A short walk through a dense jungle canopy and we emerged to Mayan ruins towering above us – almost like a walk back in time. The monkeys could be heard howling around us while they protested our early morning arrival. We were at Lamanai Ruins in Belize.
This tour is offered by a number of guides from anywhere between $45 – $85 USD. Instead, of paying for the tour, we rented a car and drove to the ruins. The only thing we missed was a boat tour on the river, but we did this another time.
The drive to Lamanai added to our adventure. Our directions were to take the main road through Shipyard and continue on to Lamanai. Interestingly Shipyard was started by Canadian Mennonites that passed through Mexico and settled in Belize. It was interesting to see how they converted the area to agriculture production.
Eventually we became worried we missed our turn to Lamanai and asked a family repairing a fence if we were going the right way – this Mennonite family employs a local person to help with the farm work. Very interesting!
After finally spotting a wooden sign with Lamanai written on it, and a few bumps in the road later we arrived in a little town outside the park. We stocked up on Coca Cola and chips before entering the park. The entrance fee is only a few dollars to enter on your own.
One other group was around this early. After a walk through the museum we took a path down to the ruins.
We started on the Mask temple, which was impressive with its stone faces. This temple dates to around 550AD. We took some time imaging the civilization that once walked in this exact place.
The High Temple was even more impressive as it towered above us. It is 108 feet high and the tallest pre-classic structure in Belize. It was incredible and a hike to the top of the ruins gave us a bird’s eye view of jungle and river around us.
The clouds parted and the sun beat down as we visited the Jaguar temple. This temple had a huge pen court in front of it and small ruins to explore around.
Overall, we were very impressed with this site. For me, this far outweighed any Mayan Ruins I have seen in Mexico. This excursion was well worth the trip whether you use a tour group or go on your own. Come early and take some time imaging the expansive civilization that once walked there.
Tips:
- Come to Lamanai before 11am to avoid the tours that arrive by boat on the river. We had the ruins almost to ourselves in the morning.
- There are hiking trails cut through the forest around the ruins that are worth a visit.
- Remember sunscreen and bug spray!
- We stayed at the Nature Resort in Bermudian landing and Royal Caribbean Resort in San Pedro.
- We booked all accommodations through booking.com.
- We booked are car rental through Crystal Auto.
Suggested reading for Belize
More photos
Read more about Belize:
Belize: staying in a monkey sanctuary in Bermudian Landing
Oh my gosh, I love the photos!! Guess I’ve got a new place to add to my travel bucketlist!
Thanks! It is a beautiful place, well worth the visit!
This looks like a great place to visit and you look like you’re having a great time. I would love to go.
It’s beautiful!
Oh my goodness this seems like such an amazing place to go and explore! History is such an interesting thing, I absolutely LOVE finding out more and getting to see what our ancestors did.
Thank you, it was beautiful! And seeing the history right in front of us was very impactful.
Those ruins look AMAZING. I would kill to go on a trip like this!
these ruins are amazing 🙂 . i would love to visit one day just to explore 🙂
What a beautiful site! I love the gorgeous backdrop and the historical significance. I’d love to see the ruins of Belize in person some day!
Mayans ruins always been mystery to lot of people and to the historians too, One has to to go first hand to experience them. Would love to visit these ruins and i think the information given will help us doing so. Thanks.
These pictures are amazing! I would love to visit the Mayans ruins one day. Thanks for sharing your pics and your experience with us!
That was an awesome adventure. I would love to travel, too, i a place where nature and history collide.
How stunning is this place to visit!? I will have to put Belize on my bucket list to travel to!
This looks like it would be such an amazing place to visit. I love to see places like this with some amazing history.
Holy cow, these photos are incredible! They really inspire, you know? And I especially appreciate your travel tips — there’s nothing like someone who’s been there to give good advice.
I’ve nominated you for the Liebster award. If you’re interested, you can check it out here: https://riddlefromthemiddle.com/2018/04/24/blogger-hugs-abound/.
Love this post so much. Definitely a place to add to our bucket list. Those ruins are stunning.