Thank you very much ! steve

[CaribbeanBound]

They are indeed far from the port and they are well worth the trip.

 

This will be one of your favorite ports IF you book an excursion. You'll hate the place if you do not. This fact has been chronicled time and again. Do yourself a favor and book an excursion! We opted to take the Lamanai tour. LOVED it.

 

Once at the Belize pier we were greeted with a nice Welcome sign. There are only a handful of shops at the pier. I am guessing there were about 90 folks on this tour. We were herded onto 1 of 3 air conditioned buses. Whatever bus you get becomes your tour group, and included a guide that not only narrated the bus tour and answered our questions but also drove our boat on the jungle cruise and lead our excursion of the ruins. Our experienced guide was Vel, and he was breaking in a very pretty young guide-in-training that joined us for the duration of the tour. Our guides were very friendly, knowledgeable, and proud of their country.

 

Belize is a poor country with great natural and historical assets. One idiot on the bus asked "Why are there bars on the windows of houses?" during an otherwise interesting Q&A about the country. (Answer: they have a crime problem related to a "crack" problem). The housing and habitat reminded us a lot of Waimanalo on Oahu (sans the bars). We learned a lot about the city and country on our 1.25 hour bus tour over a paved 2-lane road to the boat dock. [side note: from visible signage along the road it appears Pepsi "controls" the less populated part of the country while Coca-Cola "owns" Belize City itself]. Each bus unloaded their groups into a large thatched roof building sporting restrooms and a couple of artisans. Within a few minutes we were loaded onto covered boats with comfortable seats and two powerful outboard motors.

 

We snaked South down the river to the Lamanai Ruin site. Our guide plying us with information and pointing out numerous birds (including King Fisher, Blue Herrin, Vultures, and Snow Egrets), baby crocodiles, and a huge green iguana, as well as various flora and fauna. We also found the huge termite nests in the trees to be of interest to all. One of the 3 boats experienced engine trouble which slowed us down a bit, but that boat was never abandoned. Our boat held back each time to make sure they were not stranded.

 

Once we arrived at Lamanai, we ate a hearty lunch of Mayan chicken, rice, coleslaw, coconut tarts, and bottled Pepsi and water. We started our tour in a small museum with interesting Mayan artifacts and continued on by foot through an impressive jungle featuring vines, "Jurassic Park"-sized palm fronds, medicinal trees, and Howler Monkeys. We spent about 1.5 hours exploring 3 large Mayan temples and the remains of a small Mayan town. Our guides provided an enormous amount of insight and kept us moving at a reasonable clip.

 

We returned to the boats, sped back up the river, and returned to the buses just before nightfall. We arrived back at the docks about an hour after the final tender was suppose to leave for the ship. Our guides, to their credit, had made the decision to give us the full tour --- not an abridged tour --- even though we had arrived late. After all, we were paying the full price of the tour and they weren't going to let us get anything less. It was clear, back in Lamanai, that we were not going to make the tender cutoff time. This began to cause great distress among some tour passengers. Just remember, that if you are on a cruise-sponsored tour, there are "no worries!" They were not going to strand any of their passengers in Belize if they are on a cruise-sponsored excursion. Sure enough, we were met at the pier with a nice large boat that easily and comfortably sped all of us back to the ship, which was beautifully illuminated out on the sea. Bottom line: take this tour.

 

More "Secrets of the Caribbean": http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

First-hand information on excursions we've taken in over 20 Caribbean ports. With photos!

[New2cruise1483]

We did the river safari and Lamanai ruins and it was wonderful! It was about an hour ride out of town and then about an hour ride on a speed boat to the ruins. The guide was great about spotting the boat and showing us variorum flora and fauna, and was very informative during the ruins tour. We got to climb a couple of the temples, the tallest of which allowed you to see over the tops of the trees and all over. After taking us back to meet the bus we were fed e delicious chicken lunch and then taken back to the port to meet our tender back to the ship, well worth the money!