Epic Travel → Central and South America → Belize → Caracol

Location: Cayo District, Western Belize

Time Required: Most of a day

Red Tape/Notes: Open daily from 8am – 5pm. Entry fee is $10 for international visitors. Caracol is administered by the National Institute of Culture and History (NICHE); for additional information on the visiting Caracol and other similar sites around the country, visit their website (as of early 2020, the “Maya archaeological sites” portion of the website is not terribly helpful, but it appears to be undergoing improvements).

What’s Nearby?: Rio Frio Cave, Rio On Pools, Hidden Valley Falls, Pacbitun

Caracol is a major Mayan archaeological site, covering approximately 200 square kilometers and housing an estimated population of over 100,000 people. The true size of the site was only determined in 2009 when LiDAR was used to map the area and found new causeways, termini, residential structures and terraces. Archaeological work is ongoing at the site (if you’re interested in the current excavations efforts, check out this website), but the majority of major structures have been uncovered and restored and there are plenty of great structures to climb and explore, including Caana (which means “sky palace”), Caracol’s largest building (and one of the largest man-made structures in Belize to date). You can also go down into some of the tombs, explore the remains of the palace residential areas, and see some of the intricately carved stelae (which go perfectly with your Legends of the Hidden Temple shirt, if you have one).

Epic Travel → Central and South America → Belize → Caracol