Things to Do
Actun Tunichil Muknal ATM Cave Adventure from Belize City
Tour Overview
Taking a journey into the Mayan underworld at Actun Tunichil Muknal, or the “Cave of the Stone Sepulchre”, will be one of the most enlightening, epic, and unique experiences of your life! Recently deemed the #1 Sacred Cave destination in the world by National Geographic, the ATM cave is not only beautiful geologically, with its crystalline stalactites and stalagmites, but also historically, as is a natural museum of ancient Mayan artifacts, as well as a sacred burial place. This is the final resting place of the “Crystal Maiden”, an ancient Mayan ceremonial victim.
What to Expect
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Switch on your headlamps and take a brief 10–12 foot swim into the mouth of the cavern. From here, follow your guide on an active subterranean wade through waist-deep pools, navigating natural limestone passages, subterranean cascades, and soaring vaults filled with glistening flowstone formations. Leave the water channel and ascend a natural limestone ledge into the sacred dry upper chamber. To protect the fragile calcified flowstone floors, remove your shoes and explore in socks. Step directly into ancient Maya ritual spaces. Your guide interprets the hieroglyphic significance of each altar and the desperate late-Classic ceremonies performed to appease Chaac, the rain deity. Climb a short ladder into the deepest alcove to view the expedition's centerpiece: the complete skeleton of the "Crystal Maiden." Over centuries of mineral drip, calcium carbonate crystals have enveloped the bones, causing them to sparkle when illuminated by headlamp beams.
4h
Tour Options
Actun Tunichil Muknal ATM Cave Adventure from Belize City
Pickup included
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