The Best Things to Do in and around San Ignacio, Belize

March 10, 2024
by denidimchev@webohub.com +

If you are looking for a single place to use as a base camp for your trip to Belize, San Ignacio is hard to beat. Whether you have a passion for history and ancient cultures, natural wonders, vibrant and distinctly colored flora and fauna, or just want to have a good time, chances are good that at least one of these locales will grab your interest.

Furthermore, many of these locations have tours built around what they can offer.

Actun Tunichil Muknal. “The Cave of the Stone Sepulchre” is the most famous cave within the Cayo District as well as the most well-known tour connected to San Ignacio. This site used to be the site of Maya sacrificial rites and is reached by trekking through rainforests, rivers, and a light swim within the cave. Found deep within this cave are several artifacts and remains, including the remains of the “Crystal Maiden,” a crystalline fossil of a young sacrificial victim.

St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park. This venue is near Belmopan and serves as the base for the Crystal and St. Herman’s cave systems. The site also features several nature trails and has a jungle pool that inspired the “Blue Hole” part of the name. It is the caves that draw people here as both the cave and its hole are linked by a subterranean stream. The Blue Hole pool is the result of a limestone cave that collapsed while beneath the ground, resulting in sapphire blue waters. Anyone with an interest in birding will also want to explore the treeline of this area. Notable species include jacamars, nightingale wrens, and blue-crowned motmots.

Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. Established in 1944, the 100,000+ acres of this site offer some of the most majestic vistas in the country. Follow the Chiquibul Road through pine forests, waterfalls and you can even see the Maya Mountains off in the distance as you tour the area. Note that the lack of public transport in this area means you will need a car and likely a guide who knows the terrain and how to manage the road during the wet summer.

Big Rock Falls. This is a large waterfall within the grounds of Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, making it a prime spot for anyone with an interest in inland swimming or cliff jumping. Reaching the falls is a moderately challenging 155-minute hike that includes using a rope to guide travelers down a railing. After reaching the water level, visitors must traverse slick, erratic granite slabs to arrive at the falls’ emerald green pools. Notably, the pools are deep enough that there is barely any risk of suffering an injury from slamming into the floor from a cliff dive. Be warned that Big Rock Falls is a 13-mile trip from San Ignacio across unpaved roads.

San Jose Succotz. This is one of the small villages found throughout the Cayo District. Situated along the Mopan River’s banks, this place is most known for being where one can find Xunantunich, the Maya temple that serves as the main reason people come here. It is worth mentioning that Succotz is also the home of a fair focused on the Maya and Mestizo peoples and at least 64 different plant species used in over 100 different curatives.

Crystal Cave aka Mountain Cow Cave. You can find this place near St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park. Reaching this venue entails a 50-minute hike through rain forests and steep grounds that may also include using a rope to descend 15 feet to reach the cave’s entrance.

The Ancient Maya believed that this site was a divine gateway and thus referred to it as “Xibalba.” They believed that the cave entrance marked the point where the world of humanity and the divine met. Understandably, evidence remains of various religious rites and other ceremonies that were performed on and around the grounds; evidence like bowls, pots and even the bones of human sacrifices.

Beyond its spiritual ties to the ancient people of this land, Crystal Cave is also teeming with a large number of natural features, such as unique rock developments, stalagmites and, unsurprisingly, crystal growths. The entire of Crystal Cave is coated in various shapes and patterns of calcite.

The Belize Botanic Gardens. If you would like to see the many splendors of Belize’s floral variety, you simply must visit this site. Its overarching goal is to encourage sustainable farming and teaching visitors about conservation while featuring a breathtaking array of vibrant flowers and other plants.

Now if that all sounds like more than enough, San Ignacio actually has even more to see than even this list mentioned. You will simply have to visit yourself to see the rest.

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