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Monkey River Adventure: Wildlife Encounters and Manatee Watching in Pristine Rainforest
4.7
56 Ratings
Placencia
Embark on a thrilling Monkey River adventure in the pristine rainforest. Encounter wildlife, including howler monkeys, crocodiles, and manatees, and enjoy a delicious Kriol lunch. Book now!
Embark on a thrilling Monkey River adventure in the pristine rainforest. Encounter wildlife, including howler monkeys, crocodiles, and manatees, and enjoy a delicious Kriol lunch. Book now!
Duration:
7 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
-
Monkey River Town - Depart Placencia Village at 08:00 am for a boat ride along the coast zipping in an out of the mangroves. Stop in Monkey River Town to order lunch to be eaten on the return trip. You can expect to see crocodiles, huge iguanas on tree branches sunning themselves, turtles, and many species of tropical birds.
Upriver, your licensed…
-
Monkey River Town - Depart Placencia Village at 08:00 am for a boat ride along the coast zipping in an out of the mangroves. Stop in Monkey River Town to order lunch to be eaten on the return trip. You can expect to see crocodiles, huge iguanas on tree branches sunning themselves, turtles, and many species of tropical birds.
Upriver, your licensed guide will lead you into the rain forest in search of howler monkeys which communicate with each other to declare their territory. Nothing you read could prepare you for the adventure of hearing these monkeys for the first time…you just have to experience it!
Your guide will also point out the different plants and trees many of which are used as medicine by local bush doctors. You may spot gibnuts (now known as royal rat since Queen Elizabeth dined on it), deer, ocelots, peccaries, tapirs, coatimundis and agoutis. abundant wildlife.
Stop at Miss Alice’s restaurant in Monkey River before heading out on a manatee watch on the way back to Placencia.
What's Included
- Transport
- Park Fees
- Pick Up and Drop Off in Placencia Village
- Tour Guide
- Transport
- Park Fees
- Pick Up and Drop Off in Placencia Village
- Tour Guide
What's Not Included
- Lunch.
- Alcoholic drinks.
- Drinks.
- Lunch.
- Alcoholic drinks.
- Drinks.
Additional Information
Enjoy a relaxing 30-minute boat journey through the mangroves leading you to the Monkey River village, from where you will sail upriver through unspoiled rain forest. Be prepared to see creatures such as crocodiles, large iguanas on tree branches basking in the sun, turtles, and various species of tropical birds. Further upriver, your professional guide…
Enjoy a relaxing 30-minute boat journey through the mangroves leading you to the Monkey River village, from where you will sail upriver through unspoiled rain forest. Be prepared to see creatures such as crocodiles, large iguanas on tree branches basking in the sun, turtles, and various species of tropical birds. Further upriver, your professional guide will take you through the rain forest on a quest to find howler monkeys. The excitement of hearing these monkeys for the first time is a thrill that can’t be described in words - it’s an experience that needs to be lived! During this easy-paced hike, your guide will identify various plants and trees, some of which are utilized as medicine by the local medicine men. As the jungle trail leads you away from the river, there’s a chance to spot gibnuts (known as royal rat since Queen Elizabeth had it for a meal), deer, ocelots, peccaries, tapirs, coatimundis, and agoutis.
Take the opportunity to have an authentic Kriol meal at Miss Alice’s restaurant in Monkey River before embarking on a manatee watch on the trip back to Placencia.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Meals are not included - tradition is to support the Monkey River Village buy buying lunch there.
- Wear shoes that you don’t care if they get wet - for the mellow walk into the jungle part of the tour.
- Long sleeve shirts and long pants and mosquito spray can be necessary some times of the year.
Location
Splash Dive Centre
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.7
(56 Ratings)
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Joelbt3821gt
Apr 6, 2025
Highly recommended glimpse of the nature, culture, and history of southern Belize - This intimate tour was an excellent way to learn more about Belizean culture, history, and nature, particularly the Garifuna culture of the Placencia area. Our guide, Evaristo, was a native of Monkey River Village. He was expert in guiding the small boat (7 passengers including our family of 3 and another of 4). He was very informative but did not fill all the time with endless chatter. He was willing and capable of answering questions on all sorts of topics, from marine and jungle biology to history and culture. It rained off and on for about 1/3 of our day, and despite everyone having raincoats, we got thoroughly soaked. Nevermind, though, with temperatures always around 80 degrees day and night during March, we had a lovely time.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
V3741zolauras
Mar 17, 2025
Great views, great guide - We had a great time on the Monkey River tour! Our guide, Evaristo, was knowledgeable about the plants and wildlife and we enjoyed the boat ride through the mangroves and up the river. Lunch in the Monkey River Village was delicious and the people were kind and welcoming. We saw a bunch of birds, including a Tuscan, a baby crocodile, manatees, and monkeys!
This was one of the highlights of our trip- highly recommend!
Do make sure to bring bug spray for the hike. We were happy to be in long pants and long sleeves while looking for the monkeys.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
E5563dujohnd
Feb 26, 2025
Amazing rain forest - We saw howler monkeys, all kinds of iguanas even some baby crocodiles and other wildlife with all of the beautiful foliage of the rainforest it was so worth the time to go see the forest
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kenneth_c
Feb 13, 2025
Awesome tour of the Monkey River - Fun, informative tour. Beautiful boat ride to Monkey River. Relaxed tour up the river with a stop to walk in the jungle. Junior patiently pointed out birds such as anhinga, cormorants, pelicans, heron, egrets, and frigate birds. We also saw howler monkeys, leaf cutter ants, and crocodiles along with interesting plants. Junior was a thoughtful guide and skillful handler of the boat. We had 8 people in our group which was the perfect size. Lunch was a nice rice, beans and chicken spread for a very reasonable price. We saw several manatees on the ride back.
Review provided by Viator
Judimama
Jan 31, 2025
Great fun. - It was pouring down rain for much of our trip but our guide, Jr., made it a pleasant experience. He was determined that we see everything on our bucket list and was so knowledgeable. All in all a great experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Linda_w
Jan 20, 2025
Expert view of flora and fauna - Junior was very knowledgeable. We saw all kinds of birds, howler monkeys, manatee, bats, crocodiles, leaf cutter ants, and many trees and their medical uses. His expertise and a native of the Monkey River village was so educational and interesting.
Review provided by Viator
Allanatsma_a
Jan 16, 2025
Great trip - We had a great time monkey where very nice to see and here food also was very good so two crocodile Tour guy was a great spotter and lost of information
Review provided by Viator
Cruiser54747609215
May 10, 2024
The remake was just as good as the original! - You know, remakes are never as good as the original. We took this tour 13 years ago with our kids so we weren't really expecting to have as good a time on the return trip. We were 100% wrong! Monkey River village is still a quaint little place and Alice's food is just as fantastic. Our guides Douglas and Zane Garbutt were the best. Zane has eagle eyes and was pointing out things we would never have seen on our own. The howler monkeys were down from the canopy and literally no more than 5-10 feet from us. Lunch at Alice's restaurant was just as delicious as we remember. When we left Douglas took us to see manatee and we found a cow and calf almost immediately. Pretty cool for an Oklahoma kid and got a nice underwater video on the GoPro. We'll always remember this trip. Thanks again Splash! You are running a top notch operation.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
F4399jyannaw
Feb 3, 2025
Amazing Experience! - The guide was super informative about the species, wildlife and jungle. We had an amazing experience watching baby howler monkeys and a grown male glide through the foliage above giving us a clear view to observe. The jungle walk was amazing. Theres many trees that are so unique and it gets quite dense in spots. Real jungle experience. Bamboo palace spot was cool. The river tour was quite successful. We saw crocodiles, lizards, turtles, variety of birds, a jaguar foot print from previous night and even a manatee. The stop at Monkey River Village was a great start/end. This is where you would buy lunch(may be included depending on the package you book). Was delicious -chicken, rice&beans and coleslaw. There’s a pop up market where you can buy local handmade art, woven bowls, jewelry etc. They do accept credit cards if you happen to forget cash. Support the local communities. Overall highly recommend to try this tour. It is worth the money.
Key tips—recommend gum boot or hiking boot. It gets quite muddy in there. Do not wear sandals.
Wear bug spray!
Thank you soo much for making it a memorable experience for us.
Anna&Luke
B.C, Canada
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sian_r
Jul 28, 2024
Go With Splash - Splash Tours are a nice bunch. We had tried to book this with Captain Jack but they kept us pending because they had to wait until 10 people booked before they would confirm.. We waited for 2 days with nothing from them. When we mentioned this to Splash they told ua they could do this tour with 2 people confirming only, which was the perfect solution as it became a private tour!
We got picked up at 7.30 and left the dock by 8.15 . First to the village to order lunch which is at Monkey Village. Boat trip there was fun and we navigated through the mangroves. Monkey Village is a small community at the mouth of Monkey River..
We went up river from there and saw the odd crocodile and a few howler monkeys. I wouldn’t say the wildlife is abundant by any means, but the experience was good.
Our guide was knowledgeable in animal and plant biology and gave us much info and many stories, which was great. He was very detailed.
Got to the forest and went for a walkabout.. Loads of mosquitoes!!! Saw howler troops and many different types of trees. Rainy season = muddy so go prepared for it. Glad we wore long pants and sprayed ourselves from top to bottom with bug repellent! It worked - not one bite remarkably. Forest part was around 40 minutes We took big leaves off the floor and fanned ourselves- also great mosquito repellent! Note well.
Went up river a little more then returned to Monkey Village for lunch - Chicken Stew, Rice and beans and plantains. Was good.
Did a little shopping of crafts to support local community - Important - then back on the boat for the hours or more ride home stopping to search for manatees. Saw one nose pop up for and some shadows of others. They were hiding. Saw a couple of turtles. Andnone came right up to our boat.
Despite the lack of oceanic fauna, the boat ride was relaxing and as always our guide was sharing his knowledge - which was vast. He tried really hard to find manatees and went out of his way to search - his own choosing as he wanted us to see them.
Entire trip was over half a day as we got back around 2pm.
Review provided by Viator
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