How's the kayaking, rafting, and canoeing in and around Cayo, Belize, including San Ignacio and Belmopan?

Kayaking, rafting, and canoeing in and around Cayo and San Ignacio, Belize is pretty good. There is a river that runs through the middle of town, so the most popular thing for people to do is rent a canoe. Then they will drop you off 5 or 10 miles up the river, depending on how far you want to paddle back to town. If you want to paddle downstream, it is a very easy paddle back into town. You get to the wharf, tie the canoe, and find the guy you rented the canoe from and he takes it...

Kayaking, rafting, and canoeing in and around Cayo and San Ignacio, Belize is pretty good. There is a river that runs through the middle of town, so the most popular thing for people to do is rent a canoe. Then they will drop you off 5 or 10 miles up the river, depending on how far you want to paddle back to town. If you want to paddle downstream, it is a very easy paddle back into town. You get to the wharf, tie the canoe, and find the guy you rented the canoe from and he takes it home. That is very popular. 

 

There is also some white water kayaking and rafting. You might have to go a little further out for that but there are groups that specialize in that specific activity.

 

Where you do these activities are all relatively close. They are usually just around half an hour to an hour away or they can be half an hour or all day trips. There are so many activities here in San Ignacio, you could stay here for a few weeks and you would probably not hit every one.

 

Canoeing is around US $40 to $50. You can do this on your own. Some people here in San Ignacio have their own canoes and kayaks. I like going fishing so I take my canoe and I will have my wife drop me a few miles upriver and I will float down, fishing along the way. Once I get to town, I call my wife and she picks me up at the dock and takes me back home. Doing these types of things is fairly popular here in San Ignacio. There are also people who will rent you their canoe and you don’t have to pay them to drive you anywhere. It’s about $10 to rent a canoe. You just drop it in the river and you paddle off up river as far as you want to go and you paddle back. That’s your little expedition. 

 

(Macal River three miles out of San Ignacio, Belize, pictured.)

The water sports in and around Cayo are safe and very good. You can also do tubing in the river and standup paddling.

 

We have lots of rivers and waterfalls.  The Macal River that flows between San Ignacio and Santa Elena is suitable for that type of activity. During Easter Season they have a canoe race from Cayo all the way up to Belize City; it’s a 3-day event. 

 

I have gone canoeing, kayaking, and tubing, which...

The water sports in and around Cayo are safe and very good. You can also do tubing in the river and standup paddling.

 

We have lots of rivers and waterfalls.  The Macal River that flows between San Ignacio and Santa Elena is suitable for that type of activity. During Easter Season they have a canoe race from Cayo all the way up to Belize City; it’s a 3-day event. 

 

I have gone canoeing, kayaking, and tubing, which was great. The river flows very slowly at most parts and has some sections that have a little downfall where you experience a little bit higher current, but there are very short lengths or sections of the river that are like that.  It’s extremely safe. It’s a lazy river.  There’s no strong current, it’s shallow, and it’s also not that wide, which means if you turn over or have some sort of an emergency, it’s very safe. 

 

There are tubes like the ones that go inside car tires that you can use on the river. And then, of course, they have the nice versions that come with handles that you can also use. On the weekends, tubing is one of the most popular activities.  Some take their vehicles and their families and barbecue on the edge of the river.  Some go swimming, canoeing, tubing, or kayaking.  It’s a form of relaxation on the weekends. 

 

Also, there’s not high level of pollution in the river.  People go swimming in it with no problems

 

There are a couple of months during the year when the rainy season brings a lot of floodwater from higher areas in Mexico and Guatemala.  The water in the river then gets murky and dark. So during that short period of time (a 2 or 3 month period out of the year), you would be advised not to get in the water. During the dry season you can literally walk the length of the river only to the knee-height.

 

(Tubing down a shallow river in Belize, pictured.)

There are spots to rent canoes, like the Chaa Creek Lodge. Our guests go there, rent a canoe, and go downstream on the river for 2 hours. They end up in San Ignacio. The lodge picks them up and brings them back to their car.  You can also rent a canoe there and go upstream if you like.

 

La Ruta Maya just recently started. This is the biggest canoe race in the country. It happens in March and it is a 4-day event. The race starts in San Ignacio and ends...

There are spots to rent canoes, like the Chaa Creek Lodge. Our guests go there, rent a canoe, and go downstream on the river for 2 hours. They end up in San Ignacio. The lodge picks them up and brings them back to their car.  You can also rent a canoe there and go upstream if you like.

 

La Ruta Maya just recently started. This is the biggest canoe race in the country. It happens in March and it is a 4-day event. The race starts in San Ignacio and ends in Belize City. There are four different points that the competitors need to reach every day. Once they reach it, they stop and then they continue the following day. 

 

The water in the rivers in Cayo is shallow so I’m not sure if rafting is done here. During the rainy season, the current on the river is very strong but during the dry season, it’s very slow-moving.

 

(La Ruta Maya race 2016 taken by the staff at The Lodge at Chaa Creek,t San Ignacio, Belize, pictured.)