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.
Difficult - Walking and Climbing
Guide, Entrance Fee, Round Trip Transportation, Water, Lunch, Gears, and (full day tour).
Bug spray, Hat and Sunglasses.
Hidden deep within St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park, Crystal Cave (also known as Mountain Cow Cave) is one of Belize’s most spectacular and challenging cave systems. This extensive underground labyrinth is filled with glittering crystal formations, massive caverns, and ancient Maya artifacts, making it a must-visit destination for adventure seekers and history enthusiasts. Used by the ancient Maya for ceremonial rituals and sacrifices, Crystal Cave offers an unforgettable journey into the mystical underworld of Xibalba.
To reach the cave entrance, visitors must hike for about 1 hour through the jungle before beginning the descent into the cave. Due to its challenging terrain and historical importance, Crystal Cave can only be explored with a licensed guide.
Crystal Cave was a highly sacred site for the ancient Maya, who believed it was a direct portal to Xibalba, the underworld. Archaeologists have discovered ceremonial artifacts, obsidian blades, and skeletal remains inside, indicating that the Maya conducted offerings, bloodletting rituals, and even human sacrifices in the cave’s depths. The mineral-rich walls and the presence of fire pits and altars suggest it was used for mystical ceremonies to communicate with the gods.
Want to Visit Crystal Cave?
Contact us in advance to request an exclusive visit, and we’ll arrange your unforgettable adventure!
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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