The Candelaria Caves in Chisec, Alta Verapaz

Known as the sacred river of the Mayans, in the Candelaria Caves you will find a sacred and ancestral experience that will take you into a simulation of Mayan rituals.

We recommend that you schedule a visit to the Candelaria Caves as a stop on your trip to Semuc Champey or the rapids of the Cahabón River.

How to get

Located at kilometer 433 of the Northern Transversal Strip in the hamlet of Secacao, Raxruhá in Alta Verapa. You can get to the caves by taking a bus to Lanquín or Cobán.

The tour of the caves is guided by a person assigned to you, since this place is a protected area and is managed by the community.

The entrance of Xibalbá

Known as the Mayan underworld in the Mayan worldview, is described as the pantheon in the sacred book of the Popol Vuh, this place is the one recorded in the Candelaria Caves, where visitors are asked to perform a permit before entering because it is considered a sacred place where our ancestors lived.

Entrance prices are Q75 and if you want to do other activities such as tubing, it costs Q100, as does rappelling. If you want to camp in this place, it has a price of Q50.

If you want to do these other additional activities, take into account adding an estimated time of 1 to 2 hours, in addition to the hour and a half that the tour inside the caves takes.