Placencia Inland Tours
Placencia is an excellent base from which to enjoy the beauty of Belize both in the water and on the land. You can leave the beautiful beaches of Placencia to search for adventure in the rain forest, on the rivers, in the limestone caves, hike in the mountains, follow the trails in the jaguar preserve and swim under a waterfall, visit Maya ruins, river tube, and zip line.
Twenty five percent of Belize is protected by reserves and parks and the majority of these are in the south half of Belize. Most of the Maya ruins are also in the southern half of Belize and accessible by road from Placencia.
Some of the more popular tours are described below and there are many additional attractions in this country known as Nature’s Best Kept Secret. Splash Dive Center can help you design your own adventure.
Monkey River
A half hour fun boat ride through the mangroves takes you to Monkey River village where you head upriver into pristine rain forest. You can expect to see crocodiles in the water, huge iguanas on tree branches sunning themselves, turtles, and many species of birds.
Upriver your licensed guide will lead you into the rain forest in search of howler monkeys and to show and explain the flora and fauna of the rain forest and perhaps show you rain forest medicines. Buy a Belizean lunch at the restaurant in Monkey River before heading out on a manatee watch on the way back to Placencia.
The tour leaves Placencia at 08:00 am and returns at around 2:30 pm.
Cost is $US 80 per person including guide.
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary has the world’s highest concentration of big cats in the world. In addition to jaguars, this 98 000 acre Jaguar Reserve is home to jaguarundis, pumas, ocelots and margays. There is also a lot of “cat food†to be found including agouties, anteaters, armadillos, tapirs, Brocket deer, coatis, kinkajous, otters, pacas, and peccaries. There are lots of birds to be seen while hiking in this beautiful wildlife refuge.
There are lots of hiking paths ranging from easy to strenuous to explore with the waterfall on the way to Ben’s Bluff being a popular spot where you can take a refreshing swim. Check out the plane a short hike off the road and read the amazing story of how it came to be there.
The tour leaves Placencia at 08:00 am and returns at around 4:30 pm.
Cost is $US 90 per person including licensed guide, transportation, entrance fee and lunch.
Nim Li Punit, Lubaantun and Blue Creek Cave
Visit two of Maya ruins at Nim Li Punit (Big Hat) and Lubaantun (Place of the Fallen Stones) and Blue Creek Cave. These ruins are smaller than the ones we visit in the Cayo district but have the advantage of being much less crowded – in fact, you may have the ruins all to yourself!.
Lim Ni Punit is the closest ruin and has the longest stela found to date in Belize as well as a stela dating from around the year 700 AD.
Lubaantun is the main Mayan site in the southern part of Belize. This ruin is unique in that it was built without mortar, has no stelas and is where the controversial crystal skull was found.
Close to the village of Blue Creek is the Blue Creek Cave nature reserve where the hike to the site is less than one mile along a trail where you can enjoy the rainforest, caves and the cool waters of the creek.
Leave at 8 am and return around 5 pm
Cost is US$ 105 per person including licensed guide, transportation, lunch and entrance fees.
Xunantunich and Blue Hole
Xunantunich (pronounced shoo-nan-too-neech) is a spectacular ruin near the border with Guatemala. Cross the Mopan River 7 miles west of San Ignacio on a hand cranked one- at- a- time vehicle ferry to reach Xunantunich or Maiden of the Rock. The main pyramid known as El Castillo is one of the tallest buildings in Belize rising 130′ above the jungle canopy. The reward for climbing to the top with your licensed guide is a spectacular view of the Cayo District and Petan Guatemala.
Leave Placencia at 6:00 am for the drive to the Southern Highway which connects to the majestic Hummingbird Highway drive. Stop to enjoy the inland blue hole in Blue Hole National Park before meeting the Western Highway at Belmopan and turning west toward Guatemala. Return to Placencia in the evening around 7:00 pm.
Cost is US$ 135 per person including licensed guide, transportation, entrance fees and lunch.