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Barton Creek Cave – Take a one hour canoe ride through Barton Creek Cave – this cave tour is fun for children of all ages, no paddling is required, life jackets are provided. |
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The cave entrance, a rock face covered with ferns and dangling vines, seems impassable, until the guide paddles the canoe around an obstructing rock, and into a huge, high cavern. |
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Floating through the cave, a bat or two flying overhead, delicate sounds of water dripping, look for Maya pottery and a skull from their ceremonies on the higher ledges. Other times the formations are just above your head, you have to duck, as the canoe glides underneath - sparkling stalactites, stalagmites, cave bacon and curtains are illuminated with a single headlamp. A unique experience! |
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Cave tubing – Cave tubing tours involve floating in inner tubes on underground rivers through caves; some tours also include hikes within the caves to see Maya artifacts. We took the River Cave Adventure from Caves Branch, a combination of floating and Maya exploration, good for kids ages 7 and up. Highly recommended. |
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We hiked a short distance to the river, then floated into the cave. Our very experienced guides not only took us to see spectacular cave formations (one miniature room looked like a spun sugar castle), but pointed out various wildlife in the cave – little bats that eat insects, "gardens" spun by worms to catch flies, albino crickets. Lunch was served in the cave (not something we'd done before). |
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We viewed broken Maya pots (pots are broken intentionally as part of the ceremonies), sat around ancient fire rings, and shined our headlamps on a striking figure of the Maya fertility god and shadowy formations that look like a Maya man and woman with a baby on her back. |
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For cave tubing tours, wear clothing that can get wet (swimsuits, shorts, rash guard shirts) and shoes with a tread (no open toed sandals), as walking through caves is slippery and rocks can be sharp. A waterproof camera is handy. |
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Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) – Teens will get a kick out of this cave adventure. Hike to the river, then walk/swim (depending on the water level) into the cave, and hike up where you'll see ritually broken Maya pottery pots and the skeleton of a teenage girl sacrifice (fifteen sacrifices were found in the cave). Wear clothing that can get wet, shoes for hiking, helmets and headlamps are provided. |
