Xunantunich Mayan Ruins and Cave Tubing Experience from Placencia

I would highly recommend Wilder Adventures. It’s a full day of Mayan history from the time you are picked up to the end of the day. Wilder is an excellent guide. He knows everything about Belize and the ancient Mayan’s. We started our journey from Placencia and headed 2.5 hours to the ruins. In order to get to the ruins you have to take a small manual hand cranked ferry over the river manned by a couple of ferry tenders. Once we got there we took a short hike up the hill and up a short flight of stairs which landed us right in the middle of the ruins. Wilder talked about the history of the site and what each structure represented. We then climbed the top of the largest pyramid at the site. Once you are at the top you can see spectacular views for miles and miles in every direction. Once we were done viewing the area we headed back down the pyramid and looked at a few other structures before heading back to the van. We were there for about 1-1/2 hours. After leaving and going back over the river on the ferry we stopped at a local restaurant where we ate some amazing local food. After that we drove another hour or so to the cave tubing park. We put on more sunscreen and changed into our “get wet” clothes which they have changing rooms so you don’t have to do it in the parking lot. Once we were ready Wilder set us up with life jackets and helmets which had headlamps on them and we started our 30 minute walk to the entrance to the caves. We had to cross the river 3 times in mostly ankle/knee deep water, through the jungle on very well maintained paths until we reached the entrance. We jumped into our tubes and Wilder continued our history lesson while he guided us through the caves and out into the open river. The river was low this time of year however we never had to get off our tubes just a few “butts up” moments. We slowly drifted to the end of the run and made our way back to the van where we gathered our dry clothes, changed and headed back to Placencia. This is a full day tour we started at 7:00am and got back to Placencia at 6:30PM. Again, I would definitely recommend Wilder Adventures for your excursions in Belize. They put a very personal touch on their tours and you leave with not only an education about Belize but you also gain a new friendship.