What to Know About Belize’s ATM Caves

After wading through a river with a rope as a handhold and swimming into a dark cave, I never would have expected the spiritually sobering experience that I had within the ATM Caves. Crawling past the remains of human desperation and suffering that happened so long ago their bones are covered with limestone is an experience like no other.

Discovered in 1989 and explored by archaeologists soon after, Belize’s Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) Caves are an amazing, though not well known, place to visit. Actun Tunichil Muknal translates to “Cave of the Stone Sepulcher” and is named for the area where a fully intact skeleton (pictured above) was found. Unfortunately, however, I can’t provide any images of the caves besides the one above, as cameras aren’t allowed (I’ll get into this a bit later).

I visited these caves as part of a weekend excursion during my time at an archaeology field school called BVAR (Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project), so I was visiting under different circumstances than most, though I still visited the ATM Caves as a tourist.

What are the ATM Caves like?

Inside the ATM Caves are beautiful limestone formations and signs of human presence that are over 1000 years old! Everything from potsherds to intact pottery, signs of old fires, and even human skeletons litter this cavern.

As you make your way through, the tour guide will point out what various rock colors indicate about the cave. Some discolorations indicate coal deposits or precious metals like iron. If you look up in some of the larger passageways, you’ll see weird, black, circular alcoves carved into the ceiling. The black part even looks like it’s bleeding out of the alcove. I actually asked my tour guide about this, thinking it was coal. As it turns out, the black stuff in these alcoves is bat guano, and the holes appeared because of bats roosting there.

Seeing what’s in these caves and learning their history is a unique experience that can leave you with a deep appreciation for the depths of human desperation. Caves are sacred to the Maya, and their use of caves was not always a positive one. I’ll let you learn the stories yourself when you go there. (I can’t tell you everything, that would spoil the trip!)

Going in, I expected the caves to be cold (from my experience with caves in North Idaho). They are definitely colder than the outside temperature, but still quite warm. There’s no need to bundle up!

What to Know Beforehand

Instead, I’ll tell you some things you should know before you schedule a tour of the caves. There are many things I didn’t know about that led to extra expenses and preparation.

Here are some things you’ll be doing as you make your way through the cave:

• Swimming
• Crawling
• Wading
• Shimmying through narrow spaces

The ATM Caves are limestone caves, and as such they are very wet. They are also very rocky. You have to swim to even get into the caves, and even before that you’re wading through a river with a rope as a handhold.

Inside, there are a few extremely narrow walkways, including one where you have to walk sideways and raise your head up to avoid a sharp rock that would otherwise cut you. Even so, it’s worth noting that I am very claustrophobic and had little to no problems traversing these caves.

Your guides will advise you to maintain three points of contact at all times. This is a very important rule to remember. The walls and floors are very sharp and slippery, so any mistake could get you hurt. Keeping three points of contact makes it easier to catch yourself.

Also, if the guide calls out a command, make sure you repeat it to people behind you. These are all things the guides will tell you to do as well.

What to Bring to the ATM Caves

Here’s the important stuff to bring:

• Socks
• Closed-toed shoes
• Swimwear (shorts)
• A light snack
• An open mind

This might sound weird since you’re going into a watery cave, but you will be swimming with shoes and socks on. Up to a certain point in the caves, you’ll keep the shoes on (I bought closed-toed sandals in San Ignacio the night before). Afterwards, you’ll be told to remove your shoes, since they could damage rock formations and artifacts further in.

As a free souvenir, if you wear white socks, the bottoms of them will stain brownish-red from the clay in the cave! (And if you don’t want that, wear socks where you won’t notice the color or socks you don’t care about.)

Any clothing will work, but I wore swim shorts since they dry quickly. I otherwise just wore a normal t-shirt. A helmet with a headlamp is provided for you.

The tour guides carry dry bags with them that you can put some belongings in. For the most part, you’re encouraged to leave things in the bus. Even so, it’s a good idea to bring a light snack or water in case you get hungry inside the cave.

An open mind is very important in a place like this. The Maya had a very different worldview than any of us. Some of their cultural or spiritual practices were very violent or immoral by our standards. In their worldview, though, some of these unsavory practices were a necessary evil. Nobody wanted to do these things, but they viewed them as necessary to uphold their society and way of life. Go in with this mindset and try to understand these actions from their perspective. They’re humans too.

What NOT to Bring

• Bug spray
• Sunscreen
• Cameras
• Anything in your pockets
• A desire to touch things

The ecosystem inside caves like this is very delicate, including the air. If you wear bug spray or sunscreen (even deodorant is risky), you will introduce chemicals into the water and air that put various organisms at risk. It’s better to just leave them off (you don’t need bug spray or sunscreen in a cave anyway!) to keep the cave alive for others to enjoy.

Cameras are strictly banned in the ATM Caves. This was not originally the case, but too many people have been irresponsible with them in the past. There were three different instances of something bad happening as a result of cameras:

• A dropped Go-Pro that made a hole in a skull
• A femur that was accidentally broken by someone trying to take a selfie
• A hole caused by a camera lens that fell off

Even so, skulls can break even from touching a wall wrong and making a pebble fall (which did happen in there). The skeletons and pottery in this place are very delicate.

In general, it’s just not a good idea to have anything in your pockets. Not even mentioning the above, something could fall out and get lost, or get soaked and destroyed when you’re going through the water.

Touching certain parts of the walls (which the guides will designate) can damage the limestone. Touching the bones and pottery could do the same. As a rule of thumb, only touch things that your guide gives you permission to touch.

Conclusion

I had a great experience touring the ATM Caves with others from my field school group. I know I make a lot of allusions to the sadness of the history to these caves, and that is true. Even so, the caves were beautiful and the stories only help to humanize the Maya.

Be respectful, listen to your guides, and come in with an open mind. You’ll have an amazing time.

Questions or comments? Let me know below! I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!