The Maya and Turneffe
Your Atoll Adventure guide, Abel Coe, is a Kek'chi Mayan who grew up in a Mayan village in Southern Belize. He will explain the history of the Maya in Belize as well as the traditions and beliefs of the Mayan culture. His knowledge and ability to share it is something special.
Several Mayan fishing villages have been identified on the Turneffe Atoll dating to 400 A.D. Turneffe was clearly part of the intricate trade routes of the Maya and artifacts from Turneffe indicate that they traded goods with peoples as far away as Guatemala.Belize is thought to have been at the center of the Maya civilization, which was at its peak from 900 B.C. to 900 A.D. Today, Mayan people make up approximately 11% of the population of Belize with several villages still speaking one of the three Maya languages as their first language. Learn about the three Mayan groups inhabiting Belize - the Yucatec, the Mopan & the Kek'chi Maya. If you are lucky, you may run across a Maya artifact or two.