Nelson Maya Adventures
Alluring Mayan Site Tours and Outstanding Transfers Service for the Insightful Traveler.
With our team of expert travel agents and tour operators, we ensure your experience is truly unforgettable.
Price varies by location - Can be done during a transfer.
Moderate - Walking and Climbing
Guide, Entrance Fee, Round Trip Transportation, Lunch, Water, and a Exclusive river tour.
Bug spray, Hat and Sunglasses.
Lamanai, meaning “Submerged Crocodile” in the Maya language, is one of Belize’s most fascinating and longest-occupied Maya cities. Nestled along the banks of the New River Lagoon, this ancient city is unique due to its remote jungle setting, well-preserved temples, and stunning wildlife. Unlike many other Maya sites, Lamanai was continuously inhabited for over 3,000 years, from 1500 BC to the 17th century AD, making it a must-visit destination for history lovers and adventure seekers alike.
Climb the High Temple: Standing at 108 feet tall, the High Temple offers breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding jungle and lagoon. Visitors who climb to the top are rewarded with a stunning vista stretching across the Belizean rainforest.
Explore the Mask Temple: This temple is famous for its massive stone-carved masks, depicting ancient Maya rulers or deities. The intricate detail and size of these masks make it one of the most photographed structures in Belize.
Visit the Jaguar Temple: Named after the jaguar-like carvings on its façade, this temple was likely an important ceremonial structure. Walking through its ruins gives visitors a glimpse into the spiritual and political significance of Lamanai.
Wildlife and Nature Viewing: Since Lamanai is surrounded by lush rainforest and a vast lagoon, it is a haven for wildlife. Keep an eye out for howler monkeys, toucans, crocodiles, and colorful butterflies as you explore the site.
Take a Scenic Boat Tour: One of the highlights of visiting Lamanai is the boat journey along the New River, where you’ll pass through mangroves, wetlands, and rich birdlife before arriving at the site. We provide a boat tour that adds a sense of adventure which sets Lamanai apart from other Maya ruins.
Lamanai is located in northern Belize, about 60 miles (96 km) from Belize City. The most popular way to reach Lamanai is via a guided boat tour from Orange Walk Town, which takes about 1 hour along the New River. Travelers can also drive to the site, but the boat trip provides a more immersive experience, allowing visitors to enjoy the wildlife and scenery along the way.
Lamanai was a powerful city, with evidence of continuous occupation from 1500 BC to the 1600s AD, making it one of the longest-inhabited Maya sites. Unlike many Maya cities that were abandoned after the Classic Period (900 AD), Lamanai thrived well into the Spanish Colonial era. The site features Spanish churches and colonial structures, remnants of the Spanish attempt to convert the Maya to Christianity. However, the Maya eventually rebelled, forcing the Spanish to abandon the area.
The name “Lamanai” translates to “Submerged Crocodile,” a fitting name due to the many crocodile-shaped carvings found at the site and the abundance of crocodiles in the surrounding waterways.
If you’re visiting Lamanai, there are other fascinating destinations nearby worth exploring:
Altun Ha: Located about 50 miles (80 km) east of Lamanai, Altun Ha is another significant Maya site, famous for the discovery of the Jade Head of Kinich Ahau, the largest carved jade artifact in the Maya world.
Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary: If you’re a nature lover, this nearby sanctuary offers an incredible opportunity to see over 300 bird species, including the majestic Jabiru Stork.
My husband Joe & I had a great tour with Josh as our guide. He took us to the Community Baboon Santuary to see the Black Howler Monkeys, the Belize... read more Prison Gift Shop where there are beautiful hand carved items made by the prisoners, and to Caves Branch Outpost for some excellent zip lining. Josh is a wealth of knowledge and really took the time to make sure we had everything we needed. We would give him 10 out of 10 stars if we could.
While visiting Caye Caulker with friends we decided to visit the Xunantunich ruins. Booking was seamless and our guide Auner met us at the water taxi.
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Our day with Auner was perfect! He is a wealth of information and ensured all of our questions were answered. Cold water was readily available along with a delicious traditional Belizean lunch. Highly recommend this tour company, we will definitely use them again.
We decided to arrange a private tour for a family of four to Tikal with Nelson Maya Adventures after reading a couple of reviews here and on a couple of... read more other platforms. We like to give our business to smaller companies whenever possible, and we rarely regret it. We were extremely impressed with the service: the drivers (Wilbert in Belize and William in Guatemala) were very professional and friendly, and the guide who met us for our transfer at the Guatemala border and accompanied us to Tikal (Oliverio) was outstanding. The entire process went very smoothly, and Nelson Díaz was great at keeping in touch and providing details about the adventure.
My family of 4 was picked up at 7:00 at our lodge near San Ignacio and were driven to the Guatemalan border by our first driver. There, we were met by our guide (arranged by Nelson) who walked us through the border-crossing process and then took us to our next van on the Guatemala side that drove us the 2.5 hours to Tikal. The van was brand new and very comfortable, and the driver was super friendly and professional. Our guide (Oliverio) was amazing. He was extremely knowledgable (spoke English and Spanish) and provided lots of interesting information during the drive and at Tikal: he was an expert in the flare and fauna of Tikal and also knew a great deal about the history of this incredible place. He was also extremely helpful when it came to negotiating the lines at the border and at the entrance to Tikal. He easily saved us a couple of hours and made it clear to us that driving our rental vehicle and trying to do this on our own would have been a real hassle.
Our guide and driver were also very flexible allowing for several short stops to take photos, buy a snack, visit an artisan shop, etc. Lunch was included in the price of our day-long trip, and they took us to a fabulous roadside restaurant - Restaurante González - outside of the park. We opted to stay in the park till early afternoon and have a late lunch on the way back to Belize.
The price that we paid for our family to spend the day at Tikal was significantly less than we would have paid through our lodge and through other companies in San Ignacio, and it was great to have the private tour. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Nelson for any of your transportation needs in Belize.
We decided to arrange a private tour for a family of four to Tikal with Nelson Maya Adventures after reading a couple of reviews here and on a couple of... read more other platforms. We like to give our business to smaller companies whenever possible, and we rarely regret it. We were extremely impressed with the service: the drivers (Wilbert in Belize and William in Guatemala) were very professional and friendly, and the guide who met us for our transfer at the Guatemala border and accompanied us to Tikal (Oliverio) was outstanding. The entire process went very smoothly, and Nelson Díaz was great at keeping in touch and providing details about the adventure.
My family of 4 was picked up at 7:00 at our lodge near San Ignacio and were driven to the Guatemalan border by our first driver. There, we were met by our guide (arranged by Nelson) who walked us through the border-crossing process and then took us to our next van on the Guatemala side that drove us the 2.5 hours to Tikal. The van was brand new and very comfortable, and the driver was super friendly and professional. Our guide (Oliverio) was amazing. He was extremely knowledgable (spoke English and Spanish) and provided lots of interesting information during the drive and at Tikal: he was an expert in the flare and fauna of Tikal and also knew a great deal about the history of this incredible place. He was also extremely helpful when it came to negotiating the lines at the border and at the entrance to Tikal. He easily saved us a couple of hours and made it clear to us that driving our rental vehicle and trying to do this on our own would have been a real hassle.
Our guide and driver were also very flexible allowing for several short stops to take photos, buy a snack, visit an artisan shop, etc. Lunch was included in the price of our day-long trip, and they took us to a fabulous roadside restaurant – Restaurante González – outside of the park. We opted to stay in the park till early afternoon and have a late lunch on the way back to Belize.
The price that we paid for our family to spend the day at Tikal was significantly less than we would have paid through our lodge and through other companies in San Ignacio, and it was great to have the private tour. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Nelson for any of your transportation needs in Belize.
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