Caracol

Tickets and tours: all the options

Entry to Caracol is paid in cash at the visitor centre when you arrive, and there is no online ticket. The real question is how to get there: the site lies at the end of a long road through the Mountain Pine Ridge and the Chiquibul forest, close to the Guatemalan border, and most visitors come on a guided day trip.

The standard tour leaves San Ignacio early in the morning in a four-wheel-drive vehicle or minibus, spends three hours or so at the ruins with a licensed guide, and includes a packed or picnic lunch. Many versions add a stop on the way back at the Rio On Pools, the Rio Frio cave or a waterfall such as Big Rock Falls for a swim. Entry fees are sometimes included and sometimes paid on arrival, so check. A day trip from Belize City or the coast is possible but means many more hours in the vehicle.

Driving yourself is feasible in a sturdy hire car in the dry season, but ask locally about road conditions and security arrangements before setting off. For most first-time visitors the guided tour from San Ignacio is the sensible choice.

A short history

Caracol, known to the Maya as Uxwitza, was settled before 600 BC but rose to power in the Classic period. In AD 562 its ruler defeated Tikal, and in 631 it overcame Naranjo, beginning more than a century of prosperity in which the population may have passed 100,000. Causeways linked outlying groups to the centre across terraced fields. The city declined in the 9th century, and the last carved monument dates to AD 859. A logger named Rosa Mai reported the ruins in 1937, Linton Satterthwaite of the University of Pennsylvania documented them in the 1950s, and Arlen and Diane Chase have excavated every year since 1985, mapping the whole city with LiDAR in 2009.

Getting there

From San Ignacio, take the Western Highway east to Georgeville or Santa Elena and turn south on the Chiquibul road into the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. The road passes a forest station and runs through pine and then broadleaf forest; the last 16 km are paved, but other stretches can be rough or muddy after rain. The drive covers about 80 km and takes 2 to 2.5 hours, so a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a full tank is advisable, as there is no fuel on the way. There is a car park beside the visitor centre. No buses run to the site. Belize City's international airport is about 2.5 hours from San Ignacio.

Rules and what to bring

Climb only on structures that are open and use the marked stairways, which are steep and can be slippery after rain. Do not touch or sit on carved stelae and altars, and stay on paths in the forest. Bring insect repellent, a hat, sunscreen, plenty of water and good shoes; there is nothing to buy at the site. Toilets are at the visitor centre. Tell someone your plans if driving, as phone coverage is poor.

When to go

Caracol is a full day out. Tours usually leave San Ignacio between 7 and 8 am and return in the late afternoon, and independent drivers should leave just as early, because the site closes in mid-afternoon and the road is slow. Crowds are never an issue: only a few thousand people visit each year, and you may have plazas to yourself.

The dry season, from about February to May, is best, with firm roads and clearer skies, though April and May are hot and humid. From June to November heavy rain can turn the road to mud and occasionally close it, and mosquitoes are worse. December and January are cooler but showers are common. At the site, climb Caana in the morning before the midday heat, then explore the shaded forest groups. Allow three hours at the ruins themselves.