On the lakeshore below the Yaxhá ruins is Campamento Yaxhá, where you can camp for free on raised platforms with thatched roofs. Outbuildings have showers and toilets. Drinking water can be purchased at a store, but you must bring food. There's no need to purchase another admission ticket if you'd like to stay another day or two.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
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Set on a leveled hilltop, Xunantunich (shoo-nahn-too-neech) is one of Belize's most easily accessible and impressive Maya archaeological sites. Getting…
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Green Iguana Conservation Project
22.62 MILES
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0.52 MILES
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18.31 MILES
Templo I, the Templo del Gran Jaguar (Temple of the Grand Jaguar), was built to honor – and bury – Ah Cacao. The king may have worked out the plans for…
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18.74 MILES
Templo IV, at 65m, is the highest building at Tikal and the second-highest pre-Columbian building known in the western hemisphere, after La Danta at El…
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18.2 MILES
The most striking feature of Tikal is its towering, steep-sided temples, rising to heights of more than 44m, but what distinguishes it is its jungle…
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East Acropolis & Structure 216
0.35 MILES
Near the site entrance is the high point of Yaxhá (literally): Structure 216 in the East Acropolis. Also called the Temple of the Red Hands, because red…
Nearby El Petén attractions
0.05 MILES
A trail from the ticket booth leads down to the lakeshore and the new Interpretive Center, which displays ceramic pieces, musical instruments and jewelry…
2. Lesser Astronomical Complex (Plaza C)
0.3 MILES
Plaza C, the first group of buildings you come to on entering Yaxhá, is one of a pair of astronomical observatories; the Greater Astronomical Complex …
3. East Acropolis & Structure 216
0.35 MILES
Near the site entrance is the high point of Yaxhá (literally): Structure 216 in the East Acropolis. Also called the Temple of the Red Hands, because red…
0.44 MILES
This largely unexcavated complex consists of two identical pyramids facing each other across a lawn. Similar to one of the arrangements at Tikal, it is…
0.52 MILES
The Classic Maya sites of Yaxhá, Nakum and El Naranjo form a triangle that is the basis for a national park covering more than 37,000 hectares and…
0.57 MILES
A complex of palatial structures from which Yaxhá's aristocracy could watch the games going on in the ball court below.
0.6 MILES
An unremarkable part of the site, located to the east of the North Acropolis.