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Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave, which means Cave of the Stone Sepulcher, is one of Belize’s most visited  underworld cave. Located in the Roaring Creek Valley in the Cayo District, ATM Cave is rated #1 by National  Geography in Central America. Actun Tunichil Muknal is approximately five kilometers in length and has four  entrances – Main and Upper Entrances, Sinkhole and South Entrance.

The Main Entrance resembles a  double  Gothic archway and has a deep blue pool below, and serves as the primary access into the cavern.

The  Main  Chamber contains the skeletal remains of 14 individual (ranging from 3 years to 40 years old), 150  ceramic  vessels, several grinding stone artifacts, and a variety of animal remains.

One of the skeletal remains,  possibly a  female, lies covered in a thin layer of calcite in the deepest section of the Main Chamber. She  is famously known  as the “Crystal Maiden” and is believed to have been sacrificed  as part of agricultural  fertility rituals in the cave.

  ATM Cave is an all-day tour which starts as early as 7:30 AM and  returns around 4:00 PM. The drive is about  1  hour 45 minutes to the parking lot of the reserve. Our drive takes us on the George Price Highway to Teakettle village, where we then turn south on a dirt road for about 7 miles. At the parking lot, we gear up and take a 45 minute hike that  crosses the Roaring Creek  three times. At the entrance of the cave, there is a small pool which we swim  across to go into the cave. We spend about 3 hours in the cave as we immerse ourselves in the history and  archaeology of ATM. We then hike back out of the cave and out back to the parking lot. Clean changing rooms and bathrooms are available at the parking lot.

Level of Difficulty: Moderate – Strenuous

What to wear: Short pants, t-shirt and closed up shoes with socks. water shoes or tennis shoes are okay.

PLEASE NOTE – NO CAMERAS ARE ALLOWED.

What is included: Transportation, Lunch, guide, entrance fees, and equipments.