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 (full day tour).
Bug spray, Hat, Sunglasses, and Sturdy shoes.
Tucked away in the dense rainforest near San Ignacio, El Pilar is one of the largest yet least excavated Maya sites in Belize. Unlike other ruins where towering temples dominate the landscape, El Pilar offers visitors a more immersive experience, allowing them to explore the site as it remains partially covered by jungle. With its unique blend of archaeology, nature, and conservation, El Pilar provides a rare opportunity to see Maya history intertwined with the living forest.
Explore the Ancient Plazas and Structures: El Pilar consists of over 25 plazas and hundreds of structures, spread across both Belize and Guatemala. Unlike other sites, archaeologists have chosen to keep much of El Pilar’s structures unexcavated to preserve its connection with nature.
Walk the Maya Forest Trails: The site features a network of jungle trails, offering a unique blend of Maya ruins and pristine rainforest. As you walk through the ancient pathways, you’ll see how the Maya integrated their cities into the natural landscape.
Discover the Maya Forest Garden: El Pilar is known for its traditional Maya agricultural techniques, including the “forest garden”—a sustainable farming method still practiced today. Visitors can learn how the ancient Maya used plants for food, medicine, and daily life.
Birdwatching and Wildlife Spotting: Since El Pilar is surrounded by lush jungle, it’s a great place to spot howler monkeys, toucans, parrots, and other tropical wildlife.
Cross the Belize-Guatemala Border: The ruins of El Pilar extend into Guatemala, making it a unique site that spans two countries. Visitors can explore both sides of the site, experiencing its international significance.
El Pilar is located 12 miles (19 km) from San Ignacio, near the Belize-Guatemala border. The journey takes about 45 minutes by car, with the last stretch of the road being an adventurous drive through jungle terrain. Visitors should consider a 4WD vehicle or guided tour for the best experience.
From Belize City, the journey takes about 2.5 hours by car, making El Pilar a great day trip from San Ignacio or a stop along a longer tour of Maya sites.
El Pilar was an important Maya city that thrived during the Preclassic (1000 BC) and Classic (250–900 AD) periods. Unlike other sites that were heavily excavated, El Pilar has been preserved as an archaeological reserve, allowing researchers to study how the ancient Maya lived in harmony with the rainforest.
The city was a major center for agriculture, trade, and culture, with evidence of extensive Maya farming systems. Today, archaeologists use El Pilar to understand ancient Maya land management techniques, which are seen as a model for sustainable farming.
If you’re visiting El Pilar, there are several other fascinating sites nearby worth exploring:
Xunantunich: Just a short drive from San Ignacio, Xunantunich is famous for El Castillo, one of the tallest Maya pyramids in Belize, offering stunning panoramic views.
Cahal Pech: Located within San Ignacio, Cahal Pech is an ancient Maya royal palace, providing insight into the lives of the elite.
Caracol: About 2.5 hours south, Caracol is the largest and most powerful ancient Maya city in Belize, featuring Caana, the tallest pyramid in the country.
Tikal (Guatemala): If you’re up for a cross-border adventure, Tikal—one of the most famous Maya sites in the world—is located just 2.5 hours from El Pilar in neighboring Guatemala.
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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