The San Ignacio area is a beautiful place to experience some of the best jungle resorts and lodges in Belize. It offers a different experience than the coastal and island views of Belize.
San Ignacio is located in western Belize in the Cayo district, bordering Guatemala. This area is known for its proximity to the Macal River, rainforests and ancient Mayan ruins. While tourism has steadily increased over the years, there is still much left to be discovered.
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How do you get from Belize City to San Ignacio?
You’ll likely arrive in Belize at the international airport near Belize City or Ladyville, unless you’re coming by land through the borders of either Guatemala or Mexico. From here, you have a few options of getting into the town of San Ignacio:
- PRIVATE TRANSFERS –
Most accommodations, if booking in advance, will offer an optional bus transfer from the airport. This will be a comfortable and more direct option, although likely the priciest one. On average, it will cost between $100-$200 USD per person, usually decreasing in price as the number of people increases. Contact your accommodation to make arrangements, or find information directly on their website.
- LOCAL TRANSPORTATION –
- PRIVATE CAR RENTAL –
There are several car rental companies that offer car rentals in Belize, straight from the airport. Total costs for us amounted to approximately $80 USD per day. We kept the car for the entirety of our stay in San Ignacio so that we could return the car to the same location. The drive is pretty easy (2-2.5 hours) as it stretches along the main highway over 90% of the time.
If you’re travelling with at least one other person, I think that renting a car is the best option. As you’ll read further into the post, a lot of the activities we recommend can be done without a guide. However, without your own vehicle, public transportation is limited and a tour with transport included may be your best option.
For this reason, we thought renting a car was so worth it, and would do it again in a heartbeat.
While total costs may be similar, a rental car gives you the luxury of being in your own vehicle. Not to mention, the flexibility of driving yourself to different destinations without needing to join a tour.
How many days do you need to explore the San Ignacio Area?
I would say that a minimum of 2-3 days is needed to fully explore the San Ignacio area. This will allow you the time to explore a few activities that you’re interested in, and take into account the travel to and from Belize City.
For a more extensive adventure and to see all of the features this region has to offer, you’ll likely need 5-7 days or more in San Ignacio.
What is the weather/environment like in the San Ignacio Area?
Belize is known for its great weather, year-round. They have two seasons in the year – dry and rainy. Nevertheless, it’s important to note that both seasons consistently have warmer weather. Temperatures range from 23 to 32C (73-89F), which makes for a great trip no matter what month you go!
While there are things to do around San Ignacio’s city center, its main draw is the nature around it. Rainforests and tropical forests surround this area, and the more rainfall and humidity you’ll experience the deeper you go. Nonetheless, when it does rain, it passes quickly and doesn’t stay for very long – so you don’t have to be worried about that. Your guides are also all well aware of the seasons, and can prepare you with the right tools (ie. umbrellas and ponchos) if needed.
Places to Stay in the San Ignacio Area
There are a variety of places to stay in the San Ignacio area, from hostels and budget hotels to eco lodges and luxury hotels. Something for everyone!
We stayed at Black Rock Lodge (review to come!), a wonderful eco-lodge deep in the rainforest. After extensive research and reading great reviews about it, we knew we had to go with Black Rock Lodge. We cannot recommend this place enough. This was truly one of the best places we stayed at. The location, activities offered, amenities, comfort and most of all, extremely great hospitality were all incredible.
Other places to stay include Bella’s Backpackers and D’s Hostels (for hostels), Drift Inn Cayo for a more budget-friendly hotel option, and The Lodge at Chaa Creek, or Ka’ana Resort for a more boutique/luxury option.
Is San Ignacio safe?
The answer to this absolutely, yes.
San Ignacio town itself gets less tourists than the islands like Caye Caulker or San Pedro. This simply means that you’ll be around a lot more locals, who were all very friendly to foreigners.
Are there beaches near San Ignacio?
You will not find beaches in the San Ignacio area, as this area is more known for its rainforest and dense canopies.
If you’re looking for beaches in Belize, you should visit towns such as Placencia and Hopkins.
Caye Caulker and San Pedro also have waterfront areas if you’re looking for something a little closer to Belize International Airport. While not a typical beach, there are many docks where you can still enjoy the Caribbean sea. The water in these areas are beautiful blue colours, and the main tourist attractions for Belize.
Things to do in the San Ignacio area
This area has many activities that you can do – Here are some of them:
Visit the ATM Caves
The Actun Tunichil Muknal, or ATM Caves, are by far, the most popular activity to do here in Western Belize. It is approximately 1 hour east of San Ignacio. These ancient mayan caves have magnificent walls covered in stalagmites and stalactites, beautiful altars, as well as the famous skeletal remains of whom they call the “Crystal Maiden.”
Most tours start from the Tapir Mountain Reserve, where you’ll kick off your ~45 minute hike into the mouth of the cave. These caves are not open to the public, and visitors must be accompanied by a licensed tour guide in order to visit. Guided tours range in price depending on what is included, but will cost approximately $100 USD.
River Tubing
San Ignacio is known for its proximity to the Macal River, so river tubing is a great activity around this area if you’re looking to get your adrenaline going!
There are several tours that you’re able to book from the town of San Ignacio, but a lot of accommodations will also offer this activity, either included with your stay or for a price.
Black Rock Lodge, where we stayed, offered complementary river tubing, provided that we were comfortable without a guide.
Pro Tip: This activity is very dependent on the water levels of the river, so if you’re in this area only for a few days, be sure to check the weather. The guides and tour operators can give you advice so that you can plan accordingly. We ourselves almost missed out, but got lucky on our last day before we left when the water levels were finally high enough! A lot of the water flow is controlled upstream by a dam.
Very fun activity to do with your family and friends!
Xunantunich Mayan Ruins
The Xunantunich Mayan Ruins are a great archaeological site to visit, and is only about 20 minutes away from San Ignacio. It’s most famously known for the large temple called “El Castillo,” meaning “The Castle” in English”. These ruins are filled with history, and really quite a feat to look at!
Xunantunich is very easy to get to if you have your own car. Otherwise, there are also many tours offered that will include transportation. It’s only 5 minutes away from the main road, and requires you to get on a “hand crank” ferry to get over the river! This itself is an adventure. Just take a look at this video below!
[Video above]: Hand-crank ferry to get over the river to the Xunantunich Mayan Ruins
This ferry is completely free to use, although they do ask for an optional tip. We’ve never seen anything like this before, so we enjoyed it a lot!
The entrance fee to Xunantunich is 10 BZD ($5 USD) per person, with the option to hire a guide for an extra fee. Sites are very well kept, with clean bathrooms and local gift shops right before the entrance. From the ruins, you may also be able to hear and/or see spider monkeys, toucans, various birds, and other local wildlife so keep your eyes and ears peeled. This was our favourite part!
Check out our video of the spider monkeys jumping from treetop to treetop!
Day Trip to Tikal, Guatemala
The Cayo region, where San Ignacio is located, is in the western part of Belize and borders Guatemala. In fact, San Ignacio is actually very close to the border.. only about a 15-20 minute drive away!
Many visitors venture off to Tikal, Guatemala from Belize due to its proximity. The Tikal ruins is a very popular destination within Central America and lies within the Tikal National Park. Flores is a great little lake town closeby that you can also stop by during your visit.
Entrance fees to Tikal National Park costs Q150 ($20-$22 USD). Please be sure to check border restrictions, which may have extra restrictions depending on the state of the pandemic.
Belize Botanical Gardens
If you love learning about different plants and/or flowers, this is the place for you!
The Belize Botanical Gardens features 45 acres of native and exotic plants in the Cayo region and has multiple trails you can hike. They have close to 100 unique types of palm species, an orchid house, rainforest trail, medicinal trail.. and much much more!
It takes about 30 minutes to drive to the gardens from San Ignacio’s city center if you have your own vehicle. The entrance fee is $15 USD per person, and has an optional guided tour option for an additional $12 USD.
We would recommend spending at least half a day here, although you can easily spend a whole day here because there really is a lot to do.
San Ignacio Town
Within the town of San Ignacio, there are a couple of other activities you can do:
- San Ignacio Market –
[Image on left]: We had a delicious meal… with food leftover for less than $5 USD!
My favourite thing here though, in my opinion… is their hot food. Local stands making fresh Belizean (and El Salavadorian) food, sizzling hot tortillas right off the grill! All at local prices – definitely a can’t miss!
This market is open from Monday to Saturday, but to get the most out of your visit, we recommend you visit on a Friday or Saturday, when the largest number of vendors will be there.
- Cahal Pech Archaeological Reserve –
Is it worth the visit?
All in all, yes, the San Ignacio region is definitely worth a visit. Belize is an amazing country, and has both the coastal island living as well as the natural beauty of the rainforest – it would be a shame not to visit all that the country has to offer!
