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Barton Creek Cave Tour: Explore Maya Underworld by Canoe
4.8
47 Ratings
San Ignacio
Explore the mystical Barton Creek Cave, the entrance to the Maya Underworld, on a half-day tour. Choose to add a zipline, butterfly farm, or waterfall visit for a full-day adventure. Includes lunch!
Explore the mystical Barton Creek Cave, the entrance to the Maya Underworld, on a half-day tour. Choose to add a zipline, butterfly farm, or waterfall visit for a full-day adventure. Includes lunch!
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Barton Creek Cave - We begin our journey through farmland where you can see the Mennonite community of Upper Barton Creek and experience their traditional lifestyle. We reach Barton Creek Cave, much of which is still to be explored and stretches for miles, of which 4.5 miles is navigable by open canoe. At the entrance of the cave we board our…
- Barton Creek Cave - We begin our journey through farmland where you can see the Mennonite community of Upper Barton Creek and experience their traditional lifestyle. We reach Barton Creek Cave, much of which is still to be explored and stretches for miles, of which 4.5 miles is navigable by open canoe. At the entrance of the cave we board our canoes, switch on our headlights and start to slowly paddle into the cave passage. While floating deeper into the passage we learn about the geology, archaeology and Maya history of these caves.
Our lights will bring crystal formations that are millions of years old to life. After exploring the caves, we turn around our canoes and float back to where we park them and complete our half-day tour with a refreshing swim.
What's Included
- Equipment
- National Park fees
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- Transport by private vehicle
- Lunch with a drink
- Equipment
- National Park fees
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- Transport by private vehicle
- Lunch with a drink
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Gratuities
Additional Information
Barton Creek Cave serves as a gateway to the Mayan Underworld and is exclusively accessible by paddling a canoe. As you peacefully sail into the cavern, an age-old sanctuary unveils itself, showcasing stunning crystalline structures and providing insight into the historical significance of this revered location. Moreover, this excursion offers a dual…
Barton Creek Cave serves as a gateway to the Mayan Underworld and is exclusively accessible by paddling a canoe. As you peacefully sail into the cavern, an age-old sanctuary unveils itself, showcasing stunning crystalline structures and providing insight into the historical significance of this revered location. Moreover, this excursion offers a dual experience where you can select from ziplining, visiting a butterfly farm, or exploring a waterfall to complete your day-long adventure, inclusive of a sumptuous lunch!
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
Location
19 Burns Avenue
Burns Avenue
Tours depart our office in San Ignacio. free Pick up can be arranged if location is on route to tour site.
Directions: MayaWalk Tours Main Office located between Tandoor Restaurant and Belize Bank
Return point: Returns to original departure point
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(47 Ratings)
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Jleb0wski
May 19, 2026
Beautiful cave and great tour - Had a great day on this tour. We explored the cave by canoe and the butterfly farm.
The guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and professional. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Londone7
Mar 7, 2026
Good leisurely half day excursion - I did the Barton Creek canoeing half day. I had already done another trip with Maya Walk so they gave me $10 off. Only five in our group as maybe not the most popular tour. Yesterday I had done ATM cave where no photos are allowed so this was good as we could paddle inside another cave taking photos. This proved to be difficult as I was a solo paddler in my own canoe. I had wanted my own canoe anyway. I have my own kayak so paddling was not a problem but maybe beginners may struggle. Dropped me back off in the town centre.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oliviersamara
Feb 27, 2026
Memorable experience - We had a terrific time with Alex. He was easy going, very friendly and went out of his way to provide us with pertinent and fascinating information on geology and history to better understand the importance of the cave for the Maya. The canoe trip was a real delight, very relaxing and allowing us to enjoy the beauty of the cave at its best. Great swim at the end of the trip. Memorable experience! Nic & Anne
Review provided by Tripadvisor
David
Feb 15, 2026
Sublime canoe trip through the wonderful Barton Creek-thanks Mayawalks - Alex guided and paddled us expertly on a great fun and hugely informative c.1km canoe trip deep into the cathedral scale majesty of Barton Creek yesterday . Delicious lunch beforehand in the serene grounds with a refreshing swim in the freshwater river to top it off
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Seapink12
Feb 6, 2026
Barton Creek Canoe Trip - A second trip with this great company today. We had relaxing canoe trip through the spectacular Barton Creek Caves. Only a minute from the car & you are in the water in a very pretty landscape. A few moments from that you’ll be in the cave for around an hour with headlights & helmet. We had the excellent Ed as our guide and paddler. We were very grateful for Ed’s help as it enabled us to focus on photos and the experience. Ed explained the geology & Maya history very well followed by a very nice lunch. Thank you and totally recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alwaysexultant
Jan 25, 2026
Amazing Experience! - Edeoni is one of THE BEST tour guides I have ever had! You should absolutely book your Xunantunich morning tour + Barton Creek canoeing afternoon tour with MayaWalk Tours and request if you can have Edeoni as your guide. As far as MayaWalk, as a company as opposed to others, I reviewed tour options online as well as walked and spoke with all the tour operators along Burns Avenue. I chose to book with MayaWalk and am happy I did. I am traveling with my mother so we chose the canoe option as it was the easiest and you don’t get wet. There is an option to swim after you finish canoeing. MayaWalk accepts credit card or cash and provides delicious coffee at their office. Edeoni is from San Ignacio and very knowledgeable about the area. He was very informative during the tour. My mom is afraid of heights and he was amazing helping her, encouraging her and keeping her calm while climbing up and down El Castillo. An unexpected surprise and my highlight was that Edeoni showed us a tarantula hole and I got to hold a tarantula. He is also knowledgeable about the different birds in the region and can point them out to you with binoculars. Lunch was great as well with rice and beans, chicken, coleslaw, a little chocolate cake and juice. After canoeing, there was another company with an inexperienced tour guide. They did not navigate the cave well and flipped their canoe when trying disembark. Edeoni was the one to help the other group. Therefore, book with MayaWalk and request Edeoni. I highly recommend booking with MayaWalk and would recommend the tour we did. Thank you MayaWalk and thank you Edeoni.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
E3076dbjenniferg
Jan 14, 2026
Awesome, interesting, informative and at the same time so relaxing! - Awesome guide and driver. Marvin and Andy !! So informative and displayed such professionalism. You can tell they really love what they do ! Thank you for a wonderful adventure!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marley78160
Jan 10, 2026
A bit pricey but worth it - We did the Barton Creek tour with Everell as our guide. He was very attentive to the group and helped with photos. It was a fabulous outing!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Scarlett-johnson1999
Nov 17, 2025
Barton Creek Cave - guide Jaser was fab! - We had a great day at Barton Creek Cave with our guide Jaser who was very knowledgeable and good company! Would definitely recommend this tour for a relaxing half-day experience near San Ignacio :)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Danielleml507xp
Jun 7, 2025
Highly Recommend! - We had such a great day on this tour! We have younger kids, so they were so great in suggesting this for us. The cave was amazing and the creek was so refreshing and beautiful! The girls loved the butterfly farm. We love the picnic lunch they prepared. It was such a great day and our guides were so wonderful! Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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