Barton Creek Cave, A Fascinating Cave in Belize

In a country with more than 100 navigable caves, Barton Creek Cave stands out for its unique history and impressive size. Unlike “dry” caves where spelunking is performed on foot, Barton Creek Cave has a large yet tranquil waterway running through it, meaning that visitors explore this impressive cave using canoes.

Belize is the heartland of the ancient Maya civilization, and Barton Creek Cave was used by Maya priests to conduct some of their most sacred rituals. The ancient Maya believed that caves were conduits to the underground world of the gods, known as Xibalba or “place of fear.” As such, Barton Creek Cave still contains many priceless artifacts, including ceremonial weapons, food offerings, pottery, and jewelry.

To explore Barton Creek Cave, modern-day visitors head east from the town of San Ignacio until they reach the village of Georgeville. From there, experienced guides will lead visitors along a narrow jungle path that includes a river crossing. After approximately one hour, the banks of Barton Creek are visible, and participants will board a canoe to begin their exploration of the cave.

Although the underground river running through Barton Creek Cave extends for at least five miles, only the first mile (1.6 kilometers) is safe for public exploration. Within a few minutes of boarding the canoe, participants will follow their tour guide into the stygian darkness of the cave. Using headlamps and flashlights, visitors will see a secret underworld that was once the exclusive domain of high-ranking Maya priests. The beams of light will reveal awe-inspiring cathedral-like chambers and beautiful stalactites that glitter and twinkle.

Along the way, the tour guide will explain about the natural history of the cave as well as the importance of the cave in Maya history, giving visitors a better understanding of the long-lost culture that built dozens of impressive cities across Belize.

After exiting the cave and emerging back into the bright tropical daylight, participants can enjoy a refreshing swim in the waters of the creek. Organized tours to Barton Creek Cave may also include a delicious picnic lunch.

Due to the nature of this tour, visitors who suffer from claustrophobia or anxiety about the dark are not recommended to participate. In some places, the ceiling of Barton Creek Cave is quite low. Although no swimming is required to explore Barton Creek Cave, swimwear, a change of clothes, and a towel are recommended. Other recommended items include insect repellant and rain gear during wet weather.

Chabil Mar offers Belize vacation packages that include all the best attractions of the jungle and sea, including an organized cave tubing tour of Barton Creek Cave.

Visit our website Chabilmarvillas.com for more information on Belize and Chabil Mar, and don’t hesitate to send us an email, or call & chat with us via WhatsApp Free Worldwide: +501-633-7547, Local: (011-501) 523-3606, if you have questions or need help in planning a Belize vacation.

What would a good 7-day itinerary for a trip to Belize look like?

Spend Seven Days in Belize–Where no Decision-making is Permitted!

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Your boss makes demands. Your kids do, too. There’s a line of other folks in your life who count on you to solve problems, answer questions and make decisions, and this may have left you exhausted. If your idea of paradise is having someone else decide where to go and what to do during a week’s vacation in Belize, we’d like to oblige. No need to thank us. We just want you to be happy!

Day One: Fly into Belize. Having already arranged for a luxury room at Chabil Mar Villas in Placencia where packages and specials await, your Chabil Mar shuttle is on standby, ready to drive you to the resort. Shed your city clothes. Pull on a bathing suit. Plunk yourself down on Placencia Beach where you can decompress and relax before dining at Chabil Mar’s first-class restaurant.

Day Two: Check in with the Chabil Mar concierge to compare the itinerary you set via the Internet, phone or mail. Eat a big Belize breakfast before your first excursion to spectacular Maya ruins at Lubaantun or Lim Ni Punit in Southern Belize. Up for some nature tours? Add Monkey River Howler Adventure and Cockscomb Jaguar Nature Preserve. It’s your vacation.

Day Three: Move at a slightly faster pace by going inner tubing. Everything’s included: shuttle transport, guides, picnic lunch, taxes and extras, so no need to bring lots of cash. Plant yourself firmly in the midst of your giant black tube and allow the current to take you where it wants to go. No decisions here either!

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Day Four: Are you ready for the birds and the trees? This Chabil Mar package combines two activities: Zip line runs with a bird-watching experience, both equally thrilling. Even if you’re not a student of birds, you’ll marvel at the variety in Belize. If you take that zip line tour first, these beautiful birds will re-align your pulse fast.

Day Five: Leave Placencia without experiencing the Belize Reef? Get serious. The second largest barrier reef in the world hosts all sorts of marine wildlife species attracted to the ancient coral topography. Indulge in world-class snorkeling off nearby Silk Caye. Since Chabil Mar guides arrange for gear, food and make car and boat transport arrangements, you don’t have to make decisions today, either.

Day Six: With your aquatic appetite whetted, take it to another level by going scuba diving off Placencia arranged by Chabil Mar. Your boat captain has everything you need, from dive master skills and piloting expertise to lessons on how to check and re-check your gear so you can dive deep without a hitch and experience the wonder of undersea landscapes.

Day Seven: Can you cram in one more Belize tour in before saying goodbye to Chabil Mar’s friendly staff? Of course you can. Explore Placencia Village where ethnic cookery gives you a final chance to immerse yourself in Belize. Shop for souvenirs. Take your last photos. That shuttle bus awaits, but you’ll be so blissed out from your idyllic week, you won’t care.

Day Eight: Visit Chabil Mar’s website and start picking tours you’ll take next time you visit. Making decisions in your current state of mind is easy. Frequent Chabil Mar visitors say perusing the Chabil Mar tour menu is a great way to re-acclimate to reality!

Visit our website Chabilmarvillas.com for more information on Belize and Chabil Mar, and don’t hesitate to send us an email, or call & chat with us via WhatsApp Free Worldwide: +501-633-7547, Local: (011-501) 523-3606, if you have questions or need help in planning a Belize vacation.

Belize Snorkeling – What It’s Like And Where To Snorkel

With hundreds of offshore islands and a long stretch of the world’s second-biggest barrier reef, Belize is a paradise for snorkeling. Although coral reefs compose less than 4% of the ocean’s surface, they provide shelter and feeding grounds for an astonishing 25% of all marine life species. The crystal clear waters of the Caribbean and white sandy seafloor make the islands and reefs in Belize the ideal place to spot fish, anemones, whale sharks, sea grasses, dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, sharks, and stingrays in their natural habitat.

If you are traveling to Placencia and the southern Belize area, here are some of the top spots to enjoy snorkeling:

Laughing Bird Caye

Named for the so-called laughing gull flocks that once were the island’s only residents, Laughing Bird Caye is partly a protected nature reserve and part adventure destination. Just a short distance (13 miles/21 km) from Placencia, Laughing Bird Caye looks like a tropical island paradise from a book or film. The palm trees and sugar white sand beaches are the perfect accompaniment to snorkeling expeditions to the shallow reef around the island where you can marvel at the rich diversity of underwater life.

The Silk Cayes

Sometimes known as the Queen Cayes, the Silk Cayes are part of a much larger protected marine reserve. These islands are uninhabited by humans but are home to an astonishing number of avian and marine species. Just a short boat ride from Placencia, the Silk Cayes have nearly transparent water that has to be seen to believed. The shallow, gentle waters are ideal for snorkeling, and sunset barbecues underneath the coconut palms are rapidly becoming a popular tradition.

Gladden Spit

One of just three coral atolls found outside of the Atlantic Ocean, Gladden Spit is part of a vast 26,000-acre marine reserve and contains three different islands. No one lives on these islands, but the atoll plays an important role in sheltering more than two dozen species of local fish. Every spring, migrating schools of whale sharks come to the waters off of Gladden Spit to feed on spawn, giving divers and snorkelers a unique opportunity to interact with the largest non-whale species in the world’s oceans.

Chabil Mar

If you would like to explore the beautiful snorkeling areas described in this article, Chabil Mar in Placencia has several packages that include lodging and organized trips out to the Belize Barrier Reef.

While it’s true that top snorkeling spots can be found even in northern Belize such as the Hol Chan Marine Reserve near Ambergris Caye, southern Belize and the islands near Placencia are less crowded and are perfect for travelers who want to see some of the most beautiful areas of the southern reef where a rich diversity of colorful marine flora and fauna thrives.

Visit our website Chabilmarvillas.com for more information on Belize and Chabil Mar, and don’t hesitate to send us an email, or call & chat with us via WhatsApp Free Worldwide: +501-633-7547, Local: (011-501) 523-3606, if you have questions or need help in planning a Belize vacation.

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See Belize from the Saddle of a Horse!

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It’s not the sort of ranch one would expect in an ocean paradise, but in fact, if you’re the adventurous sort and have a penchant for touring that transcends hiking and sailing, how about a horseback riding tour of Belize to see this land from a different perspective? Not every resort offers a signature horseback riding tour, but Chabil Mar, the luxury destination preference of North Americans does, so this is the place you will want to stay for multiple reasons while visiting Belize. Lush accommodations. First-class service. An onsite restaurant that’s a gourmet’s dream. But when you take your horseback tour, the dress code runs from jeans and t-shirts to sturdy shoes!

No experience required

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If you were about to say thanks but no thanks because the last time you rode a horse was during a carousel ride ages ago, Chabil Mar’s horseback riding excursion is designed for you. Easy trails, lots of instruction and gentle horses make it a relaxing experience. On the other hand, if you know your way around saddles, bridles and reins, guides will take you on the ride your life, over paths that wind around jungles and rain forests where plants, flowers, trees, birds and perhaps a curious member of Belize’s wildlife community will welcome you to their world.

Horse talk

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Horses and jungles? Not usually a common pairing, but in fact, horses have been right at home in Belize for centuries. They’ve been used for pulling wagons, tilling fields, general transport and recreational riding. Though smaller in size than the horses you may be used to riding, these animals are specifically trained to navigate Belize terrain, including hillsides where mud and obstacles require surefooted animals. Because the ranch that’s home to these horses is quite expansive, mounts born and bred on premises are gentle, rider-friendly horses—-trained from the day they’re born to respond to riders of all ages.

Wranglers

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Guests of Chabil Mar opting for a day of horseback riding often return to the resort raving about the horses and the people who handle them and you’ll likely feel the same way. These professional guides are skilled at working with kids and adults, and they always accompany riders out into the jungle, guiding them along paths with which they are extremely familiar. But that’s not the end of the story: guides also know a lot about Belize’s history, culture and wildlife, so as you ride beneath tree canopies and along the Sittee River, where jumping off the horse to take a swim is part of the tour, you’ll learn plenty about Belize’s natural resources.

Arrangements

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To take advantage of Chabil Mar’s unique horseback riding experience, all you need do is book the tour with resort staff and you’ve done the hard work. Plan to go as a couple or in a group of up to 12. As long as members of your party are over the age of 7 and weigh less than 250 pounds, everyone can be accommodated. You’ll leave the resort in the morning—travel to the ranch and ride throughout the morning, returning to Chabil Mar for lunch. Bring bug spray, sunblock, a hat, and sunglasses, and don’t forget a camera so you can snap photos of everything from natural wonders to your horse. This all-inclusive tour is popular, so book your horseback riding experience when you reserve your accommodations and you won’t miss a moment of fun.

Visit our website Chabilmarvillas.com for more information on Belize and Chabil Mar, and don’t hesitate to send us an email, or call & chat with us via WhatsApp Free Worldwide: +501-633-7547, Local: (011-501) 523-3606, if you have questions or need help in planning a Belize vacation.

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