The Maya Ruins of Cahal Pech in Belize

Belize is a stunning country situated in the middle of Central America. The country is surrounded by Mexico to the north, Guatemala to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. I have had the opportunity to visit Belize six times now, and each time I fall deeper and deeper in love. Belize is filled with an abundance of adventures just waiting to be had! I have visited the impressive Maya ruins of Cahal Pech and Xunantunich, swum with sharks and rays in Caye Caulker, gone zip lining and repelling in the jungles, and gone cave tubing through an immense cave system.

Table of Contents

A Brief History

The site was the home for a super-elite Maya family. Parts of the site date back all the way to 1200 BCE making it one of the oldest, known, Maya sites in Belize. This site is made up of a collection of 34 structures centered around a central acropolis. The largest temple stands about 82 feet high. At the height of the city’s existence, about 15,000 people lived here- a majority of them were farmers working the land surrounding the ruins.

Cahal Pech means “Place of the Ticks” in the Yucatec Maya language. If that doesn’t encourage you to visit, I don’t know what does!

Although archaeologists did some minor digging around, it wasn’t until 1988 that they really began excavating and restoring this remarkable site. The excavation was completed in 2000. Archaeologists have uncovered seven plazas, and over 30 structures including ball courts, temples, a sweat house, and a royal barrier chamber.

The site is made up of a collection of 34 structures centered around a central acropolis. The largest temple stands about 82 feet high. In closing, although Cahal Pech wasn’t nearly as large or impressive as the magnificent Xunantunich, it was still really cool to visit. These ruins are some of the few in which you are actually able to climb the structure, which is pretty stinking cool. It’s a great way to help you envision what life must have been like back then.

Where is Cahal Pech?

Cahal Pech is located in San Ignacio, near the Guatemalan border, about a 2-hour bus ride from Belize City.

My Experience

My adventure actually started by me booking an excursion to nearby Xunantunich. While we were en route, our tour guide “got a phone call” telling him that the ferry that we needed to take to get to Xunantunich was not operating due to flash floods. As an alternative, we would be going to visit Cahal Pech instead.

Secondly, I have to admit that I was pretty bummed that we would be missing out on Xunantunich. I had been wanting to visit there for a couple of years and I was really forward to finally being able to check it out. In fact, I didn’t believe the story about the ferry until I actually rode on it a couple of years later. The ferry across the river to Xunantunich is an old-fashioned hand-cranked ferry. It’s essentially a few planks of wood that are tethered together. Attached to the wood is a podium that has lines that hook up to cables that span the width of the river. An operator uses a hand crank to move the ferry across the river. When I finally saw this setup, I realized that maybe they weren’t bsing us after all.

Exploring the site is like wandering through a maze. There are tons of tunnels and passageways leading to dark rooms. I bet this would be a badass place to play laser tag!