This was my first time seeing some of the Mayan ruins and it was beautiful. I think this trip is worth it but keep in mind the travel to the ruins, especially if you are staying in San Pedro. I was staying up North in San Pedro and the tour we booked had us on the 7am Maya Air to Belize City and from there it was 1.5 hr drive and then about an hour boat ride to the site. The boat ride was lovely and very scenic! I think if you want to see a couple of Mayan ruins sites, start your trip on the mainland and stay in the jungle and then travel to San Pedro. The day started at 7am and we got back to San Pedro at 4;30pm. I liked this site specifically because there was a lot to see, a little hike about 12 minutes to the last temple but the views were beautiful and it was awesome you got to climb 2 of the 3 temples. Beware of cruise tours, I think they are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so there are huge groups of people. The only plus is that they have to move quickly. Book with Belize N Me for a guide tour, we learned so much history!

Fantastic site and well worth a visit. You can climb to the top of the Jaguar Temple, and maybe others (although not at the time of our visit). Previous reviewers have mostly visited the site as part of a tour but it's a walk of only a mile or so from Lamanai Outpost Lodge if you happen to be staying there - but it is a hot walk so take plenty of water as you still need to walk around the site as well. The museum has some items that were excavated from the site but they are all damaged and I suspect that the better pieces, especially jade, are kept in a better protected museum elsewhere. But there are 20 or so well-written wall posters providing information about the life and times of the Maya people and it's worth reserving 30 mins for reading them if you can.

We booked our tour through Tuff E Nuff and started out from Ambergris Caye. We were escorted from our resort to the airport after a stop at a local deli for a breakfast sandwich (delicious). We took Maya Airlines over to Belize City and were greeted at the airport by “Mission” for an hour ride to the New River for a boat ride to Lamanai. Mission pointed out interesting things along the way and even taught us a little local dialect. Eddy met us at the river where we took a boat ride. He stopped multiple times along the way to point out interesting things and birds. He was very patient with me when I was trying to get a picture of something I found intriguing. Once we got to Lamanai, he was great about explaining everything we saw. He even pointed out a large boa constrictor hidden in the underbrush that we would have never noticed. He pointed out so many things I would have not known about. After touring the site, which is mostly easy walking unless you want to climb the temples, we ate a nice lunch. Here’s where we got extremely lucky. Because it was the slow season the entire trip was a private tour! Literally no one else was around except the two of us and a guide. It was amazing! Once we got back to the start at the river, Mission was waiting to take us back to the airport. Unfortunately, the vehicle developed an issue but Mission was able to quickly arrange for another vehicle and we made it back to the airport with a few minutes to spare before our flight back to Ambergris Caye. Breezy met us at the airport and offered some suggestions for dinner and then we were safely delivered back to our resort. Awesome trip and worth every penny!