St. Herman's Cave & Crystalline Cave

One of the more accessible caves in the country, St Herman’s lies among the dense tropical forest on the Hummingbird Highway, just 12 miles southeast of Belize’s capital city of Belmopan. The cave is inside the Blue Hole National Park, aptly named for the azure underground cenote bearing its name.

If you’ve never been to the Blue Hole National Park, go!  Inside the park, established in 1986, are two of the most amazing cave systems you’ll ever visit: St. Herman’s Cave and the Crystalline Cave.  And since they’re both inside the park, you get two caves for the price of one!

But it’s not the cost savings that will capture your mind and memories here.  It is the sights, the sounds, the smells and the unique way the Maya history is captured.  This cave holds important cultural and archaeological significance, offering a glimpse into the Maya Classic Period.  St. Herman’s Cave is truly a snapshot in time in the most magical, mystical of settings.

This cave tour is a walking tour, one of the few open to the public without a guide. There are concrete steps that are very slippery when wet, so caution must be exercised at all times.

Crystalline Cave
Like St. Herman’s, the Crystalline Cave is also located in the Blue Hole National Park.  A guided exploration into this very spectacular cave system takes you miles down, down, down to huge caverns that are adorned with crystalline formations.

The steep downward walk that takes you to these caverns takes around one hour.  Then, at the mouth of the cave, you’ll follow the same footpaths the Maya shamans and priests once travelled to reach these ceremonial chambers.  Along the way, you’ll marvel at all the Maya artifacts, including pottery, beads, and obsidian knives - even human skeletons that have been calcified in the limestone floor dating back 2,000 years.