Epic Travel → Central and South America → Belize → Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM)

♦ Intrepid Top Pick!

Location: Cayo District, Western Belize

Time Required: Half a day

Red Tape/Notes: No photography or filming of any kind is currently allowed inside the cave/park (hence the lack of pictures – I was able to get some stock photos but that’s it). Tours can be arranged through various tour agencies or your hotel/resort; I’d recommend trying to get on a private tour if you have the funds for it.

What’s Nearby?: Barton Creek Cave

This cave is amazing. It was really hard for me not being able to take any pictures or shoot go pro footage because of what a fantastic experience it is/was, but in some ways the fact that you can’t currently record and share your experience makes it more special, because it lives only in your memory. That’s what I’m telling myself anyway. The ban on photography came because tourists were damaging the artifacts by being careless while taking pictures (specifically, someone dropped their camera on a skull and smash a big rectangular hole in it). Anyway, stuff that’s awesome about this cave: you have to swim through the entrance, after which you can climb up onto relatively dry ground, but you’ll find yourself swimming again through other passages (at least, you will if you’re any fun at all); the upper sections of the cave are dry, where you’ll find most of the artifacts. I recommend taking a private tour if you can afford it, because your guide is much more likely to take you to cool places they won’t take a larger group (or less adventurous visitors) and this cave is full of amazing side passages to explore, including some where you have to swim under rock arches (as in hold your breath to get under and hope your headlamp is waterproof). The cave itself is stunning, with stalactites and stalagmites galore, various amazing and colorful rock formations, including entire rooms that seem to be made of crystal, because they’ve been so encrusted with calcite. It’s easy to understand why this cave was a special, sacred place for the Maya, of which there is ample evidence. There are loads of ceremonial pots near the front, and then you’ll start to come across bones – lots of finger bones and that sort of thing, and as you travel further you’ll start seeing skulls and remains of young children. And then eventually at the very back of the cave, you can see the famous “Crystal Maiden”, a complete skeleton of an 18 year-old presumed sacrifice victim that has been calcified so completely that it appears to be made of crystal.

Epic Travel → Central and South America → Belize → Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM)