? about the cave tubing-I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere

[kew1031]

the cave tubing *sounds* like fun. however. Neither I nor my S.O. are young, fit, thin, or particularly active. I need to know how big a person can be before the tubing is NOT a good idea.

Let's just say we might need bigger tubes......:rolleyes:

has anyone ever seen an old fat lady get stuck???:eek:

[Mack2]

When we went on our cave tubing tour (we booked privately through cavetubing.bz) I don't remember seeing any "XL" tubes... the adult tube was a standard inner tube.

 

You might want to call one of the private operators, you have Jaguar Paw, cave-tubing.com, cavetubing.bz, etc... and see what they say.

 

There IS a good 1/2 hour + hike with your tube to the entrance of the caves along a dirt trail. I remember thinking how miserable that hike would be if it were sweltering hot and humid the day we went... fortunately, it wasn't one of those days.

[leslieart]

You have to walk about a mile. It is not a particularly rough hike - it's pretty level, but there are roots that you could trip on.

 

You have to cross the river holding onto a rope, again not too tough.

 

The biggest person on our tour was a guy in the 250-300 lbs. range. He was over 6 feet so not obese, but very large all around. The tube held him fine.

 

I wouldn't be worried about the tubes. The biggest danger is having your butt slip down below the tube and drag on the rocks, more of a problem for us little folk.

 

If you think you can handle the walk, I would highly recommend it.

 

If not, maybe use it as a motivation to walk around the neighborhood. It was a red letter day for both me and my husband and I'd hate to see anyone miss the chance to do it.

[crisrn2003]

We had been advised by the cave_tubing.com folks that the hike was not very strenuous. We'd asked because my mom has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) that makes breathing difficult for her, especially with any difficult activity. They were incorrect in what they told us. She was worried about the activity level so she chose not to accompany us. It ended up being a good thing. It was over uneven ground with rocks and roots. There were some smaller hills. Carrying an inflated inner tube made the trek even more strenuous. She would not have been able to make the journey. It would have been too much. And if she'd gone and tried, we'd have had to walk much slower for her, which would have embarassed her terribly. I'm glad for her that she made the decision before going.

As far as weight goes, there was one person in our group who was about 230 lbs. He did not have any problems with the tube holding him. Our daughter was 9. She had a regular sized tube and did not encounter any problems.

Hope this helps!