Chiquibul Cave System

Xibalba - Cebada - Tunkul - Kabal

Useful Information

Location:	Mt Maya West. (16.645642, -89.079414)
Open:	closed. [2024]
Fee:	closed. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	none
Dimension:	L=39,000 m, VR=160 m. (Tom Miller at the NSS World Long Cave List 2016) T=23 °C.
Guided tours:	closed
Photography:	yes
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Thomas Miller, Stephen Alvarez (photographs) (2000): Inside Chiquibul, Exploring Central America's Longest Cave. National Geographic Magazine, April 2000, pp 54-71.
Address:
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

~800	visited by Mayas.
1956	Chiquibul Forest Reserve designated.
1982	cave system discovered by Thomas Miller.
DEC-1991	re-designated a National Park under the National Parks System Act (SI 166).
MAY-1995	park redesigned and extended, now including Caracol.
1999	Tukul and Cebada linked.

Description

Chiquibul is called Central America's longest cave and is featured by National Geographic. It is located at the border to Guatemala in western Belize. This huge cave system is the underground bed of river Chiquibul and consists of four big caves and numerous sinkholes, which were extensively explored during the last decade. These caves are called Kabal, Tunkul, Cebada, and Xibalba. We listed the Chiquibul Cave System because of its fame, there are numerous pages on the web which gives the impression that the cave is of touristic interest. We must tell you: unfortunately not! This cave is only accessible for cavers, as far as we know there are no cave trekking tours offered. The park has no tourist facilities at all. We made this page to make clear that this park, despite being listed frequently on tourist websites, is definitely not accessibel for tourists!

The Chiquibul River springs in the hills of western Belize, flowing then westwards to the border of Guatemala. At the Sinks of the Chiquibul it disappears into the cave system. Here is the location of the Kabal cave, which is only water-filled during wet season, when the sinks are not able to swallow all the water. The huge Sand Passage in this cave, dry most of the year, is then again bed of the Chiquibul river. It reappears in a normally dry valley, a collapsed part of the cave system, a so-called polje.

Now the river enters Tunkul cave, the main cave of the system. Originally thought to be a separated cave, Cebada cave got its own name. Divers have now proven the connection. This jointed cave is also called Cebaba & Actun Tunkul. In Tunkul cave the Chiquibul River flows all the year. The connection between here and the sinks is not discovered so far. It is supposed to be completely underwater. The location of this still unknown cave system is marked at one point by the sinkhole Nohoch Ch'en.

Cebada cave crosses the border to Guatemala underground. At the Zactun entrance, another polje, the river again reaches the surface, just to disappear again in Xibalba cave. This cave is located across the border in Guatemala, but as it belongs to this vast system which is located mostly in Belize, we listed it here.