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Product Reviews
Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
A tender transfer to Belize City and an enjoyable boat ride take you several miles inland by way of the scenic Olde Belize River. En route you may see iguanas, several varieties of birds, crocodiles and howler monkeys. At Burrell Boom, a quaint settlement on the riverbank, you'll be served a tasty local lunch with refreshments at The Olde River Tavern, located on the banks of the Olde Belize River. You'll then board your tour bus and drive to Altun Ha (Mayan for 'Rock Stone Water'), where Dr. David Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum uncovered the famous jade head Kinich Ahau.
Note: Boats are exposed to the elements.
Average:
(10 Reviews) 10
Rating Snapshot (10 reviews)
5 stars
5
4 stars
3
3 stars
1
2 stars
0
1 star
1
9 of 10(90%)customers would recommend this to a friend.
Customer Reviews for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Review 1 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
3
out of
5
Family Oriented:
4
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
Jazman
Location:Warminster, PA
Party size:1
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:March
Cruise Date Year:2013
Favorite activities:Relaxing
Favorite port:Belize City, Belize
I want to go here next:Panama Canal
Date:March 13, 2013
Quality tour
Wear sunscreen and secure your hat. Guide Chris and boat captain Mike showed us dolphins, manatees, crocs, ibis, heron, iguanas, monkeys and bats. About 2 1/2 hrs on the boat. Beautiful. After a beans/chicken/rice lunch, bus ride to Altun Ha, where Chris provided an informative overview of history of Belize and the archeological site. Adequate restroom breaks, and a bottle of water provided on the boat.
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Review 2 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
2
out of
5
Adventurous:
4
out of
5
Family Oriented:
3
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
4
out of
5
JTPMD58
Location:Upstate New York
Party size:3
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:January
Cruise Date Year:2013
Favorite activities:Adventure
Favorite port:Cozumel, Mexico
I want to go here next:Alaska
Date:February 25, 2013
So-So Excursion
This sounded like a great excursion before we took it. We had a day with rain off-and-on the entire day, so that certainly affected our enjoyment of the boat ride and seeing the sights. The tour guides are excellent and knowledgeable, and try to entertain and teach at the same time. Bus ride very bumpy and long. We couldn't climb the ruins at Altun Ha because they were wet. There was a really cool part of the boat ride where a dolphin was playing with the bow of our boat for about a mile on the river, very good photo ops. Lots of interesting wildlife on the river boat ride, but too much rain to be enjoyable.
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Review 3 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
1
out of
5
Adventurous:
1
out of
5
Family Oriented:
1
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
1
out of
5
kvoltz20
Location:houston, TX
Party size:2
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:December
Cruise Date Year:2011
Date:December 18, 2012
Great Tour
Thiswas a great tour. The river trip was peaceful and we saw a lot of wildlife. Lunch was good. The ruins were awesome and if you are lucky enough to get our tour guide, Anthony, not only will you learn a lot about Belize, you will be entertained the entire trip by his jokes and sense of humor. It was a great day!
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Review 4 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
4
out of
5
Adventurous:
3
out of
5
Family Oriented:
3
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
4
out of
5
Beckers
Location:Winter Haven, Florida
Party size:2
Cruise Date Month:December
Date:December 16, 2012
Best Value Tour
Our tour guide, Rosalie, was excellent. The other guides were good as well. The boat does not have a canopy, but just as you get a little bit warm, the driver speeds up for you to enjoy the natural air conditioning. We saw manatee noses, crocs, iguanas, a dolphin and lots of birds on the river ride. The lunch was very good and consisted of red beans and rice, stewed chicken and salad with your choice of soda. During the drive to Altun Ha, you get to see the countryside of Belize. The ruins were nice. Overall, our family enjoyed the adventure.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Review 5 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
4
out of
5
Adventurous:
4
out of
5
Family Oriented:
3
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
WilliamF
Location:Lynchburg, VA
Party size:1
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:December
Favorite activities:Educational
Favorite port:Copenhagen, Denmark
I want to go here next:Hawaii
Date:December 10, 2012
The Heart of Darkness
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
Took this excursion on December 5 2012 and had a great time- The drawback was the open boat in which we fried under a tropical sun for two hours and in which we endured a tropical thunderstorm that was like being sprayed with a fire hose. Before we left we were given the opportunity to buy cheap plastic rain ponchos for five dollars each- they would have cost $1.00 at Walmart- so bring your own rainwear and a broad brimmed hat and lots of sunscreen. the guide was very knowledgeable and wde saw lots of wildlife- crocs, tropical birds, iguanas and monkeys. Altun Ha was very impressive and our guide was very well-informed on the Mayas and their culture. the bus ride back was pretty rough due to the poor roads so I'd not advise it if you have a back problem. A worthwhile excursion.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Review 6 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
5
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
southsidedixie
Location:Bethlehem PA
Date:December 26, 2011
Best excursion ever, superb guide
Climbing Mayan ruins has been on my "bucket list" for years. It was a special treat to be there on 12/21, exactly one year before the end of the Mayan calendar. Anthony is a remarkable guide.Good sense of humor. Extremely knowledgeable & responsive to people, questions & opportunities of the moment. This was particularly so on the river cruise. He watched the banks and trees carefully, & when he spotted something of interest, the boat would stop, back up and get closer while he explained what we were seeing. Thus we got close to a number of crocodiles, birds, & interesting plants & trees, & finally manatees. He & the pilot were a really great team & earned a healthy tip (I'm usually more frugal). I learned a lot, got some great photos. Lunch at the riverside tavern wasn't great but tasty & adequate, especially appreciated having a Coke as it was really hot that day. Final bit of fun & humor was getting pretty wet as the pilot raced another boat back to the dock. Loved every moment of this excursion.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Review 7 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
4
out of
5
Adventurous:
4
out of
5
Family Oriented:
4
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
4
out of
5
dee2
Location:Orlando, Fl
Party size:2
I traveled with:Friends
Cruise Date Month:December
Cruise Date Year:2011
Favorite activities:Adventure
Favorite port:Cozumel, Mexico
I want to go here next:Alaska
Date:December 12, 2011
Great Excursion Even If Your A Larger Person
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
I was worried, due to the fact that I am a larger gal, that I would have a hard time on this excursion. I could not have been more wrong. We boarded the boat right at the dock where the tender dropped us off from the cruise ship. The first part of the boat tour was on the ocean, then we turned into the Old Belize River. Please remember that this boat is a speed boat as well. It gets very windy when the boat is going fast. If this bothers you, bring a windbreaker jacket. You cannot wear hats or scarves or loose sunglasses because they will blow away.
Once the boat nears the areas where animals can be viewed, the boat slows down to a "crawl". The boat tour was relaxing and fun and we were able to see lots of animals on the boat tour because our tour guides and boat driver tried really hard to watch for and find animals on the river. The boat was easy to board and comfortable.
The ruins at Altun Ha were not quite as extravagant as, say Tulum, but they were interesting because you could climb them. Again, I am a larger gal with asthma but had made it a goal of mine after losing 80 lbs for this cruise, to try and climb at least one ruins and I did it. It was not easy because the steps were really steep and required a lot of flexibility. Getting up was far easier than getting down was. Once again, very steep steps and the nervousness of going down from a high place made the trip down a little scary but exhilarating. The good thing is that on this particular ruines they have erected railings to hang on to.
There is another ruins at Altun Ha that have no railing for the braver people to climb. The view was worth the effort but getting up and down these things require strenght in your arms and legs regardless of size.
Our tour guides were amazing, very informative and encouraging. In particular a lovely lady named Rosalee, who conducted the boat portion of our tour, was very kind on the way back, on the tour bus, to talk to us about the lifestyle of the people in Belize. She spoke from a far more personal place and I found it fascinating. This was not part of the regular tour, we just asked her a lot of questions and she kindly answered. I really hope if I ever go back that I get her again.
They do provide a lunch break with chicken and rice and beans and drinks. My one suggestion to them would be to offer bottled water at the dining location along with soda. They gave us water on the boat but said to save it for Altun Ha because it was hot there and we would need it. Which turned out to be very true. This meant we could not drink it with the meal. Many people don't drink soda and it would be nice to offer bottled water as an option with the meal.
Make sure to wear sunblock AND bug repellant. Belize is the misquitoe capital of the world, we were told, and they werent kidding. Their misquitoes were huge and they did not feel pleasant then they landed on you and started using you for dinner. Simple bug repellent will help this. Overall, it was a good time that we will talk about for years to come. We saw monkeys, manatees, crocs, and huge beautiful iguana on this tour. We got some stunningly beautiful views from atop the Altun Ha ruins and saw some pretty freaky looking trees as well. I highly recommend this excursion.
18 of 18 people found this review helpful.
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Review 8 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
5
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
Amada
Location:New Jersey
Party size:5
I traveled with:Friends
Cruise Date Month:November
Cruise Date Year:2011
Favorite activities:Relaxing
Favorite port:Cozumel, Mexico
I want to go here next:Hawaii
Date:December 3, 2011
We had a great guide
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
The river cruise was fun. The rain (about 15 mins) came at the perfect time. We were baking in the sun Our guide, Sam Ferguson, was great. He must have great eyesite, since he was picking out the iguanas in the trees lining the river like they were neon signs. We saw numerous of them. No monkey's or manatees, but we did see several birds.
The lunch was not the greatest. You got salad with tomato, rice and beans and dry chicken. Other reveiws warned of this, and they were right.
The ruins were good. This was my first mayan ruin so I have nothing the compare. My understanding is that these ruins run another mile into the forest. The ruins you see here are just a representation of the whole area. You can climb on two of the ruins. I didn't do the climb, but a friend and husband did. Great view.
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Review 9 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
5
out of
5
Adventurous:
5
out of
5
Family Oriented:
4
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
kimfromcanada
Location:Ontario, Canada
Date:November 19, 2011
Great excursion
The ruins were fabulous and breathtaking. Enjoyed the river and seeing the various wildlife. Lunches in Central America typically was chicken, rice and beans.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Review 10 for Altun Ha & The Olde Belize River
Overall:
Fun:
4
out of
5
Adventurous:
5
out of
5
Family Oriented:
5
out of
5
Cultural/Educational:
5
out of
5
butlerau51
Location:Jamestown, NY
Party size:2
I traveled with:Family
Cruise Date Month:June
Cruise Date Year:2011
Favorite activities:Adventure
Favorite port:Cozumel, Mexico
I want to go here next:Caribbean
Date:June 30, 2011
Great Excursion with few drawbacks
Images for this Review
(click to see full-size image)
The ride to Altun Ha is a long one on an old bus on a bumpy road. Despite this the tour guide makes the ride rather enjoyable. Once at Altun Ha, make sure you have bug spray!!! The bugs are pretty bad and they offer bug spray at $10 a can. So make sure you have your own. The ruins were gorgeous and guides are very knowledgeable. The lunch was traditional Belize food and the river boat tour provided many opportunities to see the local wildlife.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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