The Cayo District
We’ve compiled the best of the best in The Cayo District - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Belize Botanic Gardens
The life's work of ornithologist Ken duPlooy, the personable Judy duPlooy, and their family is the 45-acre Belize Botanic Gardens. It's an extensive collection of hundreds of trees, plants, and flowers from all over Central America. Enlightening tours of the gardens, set on a bank of the Macal River at Sweet Songs Jungle Lodge, are given by local guides who can tell you the names of the plants in Mayan, Spanish, and English as well as explain their varied medicinal uses. If your family is looking for a fun group activity, there are also tea tasting tours, a tamale-making class, and a palm workshop. An orchid house holds the duPlooys' collection of more than 100 orchid species, and there also is a palm exhibit. The Botanic Gardens also run gardening programs for Belize residents as well as great birding opportunities.
Chial Rd., San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize671--3322Sight Details
Rate Includes: BZ$15 guided tour -
2. Caracol
Once a metropolis with five plazas and 32 large structures covering almost a square mile, Caracol once covered an area larger than present-day Belize City. Altogether it is believed there are some 35,000 buildings at the site, though only a handful of them have been excavated. Excavations at Caracol are being carried on by Diane and Arlen Chase of the University of Central Florida. The latest excavations are in an area approximately 500 yards southeast of Caracol's central plaza. Once Caracol has been fully excavated it may dwarf even the great city of Tikal, which is a few dozen miles away (as the toucan flies) in Guatemala. The evidence suggests that Caracol won a crushing victory over Tikal in the mid-6th century, a theory that Guatemalan scholars haven't quite accepted. Until a group of chicleros (collectors of gum base) stumbled on the site in 1936, Caracol was buried under the jungle of the remote Vaca Plateau. It's hard to believe it could have been lost for centuries, as the great pyramid of Caana, at nearly 140 feet, is still Belize's tallest structure. The main excavated sections are in four groups, denoted on archaeological maps as A, B, C, and D groups. The most impressive structures are the B Group at the northeast end of the excavated plaza. This includes Caana (sometimes spelled Ca'ana or Ka'ana), or "Sky Palace," listed as Structure B19-2nd, along with a ball court, water reservoir, and several large courtyards. Caana remains the tallest structure in Belize. The A Group, on the west side of the plaza, contains a temple, ball court, and a residential area for the elite. The Temple of the Wooden Lintel (Structure A6) is one of the oldest and longest-used buildings at Caracol, dating back to 300 BC. It was still in use in AD 1100. To the northwest of the A Group is the Northwest Acropolis, primarily a residential area. The third major plaza forming the core of the site is at the point where a causeway enters the "downtown" part of Caracol. The D Group is a group of structures at the South Acropolis. Near the entrance to Caracol is a small but interesting visitor center. If you have driven here on your own (with a Belize Defence Forces escort) instead of with a tour, a guide usually can be hired at the site, but you can also walk around on your own. Seeing all of the excavated area involves several hours of hiking around the site. Wear sturdy shoes and bring insect repellent. Also, watch for anthill mounds and, rarely, snakes. This part of the Chiquibul Forest Reserve is a good place for birding and wildlife spotting. Around the ruins are troops of howler monkeys and flocks of ocellated turkeys, and you may also see deer, coatimundis, foxes, and other wildlife at the site or on the way.
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3. Actun Chechem Ha (Chechem Ha Cave)
On private land, Actun Chechem Ha, which means "Cave of the Poisonwood Water," is a Mayan burial cave with artifacts that date back three millennia. There are many pots and a stela used for ceremonial purposes. This cave may have the largest collection of Mayan pottery in one place anywhere in Belize, possibly the world. To examine the pottery, you'll have to climb ladders, and getting to the cave requires a 35- to 45-minute walk, mostly uphill. The cave is on private property, and the landowner's family sometimes gives tours. Tour companies, with registered guides, also visit here from San Ignacio and Belmopan (BZ$150–BZ$200 per person) and include transportation, lunch, admission fee, and sometimes swimming at Vaca Falls. Belize Magnificent Tours in San Ignacio is one recommended tour company for this trip. Due to the hike to the cave entrance and climbing in the cave, you need to be reasonably physically fit to visit Chechem Ha.
Mile 7, Hydro Rd., Benque Viejo del Carmen, Cayo, Belize823--2384Sight Details
Rate Includes: BZ$150–BZ$200 per person -
4. Barton Creek Cave and Archeological Reserve
This wet cave, now a part of the Barton Creek Archeological Reserve in a remote area off the Mountain Pine Ridge Road, offers a canoeing adventure in Xibalba (the Mayan underworld). You'll float through about a mile of a long underground chamber—the cave is nearly 5 miles (8 km) long and parts have never been completely explored. You'll see Mayan ceramics along with ancient calcified skeletal remains and skulls. You can go on a tour from San Ignacio or from your lodge. PACZ Tours, for example, offers a six-hour tour, including lunch and admission to the cave, for BZ$170 plus tax per person, and Chaa Creek offers a half-day tour for one- to four persons for BZ$310 plus BZ$50 per person for park admission and equipment plus tax. You can also drive to the cave yourself, rent a boat and gear, and hire a guide near the cave. Getting to the cave is an adventure in itself, requiring a long drive on rough roads. Parts of the road and the cave itself may be inaccessible after hard rains. Be careful in the cave; it's best to tour with a reputable tour company with an experienced tour guide and reliable, well-maintained equipment such as float vests.
Cayo, Belize822--2106-Institute of ArchaeologySight Details
Rate Includes: BZ$10 -
5. Belize Medicinal Plants Trail
Also called the Rainforest Medicine Trail, this trail was originally developed by natural medicine guru Rosita Arvigo and gives you a quick introduction to traditional Mayan medicine. The trail takes you on a short, self-guided walk through the rain forest on the grounds of Chaa Creek, giving you a chance to study the symbiotic nature of its plant life. Learn about the healing properties of such indigenous plants as red gumbo-limbo and see some endangered medicinal plants. The shop here sells Mayan medicinal products like Belly Be Good and Flu Away.
Chial Rd., San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize880--2237-in BelizeSight Details
Rate Includes: BZ $10 self-guided tour, BZ$30 for a guided tour including Natural History Centre and Blue Morpho Breeding Center -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. Benque House of Culture
The mission of Benque House of Culture, one of the government-sponsored houses of culture in Belize (others are in Belize City, Orange Walk Town, Corozal Town, San Pedro, and San Ignacio/Santa Elena), is "promoting beauty and goodness." Housed in the former Benque police station, this little museum (and we do mean little) has displays on the history of Benque Viejo and also offers classes for local schoolchildren and their teachers. There is a large rosewood and mahogany marimba (a xylophone-like musical instrument) on display.
64 Joseph St., Benque Viejo del Carmen, Cayo, Belize823--2697Sight Details
Rate Includes: By donation -
7. Cahal Pech
Just at the western edge of San Ignacio, on a tall hill, is a small, intriguing Mayan site, the unfortunately named Cahal Pech ("Place of the Ticks"). You probably won't be bothered by ticks now, however. It was occupied from around 1200 BC to around AD 900. At its peak, in AD 600, Cahal Pech was a medium-size settlement of perhaps 10,000 people with some three dozen structures huddled around seven plazas. It's thought that it functioned as a guard post, watching over the nearby confluence of the Mopan and Macal Rivers. It may be somewhat less compelling than the area's other ruins, but it's no less mysterious, and worth a visit, given that these structures mark the presence of a civilization we know so little about. Look for answers at the small visitor center and museum, where you can also find a guide.
Cahal Pech Hill, San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize822--2016-NICH Belize Institute of ArcheologySight Details
Rate Includes: BZ$10 -
8. Cayo Welcome Center
The largest tourism information center in the country, the BZ$4 million Cayo Welcome Center was established in San Ignacio due to the Cayo's archaeological sites and rain-forest jungle lodges getting an increasing number of visitors. Besides friendly staff who provide information about tours, lodging, restaurants, and sightseeing, the center has exhibits and photos of Mayan artifacts found in San Ignacio, along with contemporary art and cultural displays. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout. Food stalls and a burger restaurant are in or near the center complex, and there is easy access to the pedestrian-only section of Burns Avenue, with its tour guide offices, restaurants, bars, banks, shops, and budget hotels. The center also functions as a community center, with free movies and musical concerts by local bands some nights.
Savannah St., San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize800-624–0686-Belize Tourism Board in Belize City -
9. Chaa Creek Natural History Centre & Blue Morpho Butterfly Farm
The Natural History Centre at The Lodge at Chaa Creek has a small library and lots of displays on everything from butterflies to snakes (pickled in jars). Outside is a screened-in blue morpho butterfly-breeding center. If you haven't encountered blue morphos in the wild, you can see them up close here and even peer at their slumbering pupae, which resemble jade earrings. Once you're inside the double doors, the electric blue beauties, which look boringly brown when their wings are closed, flit about or remain perfectly still, sometimes on your shoulder or head, and open and close their wings to a rhythm akin to inhaling and exhaling. Tours are led by a team of knowledgeable naturalists. You can combine a visit here with one to the Belize Medicinal Plants Trail.
Chial Rd., San Ignacio, Cayo, Belize880--2237-in BelizeSight Details
Rate Includes: BZ$10 self-guided tour; BZ$30 combined with guided Belize Medicinal Plant Trail tour -
10. El Pilar
Near the border of Belize and Guatemala, El Pilar is still being excavated under the direction of Anabel Ford, a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the MesoAmerican Research Center. El Pilar is three times larger than Xunantunich, but because it's at the end of a 7-mile (12-km) rough dirt road, you're likely to have the place to yourself; it gets only a few hundred visitors a year. Excavations of Mayan ruins have traditionally concentrated on public buildings, but at El Pilar the emphasis has been on reconstructing domestic architecture—everything from houses to gardens with crops used by the Maya. El Pilar, occupied from 800 BC to AD 1000, at its peak may have had a population of 20,000. Several well-marked trails take you around the site. Because the structures haven't been stripped of vegetation, you may feel as if you're walking through a series of shady orchards. Don't forget binoculars: in the 5,000-acre nature reserve there's terrific bird-watching. Behind the main plaza, a lookout grants a spectacular view across the jungle to El Pilar's sister city, Pilar Poniente, on the Guatemalan border. There is a visitor center, the Be Pukte Cultural Center of Amigos de El Pilar, in Bullet Tree Falls (usually open daily 9–5), where you can get information on the site and pay the admission fee. Note that several incidents of robbery have occurred at or near El Pilar. You may want to visit this site on a tour, available from several tour operators in San Ignacio including Crystal Paradise/Birding in Paradise.
Bullet Tree Falls, Cayo, Belize822--2106-NICH Institute of Archeology in BelmopanSight Details
Rate Includes: BZ$10 -
11. Elijio Panti National Park
Named after the famed Guatemala-born herbal healer who died in 1996 at the age of 106, Elijio Panti National Park (Noj K'a'ax Meen Elijio Panti National Park) is part of Belize's extensive national parks system. It spans about 13,000 to 16,000 acres (the exact area is undetermined) around the villages of San Antonio, Cristo Rey, and El Progresso and along the Macal River. In the park are Sakt'aj waterfalls and two dry caves known as Offering and Cormorant. The hope is that with no hunting in this park, more birds and wildlife will return to western Belize. Development of the park has been slowed by differing perspectives among those in San Antonio Village, including Maria Garcia (a relative of Elijio Panti) of the Itzamna Society, various departments of the government of Belize, and other parties. Even today, there is no one official website for the park. Currently you must be accompanied by a licensed tour guide to enter the park. For information on the park and how to visit it, check with tour guides in San Ignacio or San Antonio.
Off Cristo Rey Rd., San Antonio Village, Cayo, BelizeSight Details
Rate Includes: BZ$10 -
12. Five Blues Lake National Park
Five Blues Lake is a cenote, a collapsed cave in the limestone, named for the different shades of azure in the water, and there is plenty to see for the intrepid adventurer. Hawks and other birds abound, and plenty of wildlife like howler monkeys, tapirs, and armadillos. From the east side of the lake, you can wade across to Orchid Island, home to multitudes of wild orchids and other native flora. The park entrance is about 3½ miles (6 km) from the Hummingbird Highway, via a narrow and very rough dirt road. Bikes can be rented in St. Margaret's village, from which village volunteers manage the park. The lake does have a strange history. On July 20, 2006, a giant whirlpool formed in the lake, and most of the water was sucked into the ground; researchers are still unsure of how this happened. The lake has since refilled with water.
At end of Lagoon Rd., off Mile 32, Hummingbird Hwy., St. Margaret's Village, Cayo, Belize -
13. George Price Centre for Peace and Development
A permanent exhibit at this cultural center, library, and museum follows the life story of the Right Honorable George Price as he led the British colony to independence. Born in 1919 in Belize City, George Price was Belize's first and longest-serving prime minister. The "George Washington of Belize" is widely respected for his incorruptible dedication to the welfare of Belize and Belizeans. There's a sizeable library of books on human rights, peace, and national development, and the center hosts art shows, concerts, and film screenings. George Price passed away September 19, 2011, at age 92, just two days short of the 30th anniversary of Belize's independence.
Price Centre Rd., Belmopan, Cayo, Belize822--1054Sight Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sat. -
14. Green Hills Butterfly Ranch
The largest and the best of Belize's butterfly farms open to the public, Green Hills has about 30 native species in a huge flight area on display at any given time. Jan Meerman, who has published a book on Belize's butterflies and moths, runs the place with Dutch partner Tineke Boomsma and other staff, who speak a variety of English, Spanish, Dutch, Yucatec Mayan, and Creole. On the 100-acre grounds there are also many flowers, including passion flowers, bromeliads, heliconias, and orchids. Birding is good here as well, with more than 300 species sighted in the area. Bring lunch and eat it in the Green Hills picnic area.
Mile 8, Mountain Pine Ridge Rd. (aka Chiquibul Rd., aka Georgeville Rd.), El Progresso/7 Mile, Cayo, Belize832--8965Sight Details
Rate Includes: Guided tour BZ$40 -
15. Guanacaste National Park
Worth a quick visit on the way in or out of Belmopan is Belize's smallest national park, Guanacaste National Park, named for the huge guanacaste trees that grow here. Also called monkey's ear trees because of their oddly shaped seedpods, the trees tower more than 100 feet. (Unfortunately, the park's tallest guanacaste tree had to be cut down due to safety concerns that it might fall.) The 50-acre park is a secondary forest, at one time clearcut for farmland, now managed by the Belize Audubon Society. There is a rich population of tropical birds, including smoky brown woodpeckers, black-headed trogons, red-lored parrots, and white-breasted wood wrens. You can take one of the eight daily hourly tours, or you can wander around on your own. After, cool off with a refreshing plunge in the Belize River; there's also a small picnic area.
Mile 47.7, George Price Hwy. (formerly Western Hwy.), Belmopan, Cayo, Belize223--5004-Belize Audubon Society in Belize CitySight Details
Rate Includes: BZ$5 -
16. Hummingbird Highway
One of the most scenic roadways in Belize, the Hummingbird Highway, a paved two-lane road, runs 54.5 miles (91 km) from the junction of the George Price Highway (formerly Western Highway) at Belmopan to Dangriga. Technically, only the first 32 miles (53 km) is the Hummingbird—the rest is the Stann Creek District Highway, but most people ignore that distinction and call it all the Hummingbird. As measured from Belmopan at the junction of the George Price Highway, the Hummingbird first winds through limestone hill country, passing St. Herman's Cave (Mile 12.2) and the inland Blue Hole (Mile 13.1). It then starts rising steeply, with the Maya Mountains on the west or right side, past St. Margaret's Village and Five Blues Lake (Mile 23). The views, of green mountains studded with cohune palms and tropical hardwoods, are incredible. At the Hummingbird Gap (Mile 26, elevation near 1,000 feet, with mountains nearby over 3,000 feet), you're at the crest of the highway and now begin to drop down toward the Caribbean Sea. At Middlesex Village (Mile 32), technically the road becomes the Stann Creek District Highway and you're in Stann Creek District. Now you're in citrus country, with groves of grapefruit and Valencia oranges. Near Steadfast Village (watch for signs around Mile 37) there's the 1,600-acre Billy Barquedier National Park, where you can hike to waterfalls. At Mile 48.7 you pass the turn-off to the Southern Highway, and at Mile 54.5 you enter Dangriga, with the sea just ahead. If driving, keep a watch for "sleeping policemen," speed bumps to slow traffic near villages. Most are signed, but a few are not. Also, gas up in Belmopan, as there are few service stations until you approach Dangriga.
Hummingbird Hwy., Belmopan, Cayo, Belize -
17. Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve
This reserve is a highlight of any journey to Belize and an adventure to explore, although the scenery may remind you more of the piney woods of the far southern Appalachians than of tropical jungle. The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve is in the high country of Belize—low mountains and rolling hills are covered in part by vast pine forests and crisscrossed with old logging roads. Waterfalls and streams abound, and there are accessible caves, such as Rio Frio. The higher elevations, up to near 3,400 feet, provide cooler temperatures and outstanding views. The best way to see this area, which covers more than 106,000 acres, is on a mountain bike, a horse, or your own feet. It's also not a bad ride in an SUV, which you'll need to get you through the Pine Ridge to the Chiquibul wilderness and the magnificent ruins of Caracol. Aside from the Honduras pines, 80% of which were damaged in recent years by the southern pine beetle but are now recovering, you'll see lilac-color mimosa, Saint-John's-wort, and occasionally a garish red flower appropriately known as hotlips. Look for the craboo, a wild tree whose berries are used in a brandy-like liqueur believed to have aphrodisiac properties (the fruit ripens June through August). Birds love this fruit, so any craboo is a good place to spot orioles and woodpeckers. You may not see them, but the Pine Ridge is home to many of Belize's large mammals, including tapirs, cougars, jaguars, and ocelots, and in the streams are a few Morelet's crocodiles.
San Antonio Village, Cayo, Belize -
18. Poustinia Land Art Park
One of the most unusual and least-known attractions in Belize, Poustinia Land Art Park is a collection of about 30 original works by artists from a dozen countries, including Belize, Norway, Guyana, Brazil, Guatemala, and England, scattered about some 60 acres of a former cattle ranch. It's owned by an architect, who calls Poustinia an "environmental project." Among the works of outdoor art, which some would call funky and others fascinating, are Downtown, by Venezuelan artist Manuel Piney, and Returned Parquet, a reference to Belize's colonial history in mahogany parquet flooring by Tim Davies, a British artist. Nature is taking over the artworks, which apparently is part of the plan. Getting around the park, which is open by appointment only, requires sometimes strenuous hiking; bring insect repellent and lots of water. Make arrangements to visit the park and for a tour guide at the Benque House of Culture in Benque Viejo.
Mile 2.5, Hydro Rd., Benque Viejo del Carmen, Cayo, Belize823--2123Sight Details
Rate Includes: BZ$20 -
19. Rio Frio Caves
These caves are only a few miles by car down a steep track, but ecologically speaking, they are in a different world. In the course of a few hundred yards, you drop from pine savanna to tropical forest. Few other places in Belize illustrate its extraordinary geological diversity as clearly as this startling transition. A river runs right through the center of the main cave—actually it's more of a tunnel, open at both ends—and, over the centuries, has carved the rock into fantastic shapes. Swallows fill the place, and at night ocelots and margays pad silently across the cold floor in search of slumbering prey. Seen from the dark interior, the light-filled world outside seems more intense and beautiful than ever. About a mile (2 km) away are the Cuevas Gemelas (Twin Caves), best seen with a guide. Due to occasional bandit activity in the area, at times a Belize Defence Forces escort is required to visit the Rio Frio Caves—if driving on your own, ask at your hotel or at the Douglas Da Silva forestry station, where private vehicles meet up with a Defence Force escort.
Mountain Pine Ridge, Cayo, BelizeSight Details
Rate Includes: Free -
20. Spanish Lookout
The hilltop community of Spanish Lookout, population 3,000, about 5 miles (8 km) north of the George Price Highway, is one of the centers of Belize's 11,000-strong Mennonite community, of which nearly 3,000 are in Cayo District. The easiest access to Spanish Lookout is via the paved Route 30 at Mile 57.5 of the Price Highway. The village's blond-haired, fair-skinned residents may seem out of place in this tropical country, but they're responsible for much of the construction, manufacturing, and agriculture in Belize. They built many of Belize's resorts, and most of the chickens, eggs, cheese, and milk you'll consume during your stay come from their farms. Many of the small wooden houses that you see all over Belize are Mennonite prefabs built in Spanish Lookout. In Belize's conservative Mennonite communities, women dress in cotton frocks and head scarves, and the men don straw hats, suspenders, and dark trousers. Some still travel in horse-drawn buggies. However, most Mennonites around Spanish Lookout have embraced pickup trucks and modern farming equipment. The cafés and small shopping centers in Spanish Lookout offer a unique opportunity to mingle with these sometimes world-wary people, but they don't appreciate being gawked at or photographed any more than you do. Stores in Spanish Lookout are modern and well-stocked, the farms wouldn't look out of place in the U.S. Midwest, and many of the roads are paved (the Mennonites do their own road paving). Oil in commercial quantities was discovered in Spanish Lookout in 2005, and several wells are still pumping, although the amount of oil pumped has diminished in recent years.
Spanish Lookout, Cayo, Belize
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