Altun Ha or Lamanai Ruins

hi there,

will be on the Getaway in October.

I would like to see some ruins and I Need some advise which one is better, Altun Ha or Lamanai

Both have pros and cons.

Altun Ha is well excavated, and pristine; a little too much so for some people wanting the Indiana Jones experience. Btu it's close by. You can go there and come back to the tender pier before lunch if you use a private vendor. Cruise line excursions usually add on something to justify the sticker price.

Lamanai, is more jungle, less excavated. Much more Indiana Jones. But it's much further away and more time consuming to get to and return. Some cruise lines do offer excursions there but most cruisers use a private vendor. There is an chance you might not make it back to the tender pier in time for the last tender for your ship. Not a good thing to happen. I think some of the private vendors have the tour nailed down so that there is less risk of this happening, but one can never predict.

We thoroughly enjoyed the ship excursion to Lamanai. The first part of the excursion was a bus ride during which the guide spoke about the country. The boat ride up the New River was amazing. From where the boats tie up to the ruins is about a mile walk through the jungle on a well maintained path. The ruins are also amazing and the guide was very informative about them. If anything the return boat ride was more fun as they went a bit faster. This was bucket list stuff for us and didn't disappoint. Personally I would never do this trip with a private tour. It just wouldn't be worth the savings to worry about being left behind.

I did Lamanai on a private tour and made it back okay. Altun Ha is closer so there's virtually no risk. If you do Lamanai make sure you've got enough time and get off the ship early.

We took an excursion to Lamanai and were very impressed with the entire experience. You might enjoy seeing the pictures my wife took and made into a slideshow for her website at the link below. It may help you decide which ruins to visit. Happy cruising!

Lamanai Mayan Ruins

We did Lamani and oh so glad we booked with the ship. We were quite late returning back as was another excursion. The ship waited for us which was great. The only thing I could have wished for is that we had more time at the ruins. It is quite far out though. We saw Howler Monkeys in the trees along our walk which was a definite highlight. However the best highlight was the view from the top!

We did Lamani and oh so glad we booked with the ship. We were quite late returning back as was another excursion. The ship waited for us which was great. The only thing I could have wished for is that we had more time at the ruins. It is quite far out though. We saw Howler Monkeys in the trees along our walk which was a definite highlight. However the best highlight was the view from the top!

So glad to hear you enjoyed this excursion. It was the highlight of our cruise that year.

We took an excursion to Lamanai and were very impressed with the entire experience. You might enjoy seeing the pictures my wife took and made into a slideshow for her website at the link below. It may help you decide which ruins to visit. Happy cruising!

 

Lamanai Mayan Ruins

Jim,

Nice pictures of Lamanai. Helped me to make my decision. Thanks for posting them.

Eric

Lard Greystoke - what private company did you use? thanks

thanks for posting the prictures. it really hepls

Jim,

Thank you for the link! I'm adding Lamanai to our list now.

Does anyone who has been to Lamanai remember if there were people selling the hand carved wooden bowls there? When we were at Altun Ha last year there were a few vendors with gorgeous bowls of all shapes and sizes hand carved from several of the native woods like Rosewood and Mahogany. We only bought one, thinking we would get more at the tourist village but couldn't find any more there. I was tempted to return to Altun Ha for more bowls this next cruise.

Jim,

Thank you for the link! I'm adding Lamanai to our list now.

 

Does anyone who has been to Lamanai remember if there were people selling the hand carved wooden bowls there? When we were at Altun Ha last year there were a few vendors with gorgeous bowls of all shapes and sizes hand carved from several of the native woods like Rosewood and Mahogany. We only bought one, thinking we would get more at the tourist village but couldn't find any more there. I was tempted to return to Altun Ha for more bowls this next cruise.

We took the NCL excursion to Lamanai and there were vendors selling handmade bowls and other items at the place where we ate lunch and caught the boat to Lamanai.

Yes, there were vendors selling a variety of handmade carvings. Now, whether they were authentic . . . I really don't know.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to view the slide shows in my links below. I'm always glad to recommend this excursion.

Happy cruising wherever you may go!

We took the NCL excursion to Lamanai and there were vendors selling handmade bowls and other items at the place where we ate lunch and caught the boat to Lamanai.

Yes, there were vendors selling a variety of handmade carvings. Now, whether they were authentic . . . I really don't know.

Thank you both for the quick response! :)

There is an chance you might not make it back to the tender pier in time for the last tender for your ship. Not a good thing to happen. I think some of the private vendors have the tour nailed down so that there is less risk of this happening, but one can never predict.

Can you give us a list of private vendors or specific instances of tours hosted by a private vendor in Belize who failed to get passengers back to the tender pier in time? I would like to analyze it. Thanks

Or are your comments simply the standard private tour operator FUD ???

What I think would be FAR more useful is the actual cost difference between the ship excursion and the ones (which I assume are absolutely identical) offered by all these "private vendors" (some of which are probably also "vending" on behalf of the cruise line).

I can understand the desire to "save money" but on average just how much money does one actually save?

NCL is $139 and private tours are $75.

Have done both of these excursions both thru ship tours. Lamanai is further away and takes a lot longer to get to. However, these ruins are more impressive. Especially liked the steep climb up the high temple. Also is was like Jurrassic Park as we hear the howler monkeys.

NCL is $139 and private tours are $75.

and Royal Caribbean is $119

(just FYI)

Lard Greystoke - what private company did you use? thanks

I forget. All I remember was that my guide was Flava-Flav.

It was a professional operation, whatever it was. Not fly-by-night.

Sorry about the amnesia. It was some years back.

I did Lamanai on a private tour and made it back okay. Altun Ha is closer so there's virtually no risk. If you do Lamanai make sure you've got enough time and get off the ship early.

What tour company did you use for this?

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We are thinking about doing the Lamanai tour through RC. Can someone fill me in about the bus ride. Is it a tour bus, an old school bus or ?. Did it have AC or window's that roll down? One of the persons in our group gets a little overwhelm in some buses/shuttles.

We are thinking about doing the Lamanai tour through RC. Can someone fill me in about the bus ride. Is it a tour bus, an old school bus or ?. Did it have AC or window's that roll down? One of the persons in our group gets a little overwhelm in some buses/shuttles.

The tour we took was booked through RC. We were on was a regular, air conditioned tour bus. It was quite comfortable. The guide we had was very friendly, knowledgeable, and talkative. The tour included lunch and a boat ride to and from the ruins.

I have always been glad we booked our tour through RC since our bus was stuck in heavy traffic and was late getting back to the ship. It was great have the peace of mind to know the ship would wait for us, and even nicer to see the ship waiting for our group when we got back!

I echo everything Jim said. Comfortable bus ride, knowledgable guide, glad we booked through the ship. It's a great trip. We were on NCL but it was just as Jim described.

I did the ship tour(NCL) in January of this year to Altun Ha. Can't remember the price. I picked this tour as I had never been to Belize and wanted to see some of the country side. Also, it was a four hour tour which was not too long for me. A few years back, did Chichen Itza from Progresso and that was so long of a tour(bus ride mostly). That is why I picked Altun Ha and it was just what I wanted. A nice Greyhound type of bus ride, air conditioned, and I got to stare out the window watching all that passed by. I really enjoyed seeing the landscape with all the plants and trees and seeing the homes and people. The tour at the ruins was great too. Our bus tour guide was our ruins guide also. He took us around explaining so much and we got to walk on the ruins. Boy oh boy, one of them was so tall, I thought my legs were going to fall off climbing up that thing. If you want a tour that doesn't take all day, I think Altun Ha is perfect.