Caving into Mayan history - This was my favorite experience in Belize. It was adventure and intrigue, history and learning. Overall, exhilarating and magical. You go hiking, swimming, and weave through a cave's passages. Our guide, Fernando was outstanding. He knew so much information about the history of the cave and the Mayan people who used it for rituals. Every place we stopped along the way, he would tell us the connecting story. His passion for this place and its history was evident. I absolutely loved this adventure.

Wow best experience!!!! - 11 out of ten!!! So awesome. The guide was very knowledgeable and the caves are truly amazing. A MUST do in Belize and go with this company. Lunch was excellent as well. Tasty chicken and rice, salad, drinks, salsas, corn chips! I would go again!

ATM cave tour highly recommended - I just returned from an amazing day exploring the ATM caves with Edward as our guide. I really had no idea what I was in for except that my shoes would get very wet, and I'm glad I didn't because I was blown away by the experience. Edward was so friendly, knowledgeable, and a heap of fun. He and his company have been running ATM tours for 20 years, and it shows, a true professional. From pick up to drop off in San Ignacio, the tour took around 9 hours, but never once did it feel like a long day. I would highly recommend using Belize Caving Adventures to do the ATM tour or another of the trips they offer.

An absolute must-do tour with extraordinary guides! - This is a must-do tour and this company has amazing guides. We went on three of their tours and all were just perfect. The tour is physically challenging but the guides are so competent and knowledgable that you feel completely confident in their instruction and demonstration. Althouugh there are a lot of visitors, they are managed well so that each group has time to really explore and learn about the Maya culture in a really exciting way. Lunch after the tour was delicious and even included rum punch! We highly recommend this unforgettable tour and Belize Caving Expeditions!

MUST-DO Belize Adventure! - Hands down the best adventure of our time in Belize. Rafael was the BEST tour guide, (has his PHD in Archeology), so knowledgeable and took really good care of us. Tip - don't wear white socks! It's actually kind of great you're not allowed to bring cameras, you need your hands to climb, and move along the cave, and nice just to be present during it all. can't recommend this experience enough!!

It all comes down to the guide and Rafael was excellent! - This tour was a highlight of our Belize trip. Our hotel (Vanilla Hills Lodge) booked the tour for us, so we didn't have any control over the company. We were the first pick-up in the van shuttle and then stopped for 8 other passengers at a couple hotels before heading to the parking area at the cave site (about a a 45 min drive; there are restrooms at the parking space). Each guide can only take up to 8 people so we were separated from the other passengers in the van and it briefly seemed like we'd been forgotten about, but it worked out really well for us. We were placed with the "extras" from other vans into a smaller group of 5. Our guide, Dr. Rafael Guerra, first visited the site in 1996 and worked in other fields before getting his PhD in archaeology from the University of New Mexico. Rafael has been leading tours of the cave for a long time and knows everything there is to know from hazards for your toes along the route to the likely age of each piece of pottery left behind by the Mayans. We took this trip without our young children, but we saw a preteen in another group who had a good time (a family with a kid around 5-6 years old turned back not long after entering the cave). Life vests are available and you're required to wear a helmet with a headlamp. You'll need to swim in certain parts of the cave, go through some narrow spaces (very minimal if any crawling though) and descend one spot called the "Devil's Spine" where you need to shimmy through a narrow opening where water is rushing down. There was a gentleman on our tour who was rather active and probably in his 60s who did very well. Total time in the cave is just under 4 hours and you can't bring anything inside with you (one guy did bring a small dry bag with a snack, but no cameras/phones are allowed because a tourist dropped a camera on an ancient skull in 2012 and broke a hole in it). We would absolutely do this tour again if Rafael was our guide!

Probably best all time travel experience! Totally worth the money! - This is by far the best tour I have done! Informative, fun, safe, adventurous, active. I was worried it wasn’t worth all the hype, but I’m so glad our family took the “plunge”! Thank you Glis, for a fantastic time! Cannot recommend this enough…seriously!

Expect to be wet the whole time - This is an adventure in so many different ways. It’s a physical experience. First a gentle hike but with three stream crossings against a current, but with ropes in place to help you stay upright. The first crossing is early in the hike so you are wet the whole time. Once inside the cave you are climbing against the current of the stream flowing out of the cave. It’s cool but not cold. Best to wear socks and water shoes that have good protection for your toes. Then you swim, scramble, climb, and maneuver your body through the cave. But this is also a cultural and spiritual experience because you will learn about the culture ( ancient and modern) from your guide. Juan Carlos was our guide and he was fantastic. He warned us about tripping hazards and kept us safe with very clear and detailed instructions. But he also kept the cave formations, artifacts and life forms safe from us! I appreciate the opportunity to see this amazing place and know that my visit will not leave any damage. Expect to take off your water shoes and climb in your wet socks to see the artifacts and remains. The way out is a bit easier even though it’s the same route because you are going with the current. Then enjoy the delicious picnic lunch when you get back to the van. There are bathrooms and changing rooms at the parking lot. They do an amazing job getting hundreds of people safely in each day. Wow. What an amazing experience.

Do NOT miss out on this adventure! Spelunking to skeletons in ATM cave: Belize - This is one of the COOLEST adventure things I have ever done in my life. Wear water shoes or sneakers that tie up and you don't mind getting ruined. (Wouldn't recommend Tevas or similar opened toed adventuring sandals) The tour begins by removing everything from your pockets and leaving all electronics because nothing is allowed in the cave. Apparently tourists in the early 2000's dropped camera equipment on ancient artifacts so they banned it for everyone. Now, this a bummer because I have no pictures to show, but, it also makes it that much more eerie and incredible because the only light in the cave is that from the headlamp on your helmet. You hike for 45 minutes down to the cave and cross a river at 3 separate places. The first one the water is up to your shoulders and you hold a rope to help you across. Once you make it to the cave you swim in and enter the cave and maneuver through water and slick rocks for about an hour until you get to the "dry space" to see all the artifacts and full body skeletons that have been calcified into the limestone from ancient sacrifices. You must remove your shoes when you get to the "dry zone". You can wear socks or go barefoot. Then you make your way all the back and go through the river the same way and eat the biggest plate of rice, beans, and chicken that you'll ever see. You finish the whole plate and drink a whole glass of rum punch because you've never been so hungry. The time from when you enter the national park until you get back to the car is an approximately 4 hours. Our guide was incredible and has been leading this tour for over 20 years. He was insanely knowledgeable, even being able to tell you where the large rocks were in the water and which places to step. Additionally, the formations within the cave are the most beautiful and large I've ever seen. I did the tour with my (very fit) 70 year old parents, but you do need to be in shape to do this tour. There were a few spots where I was nervous (both because of very tight spaces and balance). I would not suggest that the average older adult would be able to do this tour. In fact, I probably have a few friends who this tour would not be for. However, if adventure is your thing, this is the BEST thing I did in Belize. Do NOT miss it!

Fast, but cool experience! Huge cave. - So, this is a great place to check out, but I’d preface that they go quickly and don’t exactly explain the intricacies of caves as much as just talk specifically about the history of this one. So interesting, but not as explanatory as other cave tours I’ve been to. Also, lots of small group tours going so they have to keep things going to make room. FYI, they walk FAST to the cave so, as a decently fast walker myself, I felt like I was the slow one. Our guide was nice, a bit soft spoken so hard to hear and had to ask him a few times to speak up. But kind and knowledgeable. The food at the end was shockingly good also. The rum punch at lunch was super strong, so couldn’t drink that but some people like that.