Visit Cayo District & Caracol, Belize

The Cayo District incorporates the beautiful forests of western Belize, centred around the town of San Ignacio, near to the border with Guatemala.

The landscape ranges from subtropical to mountain forest, teeming with tropical birds, tumbling waterfalls and winding rivers.

Cave systems

Most people are attracted to the place to visit the exquisite cave systems such as the Barton Creek and Rio Frio caves, or to explore the impressive Maya ruins of Xunantunich and Caracol.

Experience subtropical forest

If you are a fan of the outdoors, love to canoe, horse ride, birdwatch, hike or swim under waterfalls this is a fabulous place to spend a few days and a great way to experience the subtropical forest.

There are easily accessible and lovely jungle lodges that make relaxing homes, offering you a wide selection of tours with excellent guides to investigate the region’s many places of interest.

Caracol

Caracol is the largest Mayan archaeological site in Belize. In 650 AD, the urban area of Caracol had a radius of approximately 10 kilometres around the site's epicentre. It covered an area much larger than present day Belize City and supported more than twice the modern city's population.

Urban Caracol maintained a population of over 140,000 people through the creation of an immense agricultural field system and through elaborate city planning.

Caracol is noted not only for its size during the Maya Classic era (250-950 AD), but also for its prowess in war; this includes an 562 AD defeat of Tikal (Guatemala) and a subsequent conquest of Naranjo (Guatemala) in 631 AD.

Sights include an astronomic observatory, five plazas and over 35,000 buildings. The loftiest among them is a massive pyramid capped by three temples that rises over 50 metres above the jungle floor.