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Chan Chich Lodge

Where Ocellated Turkeys Rule the Ruins

Location: Gallon Jug, Belize

Review Date – August 2026

Travel Review of Chan Chich Lodge – Overview

Chan Chich Lodge is located on a 33,000 acre private property in the northwest corner of Belize, not far from the Guatemala and Mexican borders. The lodge consists of about 10 villa-style cabins clustered around a building where meals are served. The main reason you would visit Chan Chich is (supposedly) for bird watching and other wildlife viewing. The private estate is nestled into over 500,000 acres of protected rainforest complete with it’s own working farm. The structures of Chan Chich are built on the former plaza of a Maya city that was never excavated and mounds can be seen around the property.

I chose to travel to Chan Chich after finding it on an internet search for birding destinations in Belize. I compared this lodge to other well-known names like Black Rock Lodge and Chaa Creek but ultimately chose Chan Chich for two main reasons − first, they offered a list of potential birds with many endemics I have not seen on my prior trips to Costa Rica or Nicaragua. Second, the property has jaguars, puma and ocelot which are all high on my list of wildlife to photograph.

Overall, there were many good things to say about my stay at Chan Chich. I chose to arrive via charter flight which was expensive but totally worth it. The property is beautiful, the accommodations were very spacious and clean. I had one of only two villas with A/C. I enjoyed the open-air safari-style vehicles that were used for the majority of outings very much.

That said, I was very underwhelmed with the service at Chan Chich. I realize that staffing a remote lodge like this is very tough and therefore you must give grace when it comes to the level of service, but I’ve stayed in many similarly-remote places and have had exceptional service.

Food was also a major disappointment. The lodge advertises itself as farm-to-table, but I am seriously doubtful that the food is really sourced at the farm. The meals were bland, unimaginative and very meat centric.

From a birder’s perspective, I would recommend staying here no more than 3 nights. That gives you a chance to see the spectacular Oscellated Turkey (a guaranteed sighting) and to hunt for the other local endemics. It was hard birding as the lodge does not provide feeders (other than two hummingbird feeders in the shade). Guides had to use Merlin to call birds in on most of my trips, which I don’t particularly approve of but it was past nesting season so I kept my mouth shut. Without that, my count would have been far less.

Photographers will be thrilled at the opportunities to photograph the turkeys, but there are no other places to set up a tripod and do stationary work. All birding is done on safari drives or forest walks in dark, dense jungle.

If you are not a birder, I would probably not recommend this lodge due to how hard it is to get there and the low quality of food and service. You can get your jungle experience at any number of other lodges that are easier to reach. The chance of seeing jaguar, puma or ocelot is very low.

Total Bird Count for 5 full days: 71 species, link to my eBird list here.

I stayed at Chan Chich for 5.5 days and that was too much and that takes into consideration that I spent one entire day doing an excursion to Caracol.

Based on my experience, I do not plan to return and will check out other Belize lodges on my next trip to this country.

Chan Chich Lodge – Getting There

To get to Chan Chich Lodge, most people will fly into Belize City. From there, your choices are to have the lodge pick you up or to pay for the charter flight. The drive to the lodge from the airport is at least 3.5 hours, much of which is on a very rutted track road requiring 4-wheel drive.

I would not recommend renting a car and trying to do it yourself. There is no cell service for much of the trip, so if you get a flat or find that a tree has fallen across the road, you are going to be stuck. The price of the airport transfer is included if you reserve the All In Explorer Package (more on that below).

The other option is to pay for the private charter flight from Belize City airport to their private landing strip on the farm. The cost was quoted as $1200 round trip, and you should be able to take up to 4 people for that price. I had 2 in my party so we split the cost. Expensive, but well worth it in my opinion. The flight was 20-ish minutes wheels up to wheels down.

Be sure to communicate clearly if you opt for the charter flight. The instructions on how to find the pilot were not super clear, you won’t have a “ticket” or boarding pass. I also was initially quoted $600 but figured out a few days before my trip that it was the price for one way. I was a bit annoyed that they would quote a one-way and that they simply assumed I would not want to fly round trip. There is a weight limit for the charter flight, so depending on your party size and luggage, you may not be able to take 4 people. Make sure they deduct the amount for the road transfer from your package if you fly.

Once you arrive at the farm, they pick you up in a safari vehicle and drive you the 7 miles to the lodge which takes about 30 minutes.

The arrival process (with the charter flight) was very pleasant. The farm property itself is magnificent, and it almost feels like you’re in Africa. The drive in through the jungle was a great way to start the trip.

Review of Chan Chich Lodge – Arrival

When we arrived at the main lobby, we were greeted with cold towels and a cold welcome drink. Our luggage was taken to our rooms. We sat with the manager to begin discussion around our excursions for the next day.

They walked us up the small hill to the common dining area and then we were free to settle in and unpack.

Chan Chich Lodge – Accommodations ⋆⋆⋆⋆

I stayed in Cabin #6 which is the only one-bedroom villa with A/C. My room was extremely spacious, probably the same size as my 900 sq ft apartment. It had a king bed, a writing desk, two seating areas, a double sink bathroom, large walk-in shower and a separate toilet closet (the bathroom is open to the main room other than the toilet being in a closet, no shower door).

The entryway had a small table with an electric tea kettle, a French press, coffee, tea and sugar plus a dorm fridge that had some beer and soda in it. A small (cheap and uninsulated) water bottle is provided at check in (bring your own), and a very large tank of drinking water is provided in your room. The room had windowed slider doors on 3 sides, a porch deck that wrapped all the way around, an outdoor seating area and a hammock. The sleep quality was excellent, the sheets were nice and the bed was one of the most comfortable I’ve had on a vacation.

The A/C is a mini-split and did the job nicely. I don’t think my travel companion (who was in a garden villa) was as comfortable, but we stayed in August so that is just the way it goes. The general manager told me they are getting ready to install A/C in more rooms so I would keep an eye out for that if you are traveling in the hotter months.

The only complaints I had with the room were the water pressure and not really having hot water.

The water in the sinks is just a trickle that allows you to brush your teeth. The shower was good enough, but it never got anywhere near hot. Not that you need a really hot shower in the jungle, but after a day in the woods I like a bit of hot water to wash away the sweat and bug repellent. I asked if it could be adjusted thinking it might be propane, but they said it was electric and no adjustment could be made.

Note: I had no problems with bugs or other visitors in my room. That said, I had a room that is fully enclosed due to the A/C. My travel companion had minor issues with bugs in the room, nothing scary.

The cabins are all pretty much the same distance to the common area and the pool, just a few yards. The 2 bedroom cabin is the furthest walk from both but still very close.

Pro-Tip: They do not provide a flashlight – I travel with a battery powered headlamp and it was essential for getting to and from the restaurant after dark. Remember that you are near the equator so it is fully dark by 6:30pm year round.

Laundry service is available but I did not use it during my stay. The room had an armoire for storing clothes and a few hangers.

Travel Review of Chan Chich Lodge – Property/Grounds

The property for the lodge itself is fairly compact. There is a lobby that it just an open-air space with a small gift shop (which was seriously lacking in merchandise). From there, you walk up a small paved road to the villas and common area.

One of the first things you see as you leave the lobby is a huge mound, which is indicative of an unexcavated Maya building. Chan Chich was built directly on top of what was a Maya city central plaza but no information was offered about that during my stay. I was a bit surprised that they did not offer a walking tour that discussed Maya history or the known history of the site, especially since many of the staff are of Maya heritage. There is a small shack behind the restaurant that has some artifacts, but no signage as to what they are or where they came from. Huge miss in my opinion.

The common areas were lacking in charm, lighting and overall ambiance. There is a restaurant building that shares a walkway with what looks like a pub/bar. We only saw activity in the pub on our first night as one of the staff was showing images and videos that he has captured of various wildlife on the property with trail cameras. There were no other activities offered there during our stay, no bartender available if you just wanted to lounge with a cocktail. This space appears to be totally unused.

The restaurant is dull, dark and dreary. I was able to sit outside on the porch, but there was also no lighting so I had to use my cell phone flashlight to see my dinner. Yes, you want to keep the bugs away but again, I’ve stayed in thicker jungle than this and proper lighting pus ceiling fans makes for a much more pleasant ambiance.

There was a small “library” off the dining room, but again it was not outfitted to welcome guests. The common areas need serious help from a guest experience standpoint.

Chan Chich has a decent sized screened in pool which is well fed so the water is gloriously refreshing. That said, the pool area is not very welcoming. Some of the lounge chairs were made of hard wood slats – not at all comfortable for sitting and reading a book. I also fear wooden benches and chairs in the jungle because they tend to harbor no-see-ums. The screen could also use a good cleaning.

Chan Chich Lodge offers 9 miles of walking trails. Unfortunately, the map they provided (only after I asked for one) was not very good and made it very difficult to figure out how long each trail was, general time needed to complete it. I asked for help but that was not forthcoming. The staff member who was helping me had clearly never walked the trails and was put out that I had so many questions. For that reason, I did not feel comfortable exploring the trials by myself.

On a positive note, the trails that I saw were fairly wide which was nice. That said, they seem to be rarely used as only one of my walking tours ventured onto a trail and that was only because I asked to look for a specific bird, so my guide took us part way down one trail. I got the distinct feeling that no one wanted to be on the trails for very long. Not sure why.

Yoga Pavilion – I came across a raised yoga Pavilion behind the common area. It didn’t look like it had been used for some time, it is not mentioned in the advertisements and no yoga mats were provided in the rooms. Another missed opportunity!

If you want to explore on your own, you can wander the small area around the villas and around the staff housing without using the wooded trails. The road out of the lodge is also good for exploring and bird watching. You can walk for about 20 minutes and reach a suspension bridge that has a covered picnic area.

There is a Mamey tree just before the bridge that has fruit the tapirs like to eat so this is a good place to check if you want to see one.

You can also walk down the gravel road toward the staff housing (you’ll see the sign). The road makes a loop back around to the restaurant. There is a marsh there where you can look for birds or crocodiles, and several trees that are popular with the spider and howler monkeys.

Chan Chich Lodge- Food ⋆⋆⋆

Welcome to all of you who skipped the rest and scrolled right to the review of the food. You’re my people .😉

For me, the food is usually where hotels and lodges struggle. I am a foodie and have high expectations (or at least high hopes). Chan Chich did not meet my expectations in this department. Perhaps my expectations were too high, mainly due to the fact that I had read good things about the food in many reviews and because they promised farm-to-table dining. It would seem that I’m the first foodie to review the food here 🙂

I had the All-In Explorer Package so my meals and beverages were included, as well as local beer. (The owner of the property owns the Belikin Beer and Coca Cola franchise in Belize). We were given a few choices for breakfast, and then had to also pick our lunch. Dinner choices had to be made at lunch. I’m not a fan of that process, but I can understand that they are trying to plan and not waste food. That said, I recently stayed at El Remanso in Costa Rica which is as remote and of similar style to Chan Chich, and they did not require me to choose meals in advance. They also had 3 times as many options and outstanding food that was very farm-to-table and more appropriate for a hot climate.

I have serious doubts about whether the food at Chan Chich was truly from the farm. While I did not take the farm tour, I drove around the farm a dozen times during my stay. I saw no sign of chickens or cows and very little space dedicated to fruit or vegetables. I believe the main crop on the farm is coffee. I actually liked the coffee, but I think most people would have found it very weak.

Breakfast options were pretty basic. The only options for non-meat eaters was a yogurt and granola that rotated with a fruit plate. I chose to order eggs most days, but if they were really farm eggs, they must not be free ranging. The yolks were very pale and the eggs were tasteless.

The lodge claims to make it’s own bread. I would bet a million dollars they do not. We got the same pathetic dinner roll every night and it tasted stale and as if it had been frozen for quite some time. I got a different dinner roll with my entree one night, but again I was suspect that it was not homemade as it had the distinctive shape of a very popular mass produced dinner roll. The toast that is served with breakfast also tasted very freezer burnt to me, and they did not serve any butter unless you asked for it (that also goes for pancakes and waffles – served with no butter).

There was an option for bacon, ham or sausage with the egg breakfast, but they ran out of bacon and sausage by my second day and it never came back. I was totally bummed that they did not offer the typical beans and rice breakfast with local cheese and plantain that is so common in the rest of Central America.

What really surprised me was the lack of fresh fruit. Typically in Central America, fruit is served abundantly. I barely saw any at Chan Chich. Salad was virtually non-existent. When I did get a salad option, the portion was so small that it could hardly be called a salad and was served with blue cheese and candied walnuts (blue cheese is not exactly what you want for dinner when it’s hot and humid). Hot soup was the starter for every lunch and dinner, which again surprised me as a cold gazpacho would have been so much better and easier on the staff.

The lunch options were overly heavy in my opinion and I did not like anything that I ate. I had the fish tacos but the fish used in all of their fish dishes was the same and tasty muddy to me. The shrimp was a much safer bet – both in the tacos and the wrap.

Dinner was also a disappointment, mainly because I prefer to not to eat meat which I did notify them about in advance. There were 3 entrees to choose from per night, seems to rotate every 3 nights. Unfortunately, the vegetarian option offered little to no protein. One night is a vegetable fried rice, huge portion and it wasn’t bad but no protein. The next night was a pasta with tomato sauce, again no protein. The third night was a fried rice again but this time tofu was offered. They fried it, but at least I got protein. I asked for unfried tofu to be added to a dish one night but it still came out fried.

The best thing I ate was the duck breast which I ended up having twice. It was served on a gluey pile of a mashed starch with some cooked greens. My travel companion got the steak that was offered one night but said it was tasteless.

The only thing that really sang throughout my 6 days of meals was the chocolate chip pancakes and the coconut ice cream. Unfortunately these are not available everyday.

Chan Chich Lodge — Location

Chan Chich Lodge − Location ⋆⋆⋆⋆

I’m giving Chan Chich a 4-star rating for location because the property itself is a treasure. You get a mixture of jungle and farm, and there are two lagoons that you can visit for sunset boating. The open-air safari vehicle rides were my favorite part of my stay, and without those I would have felt very claustrophobic after 2 or 3 days.

There is no town nearby, so be aware that all offsite excursions require significant road time.

I’ll also repeat my disappointment that no tour or history of the property was offered in relations to the fact that you are directly on top of an unexcavated Maya city.

Travel Review of Chan Chich Lodge – Excursions

The All-In Explorer Package at Chan Chich Lodge includes 2 drives and one walk daily. I let them know in advance that bird watching was my main priority, and they did a good job accommodating me. I go in slow season because lodges typically can give more customized tours when they are not full. I checked the website a few days before I left for the trip and could clearly see that they were nowhere near full. Still, they would not commit to private guides even if I offered to pay more.

Bird Watching/Wildlife Viewing – This is the primary reason to go to Chan Chich. Birding drives or walks were available each morning and lasted about an hour and a half, back in time for breakfast.

The key endemic birds to see here are Ocellated Turkey, Rose Throated Tanager, Tody Motmot, Gray Throated Chat, Keel Billed Toucan, Great Curassow, Ornate Hawk Eagle, Rufous Tailed Jacamar and many others. As far as mammals, the property has jaguar (low likelihood of seeing one), puma (same), ocelot (more common), tapirs, spiker and howler monkeys and coatis.

Night Tours – I did one night drive. We didn’t see much. The drive involved a guide using a huge spotlight when we did see something and I wasn’t crazy about how that might affect the animals. We spotted a puma on the road ahead of us and instead of stopping the vehicle and shutting off the loud engine, they sped toward it and, of course, it ran off. One drive was enough for me. I spoke to guests who did the drive on other nights and they didn’t see anything either.

Maya Ruins – I’m not big into visiting ruins when I travel, but when I learned that Chan Chich was actually built directly on an unexcavated Maya city and that excursions to excavated sites were available, I decided to study up.

The closest site to Chan Chich is Lamanai, and I was very much looking forward to seeing it. I learned a few days before my trip that they were no longer working with the tour operator for that site. They told me they could drive me to a pick up point but from there I would have to contract with the tour operator directly. This didn’t inspire confidence, so I didn’t do it.

I went back to their website once I learned about this and sure enough, this tour is not listed anymore. They have several other sites: Xunantunich, ATM Caves and Tikal. I knew about all of these but also knew they involved significant travel from Chan Chich so I had written them off during my initial planning.

Pro tip: Reading up on Maya history is not easy as many of the books are very dry and not geared toward the casual tourist. I highly recommend a few books to get the spirit of Maya culture and basic background that gives you some context for the Maya ruins: How to Cook a Tapir: A Memoir of Belize by Joan Fry, Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer by Marilyn Yaquinto and Rise and Fall of Maya by Eleanor Whitecombe which was a compact history I listened to as an audiobook.

Since Lamanai was out, I asked again about the details for these tours (because when they told me Lamanai was no longer an option, they didn’t mention any alternates).

I had my friend Claude build a PDF file comparing the various excursions in terms of payoff, time commitment and cost. Note that the ATM caves are not listed here. I was already familiar with that from another trip I had taken and due to it being bad for those who are claustrophobic, I had already ruled it out. Note that I spoke to another tourist who did it and she said it was one of the scariest things she’s ever done and would not recommend it.

Based on this info, I chose to do the excursion to Caracol. The drive was about 3 hours each way, split between a Chan Chich drive and a tour operator. Air conditioned vehicles not guaranteed.

Caracol was way more impressive than I expected. It is essentially undiscovered, so we had the place completely to ourselves. The road in is about 1.5 hours drive but was recently paved (it used to take 4 hours which is why the place is so undiscovered). Literally only saw 4 other small groups during the 3 hours we spent.

Pro-Tip: If you decide to do the Caracol excursion, be aware that the site does not have any bottled water for sale. It is still bare bones in terms of readiness for visitors.

The tour operator I had for this excursion was exceptional. He was a wealth of info and was very patient. He also brought a fantastic picnic lunch, cold water and cold mango pineapple juice that was absolute ecstasy after walking around for 3 hours in the heat.

Tikal: My travel companion decided to do the trek to Tikal. They left at 4am and he was back at 7pm, but be aware that it requires crossing the border into Guatemala. Tikal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and he said it was one of the top 4 things he has ever seen in his life.

Pro Tip: I heard through the grapevine that the reason they no longer offer the Lamanai excursion is because they did not pay the tour operator in timely manner so the tour operator no longer allows them to pay for guests and then add it to the guest tab – guests just pay the tour operator directly. If I would have figured that out earlier, I would not have hesitated to take the Lamanai tour.

Other Excursions Offered at Chan Chich: The other tours offered were horseback riding, a farm tour and trips to the two lagoons on the property at sunset. I did the Laguna Seca trip which includes a short boat ride on a shallow lagoon and it was a very nice way to spend late afternoon. Also saw the Ornate Hawk Eagle on my way back from that trip.

No spa services are available at Chan Chich.

Chan Chich Lodge – Service ⋆⋆⋆

Besides the food, the service at Chan Chich was the biggest disappointment. I have been spoiled by places like Hotel Belmar and El Remanso, where the family-owned spirit really delivers. I don’t know that Chan Chich is “family owned” but it is privately owned and not run by a hotel management group so I expected a more authentic service experience. My experience with the staff and overall service at Chan Chic was sub-par from beginning to end.

Pre Trip Communication: Just okay. I exchanged about a dozen emails prior to my stay to get clarification, request private guides (not available) and to arrange the charter flight. I found the communication to be less info than needed, and had several back and forth’s as a result. As mentioned earlier, I was particularly annoyed by the charter flight pricing communication. They also made me pay for the entire thing on my tab and would not split it between me and my travel companion.

Arrival: We were greeted at the airstrip by Malcolm, the general manager. He was a lovely person and I spoke with him several times during my stay. Once we reached the lodge, things went downhill. I sensed that the staff were not looking forward to my stay – based on the number of emails we exchanged, it seems I had been branded as “difficult” before I even arrived. That air of hesitancy and tentativeness of communication prevailed throughout my stay. Every time a staff member approached me, I felt like they were expecting a fight.

I am a very experienced traveler and I can’t remember a time I had any real issues with service. Yes, I have high expectations for food, but I roll with the punches for everything else. I felt unfairly persecuted by the guest service staff. I had a small disagreement with one member who told me it would up to me to search out the manager the next day to resolve something, and when I told him that was not acceptable since I was the guest, he stopped talking to me and only addressed my travel companion for the rest of our stay.

Restaurant Service: Way below par. You are never offered anything to drink but water (which is served in tiny glasses so you are constantly looking for the server to refill). You have to ask if you want something. Figured out on day 4 that they had a wine list. Figured out they had more than one kind of beer on Day 5. Butter was never served with bread, pancakes or toast and I kept forgetting to ask for it when I ordered. Had to get up and go find a server every time so that I could get butter before the food got cold. Had to ask for a proper knife when I got the duck. Once the food was served, there was no check back. If you didn’t flag someone down for water, your glass would be empty during your meal. This area needs SERIOUS work. They never asked about food allergies which I thought was odd as that is the norm literally everywhere these days.

Guides: The two guides that I had during my trip were the exception to the service issues. Marcos was the best by a mile. He was personable, he was engaged and he was enthusiastic. Luis is a very good guide but barely says a word. But he knows his birds!

Review of Chan Chich Lodge – Final Thoughts

Based on the cost of this trip, I would say Chan Chich Lodge did not meet my expectations. I got what I came for which was the opportunity to photograph the Ocellated Turkey and to see other endemics. My rough count for 5 days was 72 birds of which about 20 were lifers. But I was ready to leave after 3 days and I worked really hard for just about every bird I got.

It is so unusual for me to leave a place like this and not feel like I’ve made new friends or that I’m sad to go. But Chan Chich didn’t move me in that way. If it were not for the fact that they needed my credit card one more time to charge me for the excursion, I got the feeling no one would have even said goodbye.

When it comes to travel, it isn’t just the places. It’s the people who make the experience special. I can’t say I got that from Chan Chich. If you are a serious birder, you may consider a short trip here just for the ease of seeing the Ocellated Turkeys and pick up a few more lifers as a bonus. That said, if I were asked where I would recommend for birding in Belize, I would have a hard time recommending Chan Chich and would likely suggest trying Hidden Valley, Black Rock Lodge or Chaa Creek.

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