Guatemala and Belize with G Adventures – Adventure Travel in Central America

After a great trip, certain moments will stand out in your memory. For this trip, it could easily have been standing atop a Mayan Pyramid in the middle of the jungle, or snorkeling with sharks, rays, and a manatee, but the moment that stands out in my mind was floating through a cave on a raft of inner tubes, with my headlamp playing off the roof of the cave. If you are looking for adventure, this might just be the itinerary for you.

Table of contents: (Hide)

• Opportunity
• Itinerary
• Traveling to Belize City
• Arrival in Belize City
• Meeting the Group
• The Golden Bay Belize Hotel
• From Belize to Guatemala by Public Bus
• Leaving Belize and Entering Guatemala
• Yaxha, Guatemala
• Flores
• Tikal
• Exploring Flores
• Back to Belize
• Cave Tubing
• San Ignacio, Belize
• Caracol Mayan Ruins, Belize
• Public Bus to Belize City
• Belmopan
• Ferry to Caye Caulker
• Caye Caulker
• Bikes with Purpose
• Snorkeling on the Belize Barrier Reef
• Sunset Cruise
• Caye Caulker to Belize City International Airport
• Conclusion

Opportunity

When my plans to attend a conference were canceled, I found myself with a week’s vacation I needed to use by the end of the year. Where could I go for only a week, see a new country or two, have some adventures, and use only five days of vacation?

I zeroed in on a small group trip offered by G Adventures to Belize and Guatemala called “Classic Belize & Tikal.” I had never been to either country, nor had I traveled with G Adventures before, but I knew their great reputation from numerous friends and bloggers who had.

In full and fair disclosure, after I decided on this trip, I pitched G Adventures to sponsor me in exchange for this blog post and a podcast about the trip. They paid for my tour and half of my single supplement. I paid for all meals, flights, and extra activities. 

Itinerary

This tour focuses on Belize but throws in 2 days in Guatemala so you can visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal. It starts in Belize City, travels to Flores Guatemala then back to St Ignacio Belize, and ends on the island of Caye Caulker off the coast of Belize.

Traveling to Belize City

One of the advantages of a trip to Belize is that it’s fairly easy to get to from the United States. For the people on my tour who lived in either the U.S. or Canada, we all flew on the same day that our trip started. The trip started with a meeting at 6 pm on Saturday night. Starting at 6:30 am from San Jose, California, I was able to get to the hotel two minutes before that starting meeting. I usually recommend that you arrive a day early for a trip in case of flight problems. I routed my flight through Los Angeles, which wasn’t going to have summer thunderstorms, and hoped for the best.

Arrival in Belize City

The international airport in Belize is not a large airport, and getting into and through customs was fairly simple for me. However, one of the members of my tour group did have some choice thoughts about the organizational skills of those who were guiding people through customs.

I grabbed a local taxi after getting local currency from the airport ATM. The taxi ride from the airport to the Golden Bay Belize Hotel in Belize City took about half an hour and cost $30 USD. 

The local currency in Belize is the Belize Dollar, which is pegged to the dollar at a value of 1 USD to 2 BD. Most places in Belize will take either, and your change may come back in either currency. If you are bringing dollars to use, they should not be overly worn.

We had barely left the airport grounds before the taxi driver asked if he could give two “friends” a ride. He picked up two ladies who were standing by the airport entrance but waved off a 3rd woman. I did not get the impression that they were friends so much as that this informal ride-sharing was a way to make a couple extra dollars. The skies opened up with a downpour moments after our newfound friends got in the cab. While the official language of Belize is English, I was given a crash course in the local Creole. I could only pick out every few words from the conversation.

Meeting the Group

I have taken several small group travel trips, including those I run for Amateur Traveler. I have sworn off big bus tours with 40 people, but I love the format of traveling with a small group of people and find that an adventurous trip tends to attract a certain kind of person. If you need to be pampered… this is not your trip. If you want things to be just like they are at home… this is not your trip.

We met our guide, Suzy, and the rest of the group in the top-floor restaurant at the Golden Bay Belize Hotel. My group included:

• Suzy, who was guiding her 97th tour for G Adventures, is originally from Scarborough in the UK (North Yorkshire). She lives in Guatemala and speaks fluent Spanish. She has also worked all over the world as a dive instructor
• A couple from Leeds in the UK, he is a photographer, and she is a researcher
• A telecom engineer man originally from the Philipines but living in Dallas 
• A Nurse Practitioner from Nashville who works in a clinic for refugees and immigrants
• An assistant TV director from Toronto, Canada
• A school teacher from London
• A college professor from Central Pennsylvania who has a minor in archeology
• A Hawaiian cruise ship crew member originally from California

I think it’s probably fair to say upfront that you could do the same tour, and you can.t possibly have as good of time as I had because of the quality of my traveling companions. My apologies, I’m sure yours will be fine, but mine were awesome.

View from the Golden Bay Belize Hotel

The Golden Bay Belize Hotel

The Golden Bay Belize Hotel was our home base for just one night, but it was a fine place to stay. Of course, we had to immediately get in the habit of not drinking the tap water and not flushing the toilet paper, but welcome to Central America. The hotel had a lovely restaurant with a wonderful rooftop view of the city and a great breakfast included in the tour. Like so many other places we ate in Belize, the service was not the fastest, but the food was great. G Adventures does not stay in the same hotels for every trip in every city but spreads the love around to support the local hotels.

From Belize to Guatemala by Public Bus

G Adventures offers two different tours with similar itineraries. One tour is branded with “National Geographic” and is more expensive and higher-end. On that tour, you will take a private bus through Belize to Guatemala. On this tour, you will get to the bus station and take the public bus as far as the Guatemalan border.

This trip is meant for people who want to experience the local culture. The public bus ride is just such an experience. Suzy bought our tickets for the bus but honestly, I’m not sure why they sell tickets because they don’t limit the number of people on the bus to the number of seats. On a busy Sunday morning, there were three people for every two seats on the bus. The bus driver expected us to find someplace to pretend to sit down while he pulled out of the bus depot. I stood for the first 40 minutes of the bus ride through the Belize countryside.

The public buses are well-maintained, so G Adventures feels safe using them, but they are repurposed school buses from the United States. The air conditioning system is just the open windows. We were on the local bus, so we stopped quite often as people got on and off. About 40 minutes out of Belize City, enough people got off that I was able to find a seat. It’s a crazy system, but it is affordable and efficient for the locals.

Leaving Belize and Entering Guatemala

We took the bus as close as we could to the border with Guatemala and had a private bus take us the last few miles. We left Belize (paying a $20 USD fee to leave… even though we had barely arrived), walked into Guatemala, and picked up a private bus. The local buses in Guatemala are not as well-maintained, so G Adventures does not use them for their tours.

On the itinerary, our next stop would be Flores, Guatemala, but our group was interested in adding an additional Mayan site, so instead, we headed across the bumpy dirt roads to Yaxha (pronounced Yasha). This would be the first of our additional activities. These activities are not included in the price of the tour, but the trip was much more fun for including them. We often did these activities as a group, but your experience may differ.

Yaxha, Guatemala

Tikal is Guatemala’s most popular Mayan site because it has the most excavated buildings. Because of that, it has more tourism and more infrastructure, including paved roads. Yaxha is a smaller site but a great introduction to the Mayan classical period. The classical period ran from 200 to 900 AD, and most of the local Mayan ruins are from this period.  Archeologists still debate what caused the end of this period and the abandonment of these great cities in the jungles of Guatemala and Belize. The leading suspect is that the civilization was destabilized by a long period of drought. 

As with each of the Mayan sites we visited, the area is filled with tree-covered hills of various sizes. Each of these hills is itself another unexcavated ruin. One reason why every site has not been excavated is that there are just too many. However, excavating a site will expose it to the elements and start its degradation.

Some of the ruins at a Mayan site were temples, some were houses of nobles (like a smaller version of a temple), some were ball courts, and some were administrative buildings. We were also introduced to the tall, elaborately sculpted stones called stelae, which often told the story of one particular ruler.

We were able to climb the tallest pyramid in Yaxha to see the view of the site and its surrounding lakes and jungles. The pyramid was accessed via a set of wooden stairs, and we stood on a wooden platform affixed to the pyramid to protect it from the feet of hundreds or thousands of tourists. Much of the group climbed a smaller pyramid where you could still traverse its steep, uneven steps.

The Mayans built their cities in the jungle so bring bug spray, sunscreen, a hat, and lots of water. Also, you might want to bring a small pair of binoculars or a good telephoto lens because your guide will also be pointing out the local fauna, including toucans, spider monkeys, and… if you are luckier than we were… howler monkeys.

Flores

Our home base for two nights was the colorful town of Flores, Guatemala, which is located on an island in the middle of Lake Peten Itza. Flores is connected by a causeway to the larger city of Santa Elena. It is a touristy town that serves as a hub for exploring Tikal and the area. Walking from one end of the island to the other will only take you about five minutes.

Our group stayed at the Hotel Peten. The hotel has a lovely small indoor/outdoor pool with a swim-up bar and a view of the lake. It also has a good restaurant.

Tikal

We arose early to get out to Tikal to beat both the crowds and the heat of the day. We drove for an hour before we stopped for breakfast at a restaurant along the way, having pre-ordered the night before. 

Tikal is a huge Mayan site. When we finished our tour, we were still a mile from our bus. I finished off my water bottle and bought three more cold drinks along the way from local vendors. It was warm in the jungle, but it was hot on top of a pyramid exposed to the sun.

This is not a site where you see every building but instead sample the excavated buildings. I climbed two pyramids in Tikal, although others in my group climbed at least one more, but by the time we got to the main plaza, what I really needed was my third cold drink and some time in the shade. 

If Tikal looks familiar, then you have probably seen the original Star Wars movie, in which Tikal was used to film the rebel base on the jungle-covered moon of Yavin 4. This is where the attack on the Death Star took off.

One of the members of our group had wanted to visit Tikal since she was at least 10 years old. At 10, she had written a report for school about the Tikal Mayan site. It was fun watching someone fulfill a dream.

During our visit, we encountered numerous species of birds (including wild turkeys), ring-tailed coatimundi, and spider monkeys.

Exploring Flores

When we returned to Flores, the group headed in different directions. Some grabbed a nap or a swim, while others had lunch or explored the local shops. We met up again at sunset for a cocktail at Mangos Bar at the top of the Hotel Isla de Flores. The hotel has no elevator, and I felt the climb after the pyramids of the last two days.

Activities in the Flores Area:

• Yaxha Archeological Site $75
• Swim in the lake – free
• Tikal Archeological Site – included
• Jungle ziplining $40
• Sunset boat trip $20

Back to Belize

The next day, we retraced our steps and headed back to Belize. We took a private bus to the border and were greeted with a private bus again on the Belize side of the border. We were picked up by the tour company that sponsored a cave tubing adventure that the entire group had decided to add to our trip. Suzy could join us as well since the whole group was doing the same thing. We stopped quickly at our hotel in San Ignacio long enough to drop off our luggage and change into swimwear. 

Cave Tubing

The Cave Tubing in Belize was not the same as my previous adventure of blackwater rafting in New Zealand. The water in Belize is significantly warmer, and the spaces are generally larger and less claustrophobic. We drove halfway back to Belize City to get to the cave adventure. The tour included a Belizian lunch and a serious rum punch that went straight to my head. Normally, one would traverse the cave and then eat lunch, but we did not get to the site until well after lunch. We then carried our inner tubes into the jungle for about 20 minutes, crossing the river a few times to get to the put-in spot. 

While we jumped in the water to cool off, our two guides lashed our inner tubes into one long raft, which was two inner tubes wide. As we traversed the cave and the river, we had one guide in the front and one in the back who would steer, swim, or drag our rafts into the right current. Everyone in our group was outfitted with a helmet and a headlamp so that we could see where we were going in the dark. 

Partway through the cave, our guides asked us if we wanted to explore, so we got out of our tubes and clambered up onto the rocks to a natural skylight. Then we looped around to where the Mayans of the classical period had left pottery shards as part of sacrifices in the cave. 

Some of the braver members of our group jumped off a rock back into the dark waters, and we were led into a smaller cave with at least one bat. Bats—you may not be surprised to hear—have a harder time navigating when people are screaming. We squeezed through a few more claustrophobic passages and then returned to our innertube raft to rejoin our leisurely float trip. 

I remember lying in my innertube, my light playing off the cave roof above me, and thinking I could now die happy. 

San Ignacio, Belize

Our base for adventures in Belize was San Ignacio. We stayed in the lovely and comfortable Midas Belize Hotel, also used by the higher-end National Geographic branded trip. The hotel has comfortable public spaces, a large outdoor pool, and a restaurant.

We spent two nights in San Ignacio, with the day in between used for more optional adventures. On this day, our group broke into at least three groups. 

One couple visited the Raptor Center and had their pictures taken with owls and other birds of prey. 

A couple of people visited the famous ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) Cave. This is another water-filled cave where there are still the remains of some ancient Mayans who were left as sacrifices in the cave. Because of some unfortunate incidents when inattentive photographers damaged some of the ancient skeletons, you are no longer allowed to bring a camera into the cave.

Activities from San Ignacio, Belize:

• Crystal Cave $110
• ATM Cave $110
• Cave tubing $90
• Caracol Mayan ruins $115
• Xunantunich ruins $15
• Barton Creek canoeing & Big Rock Falls $110
• Cahal Pech ruins $5
• Mountain Pine Ridge combo $80
• Horseriding at Buena Vista Farm $75

Caracol Mayan Ruins, Belize

I joined two other group members to visit our third Mayan site, Caracol. Caracol was a city even larger than Tikal but much less excavated. It is thought to have been twice the size of modern Belize City with twice its population. The name comes from the Spanish word for a snail shell, which was named after the winding road used to get there.

This road once kept many people from visiting the site. It used to be a bumpy 5 hour drive from San Ignacio, and the road was so hard on the tour company vehicles that they could not make a profit visiting the site. The road to Caracol is now paved halfway there as part of an international project to make tourism easier. Expect in a few years, the site will have large buses from cruise ships, but for now, the site still takes 2 hours to access and includes a free “Belize massage” for the latter half of the drive.

Illegal activities in the surrounding jungle also used to require cars to travel to Caracol in a caravan; fortunately, that was no longer needed. 

I had the singular privilege of visiting the site with our guide, Leo, who had worked on the dig for three seasons when the site was originally being excavated. Leo could point out which buildings he had worked on and what they had found in various niches. 

Also, in my group, our former archeology student had been invited to join the dig for a season early in the work on the site. She finally saw the place that was the “road not taken.”

The main pyramid in Carocal can be climbed. There are no wooded stairs to ascend like at Yaxha or Tikal, although, hopefully, it will have one before the hordes of tourists arrive. The pyramid is unusually large at the top, and there are different temple structures. 

Some of the original Maya stelae were near the visitors center, but Leo told us that 30 had been removed from the site, and most of these have completely disappeared. 

Read more about Caracol: Visiting the Caracol Mayan Ruins in Belize

Public Bus to Belize City

The next day, we departed San Ignacio via another public bus. It was not a Sunday, so we all had seats. We were also on an express bus instead of a local bus, so the return trip to Belize City was faster. 

Belmopan

In both directions, the bus stops at the capital city of Belmopan. Belmopan was explicitly created as the capital of the country to move the capital from Belize City, which was constantly under threat of hurricanes. After Hurricane Hattie destroyed 75% of Belize City in 1961, it was time to do something different. This tour does not explore Belmopan.

Ferry to Caye Caulker

This tour ends on the island of Caye Caulker, out by the Belize Barrier Reef. From the bus station in Belize City, we met with a couple of taxis to transfer to the ferry terminal. We had an hour or so to go shopping and eat before starting the approximately 1-hour trip to the island. We checked in our luggage and let the ferry personnel load and unload it from the ferry. 

Caye Caulker

Caye Caulker is an island about one mile long. It is about four blocks wide. The town of Caye Caulker Village has a population of 2,000 people and is a colorful and touristy beach town. The island was split in half by Hurricane Hattie in 1961. You can take a small ferry across the “split” to explore the island’s northern half.

While the three streets that run north and south have official names, they are unofficially from east to west: Front Street, Middle Street, and Back Street. Most of the restaurants, bars, BBQ carts, and stores are on Front Street, not far from the Ferry Dock. This is a beach town. The main “roads” are mostly just sand. The whole island is mostly just sand. This is not an island you want to be on in a hurricane. 

During my visit, the island had more of an aroma of rotting seaweed than a fresh ocean smell. Suzy said that was unusual and had not been the case on her trip just two weeks before our trip. 

Caye Caulker is a party. This is a place where ladies walk around in their bikinis and where Suzy, who had lived on Caye Caulker for a time, seemed to know everyone. 

We stayed in the appropriately named Tropical Paradise Hotel and Restaurant at the southern end of Front Street. This quaint hotel is composed of small bungalows with front porches. It has a pool with a poolside bar and a restaurant. 

Activities in Caye Caulker, Belize:

• Bikes with Purpose island tour – included
• Full-day snorkel trip to Hol Chan Marine Reserve by sailboat (includes snorkel gear, lunch, soft drinks, rum punch) $90
• Stand-up paddleboard / Kayak $15 per hour
• Bike hire from $10 per day
• Scuba diving from $150
• Sunset Sailing (including ceviche, rum punch soft drinks) $60
• Relaxing on the beach – free
• Rent a golf cart for $15 per hour
• Flight over the Blue Hole (not bookable through G Adventures)

Bikes with Purpose

Our intro tour to the island of Caye Caulker was with two high-school-age guides from Bikes with Purpose. This program is part of the local Ocean Academy school, which started as a high school so that kids could get a good education without leaving the island. We hopped on old cruiser bikes and toured the island. 

Our first stop was Ocean Academy, where we were introduced to the Ocean Acaemday way:

• Be Mindful
• Know Your Passion
• Make Money
• Create Legacy

We were also given a quick lesson in the cryptic Belize Creole.

We then biked to see the sting rays and sea horses at Sing Ray Beach across from Iguana Reef Inn, then on to the tarpon feeding dock where members of the group had a close and rather startling encounter with these endangered fish.

G Adventure Tours tries to include interaction with a local charity like Bikes with Purpose, which they support.

Snorkeling on the Belize Barrier Reef

Our main adventure on Caye Caulker was a snorkeling trip to the Belize Barrier Reef and the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. All of our tour group decided to do this optional activity, although one member needed to postpone her trip until the next day because of issues with “traveler’s stomach” on the first full day on the island. 

I have snorkeled all over the world and I would rank this trip in the top half of my snorkel adventures. The fish were not the most colorful that I have seen, but the variety of marine life we saw was great. We saw dolphins on our way out to the reef and then made separate stops along the reef to see a manatee, a sea turtle, lots and lots of rays, sharks, and coral. 

The trip included the snorkel gear, lunch, and that now infamously strong Belize rum punch. With so much time in the water, I would highly recommend a swim shirt or rash guard for sun protection. 

Sunset Cruise

Our last day on the island was more leisurely. People explored on their own or in small groups. At the end of the day, we met up again for our last optional activity, a sunset cruise. It was a perfect, relaxing end to a great trip.

Caye Caulker to Belize City International Airport

I had missed the information on the G Adventures site and on the G Adventures App that said not to book a flight sooner than 11 am from the airport in Belize City. My flight was at 10 am. I was originally supposed to take a small plane flight from the airport on Caye Caulker but was surprised to learn when I got to the island that the airport was closed to resurface the runway. Because of that, a couple of members of my group who wanted to see the “Blue Hole” on a small plane flight could not do that on this trip either.

I was able to take the 6:30 am ferry from the island and get to the airport with plenty of time before my flight. Allow 3 and a half hours for a relatively stress-free trip to the airport. 

Conclusion

At least half of my group had traveled with G Adventures before and were big fans of the brand, their tours, and, of course, their guides. Add me to that group as well. I highly recommend the G Adventures Classic Belize & Tikal tour if you have a week and a sense of adventure.