Belize: San Ignacio tour companies
 

Hi folks and thanks for all the helpful info so far. My wife and I are going to be at Chaa Creek from 10/6/10 – 10/11/10 and decided to forego their package deals and arrange for the tours ourselves (seems a lot less expensive that way). Anyways research here says that PACZ Tours is a good company but then I found info in the web that the owner has recently been charged with murder?!!? (http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=17413)

Obviously this makes me think more than twice about hiring them so I’m looking for alternatives. Has anyone had any experience with MayaWalk? (http://www.mayawalk.com/)

Thanks in advance,

John R

We used PACZ and thought they were great. I'd hate to think of all the great guides not being hired because of one person doing something terrible. We felt completely safe in their hands.

Yeah that is a shame. If it was an employee then I could maybe overlook it... but the owner? If you had found this out 6 weeks before your trip do you think you wouldn't have seriously contemplated switching to another company?

This was a horrible end to a long running dispute between the two men. Either one of them could have ended up on the ground. I've known Emilio Awe and his extended family for many years and worked with Pacz since ATM cave was mapped by his uncle Dr Jaime Awe many years ago. Emilio surrendered to police and is in prison, where he knows he belongs. Two familes and a small town have been devastated by this. Emilio was one person along with many other good people in the company who do a great job every day for their guests and the business will continue without him. This is an opportunity for people in the same sort of entanglements to review their lives; this is not an opportunity for competing businesses to exploit this tragedy for their own financial gain, especially in light of Maya Walks own history of allegations. I've opted to continue working with Pacz. The courts will decide Emilio's fate and the Awe family will do what they can for the Cruz children.

I've got no agenda for Maya Walks or anything against PACZ, other than being concerned about what I've read about this crime. I'm just a befuddled tourist trying to make the best decision for my wife and I when I'm in Belize. Katie, your note says that Maya Walks has "a history of allegations". Since you brought it up I think you should elaborate...

I'm sorry John, I thought perhaps you were someone from Maya Walk taking advantage of a horrible event, as I've seen similiar postings on other boards. As you are sincere, I would say pick either company you feel most comfortable with and provides the best service, but certainly make sure you visit ATM as its about the best trip offered in Belize.

I'd stick with Pacz, too - hopefully they'll stay up and running and the same guides will stay with them.

http://www.pacztours.net/tours/actun...il_muknal.html

I'm certainly not here to referee any feuds between Pacz and Maya Walks either.

As any conscientious consumer would, I'm just trying to evaluate between two companies who offer similar services. Pacz has gotten great reviews here but I've heard little about Maya Walks, or any other company for that matter. So I'm looking for objective opinions from people who have used other companies besides Pacz... Does anyone have any? Thanks.

No, I personally wouldn't have switched companies after reading so many glowing reviews about the tours and the guides, but totally understand if you want to. There are some good reviews on Maya Walks on tripadvisor if you haven't checked them out. I think this board really tends to be very PACZ oriented. I'd use them again if we go back.

We at Pacz tours, the office and the guides will keep our high standards up ,we will not get into fighting back and forth with other companies, put we promise Pacz tours will keep going , Thank you and hope you holidays in Belize will be great, who ever you use during your stay .

We also used Pacz tours, which was booked directly through Chaa Creek and felt the guide we had was very professional. Based on what Katie wrote, I don't think I would have looked for another company, having read the reviews of Pacz before our trip. Our ATM cave trip was probably the most memorable part of our Belize trip, mainly due to the guide from Pacz. Of course that's not to say another company wouldn't be just as good, but the guides from Pacz seem to be very professional.