Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave with Local Lunch from San Ignacio
Description
Explore the hidden chambers and crystalline waters of the Mayan underworld at Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM), featured in National Geographic! Swim into the mysterious cave, which the ancient Mayas considered to be a portal to the underworld, known as Xibalba. This day trip from San Ignacio includes a 1.5-hour round-trip hike in Tapir Nature Reserve and enjoy delicious local lunch. Climb, crawl, swim, and play in the water passage as you enter the caverns, and delight in the refreshing waters of the Roaring River before and after your spelunking adventure.
Tour Options
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We provide complimentary pick up for hotels within San Ignacio Town, hotels outside of town, a small surcharge applies
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Minimum height requirement is 40 inches
- It is recommended that you wear closed-toe shoes, comfortable clothing (short Pants, Long pants, T-shirt or long Sleeve) that can get wet, a change of clothes.
- Hotel pick up and drop off is for hotels within San Ignacio town limits. For hotels outside of San Ignacio, a surcharge applies.
- Pair of socks is required as portions of the cave shoes are removed.
- Bring reusable Water bottle
- No cameras allowed
Reviews(192)
Absolutely worth doing. The history of these caves is fascinating, and the experience of visiting is second to none! Don’t pass this up. Ask for Akim as your guide, he is the best.
Must-do activity in one's life! This is not only a journey to explore Mayan culture, but also a thrilling cave adventure. Our guide was quite friendly, and provides a very detailed tour of the cave.
This was a once in a lifetime experience and Miguel was a great host! Super informative and interactive, with great directions. Food was delightful at the end as well. Definitely do the morning tour to beat the crowds.
Amazing ATM Cave tour—one of the highlights of our Belize trip. The cave itself is absolutely incredible and such a unique adventure. Our guide, Gilroy, was excellent: very nice, incredibly knowledgeable, and funny, which made the experience even better. Highly recommend that you book this experience if you can!
Absolutely amazing experience and Miguel was so good with our 8 year old son! He let him hold onto him and guided him but also let him feel independent and accomplished when appropriate. Everyone had a great time! Such a special once in a lifetime experience!
This activity was cancelled due to poor weather and we cant get a refund. Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave with Local Lunch from San Ignacio Tue, Dec 30, 2025 • 7:00 AM • 2 Adults
What an amazing experience! The hike through the jungle with the river crossings was a nice lead up to the main attraction. The cave adventure was so much fun for the whole family! The cave itself was beautiful and awe inspiring- definitely the highlight of our trip.
Our trip was unfortunately canceled due to dangerously high water levels after days of rain. This was December .. supposedly dry season. Of course this was no-ones fault ... but was incredibly disappointing. This was supposed to have been the highlight of our trip to San Ignacio . Just be aware that this can happen anytime of the year. Communication with the company was a little erratic, and they had promised to let us know as soon as possible in the morning of the trip whether it would go ahead. However I heard nothing from them and had to reach out to them to find out. They did not help us at all with the refund process and it is taking days to get Trip Advisor to " investigate " the situation.
My friends and I had such an amazing day at ATM with Mayawalk Tours, particuarly our great guides Francis and Emil. Walking/swimming/wading through the cave was like nothing we had done before. Many parts of the cave were beautiful and we learned so much from Francis about the cave, the Mayan offerings, and history of the Mayans, the cave, and the country. (Emil took another group). Francis told us exactly where to step and what to do to ensure that we got through as easily as possible. Then we had a delicious local lunch made by other members of the team who were so friendly. And on the bus on the way there, Emil shared with us a lot of interesting information about the Belizian people and the country. Definitely take a tour with Mayawalk and ask for Francis and Emil
One of the BEST travel experiences I’ve ever had (I’ve been to 43 countries). I brought my mom who is almost 70 and very active. She was fine (a few rock scrapes) but please make sure you have decent physical skills, especially agility. Hot tips: put dry socks in your helmet, bring a water bottle. Water shoes are fine if they have textured rubber soles. Short sleeve, not long sleeve. Pants if you’re concerned with scraping your legs, otherwise shorts are more comfortable as you’ll be soaking wet the entire time. You get into chest deep water a few minutes into the 45minute hike to the caves. Water bottles are left just outside the cave entrance.
