belize cave tubing with toddler?

[venusjems]

Anyone have experience with this they would like to share?

 

Not really looking for a dont do it kind of response. I want to hear about people that did it that had a good/succesful time.

 

Ive done cave tubing pre babies, now i would like to go again with two toddlers. Already have it set up where we will have our own guide etc, because i dont want to bother other non children parties.

 

Any advice? things you recommend? (like jackets? all in one floatie outfits) etc?

[Carolin]

I did not see any toddlers when I went cave tubing this year. All of the tubes are large and people link together with feet on your shoulders with you holding on to them and someone is holding on to your feet.

 

I'd email one of the cave tubing companies and ask if there was a height/ age restriction. I'm 4'11" and I could barely stretch to get my feet to the person in front of me. I was on my back looking straight up the whole time.

[Mack2]

I went tubing with my kids in November 2009... My youngest was 5 at the time, the youngest person on our tour was 4.

 

We went with Vitalino of cavetubing.bz since, in the summer of 2009, there was a fatal drowning accident with one of the Carnival providers... so there were no cavetubing excursions that were available through the cruise line.

 

I can't vouch for the current tours, but we had a GREAT time. The children were provided with smaller tubes and child sized life jackets. The children's tubes were tied to an adult's tube with an extra life jacket... so my daughter was next to me, her older brother was tied to my wife's tube in front of her, and the younger boy was behind her, tied next to his mother.

 

There were no more than 8 people in our train of tubes.

 

I have photos.

The two youngest

 

One thing that was nice was that the guides helped the kids carry their tubes for the hike... it wasn't that busy (no cruise-run tours)... and we felt safe (I was pretty confident in the swimming ability of my kids)

 

I highly recommend Vitalino, and I think that .bz is mentioned frequently on the Belize boards still. I wasn't nervous about the tour, but I definitely didn't tell my mother (grandma came with us) about the drowning :o...

 

So, I guess, I did it... but I would have to say it would depend the child's age, comfort level in darkness, and comfort level in water. The right tour company is also a consideration. I've read stories where the parents had to hold onto their kid's tube the entire tour... and they did NOT have a good time with sore arms holding the tubes together.

[Mack2]

Upon checking .bz's website...

 

According to his FAQ, he's safely taken kids both in the smaller tubes and on the parent's lap... I hope I'm not sound too biased towards the guy.... but we had a very good time.

[venusjems]

Thank you Mack2!

That is what i wanted to hear. I have used a different cave-tubing company before and we really enjoyed it. I asked them if we could bring the babies and they said it was fine and they would have a guide just for our group. I planned on bringing them their own life jacket/wet suit. He said they have small tubes or they could ride on our lap. I think the biggest thing is keeping them occupied on the trip out there.

We have a pool at home, they are pretty much comfortable in that. Maybe i will spend the summer on a tube with them in my lap and pretending that i am already on a cruise and its not 7 months away. It is kind of hard to forsee what they will be like in 7 months.

Thanks for sharing the pics too!

[Mack2]

I would just be wary about the number of people in the caves when you go.

 

Like I mentioned in my post, there was a fatal drowning that stopped the cruise lines from offering the cave-tubing excursion... So, like you can see in the one photo looking behind, there wasn't too many other groups traveling the caves with us.

 

I think when we went, it was our group of 8 and two other small chains of people.

 

 

The drowning occurred during fast waters and a LOT of tourists going through the cave. Essentially, what happened was a large group of people in tubes got stuck in a corner of the cave and a lady fell off her tube and drowned under the crush of tubes.

 

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2008-10-01/news/tourist01_1_tubing-in-belize-cave-tubing-linan

...But another tourist, Alissa Guay of Panama City, said that she was on the tubing excursion with Linan and described it as a harrowing experience. The water level in the cave was high and the current swift, she said. When she and the other tourists approached a sharp turn in the cave, the flow pushed Guay and several others into a wall, and they capsized.

 

"I grabbed ahold of a branch that was sticking out of the water and just held on for dear life," she said. "I can't even begin to explain the panic in people's eyes."

 

 

... Hmmm.... happened in 2008

[ata1976]

We went in 2009. My son was a little over 3 years old. He didn't have any problems with the long bus ride, but he did get tired of walking in the jungle. DH and I took turns carrying him and we traded off carrying the tubes. DS rode in DH's lap down the river and loved it and still talks about it today.

[DALSAL]

The cruise lines should have stopped offering this in Belize. I went with Yhony, who was fabulous and would feel very comfortable with taking a child with him, but never would I have gone thru the cruise ship. Too many people and very few guides. Besides, the tour guides know when to tell you to "butts up" ! :D

[venusjems]

Thank you ata1976 for your input too. I think my 3 year old will love it as well, if he gets scared he has me, dad, grandma and aunt. The two year old im a bit more nervous about, just because i dont really know her personality yet since we still have 7 months to go!

And Dalsal, that is who we are going with! We loved him the last time, pre kids, I like that they have a guide for each group of 8, with a few extra to help guide thru the caves.

 

Thanks again!

[HPEmom]

We have a 5 year old and 2 year old (along with a 12 year old) sailing in December. I think they would enjoy this experience. The 2 older kids swim like fish and the younger would enjoy just riding in a parent's lap. Can you tell me who you used before?

[Nebr.cruiser]

We have done the cave tubing, with a private company and without kids. With the company we used I would be very comfortable taking children; we had about one guide for every 6 people. We were not left to our own resources at all.

 

You are very wise not to take a cruise tour. We were getting in the river about the same time as a gigantic ship tour. While our entry was easy, controlled and aided by our guides, theirs was chaos.

 

Multiple people spinning out of control down the river, falling off their tubes, unable to get into the tubes, etc. and, worst of all and almost unbelievable, one of the 'guides' THREW (sorry for the caps, but I have to emphasize this!) an older baby, maybe 10 months, to his dad alread floating downstream on a tube.

 

This ship tour was from our ship and some of the 'guides' were actually people we had seen working around the ship, not natives who might actually know what they were doing. People floated through the caves in totally disorganized groups of 20 or more, getting caught, lagging behind, etc. Luckily the water wasn't too high, but not low either.

 

How old are your toddlers? I ask because the walk there really isn't that bad, as you know, but won't be easy for short little legs, like, say, 18 months and 2.5. If they are 3 & 4, it will be a different story. Also, they should be able to tolerate the fairly long bus ride.