Cave Tubing in Belize Question

[NewYorkDenise]

Hello:

 

I will be sailing on the Carnival Valor in July and would like to go cave tubing. I know that cavetubing.com has gotten really good reviews and the price is good. My question is, I don't want to hold onto anyone's feet. Does anyone know of another company that does not do this. I have seen on the boards that some companies use yellow tubes and if you have to link you hold onto the handles instead. NCQ is quite expensive compared to cavetubing. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

[rick&james]

Just Back From Our Cruise we used Xtreme Cave Tubing and we did not have to hold feet i did see Cavetubing.com and they where linked with there feet so where the Carnival Excursions

[GinDon]

We used X-Stream Cave Tubing about three years ago, and loved our experience, we had a blast. Free floating. I can't imagine that it would be as much fun, all linked together.

[NewYorkDenise]

Thank you both for responding. I'll check them out.

[Brazengrrl]

http://www.ncqadventuretours.com/We just got off the valor. We went through NCQ. They were amazing !! *They actually called me in the phone to answer the questions I had emailed to them. *Nacho and Cynthia are beautiful people! They were very patient in waiting for us, we had a few late risers that missed the first tenders out. We had a total of 17 people in our group. We had two vans that catered to us *They kept us entertained on the ride in, and on the ride out we stopped and picked up some cashew wine. Their equipment was a great condition I took notice of the difference in some of the operations out there and although this was my first time cave tubing I saw that the life vests that were used were actual watersport vests not the orange ones tgat just wrap around your neck. The tubes were yellow and some were orange. They seemed bigger then some of the other tubes out there so our buts never dragged the bottom. We had amazing guides. They told us about the island, palm trees, termites and leaf cutter ants. They also did a good job in keeping us away from the sides of the caves. We had people in our group who's ages ranges from 18 to 40 and they interacted well with everyone. We had a delicious lunch with a huge variety of food, too much to finish actually. At the end we couldn't help but to hug Nacho and Cynthia and some even *hugged the guides (who's names I have forgotten but I do have pictures). Please feel free to email ne if you want to see them!!

[NewYorkDenise]

hi:

 

Thanks for responding. Can you tell me what you paid for this excursion? There will be three of us. I searched them and think they were about $75 for this trip.

[bowbiter]

Cavetubing.com doesn't require you to link feet. you have the option of linking feet and being pulled by the guide or just going on your own down the river. cruise ship excursions are all on your own down the river (which is a lot more work than it seems!)

 

i went with them last time i was in belize and the tour was reasonably priced (40 i think?) and well planned.

[NewYorkDenise]

Cavetubing.com doesn't require you to link feet. you have the option of linking feet and being pulled by the guide or just going on your own down the river. cruise ship excursions are all on your own down the river (which is a lot more work than it seems!)

 

i went with them last time i was in belize and the tour was reasonably priced (40 i think?) and well planned.

 

Thanks Bowbiter, I know they have gotten really good reviews, though everyone says you link together. I was in Xcaret last year and did the cenotes. We free floated. I'm wondering if you have to link if the water is moving faster than at other times.

[bowbiter]

It could be that because our group was smaller that is why we had the option to link or no link. I'm assuming they want people to link to ensure everyone finishes the river part in time to go eat lunch and get back to the ship. the linking isn't bad - a little unpleasant to see someone's feet so close to your head but its definitely more relaxing than paddling the river yourself. We saw lots flailing attempting to do this since they were small and the tube was not.

 

I also did Xcaret and cenotes a year or two ago. It was nice but only because there was a decent current. When it was slow it wasn't easy to move yourself along. Luckily we had rented snorkel equipment and took it with us so we used the fins as paddles. Others were using shoes and other random things. It was actually pretty amusing.

[NewYorkDenise]

It could be that because our group was smaller that is why we had the option to link or no link. I'm assuming they want people to link to ensure everyone finishes the river part in time to go eat lunch and get back to the ship. the linking isn't bad - a little unpleasant to see someone's feet so close to your head but its definitely more relaxing than paddling the river yourself. We saw lots flailing attempting to do this since they were small and the tube was not.

 

I also did Xcaret and cenotes a year or two ago. It was nice but only because there was a decent current. When it was slow it wasn't easy to move yourself along. Luckily we had rented snorkel equipment and took it with us so we used the fins as paddles. Others were using shoes and other random things. It was actually pretty amusing.

 

Thanks again, I'm really undecided on whether or not to do cavetubing. I loved the cenotes and the best part was free floating. I don't think for me it will be that much fun to be pushed through the caves. I'm guessing that there is not much of a current in the caves and there was in the cenotes. I didn't find the cenotes to have much current, but you did move.

 

:confused:

[bowbiter]

Current may just simply depend on how much rain they have had recently. When I went the water was very shallow in parts so that may make a difference with current.

[wolfmaiden]

Curious question..is cavetubing.com Major/Minor Tom group..we are sailing Sunday and reserved with them now I hear mixed reviews like flashlights one per group,dirty old lifejakets,old tubes..anyone??

[drivingmsginger]

Warning: Do not use Major Tom in Belize. We just got back on the Legend on 5/30. We booked with him for zip line & cave tubing. The cave tubing was cancelled. This is where we should have walked away. Instead they told us we had time to do the Altun Ha excursion and the zip line. What they don't tell you is that they are on opposite sides of the country. Some of our group was only going to Altun Ha. Because of Major Tom's greed, he took us to both sites. We were on the bus for approximately 1 1/2 hours each way to the mayan site and then 1 hour each way to the zip line. Long story short....we made it back to the last tender at 4:02. It was supposed to leave at 4:00. They even stopped roadside for lunches, because they didn't want to refund any money at 2:45 PM. No one ate the lunch, because we were all scared about missing the boat. We told them to go on, but Major Tom had insisted they get our lunch, so he wouldn't have to refund any money. Please do not take the chance of using this company. The zip line portion at Jaguar Paw was wonderful. Our guides of Ronnie & Israel were great.

[bowbiter]

cavetubing.com and major tom are not the same company

[shagdancer]

anyone done the zip line/ cave tube combo with x-treme? Are they good and reliable?

[GinDon]

Our experience with X-Stream was wonderful. Safe, fun, reliable, enough time left over for a brief bit of shopping before hopping on the tender.

[shagdancer]

Our experience with X-Stream was wonderful. Safe, fun, reliable, enough time left over for a brief bit of shopping before hopping on the tender.

 

Thanks for info GinDon. S.

[wolfmaiden]

Warning: Do not use Major Tom in Belize. We just got back on the Legend on 5/30. We booked with him for zip line & cave tubing. The cave tubing was cancelled. This is where we should have walked away. Instead they told us we had time to do the Altun Ha excursion and the zip line. What they don't tell you is that they are on opposite sides of the country. Some of our group was only going to Altun Ha. Because of Major Tom's greed, he took us to both sites. We were on the bus for approximately 1 1/2 hours each way to the mayan site and then 1 hour each way to the zip line. Long story short....we made it back to the last tender at 4:02. It was supposed to leave at 4:00. They even stopped roadside for lunches, because they didn't want to refund any money at 2:45 PM. No one ate the lunch, because we were all scared about missing the boat. We told them to go on, but Major Tom had insisted they get our lunch, so he wouldn't have to refund any money. Please do not take the chance of using this company. The zip line portion at Jaguar Paw was wonderful. Our guides of Ronnie & Israel were great.

 

 

WOW...We booked but with no money down..and yes they are NOT CAVETUBING.COM.. they are..".NET"

So should we go with Xtreme people?? We leave on Sunday!! Need to cancel and re-book..have 4 people going..we were going to include the lunch!! :confused:

 

Thanks All :D

P&B

[shagdancer]

Hope this will help - from my research- while looking for a company

found these:

NCQ adventure tours

xstream cave tube

island marketing which contracts out to Xstream

jaguar paw cave tube

plus the one you have booked. Good luck. May have a problem booking this late.

Before you cancel I would check some of these.

shagdancer

[shagdancer]

You may want to read reviews on trip advisor- they have 180 cave tube reviews.

 

heads up-

also cave-tubing net and belize cave tubing net are SAME company with NEW website (major/minor tom).

 

good luck.

[STARFISH*4]

just gets MORE confusing on WHO to go with:confused:

[conniejb]

just gets MORE confusing on WHO to go with:confused:

 

Want nice clean tubes, lights and life vest??? Go with Jaguar Paw.

Want a tour guide that is safe and filled with lots of information? Jaguar Paw.

 

We saw lots of groups and I was soooooo happy i went with them.

[STARFISH*4]

Want nice clean tubes, lights and life vest??? Go with Jaguar Paw.

Want a tour guide that is safe and filled with lots of information? Jaguar Paw.

 

We saw lots of groups and I was soooooo happy i went with them.

 

they are pretty HIGH on the list so far....THANKS:)

[debonaire1998]

Hi, we're leaving on the Legend on July 11th. It's our first time in Belize, the cave tubing sounds amazing, however, I can't seem to get a feel for how fast the water moves. I have rafted on the rapids in the NE, is this similar?

 

Also, we have a 9 yr old, who is a bit small for his age. And I am quite a bit out of shape. Are there height or weight limits for the tubes and/or ziplines?

 

Any info would be great.

 

Thanks.

[Captain Carnival]

So, is it fair to say that cavetubing.com is the best/safest/cheapest bet out there or should one book through Carnival directly? THANKS!

 

BTW: is it cavetubing.com or cave-tubing.com???