Altun Ha

Would welcome recommended independent tour companies for Altun Ha day trip rather than cruise ship tour.

Thanks

I wouldn't do a trip on your own in Belize. Altun Ha is about an hour and a half ride each way. Much safer to do ship tour.

We've used Cynthia and Nacho from http://www.ncqadventuretours.com/home and will be using them again in Nov. We went to the ruins and baboon sanctuary (howler monkeys) then had a nice local meal in town before going back to the port.

We did this with VIV tours this past December. Half the price of the ships tour and we had 2 guides for a group of 8. The ships tour was a large bus crammed full of people with 1 guide. If I visit Belize again I'll definitely be booking with VIV.

A few years ago we did the Altun Ha tour with Coral Breeze Tours it was wonderful, I was nervous not booking through the cruise line but they were great. The weather was not great that time and they were having trouble with the tenders, we were an hour and a half late meeting them because we could not get off the ship but they were still there waiting and assured us we still had time for the tour.

Ivar was our guide and he was wonderful! It was honestly the best excursion we have ever gone on.

More recently we booked the Lamani Ruins in Belize through the ship and the entire time we were wishing we were back with Coral Breeze, a much better more intimate experience!

Would welcome recommended independent tour companies for Altun Ha day trip rather than cruise ship tour.

 

Thanks

http://cavetubing.bz/ or check out trip advisor.

Very professional. Had no problem getting back to the ship on time. In fact went cave tubing and visited Altun Ha on the same day! The company uses small passenger vans instead of big giant slow to load buses. Probably a lot more bumpy than the comfy big bus but we got to see the Altun Ha without any people in our photos 'cos we got there before the hordes of cruise buses. Would highly recommend. We were there Feb 5 2014

I wouldn't worry too much about making it back from Altun Ha on time. It is easily do-able with a private excursion. We had a horrible experience with the company we went through, but still made it back in plenty of time.

We did the river cruise and Altun Ha with the ship (Princess cruise). we made it back just 15 minutes before the last tender.. a group later than us were late but because it was a ship excursion the ship did wait and left immediately after they got on board. If you aren't doing the river the timing might be not such a bother.

Would highly recommend Experience Belize Tours. The guide was great and we really enjoyed the ruins. We were back in plenty of time and never felt rushed.

Hi wdowns9,

Could you elaborate a bit more about Cynthia and Nacho? I went onto their website and it seems they are a rather small operation. Different from the "big companies" I'm used to. I was hoping they gave a unique experience or brought a better, more personalize experience?

Just tired of the huge crowds that accompany many of the larger excursions. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

We went to Altun Ha with an associate of Major Tom. It was great and we were invited to sit in on a talk by Major Tom about the Mayan culture and history. He is a captivating speaker and a very knowledgable gentleman.

If you can book a tour with Major Tom, I feel you will get a great experience.

He is (or was) president of a group of tour guides who cooperate and watch out for each other in case of breakdowns or emergencies. We stopped along the highway because one of the other vans was pulled over. We found that the driver had stopped to pick some local berries to let his guests sample them. He gave us some and they were very good.

That experience allayed any fears we might have had about being stranded.

I second CAVETUBING.BZ - we didn the altun ha AND cave tubing with them, they were fantastic!

Hi sorry I am not the original responder but will tell you about our experience with Nacho and Cynthia. we did the same tour with the ruins and the baboon sanctuary. They are a much smaller operation it is just the two of them but Nacho has a great sense of humor and will keep you laughing all day while you are there after contacting them he will call you and make plans for your day by the time you get to Belize to tour with them you will feel like you are just going to meet your very good friends for a day trip. the day we went it was valentines day we were at Altun Ha while the ship tours were there we arrived before they did and stayed a bit longer we enjoyed how much Nacho knew about the ruins and got to take lots of amazing pictures. They really are wonderful after leaving the ruins we went to the baboon sanctuary Nacho had stopped to get some fruit for us to feed the baboons. we walked through a path with a guide from the sanctuary and again had a wonderful time. after this we went to a local restaurant where we had dinner it was a quaint little place we enjoyed our day so much that we are doing this iten. again in august for a b2b and have already called Nacho to reserve the dates for Nacho and Cynthia for both weeks we are there and can't wait to see them again.

the first week we are doing horseback riding with them and the 2nd we are going to the zoo and know that Nacho would never let us be late for our ship and will tailor our day to our needs..

Hi sorry I am not the original responder but will tell you about our experience with Nacho and Cynthia. we did the same tour with the ruins and the baboon sanctuary. They are a much smaller operation it is just the two of them but Nacho has a great sense of humor and will keep you laughing all day while you are there after contacting them he will call you and make plans for your day by the time you get to Belize to tour with them you will feel like you are just going to meet your very good friends for a day trip. the day we went it was valentines day we were at Altun Ha while the ship tours were there we arrived before they did and stayed a bit longer we enjoyed how much Nacho knew about the ruins and got to take lots of amazing pictures. They really are wonderful after leaving the ruins we went to the baboon sanctuary Nacho had stopped to get some fruit for us to feed the baboons. we walked through a path with a guide from the sanctuary and again had a wonderful time. after this we went to a local restaurant where we had dinner it was a quaint little place we enjoyed our day so much that we are doing this iten. again in august for a b2b and have already called Nacho to reserve the dates for Nacho and Cynthia for both weeks we are there and can't wait to see them again.

 

the first week we are doing horseback riding with them and the 2nd we are going to the zoo and know that Nacho would never let us be late for our ship and will tailor our day to our needs..

We had the exact same experience and it was perfect for us. Cynthia also found use a local medicine man so I could get some "jungle juice" because I was getting a chest cold that wasn't getting better. I would highly recommend spending the day with both C & N as you will be treated like family and do not have to worry about missing the tender. We had a really nice local meal in town where only locals go.

We were in Belize on June 19, 2014. Since we were traveling with two small kids (3 & 6) in our party of nine, we opted to find a tour with no boating portion to Altun Ha. We selected Allen and Leah Dawson's company, Experience Belize Tours. From the first email contact, they were a delight to deal with. Leah provided a lot of information about the day trip and all of it exceeded our expectations!

Allen is a state certified licensed tour guide. The bus was clean and in very good condition. The much needed air conditioning worked fine. Our driver, Julio, was skilled at manuevering on the sometimes rough road.

The trip began with an offer of cold bottled water. The commentary Allen provided through Belize City was interesting. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to reach Altun Ha. It was on the tour of this Mayan site that Allen really shined. Not only did we learn about the history of the site itself, but also about the many medicinal plants that surround the site and how they are still used today. Allen's style is not a rote lecture, but a nice interaction of information that kept our group (about 25) interested and left us enlighted as to the lifestyle of the Mayans. Consensus was this was an outstanding tour.

At the site there are some small local stands. We did have a short time to shop-bargain. There is also a clean restroom..

Back on the bus, Jeff, Allen's son offered us a choice of cold bottled water, soft drinks or the local beer, Belikin, which was delicious. This was included in the price of the tour. We returned to the ship via a different route with more information from Allen regarding life in Belize. We arrived back at the ship with a comfortable cushion to make the tender.

In summary, I often book local guides. I researched a lot of tours in Belize and based on the timely response as well as ample information, I selected Experience Bellize Tours. It was an excellent decision. I would recommend this tour.

Here is my review for my visit to Altun Ha in December, 2013:

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This thread serves as both a review of our NCL port visit to Belize, as well as a warning regarding the business practices of Vitalino Reyes and Cavetubing-BZ.

WHO I AM: We are a family of 4, with two boys aged 10 and 3. We cruised the Norwegian Jewel from December 22-29, and our port of call in Belize was December 25th.

WHAT I DECIDED TO DO: Belize was a tough port to choose an activity, especially with a young child. After first considering (and then rejecting) Cave Tubing, I decided I wanted to do an Altun Ha (ruins) tour and a cruise down the River Wallace. However, I did NOT want to do it with the ship, given the crowds, impersonal experience, rigid schedule, and poor quality of the boat (as reported in past reviews). Unfortunately, the River Wallace part was very hard to book as a private tour. Only one tour operator would do it, and to put it bluntly, I didn't trust the guy (he seemed very sketchy on the phone). I finally decided to drop the River Wallace part, and just arrange a private tour of Altun Ha. I researched the situation here, and read about another family of 4 taking a private Altun Ha/city tour for $170, with Vitilano Reyes' Cavetubing-BZ company. While I had heard of Vitialino and knew his operation to be big and generally reputable, I had no idea he did Altua Ha tours. I had always thought he only did Cave Tubing. The guy who posted about this said that he was first quoted much higher, but talked Vitalino down to $170. I decided to try the same.

THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS: I e-mailed Vitalino. He quoted me $225, and said he would only "try his best" to give me a private guide. Obviously not acceptable, as I needed something concrete. I tried to tell him about the post I read here about the $170 (which I think was only from a year ago), and he came back that gas prices were $6/gallon in Belize (true) and the road to Altun Ha is bad (also true). However, I believe both were the case last year, as well. He also pointed out that it was "high season", 4 ships were going to be in port, and that it was hard to get tour guides on Christmas. At this point, I realized that it probably wouldn't work out with Vitalino for $170, so I contacted other tour operators. All of them quoted me from $240 to $300, and none would negotiate further. I decided to focus again on Vitalino, because at least he had a good reputation. At first he tried to get me to agree to a semi-private tour (allowing 2 other people on the tour), but I didn't want that. I really preferred the privacy of just our family. I also wasn't understanding why the price was so high everywhere, as Victor Bodden can do basically the same thing with the same gas prices and the same bad roads for under $100 in Honduras. However, given the universally high quotes I was seeing, I decided to let go of my unrealistic dream for a $170 private tour, and offered Vitalino $215 for a completely private tour. He agreed. Here is the e-mail chain (of the final 4 e-mails)...

Vitalino,

 

I have decided that I do not want other people with us on the Altun Ha tour.

 

Could we do $215 and a guarantee that there will be nobody else with us?

Ok [name censored] i will do it Especially for you on that day. My business is flourishing because of your referral and I will not make it for the money but for you comfort, fun and safety.215.00 city topur and Altun Ha only nothing else.

 

 

Thank you very much for choosing and supporting my family own and run business. Looking forward to seeing you here in my beautiful country Belize.

 

Sincerely,

 

Vitalino Reyes

Okay, great. We will see you on December 25 in the morning.

 

So please confirm this will be a private tour with my family and no one else.

 

Also, I can pay in cash on the day of the tour, right?

Sounds good. I will have your driver/guide ready for you on that morning and i assure you that you will have an unbelizable time that day with cavetubing bz. You can pay with cash on the day of the tour. It. would be great if you can get on the first tender, so that you will have morw time to enjoy my beautiful country Belize.

 

 

Thank you very much for choosing and supporting my family own and run business. Looking forward to seeing you here in my beautiful country Belize.

 

Sincerely,

 

Vitalino Reyes

So is is VERY clear from the above that Vitalino and I had a concrete agreement for a private Altun Ha & city tour for $215.

We agreed to this on December 14, which was 11 days in advance.

During those 11 days, I was a bit worried that perhaps Vitalino would screw me in some way. What if he agreed to this price just as a "backup" in case business was light, or he had cancellations? What if he didn't honor it once I actually got to Belize? I decided to take along a copy of these e-mails on my phone just in case, but I reasoned to myself that a guy with his reputation would not pull that sort of garbage on me.

THE BAD NEWS: We arrived at 10am to Belize City, thanks to a tendering mess. (Read my NCL Jewel review here for more info about that.)

Vitalino and I did not have a set time for our tour. It was understood that I would attempt to tender as soon as I could, but that I was not required to show up at any specific time.

I found Vitalino's people, and they took me over to the area of their tour vans and buses. The whole scene was chaotic. Vitalino's main dispatch guy seemed really confused, even though he did find our name on his roster. He kept stalling me, saying, "We will get your van here soon." He kept making excuses that a lot of drivers did not show up because it was Christmas. I was already getting nervous.

After 15 minutes of waiting, watching the dispatch guy running around like a madman loading group tours into all but two of the remaining vans, things became more clear to me. There was a high demand that day. They were able to sell group tours at $50 per head or whatever, and cram 8-12 people into each van. No way they wanted to give me a van to myself for a measly $215.

I asked again what was going on, and again I was stalled. "We will get your van soon," I was told. They could not tell me when or how, just that I had to wait patiently for a van. There were two more vans (including one that only seated about 8) sitting empty, with no more people left waiting, but for some reason those weren't available. I also did not notice any effort being made to really get us a van.

Finally, after another 15 minutes, I had enough. I demanded an immediate answer. The guy finally said, "I want to help you, but my boss won't let me." I asked him who the boss was, and he pointed to a guy who looked in his 50s. I assumed that the "boss" worked directly under Vitalino.

I explained the situation to the "boss", and he gave me a lot of excuses. "It's Christmas, we are very busy and many vans did not show." He kept urging me to go back to port and "take a taxi to Altun Ha." I repeatedly told him that Vitalino himself agreed to our private tour for $215, and it was their responsibility to make good on that, even if they had to hire an outside van or driver.

The "boss" then made me an offer: "How about we give you a tour with one other family of 4, and we cut your price?"

I wasn't thrilled about this, but I was getting desperate, so I was starting to consider agreeing to this if he were to cut my price substantially. At this point I was still open to the possibility that he simply didn't have enough vans to serve everyone he promised, and was trying to work with him.

"How much of a discount will you give me if we agree to that?", I asked.

"How much are you paying?", the boss asked back.

Uh oh! It was looking like this wasn't about inventory after all, but rather about money, just as I expected!

"$215," I told him.

"WHAT?!", snapped the boss. "You think you get a private tour for $215? That is way too little, no way we would do it for that."

"Vitalino himself agreed to that. Let me show you the e-mail. You can call him to verify", I said, getting out my iPhone to show him the e-mail chain.

"I am Vitalino," said the boss.

"Wait, YOU are Vitalino? Then let me show you our conversation! You will see you agreed to this!"

I showed him. He wasn't impressed.

"I'm sorry, $215 is not enough for a private tour," he said. "If you want private, you need to pay more."

Vitalino promised me an "un-Belize-able" time in his country, and I guess that's what I was getting, but not in the way I expected!

I kept trying to tell him that he wasn't keeping his word. I told him that we had a clear agreement via e-mail regarding the price. I kept urging him to read the e-mail again and honor his word.

He repeatedly responded, "I'm sorry, I cannot do it for $215. If you want a private tour, you will need to pay more. Otherwise go back and take a taxi."

I told him at one point that I would report this on the internet, and he didn't seem fazed. He kept repeating that I needed to pay more for a private tour. The fact that he agreed to $215 just 11 days earlier did not mean a thing to him.

Frustrated, I finally decided to give up. I walked back to my wife and kids, and motioned, "Let's go."

All of a sudden, Vitalino approached me.

"Okay, I will do it for $215. For my reputation. I will do it for my reputation."

No apology. No "You're right, I will do it because I agreed, and I am honorable." He was doing it for HIS OWN REPUTATION! Un-Belize-able indeed!

While it's possible he was concerned about his reptuation (which is selfish enough), it looked more like Vitalino realized it was 10:45am and nobody else was waiting for a tour. After our long argument (and nobody else showing up), he probably realized it was the choice between taking our $215 or nothing, so he relented and took our $215 after failing to bait-and-switch me for more.

He couldn't give me the right change for my two $100s and a $20. He only had a Belizian $10, which he kept insisting was worth US $5. He was right about the exchange rate, but he was getting frustrated that I wouldn't take the Belizian change (which would be worthless to me once I got back on the boat), because he felt he was already doing me such a huge favor. Finally, I just took the Belizian change, expecting to give it to the driver as part of a tip.

THE TOUR: We were led to the 8-seat van -- the one that had been sitting there all along. He instructed the employee who had been meeting people at the port, named Jorge, to be our driver. I was a bit skeptical of this, but obviously I wasn't about to complain at this point. To my surprise, Jorge was a GREAT tour guide. He was smart. He was extremely knowledgeable. He was very patient. He was nice and friendly. We couldn't have had a better guide. He gave us a brief tour of the north side of the city, and then drove us to Altun Ha. We really enjoyed our Altun Ha tour. Jorge gave us all of the backstories to everything we were seeing, and the tour was exactly the private and personal experience I was hoping for. When our 3-year-old had an uncharacteristic tantrum/meltdown while climbing the last (and biggest) temple, Jorge was very patient throughout the whole thing. Our 3-year-old decided that he wanted to do the very dangerous trek by himself, and he melted down when I refused. A fellow tourist thought he was crying because the treacherous climb scared him. I replied, "Actually, the problem is he's not scared enough." The view from the top of Altun Ha's biggest temple was beautiful, and we left feeling very satisfied. We also lucked out when it came to crowds, as we happened to show up exactly between the coming and going of most tour buses. It wasn't empty, but it wasn't crowded at all. My only complaint about the tour was that, for whatever reason, Jorge did not take us to "the south side" of the city during our city tour. He said, "We're not going there because we don't have time", but that wasn't actually true. We had plenty of time. I didn't bother to question it because the main purpose of the tour was Altun Ha, and Jorge was otherwise great with everything else. We really lucked out by getting him.

OTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT BELIZE: It was interesting seeing Belize. The city and the road to Altun Ha revealed the actual living conditions in the jungle environment of Belize City and surroundings, which I found very interesting. Nothing had a "touristy" feel to it, not even Altun Ha itself. I always enjoy seeing the real environments of the countries we visit, unless they are dangerous (which Belize did not appear to be). The whole tour was quite interesting, and I'm glad I did it.

WHY WE DIDN'T CAVE TUBE: Cave tubing sounded cool and unique, but I decided against it for a few reasons. First, I hate sitting/swimming in cold water, even when I'm hot. I was told that the water in the caves is 70 degrees, which did not appeal to me. Second, we had to walk a good deal to get to the cave tubing site. That's fine for me, but I knew my 3-year-old wouldn't do well with that. Third, my son isn't physically capable enough to tube by himself, so I would have to hold him. That did not seem enjoyable to me. Fourth, reivews of cave tubing were bad from the previous year's Christmas, due to the crowds. I probably should have heeded some warnings/complaints about Vitalino switching vans for non-A/C buses on the 2012 Christmas cave tubing tours, but I dismissed it as irrelevant to our situation. Big mistake to have ignored that warning sign, and lesson learned. Finally, I read some reviews that the caves themselves were not particularly interesting. We had just seen some cool caves over the summer, so this excursion just seemed more trouble than it was worth.

OVERALL: We had a great tour guide and a great tour. I'm very happy with my choice of Altun Ha. Being able to climb on the ruins was a treat. However, I would strongly recommend AGAINST using Vitalino Reyes and Cavetubing-BZ for any kind of tour, as he is not a reputable businessman. While he eventually relented and gave me what he promised, it was a 45-minute ordeal and an incredibly stressful situation, and it seemed he was all set to screw me before having a last-minute change of heart. Go with another operator for whatever you do in Belize.

Hello, Independent tours are always fun to do, you get to be with the comfort of only people you know thats the best part, as for me, all my Belizean adventures including Altun Ha were done with mrbelizecavetubing . com . Been Visiting since 2004. :P .Oh and for you guys who worry about time, leave the worrying to the guides :D

Melissa

I second CAVETUBING.BZ - we didn the altun ha AND cave tubing with them, they were fantastic!

I would love to hear about your experience with cavetubing.bz doing altun ha and cave tubing!! I wanted to do this tour but I'm so paranoid about being a tendered port and missing the ship. did you feel you had plenty of time? If you had to do it over again would you still do both?

I would love to hear about your experience with cavetubing.bz doing altun ha and cave tubing!! I wanted to do this tour but I'm so paranoid about being a tendered port and missing the ship. did you feel you had plenty of time? If you had to do it over again would you still do both?

Please read my review above of using Cavetubing-BZ for Altun Ha.

Owner Vitalino Reyes is NOT a reputable business man, and WILL go back on his agreements if it is convenient or profitable for him to do so.

I would highly recommend AVOIDING using him for anything.

We've used Cynthia and Nacho from http://www.ncqadventuretours.com/home and will be using them again in Nov. We went to the ruins and baboon sanctuary (howler monkeys) then had a nice local meal in town before going back to the port.

This is the tour I was looking to book with them. How much did you pay per person and how many people were in your group?

I've heard good things about Cynthia and Nacho, but they wanted way too much money for a private tour when I called them.

Perhaps it was because it was Christmas day, but their prices weren't at all competitive.

I've heard good things about Cynthia and Nacho, but they wanted way too much money for a private tour when I called them.

 

Perhaps it was because it was Christmas day, but their prices weren't at all competitive.

Did you end up booking with another company?

I do not remember what we paid for our tour with N & C but it was very reasonable. (think is was $65pp but not sure). There was just two in our group. I wasn't feeling good when we left NOLA and my chest cold go real bad. Cynthia found a local herbalist aka witch doctor for me and I got a bottle of jungle juice which was suppose to help. It didn't because my cold was too far gone. None the less we had a great day and great meal before heading back to the ship. Not sure what they are charging now as their website doesn't list any prices. I know they respond to emails and they might be will to negotiate a price.

I'm wondering do we have to book the excursion with coral breeze now or could we wait until we get there? The reason I ask this is because in cozumel you can book the excursion. Right there on their main land. Any help is appreciated.

I'm wondering do we have to book the excursion with coral breeze now or could we wait until we get there? The reason I ask this is because in cozumel you can book the excursion. Right there on their main land. Any help is appreciated.

You will find several people outside the terminal selling all types of tours. Prices are usually very good.