Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave Tour: Explore Ancient Maya Traditions and Ceremonies

Embark on a captivating journey through Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave, where you’ll uncover the ancient Maya’s intriguing traditions, ceremonies, and spirituality. Discover stunning artifacts and the crystallized remains of the sacrificed girl, The Crystal Maiden.

Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Actun Tunichil Muknal - Embark on an extraordinary journey into the Maya underworld at Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM), also known as the “Cave of the Stone Sepulchre,” for an enlightening and unparalleled experience.
    Leave the realm of the living as you delve into the depths of the ATM Cave with a licensed guide. Recently recognized as the #1 Sacred…
What's Included
  • Transportation to and from San Ignacio office
  • Expert, licensed cave guide
  • Helmet, headlamps, lifejackets provided
  • 3-hour cave walking tour
  • Lunch with a drink
What's Not Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off only if requested
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Actun Tunichil Muknal is a mysterious and beautiful portal to the ancient Maya and their traditions, ceremonies and spirituality. This cave system served as a ceremonial site where the Maya performed sacrifices and other ceremonies as they dealt with extreme and harsh conditions in times of drought.
Explore this lush area surrounded by beautiful…

Location
Mayawalk Tours
Burns Avenue
Directions: MayaWalk Tours Main Office located between Tandoor Restaurant and Belize Bank Return point: Returns to original departure point
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(1356 Ratings)
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Manisha_t
Mar 30, 2026
Amazing ATM - We had a great tour with MayaWalk to ATM. Our driver was great and our guide, Magdaleno was amazing. So full of knowledge and passionate about sharing it with his guests. Highly recommend them!
Review provided by Viator
Billspeer82
Mar 28, 2026
Great tour with Maya Walk Tours - We booked our trip through Trip Advisor. The tour was provided by Maya Walk Tours. I highly recommend this tour for adventuresome people. The cave is amazing with lots of Mayan history. I also highly recommend Maya Walk Tours. The gear they provide, Petzl helmets, helmet lights, and white water rafting life jackets was superior to what I saw other tour company's provide their customers. Our tour guide was Christian, AKA Cris. He was knowledgeable, fun, and spoke perfect English. The only downside of Christian was he seemed very uptight in how he treated his customers. For example, why did he need to tell us at least 10 times to not take any rocks from the cave. In some sense, if feel like he was treating us like little children. Also, while walking between the yellow tape he told us don't step in the depressions, even though there were no artifacts there. Then in other areas between the yellow tape there were pottery shards clearly visitable. For this reason it made no sense to me about the, "don't step in the depressions between the yellow tape". He also jumped on the two brothers, a 21 year old and 25 year old brothers that were talking and joking around with each other. Completely unnecessary in my opinion. Otherwise he was a great tour guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stephanie_d
Mar 27, 2026
Maya walks is the best ATM caves tour! - This was one of the best experiences we have done and we have traveled a lot. Our tour guide was absolutely amazing. Super knowledgeable and took his time to make sure we had the best experience. Definitely book with maya walks. Other tours rushed through this excursion.
Review provided by Viator
J3482hcmarcm
Mar 26, 2026
ATM cave tour with Juan Carlos - We had the best day on the ATM tour. It was quite the adventure! Juan Carlos was a phenomenal guide - super knowledgeable, great story-teller, and was great with our kids. Lunch was delicious - compliments to the chef, Sedia! 100% recommend this tour, and Juan Carlos elevated the experience - thank you!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jet311979
Mar 26, 2026
One of the best days of our lives! - Wow! My husband and I both agreed that our trip to the Actun Tunichil Muknal was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience—and we travel quite a bit. We were beaming about it for days afterwards! It offers an incredible combination of: Breathtaking natural beauty: vast cathedral-like chambers, glittering crystalline formations, and stunning stalactites and stalagmites Fascinating Mayan history: there’s a ton of pottery and skeletal remains that make the experience feel deeply immersive and almost surreal - it’s like walking through a living museum Just the right amount of adventure: we’re both 41, in pretty good shape, and found the physical aspects—some climbing, wading, and a few tight squeezes—to be exciting without ever feeling overwhelming We highly recommend going with MayaWalk Tours. They were professional, organized, and our guide Andy made the entire experience even more memorable. We couldn’t stop talking about this for a week afterward—it was hands down the highlight of our entire trip to Belize.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carolyn
Mar 25, 2026
A fabulous, unique adventure - Awesome, bucket-list experience, like nothing I’ve ever done. Awe-inspiring natural formations and amazing ancient artificers. It was incredibly challenging but also very rewarding. Emil, our guide, was fabulous: knowledgeable, patient and so kind in helping me navigate the many tricky spots.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jessie_h
Mar 24, 2026
Highlight of our trip - We had a highlight of our trip with this amazing tour! We were wonderfully guided, with a lot of knowledge about the Maya’s and the cave, and also a lot of jokes :) the cave is a one of a lifetime experience and these guys really know how to do it with a lot of attention to conservation. Also the lunch was really good. If you are in Belize, do this tour and book with MayaWalk.
Review provided by Viator
Aegolius1
Mar 24, 2026
Take a Walk on the Wet Side - To enter a once sacred space and to wonder upon the natural beauty of the ATM cave is well worth the effort – and it is an effort (at least in my estimation). This is several hours of vigorous exercise over all kinds of terrain – hiking, wading, swimming, traversing rocks, …hence the various comments about snacks and hydration in other reviews. If you are not an active person it might be worthwhile to do a bit of training before taking on the ATM. But MayaWalks is a fine-tuned operation, which provides you with a background and history of the site that enriches the experience, while ensuring safe passage through some treacherous stretches. Our guide, Richard not only had an expansive knowledge of what is known of the peoples who once journeyed through these caves, their rituals and practices – but also, of the geology of the caves and the flora and fauna of the cave’s ecosystem and surrounding area. In fact, on the walk to and from the cave opening, there were a multitude of different types of birds that Richard adeptly identified. Richard kept a careful eye on all of us in his group – providing detailed instructions on how to navigate the terrain (sometimes footstep by footstep), offering more support to some that were less fit and/ or agile – always patient and cautious – but not in a way that stifled the experience. As noted by other reviewers – everyone is provided with a life vest, and helmet with flashlight attached. Proper footwear with a good grip soul will make passage a lot easier The cave itself is breathtaking – the mineral formations, the stalagmites and stalactites, the way water has shaped the forms over the ages. While there is a kind of emphasis in all these tours on the human presence here, particularly, the presence of human remains, it was the cave itself that held me in awe, and I wish there was more ‘stillness’ so that could have been more fully encountered. And here a general note about tourism at the ATM cave; it is on the cusp of over-tourism – lineups of people inside the cave waiting for passage through narrow or difficult areas, clusters of people around the remains. That many people tramping through a once pristine cave must have some environmental impacts. It seems some regulation of numbers by the government would be prudent. Bravo for banning electronic devices in the cave. There are several ATM tour operators, and it was important for me to choose one that gives back to the conservation of the environment. I learned that founder of MayaWalks was the visionary behind the NGO Belize Karst Habitat Conservation which manages the nearby Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve - Belize’s first nature reserve – protecting the lowland tropical evergreen forest that you can see on your way to and from the ATM caves.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sandra_l
Mar 23, 2026
Such a cool tour! - Such a cool tour, learned a lot about the Mayans, the culture, the agriculture and more. Would recommend this tour to anyone going to Belize. Thank you Andy for all your knowledge and guidance
Review provided by Viator
Scott_f
Mar 23, 2026
Dennis was Awesome!! - Dennis was outstanding!!! Our group loved the ATM cave! Really enjoyed learning about the Mayan history and culture on the shuttle to the cave! Such a great and unique experience!!
Review provided by Viator
From $145
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).