Our Journey starts from San Pedro (Ambergris Caye) where you will get your boat tickets (the boat ride consists of one hour & 30 minutes, Water Taxi transfer from San Pedro to Belize City in which you will be able to see Caye Caulker, Caye Chapel and much more, arriving in Belize city water taxi terminal, where you will meet your tour guide. From there you board a private vehicle with your guide as you begin your road trip to Altun Ha Mayan Ruin: Altun Ha is an ancient Mayan City about 30 miles north of Belize City, dating back to about B.C. 900. It is believed the city was occupied for centuries up until A.D. 1000, covering the classic period A.D. 250-900, the time from which most of the information of this city was gathered and the time when the city was at its height.
The name Altun Ha means “Rockstone Water”, and it is derived from the name of a nearby village called Rockstone Pond, but Altun-Ha’s ancient name remains unknown. The largest temple of Altun Ha is the Temple of the Masonry Altars which stands 54 feet high. The Sun God’s Tomb is also found on this temple dated for about A.D. 600-650, in which researchers found a skeleton and various artifacts when the tomb was excavated.
The Mayans made use of the land and its terrains, as they did so above the surface they also did so below the surface. The Mayans believed that the caves were an entrance to Xibalba “a place of fear” related to death. It is completely so because the Mayans used the caves to perform death rituals and also the river flowing through these caves provided a secret passageway to ambush enemies.
Cave Tubing into a cave system at Caves Branch. After reaching the Caves Branch Archaeological Reserve you will hike for about 30 minutes through the Belize Rain Forest and through a couple of dry caves until you come to the opening of the first cave through which the underground Caves Branch river flows. This is where the REAL fun begins as you will be assisted in getting into your inner tube to begin floating through the caves. It's a short but amazing journey of about 45 minutes to an hour. Our tubes with headrests are linked so there is no need to hold onto someone else's feet and you are guided by a licensed and experienced tour guide :) At the end of the tour, we will head back to the water taxi terminal.