Belize is famous for its beautiful beaches and amazing barrier reef. But what you may not know is that it also has amazing jungles steeped in Maya history. And San Ignacio, Belize is the best base camp for you to start exploring inland Belize. From here you can explore Maya ruins in Belize and Guatemala, stay in a charming jungle lodge and spot some of the unique Belizean wildlife. So if you have more than a few days in Belize, we highly recommend spending some time exploring all of the amazing things to do in San Ignacio, Belize.
San Ignacio is the perfect spot to explore a less touristy Belize, while still finding plenty of things to do. For all of the most popular things to do in San Ignacio, Belize, keep reading: we’ve listed our favorites. We’ve also provided you with our 3-day San Ignacio Belize itinerary if you still need inspiration to plan your own visit to San Ignacio.
About San Ignacio, Belize
San Ignacio is the second largest town in Belize located in the Cayo District. However, don’t expect a big city vibe. The population is still under 25,000. So while it has more modern accommodations than other towns, you won’t find all of the accouterments of the “big city”.
However, the Cayo District is known for the beautiful rainforest and numerous rivers. So if you’re looking for a jungle adventure, San Ignacio is THE place for you.
San Ignacio is also very close to the Guatemalan border. So if you’d like to explore Guatemala, in particular Tikal, this is a great starting point.
Things to do in San Ignacio, Belize
ATM Cave Tour
Time: 7 hours | Cost: $125/person
Of all the things to do in San Ignacio, this was our absolute favorite! It was the best cave tour we’ve ever been on. And the best part was the Mayan history and the human sacrifices performed in this cave. This includes a fully crystallized skeleton. This was a great experience. Also, you must go with a tour. Here is the tour we went with. This is highly recommended for any adventure or history lovers.
Canoe Through the Jungle
Time: half day-full day | Cost: $30+/person
The Macal River runs along San Ignacio and there are many canoe and kayak rentals along the river. You can rent a canoe/kayak or take a guided tour. The advantage of a guided tour would be having your guide point out interesting wildlife. But even if you go without a guide, you’ll still spot plenty of wildlife along the edges of the river. The water here moves slowly so the actual ride is easy and smooth.
Visit Caracol And Mountain Pine Ridge
Time: Full Day (our tour was 10 hours) | Cost: $125/person
Caracol is the most impressive Maya civilization in Belize and was the best one we visited. You’ll need a 4WD car or a tour to visit, but it’s worth it. You’re likely to have the whole place to yourself as it’s so hard to get to. Here, you can see the sprawling ancient city of the Maya, climb ruins and learn about the Maya civilization. Most tours also take you to 1-2 sites in the Mountain Pine Ridge natural area (like this one we went on).
Visit Xunantunich
Time: 2 hours | Cost: $5 USD + ferry tip
This Maya site is one of the best combinations of impressive and easy to access. Which makes it one of the most popular things to do in San Ignacio. You can reach it by bus from San Ignacio or drive yourself. However, you will need to take a hand crank ferry across a small river. At Xunantunich you will find a huge pyramid to climb. From here you can see Guatemala (we think that was over there somewhere).
Green Iguana Conservation Project
Time: 1 hour | Cost: $11.25 USD/person
The Green Iguana Conservation Project is a part of the San Ignacio Resort Hotel. Even if you aren’t staying at the hotel, you can pay for admission into the iguana sanctuary. During the tour, you’ll learn all about iguanas, their lifecycles, and the interactions with the world around them. Did you know that people in Belize eat iguanas (don’t order the Bamboo Chicken)? You’ll also get to hold and pet some!
Don’t miss the short walking tour through the gardens a the San Ignacio Resort Hotel as well where you can see and learn about medicinal plants.
Float Through A Cave
Time: half day tours | Cost: $90-125 USD/person
Cave tubing is one of the most popular things to do in Belize. You can float down a slow river and into a cave. Canoe Caving is another option. These are some of the most interesting ways to visit caves which is why they both make the list of best things to do in San Ignacio, Belize.
Learn About Chocolate
Time: 1 hour | Cost: $10USD+, depending on type of tour
Spend time learning about the history of chocolate at a cacao farm or factory. We had such an amazing time seeing all of the stages of cacao, learning about the Mayan history of cacao, and shopping in the gift shop. While we just visited a chocolate shop for the chocolate making tour, there are also cacao farm tours available. Our favorite part of the tour was sampling all of the different types of beverages, pastes and sweets that come from the cacao beans.
Visit The Green Hills Butterfly Ranch
Time: 1-2 hours | Cost: $20USD/person
See all of the beautiful tropical butterflies and flowers in one place. The Green Hills Butterfly Ranch is home to more than 700 butterfly species, including the show stopping Blue Morpho. If you’re interested in birds, they also have a hummingbird viewing area. This is the place to get up close and personal with Belize’s flying gems.
Explore Downtown San Ignacio, Belize
Time: 1 hour | Cost: whatever you want to spend
If you’re visiting, make sure to set aside time to wander the downtown area of San Ignacio. Savannah Street, Burns Street and Hudson Street are the most popular streets in downtown San Ignacio. They’re full of restaurants and shops catering to tourists. The San Ignacio Market is also here where you can buy fresh fruit, veggies, spices and street food.
PS: Belize is a major producer of spices like allspice, stock up at this market as it will likely be fresh, cheap and local.
Explore Cahal Pech
Time: 1 hour | Cost: $5USD/person
Within the town of San Ignacio, Cahal Pech Maya ruins are one of the most accessible Maya ruins in the San Ignacio area. There is a small visitor center and then paved paths leading to the main attraction. There are some beautifully excavated buildings and some that are still claimed by the surrounding jungle. While you do not need a guide to visit this Maya site, a guide will help you to understand what you are seeing. We went without a guide and wound up eavesdropping on other guides to learn things. There are no informational plaques on the site to help you learn.
Belize Botanic Gardens
Time: 1-3 hours | Cost: $12USD/person
Belize Botanic Gardens are 45 acres of crafted tropical plants growing outside of San Ignacio. It’s a great place to learn about the tropical plants of Belize with a guided tour. They also have fun themed tours that are operated based on availability. Check them out here.
How Long To Stay In San Ignacio, Belize
To see all of the things to do in San Ignacio, Belize, you’ll need to spend at least three days there. Many things to do in San Ignacio require full day tours. Four days will give you even more time to explore all of the activities at a slower pace.
However, staying longer than a week, you’ll want to make sure you stay at a lodge or hotel with things to do as there aren’t any beaches to lounge on or other free activities to fill your time. If you want to stay for more than a week, consider going to one of the other amazing Belize destinations for the remainder of your trip.
3-Day San Ignacio, Belize Itinerary
Day 1 – Xunatunich and San Ignacio
First, visit Xunatunich Mayan Ruins. You’ll arrive at a small souvenir area near a river before you get to the ruins. Here you can park your car, hire a guide, if you so choose, and walk to Xunatunich. Wander around the ruins before heading back into San Ignacio. Xunatunich closes at 4:30 PM. There is a hand crank ferry that you will need to use to cross the river and get to the ruins. If traveling there yourself is too intimidating, you can hire a tour guide in San Ignacio that will take you there.
Next, visit the San Ignacio Hotel where you can take a tour of the Green Iguana Conservation Project. Here you can learn all about these adorable native animals.
Finish your day by wandering around San Ignacio and visiting the shops and markets there.
Have dinner in town and stay overnight in San Ignacio. It’s important to wander town on your first night and book your tours for the remainder of your stay if you haven’t pre-booked your tours. We had good luck getting last minute tours. However, as most guided tours leave early in the morning, you are generally not able to get same day tours so you will need to book ahead.
Day 2 – ATM Cave
We booked a tour with Xplore Inland Tours to take us to Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave. Tour guides are certified by the Belizean tourism board. You must take a tour with a certified guide. Guides are trained in archaeological best practices to ensure continued enjoyment of the ATM cave for years to come.
Most of these ATM tours are advertised as a full day. They’re more like half day tours. You’ll get wet so make sure to wear your swimsuits and some quick drying clothes.
After the tour, your tour guide will escort you out of the cave and back to the park entrance where you’ll have a picnic lunch under a gazebo. Then your guide will drive you back to town.
Next, take a short trip to Cahal Pech. These Mayan ruins are in town! And these are easy to access on your own. These are smaller ruins compared with Xunatunich and Caracol but make for a nice way to end your day.
Then visit a cacao shop and learn all about the history of the cacao plant and the agriculture in the region.
Have dinner in town before staying one final night in your San Ignacio accommodations.
Day 3 – Caracol Ruins
The next day of your Belize itinerary, visit Caracol. While you can drive yourself to Caracol, the route there is rough and involves going through a military checkpoint. Right now, there is also some serious construction on the road. So you can drive yourself, and in a few years it may even be easy, but right now we’d suggest going with a guide. Another advantage of a guide is how much history they can share with you.
Our guide drove us to Caracol and gave us a tour of the ruins. We had plenty of opportunities to ask questions and our guide customized our tour to us as we were the only ones on it.
After several hours exploring the site, we had a picnic lunch at the park entrance. We then stopped at two more sights, including another cave and Rio-On Pools where we were able to swim. Then our guide drove us back to town. This was a full day tour with the drive and we didn’t return to San Ignacio until around 4 PM.
As this is the final day of this Belize itinerary. You can either stay in San Ignacio one more night or continue on to the coast and stay in your beach accommodations. We chose to drive to the beach, though that did mean a little bit of night driving.
Getting There and Around
You’ll most likely need to take ground transportation to get to San Ignacio. There is a small airport but prices can get spendy so most people fly into Belize City and then drive or take the bus to San Ignacio. Once there, you can drive yourself around or take taxis or busses. Both are inexpensive options, busses being the the cheaper option but also the option that takes longer to navigate.
Most tours include transportation, so if you plan on taking tours, you will not need a vehicle of your own.
We rented a car in Belize City and did use it to navigate San Ignacio. However, it was the most challenging place we drove in Belize. This is because the city streets are busy, small and not well marked. However, we managed it.
Where To Stay Near San Ignacio
Staying in San Ignacio or Santa Elena are both great choices. You’ll be close enough to town to wander about and find nearby places to eat. Hotels here are very inexpensive. A really nice place to stay with a great view will still be under $100 USD/night. You can even find shared hostel rooms for under $50 USD/night.
One of the real treats of the Cayo district is all of the jungle lodges. So if you want to stay at a different kind of all inclusive resort, nestled into the jungle, with all the amenities, this is a great chance to experience that. However, these resorts and lodges will also come with an associated price tag.
What to Budget for San Ignacio, Belize
Belize is cheap. And inland Belize is cheaper. So you can easily get by on very little money in Belize.
Food is very inexpensive. A street food style meal will cost you under $15 USD/person (you could definitely find cheaper too) and a sit down restaurant style meal will cost under $25 USD/person.
However, lots of things to do in San Ignacio, Belize do require a guide and therefore keeping yourself entertained can cost a bit more. We’ve included pricing for all of the things to do above. All of the above prices are listed in USD and Belize takes US dollars so don’t waste money converting at the airport.
For our three day San Ignacio itinerary above, in mid-level accommodations, we spent $830. The tours really got us! Our hotel was under $200 USD and our food was under $100 USD.
Safety In San Ignacio
San Ignacio felt really safe despite the large numbers of people. One thing that did make us a bit nervous was the lack of English speaking people we encountered in town. Belize’s official languages are English and Spanish but Spanish seemed to be prevalent in this area. However, we were still able to get by on our English.
San Ignacio is a pretty safe place. Petty crime is the only thing you need to worry about. So make sure to leave your valuables at home and ensure that you lock your vehicle and doors. People in San Ignacio were super helpful and friendly – when you could speak their language.
We had such a great time exploring the jungles of Belize and San Ignacio was a fun place to do that. We had a great few days exploring all of the great things to do in San Ignacio, Belize and we hope this article has helped you plan your own Belize vacation. Please leave a message below if you have any questions or comments.
