Blue Creek Cave

Hokeb Ha

Useful Information

Location:	25 km northwest of Punta Gorda, in the K-T Fault Ridges Karst Area. Santa Cruz (16.2072938, -89.0487492)
Open:	Reservation mandatory. [2025]
Fee:	Adults BZD 165. [2025]
Classification:	Karst Cave Ponor Karst Spring
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	L=7 km.
Guided tours:	Ecotourism
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Nick Williams (1996): An Introduction to Cave Exploration in Belize, Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 58(2):69-75. pdf Tomas Miller (1981): Houses of Stone: Caving in Belize Caving International Magazine 11: pp 16-24. T.E. Miller (1995): Hokeb Ha, Belize: Exploration and Research with the Jason Foundation Expedition V. National Speleological Society Bulletin 57(1): p 68.
Address:	Tide Tours, 1 Ml San Antonio Rd, Punta Gorda, Belize, Tel. +501-671-2129. Fayahtours, Mayabeach, Placencia, Belize C.A, Tel. +501-637-4577. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1973	first archaeological exploration by a Peace Corps volunteer named Kim Kennedy.
1979	surveyed by Tomas Miller, John Wyeth and others from the McMaster University, Canada.
1984	Tomas Miller, John Wyeth and others make the first through trip.
1993-1994	further survey supported by the Jason Foundation for Education, 7 km surveyed length.
1994	60 h of live TV broadcast from the cave during the Jason Expedition V.

Description

We added this cave after Tony provided the description below. At that time we had no additional information, and so this page was rather empty for many years. And actually, this cave is quite difficult and dangerous, and not the tourist cave we normally list. Climbing through a river cave requires equipment, skills, physical fitness, and care to avoid bad weather, because heavy rain could cause a deadly flood. In other words, never go without a guide.

The Mayan name of this cave is Hokeb Ha (where the water enters the earth), which is quite obvious. However, this also means that the commonly used Mayan/English gobbledygook Hokeb Ha Cave is sheer nonsense. As the river which flows underground here is named Blue Creek, the English name Blue Creek Cave makes more sense. The resurgence of Blue Creek is close to the village Blue Creek. In other words, the cave is a through-cave with a river sink on the upper end and a resurgence on the lower end.

The cave has been known since Mayan times, who entered the cave during the Late Classic Period (600–800) and left numerous offerings. They obviously used the cave for ceremonial purposes, particularly in rituals related to water and the underworld. A Peace Corps volunteer named Kim Kennedy rediscovered the cave in 1973. He found an altar with 24 ceramic vessels. The most impressive was the polychrome Hokeb Ha Vase, which became quite famous and was later memorialized on a Belizean postage stamp.

The cave was explored in the 1970s and 1980s, by different English and American cavers and archaeologists. It was first surveyed by Tomas Miller in 1979-1980, in 1984 he made the first through-trip with a group of speleologists. As a result of the protectorate status of Belize, the Royal Engineers were responsible for mapping in the country until 1994. Sgt. Chris Jackson, who was stationed at Salamanca Camp in 1987 made a series of trips into Blue Creek Cave. In early 1994 he returned and was also able to complete a traverse from sink to resurgence. The cave became quite famous by the multidisciplinary Jason Project, which was led by deep-sea explorer Robert Ballard. Miller lectured live via satellite from within the cave to school children at receiving sites in England and the USA.

Today there are numerous companies offering cave trekking tours into the cave. Typically, they take a full day and include the drive to the cave. The tours start Yona's Mayan Grill and Restaurant in Blue Creak, where the participants are equipped with the necessary gear. A 20-minute hike along the creak upstream to the resurgence follows. First the dry cave is visited, to reach the archaeological sites some crawling is required. Then the river cave is entered for some distance, until finally a waterfall is reached. The exact tour and the duration depends on the guides and probably the participants. As those tours require reservation and the fee depends on the group size and obviously the distance, we can only give a few contacts and a hint what to expect. Please check Google, local tour operators, your hotel desk or tourist information.

This very large cave begins near the village of Santa Cruz, where the river rushes underground, resurfacing five miles later near the village of Blue Creek. The cave is classified as a wet cave with dry routes. Headlights in place, life jackets on, you will hike/swim to a waterfall inside the cave. You have entered the mysterious underworld of the Maya. Enjoy the cave’s colossal beauty as you float back out the cave.

Text by Tony Oldham (2004). With kind permission.