Cave Tubing Comparison and a few questions...

[CruisinDawn]

Already heard back :D now just to decide between the Cave Tubing or Cave Tubing/ATV combo! Looked the others websites over, read the reviews, thinking cave-tubing.com is the place.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

Had a second question and already heard back. Imluvncruzn I would try again. They are definately answering questions today. I just sent an email the the info@??? email that is on thier site.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[rockbock]

Had a second question and already heard back. Imluvncruzn I would try again. They are definately answering questions today. I just sent an email the the info@??? email that is on thier site.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

 

 

This is insane. I've emailed the info@ email twice and the alternate email once. Still NO responses at all. This is the company I think I want to book with, but I might end up going with one of the other two instead, simply because they are willing to respond to my emails.

[spleenstomper]

Have you checked your junk file in email? I forget to check there when these things happen...,

[rockbock]

Have you checked your junk file in email? I forget to check there when these things happen...,

 

Yes, every day for the past week and a half.

[CruisinDawn]

This is insane. I've emailed the info@ email twice and the alternate email once. Still NO responses at all. This is the company I think I want to book with, but I might end up going with one of the other two instead, simply because they are willing to respond to my emails.

Weird, I went ahead and booked with them and already got my confirmation.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[rockbock]

Weird, I went ahead and booked with them and already got my confirmation.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

 

Well, I just put through our reservation. I'm not thrilled with the communication at this point, but I'm going to trust my instincts that this is the best company for us. Maybe they'll actually respond to me if it's an actual reservation.

[rockbock]

Ok, I already got my confirmation. I guess they only like to respond if you make a reservation lol.

 

Anyway, the confirmation answered my main question, which is, "Why is your tour only 4 hours, when most competitors advertise 5 - 5.5 hours?"

 

Well apparently the cave-tubing.com website is just misleading (they really should change it). According to my confirmation, the trip is 5 hours.

[spleenstomper]

You are going to love it!

 

I want to do this exact same cruise over-- ATV and cave tubing and all!

[CruisinDawn]

Ok, I already got my confirmation. I guess they only like to respond if you make a reservation lol.

 

Anyway, the confirmation answered my main question, which is, "Why is your tour only 4 hours, when most competitors advertise 5 - 5.5 hours?"

 

Well apparently the cave-tubing.com website is just misleading (they really should change it). According to my confirmation, the trip is 5 hours.

Did you book the atv combo or just tubing? ours is 4:45/5 with ATV.

 

1 hour drive to

1 hour drive back

45 min - hour on ATV's

1.5 Cave Tubing

30 min changing & snacks

 

Exactly what we were looking for so were good here. Leaving Grandma so don't want to be gone to long.

 

Rcokbock - when do you go? We don't go until Feb 28th so if your going sooner would love for you to check back in with a quick review.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[rockbock]

Did you book the atv combo or just tubing? ours is 4:45/5 with ATV.

 

1 hour drive to

1 hour drive back

45 min - hour on ATV's

1.5 Cave Tubing

30 min changing & snacks

 

Exactly what we were looking for so were good here. Leaving Grandma so don't want to be gone to long.

 

Rcokbock - when do you go? We don't go until Feb 28th so if your going sooner would love for you to check back in with a quick review.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

 

 

Wow, that's kind of crazy. They charge $40 for the cave tubing and $75 for cave tubing plus ATV, but the ATV excursion is shorter!

 

Here's the itinerary from my reservation:

 

Itinerary:

1 hour drive to the site

1 hour coming back

2.5 hours at the cave tubing site

30 mins for changing room, snacks, lunch

We'll be there on October 2nd. I plan to review all of our excursions once I get back.

[mara93]

rockbock, could you please check back & give us an overview of your experience?

 

Thanks!

[blindhrtd]

Nacho and Cynthia is definitely not in contention for us. I don't think there's anything they can possibly provide to make it worth $75 for essentially the same trip that the other companies offer for $40.

 

Actually, Nacho & Cynthia charge $65 for cave tubing and lunch. We just got back from the Dream (7/7-7/14) and they were one of the highlights of our trip! There were only the 6 of us in our group that day. They told us about Belize and how the people live. At the cave tubing site they introduced us to Ric, our guide for cave tubing. We had the "luxury" tubes and were tied together. I did see another group linking by feet/armpit. I did not want to do this, and asked Nacho when he called me to set up the reservation, and he assured me he did not do that. The tubing was a wonderful experience. Afterward, Nacho and Cynthia took us back to the city while entertaining our group (including my 9 and 5 year olds) with riddles and stories. In the city, he took us to a wonderful Belizian restaurant to have a traditional lunch and to try local beer and treats. We truly felt like family by the end of our tour. I personally feel that it was worth much more than what they are charging!

[rockbock]

rockbock, could you please check back & give us an overview of your experience?

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, but it will be quite a while. We won't be there until October 2nd!

 

And I didn't think to post this here sooner, but I was able to get a $35 group rate with cave-tubing.com. You only need a group of 10 to qualify for this rate and that's a pretty easy number to come up with if you advertise it in your roll call. I was offered an alternate group deal for a party of 10 or more, which was a free excursion for the organizer, plus a t-shirt. Everybody else pays the standard $40 rate. I opted for the $35 rate option, so I could "share the wealth" with everybody else on my roll call. My family has five people, so the $35 rate saves us $25. I was more than willing to give up the extra $15 and t-shirt, in order to be able to help at least 10 other people get the $5 off.

[mara93]

That's fine, if you don't mind, as we're traveling May 2013.

[rockbock]

Actually, Nacho & Cynthia charge $65 for cave tubing and lunch. We just got back from the Dream (7/7-7/14) and they were one of the highlights of our trip! There were only the 6 of us in our group that day. They told us about Belize and how the people live. At the cave tubing site they introduced us to Ric, our guide for cave tubing. We had the "luxury" tubes and were tied together. I did see another group linking by feet/armpit. I did not want to do this, and asked Nacho when he called me to set up the reservation, and he assured me he did not do that. The tubing was a wonderful experience. Afterward, Nacho and Cynthia took us back to the city while entertaining our group (including my 9 and 5 year olds) with riddles and stories. In the city, he took us to a wonderful Belizian restaurant to have a traditional lunch and to try local beer and treats. We truly felt like family by the end of our tour. I personally feel that it was worth much more than what they are charging!

 

I think it's great that you had such a good time. And the reason there are so many options available is because different people have different desires. For my family, we really don't care about having luxury tubes. Sure, it would be a nice upgrade, but it's not something we'd be willing to pay for. Aside from the tubes, it seems like we are getting an almost identical experience for $35pp as what Nacho offered you for $65pp (and it did say $75 on their website when I checked). That's almost half the price, which for me, is significant. For my family of 5, cave-tubing.com is costing us $175 plus tip. Nacho would cost us $325 plus tip!

 

COMPARISON OF THE TWO:

 

Price - $35 for C-T and $65 for Nacho

Payment - neither company requires a deposit in advance

Tubes - Both are linked and don't rely on armpit holds. C-T carries the tubes for you. I think you carry your own for the 30-45 minute hike with Nacho. Nacho tubes have headrest and net.

Length of tour - C-T is five hours. I'm assuming Nacho is similar, since every company advertises 4.5 - 5.5 hours and the actual tour depends on how quickly your group handles the hiking time.

Group Size - Both are similar. The C-T bus might have more people on it, but they break into groups of 4-6 for the tour.

Transportation - Not sure about Nacho, but the C-T buses are VERY nice looking motorcoaches

Tour - Every major company I've read about provides incredible guides and an amazingly fun and informative bus tour and hiking tour.

Lunch - Both provide Belizean Lunch

Drinks - C-T offers cashew wine tastings. Nacho offers beer tastings (yuck).

 

I don't doubt for a second that Nacho provides and amazing experience; however, I've seen hundreds of cave-tubing.com reviews, and I can tell that they also provide an amazing experience. For me, the price difference makes the choice a no-brainer...and the fact that C-T will carry the tubes for us is just icing on the cake.

[imluvncruzn]

Yes, but it will be quite a while. We won't be there until October 2nd!

 

And I didn't think to post this here sooner, but I was able to get a $35 group rate with cave-tubing.com. You only need a group of 10 to qualify for this rate and that's a pretty easy number to come up with if you advertise it in your roll call. I was offered an alternate group deal for a party of 10 or more, which was a free excursion for the organizer, plus a t-shirt. Everybody else pays the standard $40 rate. I opted for the $35 rate option, so I could "share the wealth" with everybody else on my roll call. My family has five people, so the $35 rate saves us $25. I was more than willing to give up the extra $15 and t-shirt, in order to be able to help at least 10 other people get the $5 off.

 

Thanks! This was exactly the information I've been looking for! They haven''t returned any of my emails but I've been reading on here that they respond if you make a reservation! Are any of your group children? If so what rate were you given for them. The website says $25 but wasn't sure if they then count toward the 10 you need for a "group". So confusing!

[rockbock]

Thanks! This was exactly the information I've been looking for! They haven''t returned any of my emails but I've been reading on here that they respond if you make a reservation! Are any of your group children? If so what rate were you given for them. The website says $25 but wasn't sure if they then count toward the 10 you need for a "group". So confusing!

 

Yeah, they were TERRIBLE about responding to me until I contacted them with the reservation. They confirmed the reservation very quickly, and then once I reply to that emaill, they will get back to me quickly. And there's no harm in making the reservation to get their attention and then cancelling if you don't like the answers to your questions...it's not like you're leaving a deposit or anything.

 

Sorry, but I can't answer your question about the kids' rates. Our group is all teens and adults.

[imluvncruzn]

I did exactly that...made a reservation online and they got back to me within a few hours. We did get $35 rate for adults and $25 for children under 10. What a great deal! We have a group of 20 so far! I've been cave tubing before so know what to expect and can't wait to go again in January!

[golfer1966]

I'm getting ready to book my cave tubing excursion for October. Based on my research, I've narrowed it down to three options. They all have very good reviews, both on CC and TripAdvisor. Before I make my final decision, I want to verify that I have my facts straight on each one. I also have a few questions...

 

All three companies seem to offer great guides and will carry rafts for anybody who needs help.

 

(1) Cavetubing.bz - $40, armpit-style linking, no headrest, 3 caves, 4.5 - 5 hours, large lunch included (belizean chicken, rice & peas), drinks included (water, soda, rum punch)

 

(2) Cave-tubing.com - $40, linked tubes, no headrest, 2 caves, 4 hours, "light lunch" included (Belizean tamale), drinks not included.

 

(3) VIV - $40, linked tubes with headrests, 2 caves, 5.5 hours, no food or drinks included (can be purchased for $5pp extra).

 

 

MY QUESTIONS:

 

(a) If VIV only does two caves, then how come the VIV excursion is so much longer than the other two?

 

(b) I know some companies stop along the trip so people can buy cashew wine at $3.00 per bottle. Do all three of these companies make this stop?

 

© Which companies let you jump into the water? (I read somewhere that there is a ledge you can jump off of).

 

We jumped into the water with .COM tour. I cant comment on VIV or whatever, but I can tell you about our trip with the . COM folks. The trek through the Jungle was pretty neat. They stopped periodically to tell us info on plants, bugs and wildlife. For example, we saw termites and we were asked to try and eat some...so a few of us did. ( kinda minty ) They helped carry some of the tubes for some of the other folks. When we went down stream in the tubes, yes there were no head rests, but you laid in it looking up most of the time anyway. If you have neck issues, this could be a bit troublesome. Also, we passed another company and the people were all spread out when the guide was talking and we were all tied together. There was a section that the water wasnt really moving and the folks were paddling towards the guide. OUR guides pulled us through the water together. I liked the .COM tour. Were the tubes the best...no, but I think they helped us allot and worked hard for their money in my opinion.

[lizjoemom]

Cave-tubing.com does NOT link feet to armpits!!!

 

And our cave tubing lasted the longest out of the companies who were there when we were. We kept going down the river whereas the other companies got out as soon as we exited the cave.

 

Plus, with cave-tubing.com you don't pay until it is over and you are satisfied.

 

I have video on my YouTube channel: spleenstomper

 

are you su4re because, they still show it on their website, I definitely dont want to link to other peoples feet and armpits! Do you have a link to your video?

[rockbock]

are you su4re because, they still show it on their website, I definitely dont want to link to other peoples feet and armpits! Do you have a link to your video?

 

I don't know why the website hasn't changed, but it's been more than 6 months since they stopped using foot/armpit links.

 

As best I can tell from my research, the only company that still links that way is .bz

[lizjoemom]

I don't know why the website hasn't changed, but it's been more than 6 months since they stopped using foot/armpit links.

 

As best I can tell from my research, the only company that still links that way is .bz

 

Thanks, I looked up your video looks like you guys had fun, I am tending to lean towards VIV though, because their tubes have the headrests and look pretty comfortable.

[slowpoke58]

Already heard back :D now just to decide between the Cave Tubing or Cave Tubing/ATV combo! Looked the others websites over, read the reviews, thinking cave-tubing.com is the place.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

It tells us that these people have a light lunch and that is fine, but what about something to drink? such as a sprite or another can drink?

 

Thanks

[rockbock]

It tells us that these people have a light lunch and that is fine, but what about something to drink? such as a sprite or another can drink?

 

Thanks

 

I was told that sodas are available for $1 each, or you can bring your own drinks.

[sanger727]

My stepmother is vacationing with us this year and but is nervous about doing the cave tubing. She is a little claustrophobic and worried about the caves being tight or enclosed. For those of you who have been on this tour before, do you think this could be an issue for her? I saw that one of the caves is 10 feet high and the other is 100 ft high. Obviously the large one will be fine, for the one with the lower ceiling, can you usually see light coming in from one side or the other? Or do you get a to a point in the middle where it's completely dark and you can't see the way out?