Cave Tubing/Claustrophobia

[Trigger69]

My wife and I are thinking about cave tubing in Belize, however my wife can be claustrophobic at times in dark/tight spaces. Is it completely dark in the caves? Are the caves fairly large and open, or do you feel closed in? I appreciate any responses... maybe we should stick with snorkeling.:cool:

[serengeti]

The cave tubing adventure IS a lot of fun! We went with www.cave-tubing.com and they gave us the option of entering on the second cave or doing the first cave (we elected to only do the second cave as he told us the 1st cave required a ton of paddling... therefore I can only speak from our experience on the second cave).

 

When we entered in the cave you can still see some light for the first 100 meters or so (110 yards). The caves have VERY high ceilings (about 10-50 meters/11-55 yards) so the fear of TIGHT space should not be obvious. However, it gets BLACK inside. Now, lights are provided and most people have their lights turned on so you can see your space around you. (Visible to the eye, but definitely a stretch to have enough light for a decent photo!)

 

I strongly URGE you not to book through the cruise ship! We booked with Yhony at www.cave-tubing.com and were quite pleased. The disadvantage of the cruise ship? We saw over 100 people on our adventure with the cruise ship, and we have heard these numbers can jump to as high as 500 people... WITH ONLY 1 GUIDE!!! What is that! We had 7 in our group and our guide, Timmy, suggested that we hooked ourselves together so he can direct us accordingly. Also, you will pay half the price for a better time!

 

I hope the above info helps.

[thunder_lin]

Same for us. We cave tubed on March with Yhony (15 of us) and had a great time. I wouldn't book throught the cruise. You get more personalized service with Yhony. Because we had a group of 15 we had 2 guides, Yhony & Travis. The caves are big and the lights illuminate what you need to see. Go for it, you'll enjoy the experience. WE ALL DID!

[disneysteve]

I agree that claustrophobia probably isn't a big concern. The caves are huge and never really in total darkness because everyone is wearing a headlamp. Plus there are a couple of points in the cave where it opens to the outside so natural light is coming in. No tight spaces or low ceilings or anything like that.

[verb0979]

I took a group of 8 kids cave tubing with Yhony Rosado from

cave-tubing.com on March 29th, 2005. We only went through the second cave and I don't see any concern about claustrophobia either. The cavern is very large and in two places the wall is open to the jungle. The water was cool and refreshing, not cold. All 8 kids (most of them jaded teenagers) had the time of their lives. For our group of 9, we had 2 guides. They were very knowledgeable about Belize and answered all of our questions. The path through the jungle is wide and clear (lots of rocks and tree trunks, but no debris). If there had been a snake or any other wildlife, we would have seen it in plenty of time to get out of the way. Well worth the $45 we paid for the experience! Email me with any questions at ejverbos@hotmail.com.

[younglk]

Is the water clean and is there any chance of fish or snakes etc. in the water or surrounding area

[mitsugirly]

We had a terrific time cave tubing (booked with .bz) and like others have said, the ceilings are high and the river is pretty wide as well.

 

As for being in the dark, they have so many tours from several different companies tubing at the same time, you will always see some light (everyone wears a helmet with a light on it). So, our guide wanted to show us just how dark the cave can be without the lights on and told us to turn off the lights (it's optional of course and you don't have to), but it did no good because of all the other people around us with their lights on. So, you can always see where you are headed (due to their lights on the helmets ahead of you). :)

 

There can be snakes, but not many are seen according to the guides (it is a flowing river). They do have bats in the caves (way up in the ceiling and even areas you can't see, but you can hear them). They won't hurt you and they pretty much stay put. I believe there were 3 different kinds.

 

You are welcome to read my review from last month found here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=30667696&postcount=44

 

There is a link at the bottom of that page to a bunch of pictures.

[katiepe]

We are booked with VIV Tours. They appeared to be the only ones that you didnt have to place your feet in someone's armpits or vice versa:D

They have all new tubes and I have read good reviews here and other places about them.

45.00 pp but no lunch which is fine by us. I would rather spend the time tubing than eating!

[mitsugirly]

We are booked with VIV Tours. They appeared to be the only ones that you didnt have to place your feet in someone's armpits or vice versa:D

They have all new tubes and I have read good reviews here and other places about them.

45.00 pp but no lunch which is fine by us. I would rather spend the time tubing than eating!

 

Just so you know, you won't spend any more time tubing vs those that tube and eat. Everyone goes to the same place to tube down the river. You might choose how many caves you go in, but the caves are the same, the river is the same and the water flows the same for everyone. So those booking with the cave tubing and meal simply get done and go to the site where they have prepared the meals for them and get a meal before heading back to the port for shopping or to get on the ship. :) So you won't be spending any more time tubing.

[crusinpsychRN]

The caves are huge. It is quite black even with a light. My light went out. It's a lot of fun.

[Colorado Kat]

The caves are very large, so no problems with claustaphobia.