Tikal Maya Site with Local Guide & Lunch

I've been to Mayan ruins on my own before. This time I wanted a guide to tell us more about what we're seeing. I got what I wanted and more. Alfredo, who grew up in the area, not only is an experienced local guide, he has a degree in archeology. He was able to tell us about the history and construction of the ruins. He is obviously experience at working with all types of guests and knew how to manage our group and keep all of our group interested and informed. The only regret I have is not having more time with him. Coming from San Ignacio, a lot of the day was burned up in travel time that otherwise could have been used seeing more of this fascinating mayan historical site.

They picked us up at the place we were staying and the driver showed us all the local spots and activities on the way to the border . We then crossed the border into Guatemala and met our guide Rafael with his driver . The driver was extremely professional and took care with the way the roads were and our guide showed us all the sites on the way . I can’t lie, the tour itself was challenging with hills and stairs but this company absolutely outdid themselves getting us all through and seeing the sites . We were educated on all of the ruins and temples and I believe they even extended our time to get the full experience . Just amazing , and then we got to experience a great lunch at a local restaurant that was right on time . Then a small trip to the border and dropped back off at our stay. I would recommend this company 10x’s out of 10 and would have done more adventures with them but we like to spread around our excursions . If we get turn though, we would definitely use them again .

+2

Tikal was an experience I will always remember. Our tour guide, Ronnie, was fantastic! He was born in a local town nearby. He knew all the wildlife species and site history, and pointed out all the birds and wildlife during our tour. He took us off the main walkways and into narrow jungle trails which made it feel like we were the only ones there. It was a very authentic adventure. The order in which he showed us the different structures kept building in intensity and grandeur, which added to the overall experience. The expanse of Tikal both in scale and the buildings over time (chronology) just blew my mind. I felt shook to my core and I'm so thankful the Guatemalan gov't has done such a great job recognizing and preserving the site, and allowing us tourists to visit. A note on the trip to Tikal: We were picked up from our Air BnB in San Ignacio. From there we drove to the border and had to pass through customs and security (bring your passport!). Make sure you bring cash to pay the exit fee in Belize as the credit card machine isn't always working. A separate driver and tour guide meets you on the Guatemalan side. Bring lots of water, sunscreen, and comfortable walking shoes.

The trip to Tikal with BCE was excellent. Gave us the right info, picked us up on time, helped us through immigration without hassle, very friendly driver and guide, guided us through the ruins well providing lots of information and answering questions followed by a sumptuous lunch. Very happy with the overall experience, no surprises and exceeded expectations

The guide was experienced, lives in the area, and knows the go arounds in the park. Everything went so smoothly. This was certainly a risky and stressful trip if I diy from San Ignacio, Belize. Too bad it was a bit rainy that day and had to pay for my own as no one booked that day.

Everything was great including the food. Tour guide was friendly and very informative. We had a great time!

Good choice for visiting Mayan temples and pyramids due to the different options to view. However, as a day trip it was 5+ hrs in the car for only approx 2 hrs touring the park + another approx hr for lunch. Thought we got 3 hrs touring the park so slightly disappointed. Still we knew up front it would be a lot of drive time. Not sure it was worth approx $300 for 2 people by the time you factor in $20 US/per person departure tax. We would have preferred to make this a 2 day trip with an overnight. Would have given us more time in the park to explore. We are also long distance runners. Would have enjoyed staying at one of the few lodges directly in the park and running the park in the a.m. Was not as easy as I thought to arrange transport to make this happen from San Ignacio, became even more expensive and a lot of extra back and forth, packing and unpacking than we felt it was worth. That’s why we opted for the day trip. Tour operator was nearly 40 min late picking us up and we were the first ones for them to pick up. In all fairness the same tour operator was 15 min early picking us up the day prior for a different tour. Our hostess called the operator to ensure we hadn’t been forgotten. They did allow me to change the day of our Tikal tour at the last minute (12 hrs advance notice) due to me suddenly taking ill. This was much appreciated. Crossing the border was easy. No issues. Having a guide at this particular site would be helpful. There is so much to see. Our host where we are staying suggested if we visited Cahal Pech, Xuanan. and Tikal......Tikal would be the one you most definitely want a guide. Good lunch served afterwards. Was able to provide a vegetarian option for me as well as accommodate my request for no butters or oils when preparing my food. Felt Belize Caving offered the best price on this tour. They also offered a slight discount for booking 3 tours with them, but we had to ask for the discount. Glad we did the tour as we would have always wondered, but not our favorite tour during our San Ignacio visit by any means especially for the $$$$. Not every tour can be your favorite tour! 😉

We had a great day at Tikal with Gilroy and then Omar on the Guatemalan side...small group, very informative day, good exercise walking 10K + through the jungle and climbing over 45 flights of stairs! You should be in decent shape to manage this day and fully enjoy all of Tikal. Bring lots of water! In addition to the ruins which were amazing beyond words, we saw spider monkeys, an anteater, toucans, a coati and we heard the howler monkeys from the top of Temple IV. The ruins were not busy at all when we went...