Mike's Place — Attraction in Cayo District

We really enjoyed our stay here! The owner and his wife were very friendly and generous people. When we needed certain amenities they made them happen for us which we were very grateful for as it's in the middle of the jungle!

This place IS off-grid so just be patient if the power goes out as they do have backup generators on-site that'll kick in. You'll need a 4x4 vehicle to access this place, otherwise you'll destroy your vehicle on the roads.

Super cute couple of sweet and friendly pups on the property :)

You don't NEED to hire a guide from San Ignacio to take you canoeing in the on-site cave as there are guides there. Some people balk at the price ($65 US per person), but at least the guide we had, Alex, was very knowledgeable and well worth it. Plus, it's an extremely unique experience! You canoe in about 1 km, total time of 60-90 minutes depending on the water levels.

We chose this place as it's an affordable option that's a good "home-base" when exploring all the attractions and activities in the nearby Mountain Pine Ridge Forest. We are adventurous so didn't hire any guides, but you can hire one from Mike's Place and it'll likely enhance your experience as they'll be knowledgeable. From here we visited the Caracal ruins, Rio Cave, Rio Frio Pools, 1,000 Foot Falls and the Big Rock Falls. Highly recommend all those places, and especially Mike's Place itself if you're open to a unique stay and friendly...

My daughter and I stayed here in June of 2021 for 2 weeks for an insect collecting trip. This is the place to go. Mr. Greaves at the Green Hills Butterfly Ranch recommended we stay here. Some positives: 1. House we rented was very clean. 2. The cave and surrounding area was stunning. 3. Howler monkeys are a great alarm clock! 4. Zip line and Mayan cave tour are truly exhilarating. 5. Mikes family was quick to provide everything we needed. We decided to pay for Mikes family to provide transportation as it was a lower cost than renting a vehicle and also we could not get lost (as I have been known to do). You must have the shrimp from the family restaurant. A family recipe and I cannot remember having any shrimp as good. Also, you CAN drink the water. Mike has it filtered from the underground aquifer. For visiting a foreign country, the cost was very low. I suppose the best praise is that we are going to stay again this coming year. If travelling here then here are some tips. Take photos of everything on your phone in case a document gets lost (passport, vaccine info, birth certificates etc). Take a day to go shopping, prices are great and in general, the region is very safe. The ONLY negative I can think of is how hard it was to find cigars. We felt like family. Never have we been so comfortable in a new...

We spent 3 nights at Mike's Place and loved every minute of it. The property is beautiful, and the people are amazing! Mike is a great guy who genuinely appears to want to help people and work with them to make sure their experience is the best. We did the Barton Creek Cave, conveniently located 10 feet from Mike's Place, and Mike had Jose give us a tour. We spent almost 7 hours in the cave, it was amazing! The following day, Jose gave us a guided tour of Caracal. We learned so much and had such an amazing time. Jose was the best guide we could have asked for. Overall, Mike's Place exceeded our expectations on every level.

The one "negative" in the entire experience, which is really just an extension of a big positive, was that due to being in the very middle of the jungle, there was no A/C and an abundance of bugs. Again, the positive is that you are in the middle of the jungle, there is literally ZERO light pollution, and on a clear sky you can see millions of stars. I could not figure out how to do night sky photography during our trip, but next year will have some really good pictures! Which leads to the fact that yes, I am definitely going...