Xtreme Cave Tubing....Difficult walk for heart condition? Bad for claustrophobia?

[heffa72]

My father in law has a bad heart...what's the walk like through the rainforest? He can certainly handle a 9 hole golf game....so a flat walk won't be bad...but is it a "hike" by any means? I don't want to put him in a bad position....and my mom was wondering if the caves get really enclosed at any point. If its only for a few minutes, she's fine...but if she's in a tight space for too long, it might freak her out.....

[cruisinhs]

If he can handle a 9 hole golf game, I would say he would be fine. I think the word "hike" is stretching it for this walk. There are slight inclines and there are a couple of places where there are a few steps that were put in because there was a drop off, but nothing that should cause him any trouble. How would he do paddling himself in an intertube though? The water moves you in places and you move yourself in places. As far as the caves being closed in, they are not. They are very tall and wide, but dark. You have lights strapped onto your head so that you can see and so does everyone else so it's not pitch dark, but other than that light there is no light.

[cruztime]

I have to agree with cruisnhs. We did XStream last friday (1/21). The word "hike" threw me too. It's more of a nature walk. The trail is wide and not strenuous at all. You do however have to use your arms to stroke through some slow spots in the caves and while tubing down the river. It really depends on how fast the water is running that day. Richard, our guide and founder of XStream, was terrific. It's more than worth the money.

[cruising_daisy]

do most of you think that being really overweight would be a problem for tubing in the caves?

[cruztime]

Cruising Daisy,

 

Being overweight should not be an issue. If you can handle about a 30 - 40 minute walk, you dhould be fine. With XStream, the entry into the tube was easy. You held onto a rope with your feet on the rocks and just lowered yourself in while Richard held the tube. The tubes are truck tire innertubes.