We heading to Ambergris Caye next month and while I expect the majority of our vacation will be on the island we are also interested in heading to the mainland and checking out some of the Mayan Ruins. Does anyone have suggestions on the best way to do this? Tour Company/Guide recommendations? Are we best off doing a trip to Tikal in Guatemala? This is our first time to Belize and Ambergris Caye, any suggestions/recommendations would be great. We are also kind of interested in cave tubing but not necessarily sold on that one yet, so any feedback on that would be great as well. Right now our priorities are relaxing, fishing, and the ruins, in that order. =)

Lamanai is a great trip from the island. Tanisha Tours and Searious, among others, offer this all day trip. There are several snorkeling trips offered as well, including Bacalar Chico (around the north of the island) and a day trip to Caye Caulker. Tikal is fly only, and very expensive. If you only have a week, might want to save it for next trip, and base for part of the time in San Ignacio.

Lamanai is by far the best Mayan ruin tour,the only one with artifacts on display in a field museum.It also has monkeys in their natural rain forest setting. I always suggest it for the birdwatchers who request birding trips. largest chance of seeing Toucan and Jabaru Stork.
The front desk of your hotel will book it for you all the operators are good.

my sis did lamanai and LOVED it- she also did Tikal (it was a 2 day overnight trip) and said that was really good too. It just depends on your budget and how long you want to spend where. For Lamanai she used searious and said it was a good company. Have fun!

Hello Kris48 and seaexplore, how are you both doing?

We used SEArious Adventures for our Snorkel Trip and to Lamanai the staff was excellent. The trip inland was well organized and lunch/snacks were delicous. We learned a lot on the trip and were very satisfied with their service.

Cool, thanks for the quick responses. Seems like Lamanai with Searious is a great way to go.

I went cave tubing before with Seaduced and it was a great trip, that was a combo with the zoo.

For cave tubing you start with a hike through the jungle and then you get to float your way back through the cave.

Going to Tikal is not expensive!!!We took the bus from Belize City to Benque( guatamala boarder) for $3.50 at the boarder we took a collectivo to Ramate which is about 8 miles from Tikal for $5.00 We stayed at a Beautiful Hotel Don David with a large one bedroom ,room on the lake for $20, the entrance to Tikal was $5.00 There is a Boarder fee which we dont pay as we are residents so I am not sure what it is. The trip was not at all expensive but it does take time. 4 to 5 hours to Ramate from Belize City so I would plan on 3 days, you need a full day to see Tikal.

Sounds like Cooper's way is much cheaper than my trip to Tikal but probably a bit more hassle. You'd just have to decide which is more important to you. You can book trips to Tikal from the island but they will be more expensive. You can do a Tropic-Air day trip, flying out of the SP airport, to BZE, to Flores and they will pick you up and drive you to the park and provide you with a guided tour and lunch for about $375. An overnight in Flores is a bit more expensive but not worth it, if you ask me. An overnight at the Jungle Lodge would be pretty cool but I don't know how much that would cost.

Our first trip was only 5 days so we wanted a little taste of everything for our single trip inland.

We did a combo cave tubing / Xunantunich ruin tour with lunch in San Ignacio. This allowed us to see a little of the local culture and mix it with two smaller trips in the same time it would take to do Lamanai. Lamanai is a better ruin by far, but Xunantunich was great and close to the town of San Ignacio allowing for some real Belizean culture.

Just a thought...

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I'm only looking for a day trip so it would seem if I balance cost, time, and class of ruins, my best bet is probably Lamanai.