Xunantunich and Cave Tubing Tour from San Ignacio
The most-reviewed Xunantunich tour there is — 5.0 across 265 people.
Overview
The most-reviewed Xunantunich tour there is: 265 reviews at a 5.0 average, plus a Badge of Excellence. That volume is the strongest signal on this page — a 5.0 across 265 people is much harder to hold than a 5.0 across 20.
It pairs two hours at Xunantunich with roughly five hours floating the cave system at Nohoch Che'en Caves Branch. Pickup is 7:30am and the day runs nine to eleven hours.
Worth knowing before you book: the cave tubing is not at Xunantunich. Nohoch Che'en is about ninety minutes away by road, and that drive is why this is a full day rather than a morning — and why you get two hours at the pyramid instead of three.
Bring walking shoes for the ruins and separate water shoes for the tubing, plus a full change of clothes. The site is hot and shadeless; the cave leg is wet.
Itinerary
- 7:30am pickup in San Ignacio
Collection from your hotel inside San Ignacio town. Outlying lodges may cost extra or be excluded — check when booking.
- The ferry, then the ruins
Roughly fifteen minutes to the crossing, then the hand-cranked ferry and a mile uphill to the entrance.
- Two hours at Xunantunich
El Castillo, the frieze, the plazas, guided throughout. Long enough to climb properly.
- Ninety minutes to the caves
The drive to Nohoch Che'en Caves Branch. This is the part the listings tend not to spell out.
- Around five hours cave tubing
Floating the underground river on an inner tube, under limestone archways. Equipment and lunch included.
- Return to San Ignacio
Nine to eleven hours after pickup.
What's included
Included
- Entrance fees to both reserves
- Local guide throughout
- Cave tubing equipment
- Lunch
- Bottled water
- Hotel pickup within San Ignacio town
Not included
- Gratuities
- Alcoholic drinks
- Pickup from outlying lodges (surcharge may apply)
- Souvenirs
What travellers said
From travellers who booked this tour and climbed El Castillo.
Climbed El Castillo before the crowds arrived — their group was the second vehicle through the gate, so the plazas were empty and the photographs came out clean. Their guide Jose walked them through the site in detail.
D_B
Booked a group tour and ended up with Jose to themselves. Arrived by eight with only a handful of others on site, and climbed roughly fifty metres to the top — steep, but broken into enough stages that it wasn't hard.
Audrey_S
Carla knew the archaeology cold and was, in this reviewer's words, small but mighty on the river. Their only note: the ruins portion assumed some prior knowledge of Maya culture, and a beginner's overview first would have helped.
Candace_M
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