cave tubing

[scungileen]

I am thinking about booking with cave-tubing.com. They say it is an hour ride back and forth from the ship. Once there, you have 30 minutes of hiking (walking) and then 45 minute tube ride.

 

Question,oneof the guests in my party has a bad back and I am concerned about the hike or walk down to the water. Anyone done this and what is really involved.

 

Also, is this a good tour company? Any better ones out there?

[tada]

Here's a portion of our cruise review that covers cane tubing in Belize. I'll leave it up to you to decide.

 

We had arranged an ATV/cave tubing tour with cave-tubing.com. We were trying to decide between them, cavetubing.bz, and VIV tours. All got about the same reviews, so we went with them because of the ATV option. We met them at pier 1. They were easy to find and had our name on a list.

 

We boarded a bus where they had a rap song playing called “Butts Up”. Well produced, but loud. They say “Butts Up” because in low parts of the river, you need to raise your butt to avoid rocks. Once everyone was onboard, we took off for the caves. First we made a tour of Belize City. It is ok, but just ok. Belize is a poor country, so don’t expect a lot of shopping and hotels. More just basic buildings like schools and government offices, and local shops.

 

We didn’t get much time in Belize City, so I don’t know if I would walk around it too much. It looked safe, but kind of ramshackle. The mall at the port had the typical shops, but nothing special.

 

Then we headed out into the countryside. The people in Belize and Yucatan live in small homes with thatch roofs. I wouldn’t call them shacks, just small homes. Most of the homes had satellite dishes, so I know they had TVs. Most had fairly late model cars and trucks parked out in front of them. But they seemed poor. Clothes lines are used for drying their laundry.

 

The land sits on stretches of limestone, so farming is minimal. Their economy seems to be based on tourism and fishing. But they have a lot of palm trees and they scenery is lush.

 

On the way it started raining, or I should say pouring. We decided to pass of the ATV portion of the tour since we just would have been covered with mud. Instead we decided just to do the cave tubing.

 

On the drive, the offered us rum punch and cashew wine. The cashew wine tasted like a hard cider.

 

Once we arrived at the park, a park ranger walked through the bus to inspect it. Then we unloaded and used the changing rooms and restrooms. If you do cave tubing, take some good sandals, not flip flops. Something like a Teva or Keen sandal would be best. Water shoes are ok, but you have to walk about 20 minutes through the jungle over rocks and mud. We ended up renting water shoes there for $3 each which were pretty worn out and kind of nasty and waterlogged.

 

We then got our tubes, life jackets, and head lamps. You have to carry your tubes to through the rainforest to the river. They aren’t too heavy, just cumbersome.

 

The rain did not let up. It poured on us. Some of the members of our group had also chosen to do zip lining. They were taken off separately and were due to meet up with us later at the river. That is where all the delays began. Apparently they got delayed. The guides stated meeting with themselves and discussed how they could slow down our tour long enough for them to meet back up with us. So as other outfitters walked past us, we just stood in the rain in the jungle hearing our guides tell us about the local flora. It got boring. I like to hear about local plants, but not that much. It was wet and muddy, and the rocks were hard on the water shoes.

 

So after an hour walk that should have only taken 20 minutes, we finally got to the river. There the guides formed us into groups of 8 to get us into the river. They tied the tubes together (kind of) and got everyone loaded on the tubes. They could not tie my wife’s tube to mine, so I ended up with her feet under my armpits. It was not comfortable. We started down the river with a guide pulling our group of eight tubes. After about 20 minutes, my back started to cramp up. There are no neck supports on the tubes, so you get tired of craning your head up to see. And her feet under my armpits didn’t make it any easier. It was impossible to sit up.

 

We entered the caves and they were ok. I grew up in Missouri, so I have seen plenty of limestone caves. The guide pointed to features and tried to describe what they looked like. But by then, I was in so much pain trying to see them that I just laid flat on the tube and looked straight up.

 

After another 20 minutes of floating on the river, the guide came around and asked everyone if we were having fun. I honestly said no. I told him with my wife’s feet under my armpits, I was unable to sit up and enjoy it. He had me remove my life vest and they rigged it so her tube and mine were finally attached together. At last I could sit up.

 

Then we had to make a stop on the side of the river for about 10 minutes to wait for the zip liners to join us. Finally they did. By then, I was wet and miserable, and just wanted to end the tour. So we got back in the tubes, floated another 20 minutes and finally got back to our starting point. At that point, you have to undo your tube from the group and carry it back to the issuing point. Then change clothes if you want, return the rented water shoes, and get back on the bus. This tour took way longer than it should have.

 

Once we got back on the bus, they told us they were going to take us to lunch at one of their facilities and serve us chicken tamales. I told the guide Miles that it was now 2:45pm, and our last tender back to the ship was at 4:15pm. He assured me that they had never missed getting a passenger back in time, and I asked him to not make us the first.

 

Once we got to their facility, they provided us with free chicken tamales.

 

Note, they do not bone the chicken well, so be careful when biting into them. The tamales were actually very good. They also sold chips, beer, and mixed drinks to compliment the meal.

 

So after everyone got something to eat, we headed back to Belize City. By then, I was getting used to the never ending rap song playing, and maybe the alcohol was easing my frustration.

 

These guys did work hard for their money. One of our guides was trying to cheer the group up when we were in the water, telling us to enjoy it, that we were on vacation. He noted that he was 48 and had never left Belize of even had a vacation. One of our fellow tubers told him, “but you live in paradise.” Paradise to us, work to him. I’m 52, and I would hate the idea that my main job was to pull people down a shallow river in tubes. We tipped them well, even though this was not that great a tour.

 

I don’t think they have a bad company, but their equipment could have been better. The happiest people I saw where on the VIV tour. They were in smaller groups and had tubes with back supports and net bottoms. And VIV doesn’t offer the zip lines and ATVs, so they concentrate just on the tubing. If I had to choose again, I’d take the VIV tour.

 

So we got back at the port at 4:00pm, with just minutes to spare before the last tender boat left, with really no time to shop or look around. So we got on the boat and headed back to the ship.

[1951Mom]

Could some one who has done this comment on the question of a person being able to do this with a bad back? I too have wondered about whether this would be a good activity if you have a bad back ... especially the fact that you have to carry the tube for 45 minutes. Any thoughts? Thank you ...

[CACkles]

The hike is not difficult, but it's impossible to say whether it is too much for a person with a bad back, since the degree of infirmity varies so much. It's not so much the hike down to the water, which just takes a few minutes, as it is a hike upriver to the starting point. The trail is quite wide through most of it and it's mostly level. The tubes are not heavy, but a little awkward to carry. I am in poor physical condition (overweight) and did not have difficulty with the hike. But I don't have a bad back. The hike could easily be made by someone in good shape in 15-20 minutes. Our guide paused at several different places to give us a chance to rest and explained things about the flora and fauna (termites that taste like mint, leaves that make great toilet paper, etc.), so the entire hike was about 45 minutes. I found the hike almost as enjoyable as the float because it was so beautiful and interesting.

 

If you decide to do it, I would recommend using VIV. As the first review noted, all of their tubes have head rests which might be more comfortable for someone with back trouble. They also all clip together, so you don't have to have someone's feet under your arms. Our guide with VIV was amazing, but it sounds like there are quite a few companies with amazing guides. VIV does not offer the drinks or lunch, so if that is important to you, then you might stick with one of the other companies. It is virtually impossible to get an objective comparison of companies because most people have only used one. And your enjoyment depends much more upon your individual guide(s) rather than what company sponsors it. So I would choose a reputable company based on the features you want - lunch, comfortable tubes, zipline, ATV, price, etc. For us the comfortable tubes and price were most important and we were very happy with our choice.

[Banditswife]

I am not sure about the bad back either, I will say David w/ cavetubingRus is very good about getting back to you w/ any question/concerns you have. We were not hooked by feet. Our guides were very entertaining and helpful. We were in a very small group.

[lola59]

I am thinking about booking with cave-tubing.com. They say it is an hour ride back and forth from the ship. Once there, you have 30 minutes of hiking (walking) and then 45 minute tube ride.

 

Question,oneof the guests in my party has a bad back and I am concerned about the hike or walk down to the water. Anyone done this and what is really involved.

 

Also, is this a good tour company? Any better ones out there?

 

My Husband,myself and our friends (another couple) Took VIV tours cavetubing. I know I made the right choice. We range in age from 64 to 55. We had a hike of about 25 minutes through the forest. The path was not too bad. I just carried my tube from the inside on my head (I'm only 5'2" and I'm 64) - I had no problems and I was wearing my water shoes from Walmarts. The tubes had head rests, clips for hooking together and we had only eight per guide in each group. We had the best guide ever- Loved this company...

[Whumcruise]

We were happy to book with belizeexcursions.biz (Shore Excursioneer) as we visited Cozumel the day before and went to Mr. Sanchos Beach. So as we booked both excursions with them we got a discount on the two tours for everybody which was a nice saving at the end. I can really recommend them, everything went smooth and as promised and the way you book with them is the best way I ever saw on an excursion website. They provide you with local time, ship time, etc for each port, duration in both times, etc so you have all the info needed to relax and enjoy each port.:)

[mitsugirly]

We used .bz and they were wonderful. They will go at your own pace and there were plenty of places that they stop to tell you about things along the way (along with "taste test") :D We had people in our group that had canes and were probably in their 70's. No issues. We had a 3 year old that walked the entire way too and she wasn't at a fast pace either. :) Also the tour guides will carry you tube if you need to. No worries.

 

If you want complete details of our trip with .bz, you can find it here along with pictures and a link at the bottom with more pictures of that day.

 

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