Cave Tubing Comparison and a few questions...

[spiritweevil]

We went with the .com guys last february and it was the absolute best tour we have ever done.

 

The ride to the caves was great, they are giving you all the back ground info about Belize culture and life, it was all very interesting. They do give you a sample of the cashew wine on the way. SOOO good!

 

Once at the caves the trek thru the jungle was amazing. The guys in our group did carry their own tubes but the ladies all had theirs carried by the guides. The guides stop along the way and tell you all about the local plants and wildlife.

 

Once you get to the river they link your tubes together. No feet in armpits. You get a head light so you can see inside the caves. The first cave is shorter and not as high. There is a point in the middle where you are completely in the dark, it doesn't last long, but I never felt like I was closed in. Its still a really big cave. The second cave is HUGE.

 

Once you come out of the second cave a lot of the other tours leave at this point but we kept floating down the river for a long time. We were the only group on the river at this point. You end up back where you started your trek.

 

At that point you go back to the bus. Oh, there are restrooms here also for use and to change if you want. Once back on the bus they take you to have lunch. It was a chicken tamale wraped in a banana leaf. It was delish! Have it with the hot sauce. They have drinks to purchase. We tried the local beer, Belikin, very good beer. I think it was $3 a bottle. Here is where you can buy the cashew wine. It was $5 a bottle. We bought 4 to bring home. They also have t-shirts and some other Belizein gift stuff here for sale.

 

The ride back was uneventful. Just gave us time to chill and reflect on our amazing day. We were back to the port with enough time to grab a few more Belikin beers at a bar at the tourist village before we grabbed the tender back to the ship.

 

Over all I can't recomend these guys enough. This was the highlight of our Legend cruise. Our boss did this same tour a few months after us with his family and they loved it as much as we did.

 

Hope this helps clear up some of your questions.

[souperjen24]

This is some great info, thanks all! Has anyone had any experience with Major Tom tubing?

[ray98]

Great topic....I am debating the same 3 companies. Looking at the posts if .bz linked with ropes they would meet pretty much exceed everyones expectations since they also provide lunch and drinks.

[HLWCruze]

I have been following this thread-such great information; thank you. Before I found this thread I had already reserched cave-tubing.com and I think this is the one we will be booking. But I'm slightly concerned about not having a head rest; because our 9 year old daughter will be with us. I have never been cave tubing but I know you lean back and look up alot.:D For those of you that have been cave tubing, do you think a headrest is a must for a 9 year old girl??? Does it get really uncomfortable without a headrest? :confused:

[souperjen24]

I have been following this thread-such great information; thank you. Before I found this thread I had already reserched cave-tubing.com and I think this is the one we will be booking. But I'm slightly concerned about not having a head rest; because our 9 year old daughter will be with us. I have never been cave tubing but I know you lean back and look up alot.:D For those of you that have been cave tubing, do you think a headrest is a must for a 9 year old girl??? Does it get really uncomfortable without a headrest? :confused:

 

Good question HLW. I've never been, but I would think it would be MORE comfortable for a kid, since they are shorter. I would think the taller adult would have a harder time leaning their head back to try to get comfy?

[4my2girlz]

We are planning on booking with .biz becasue of the multi excursion discount. IF you book multiple excursions with them then you can save up to $5.00 per person. We are going to book a Costa Maya excursion and the Belieze cave tubing. They offer excursions in several ports of call so you can combine all of your excursions in one company. I LIKE IT.

 

I too have been up in the air about these cave tubing things. They all look pretty much the same. But Multi Excursion Discount and RUM PUNCH well duh.

 

What type of excursion are you doing in Costa Maya? I didn't see anything about that on their website but I may have missed it.

 

Thanks!

[4my2girlz]

Is anyone booking excursions through private companies and NOT have a passport?

[sanger727]

Is anyone booking excursions through private companies and NOT have a passport?

 

 

I'm traveling with my BF and I have a passport but he doesn't... haven't seen any reason for why that would matter on a private excursion. Are you thinking about what would happen if you missed the boat?

[CBCGirl]

I am doing this in October and in my research there were 2 things that made me choose cave-tubing.com over the other 2 companies. First, cave-tubing carries your tube for you, so you're not having to do that hike while carrying a tube and second when I email a question to all 3 companies cave-tubing.com was the only one that responded to my question.

[imluvncruzn]

Is anyone booking excursions through private companies and NOT have a passport?

 

 

12 cruises so far and 95% of our excursions are booked independantly and we do not have passports.

[imluvncruzn]

I have been following this thread-such great information; thank you. Before I found this thread I had already reserched cave-tubing.com and I think this is the one we will be booking. But I'm slightly concerned about not having a head rest; because our 9 year old daughter will be with us. I have never been cave tubing but I know you lean back and look up alot.:D For those of you that have been cave tubing, do you think a headrest is a must for a 9 year old girl??? Does it get really uncomfortable without a headrest? :confused:

 

 

The last time we went cave tubing in Belize my youngest was 6 years old. We also had my 8 year old niece with us. We did not have head rests and they never thought twice about it. It really was a non-issue. In fact, up until about a year or two ago none of the companies had the head rests. They are a luxury for sure but the lack of headrests certainly did not make them "uncomforable".

[4my2girlz]

12 cruises so far and 95% of our excursions are booked independantly and we do not have passports.

 

Thank you! You have eased my mind :) My husband & I have only cruised once before (without passports) but booked thru Carnival, now that we are a family of 4 (still without passports) I would love to book directly with the company and save $$. I feel better knowing others have done it without problem!

[4my2girlz]

I'm traveling with my BF and I have a passport but he doesn't... haven't seen any reason for why that would matter on a private excursion. Are you thinking about what would happen if you missed the boat?

 

Yes, I guess that is my fear although I haven't found one single post about anyone missing the ship, so I guess I should just get over it!

[4my2girlz]

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!

 

I emailed .com & .bz yesterday and received the following replies regarding children's rates:

 

Cavetubing.bz vitalinoreyes@gmail.com reply:

 

The price per person for cavetubing is $40US and for children 9 years and younger is $25US so your total price is $130US. Please bring the total amount in an envelope to pay for the entire group to facilitate payment for us. Prices include transportation in A/C vans, entrance fee, licensed tour guide and updated equipment (life jackets, Petzl helmets, L.E.D. lights and yellow tubes with handles). We give you FREE lunch, water, sodas and rum punch. For lunch we serve a local dish of rice and beans with stew chicken and coleslaw prepared by my sisters from my grandmother's recipe. This delicious meal is served at my place which is not a public restaurant, it is only for my guests.

 

tourdesk@bze-trips.com (.com) reply:

 

all our prices are the same for kids and adults , cave tubing 40.00 per person

[sanger727]

Yes, I guess that is my fear although I haven't found one single post about anyone missing the ship, so I guess I should just get over it!

 

Well, first, I wouldn't do a private excursion if I thought there was any chance of getting left by the ship. The two that we are doing are from very reputable companies (and I would consider .com, viv, and .biz all reputable because of all the high trip advisor reviews and the talk about them on the boards). These companies stay in business by catering to cruise ship passengers and I've never seen even one review on any of those three that said they missed the boat because of these tours.

 

Also, If the worst case scenario did happen... I did see a posting on one of these boards that talked about being stuck in the caribbean without a passport. Someone posted a statement they said same from border patrol. It said that if you are a US citizen, you will always be allowed back into the US, regardless of wehther or not you have a passport. The best advice was to drive to the border if you can, or find the nearest US embassy. But you wouldn't be stuck in another county.

 

Hope that helps relieve your fears :)

[SouthavenMSCruiser]

In Costa Maya we are going on a ruins tour. We were going to do the tour with a beach an included beach party (Norwegian sells the same tour for $120) but when I emailed them about it they wrote me back and said that it would be smarter and cheaper to not book the combined. They .biz that is told us that by the tour got done and we got to the beach that we would only be there for a couple of hours at the most and it really isn't worth the cost. They told us that it would be cheaper to just pay as you go and that they would drop us off anywhere. Which worked out great since one of my kids wants to go to the beach and get a wave runner but the rest of us would rather just shop and take in the local culture. The resort areas where the beaches are supposed to be safe and a good place to hang out. I like that the company was willing to give up revenue to look out for a now loyal customer.

[HLWCruze]

Thanks, ImLuvinCruzn for your response about your experience with your 6 year old and cave tubing with no headrest. I will keep following this thread (our cruise is not until April 2013) but I think we will be booking with Cave-tubing.com!!!! :D

[4my2girlz]

I decided to go with .bz after corresponding by email, reading the excellent tripadvisor reviews, and talking with a facebook friend about their experience.

 

$40/adult & $25/kids was the best price I saw and this was the only one that I found that included a full lunch and rum punch :)

 

1 excursion done...3 more ports to go!

[Kissfan44]

I tried reserving cave tubing trip today at 9am through .com and have heard nothing back from them. Is this normal for them? On their site it says they will reply within 15min to 6hours and it has been beyond that.

[mara93]

It's the weekend, maybe they respond during regular business hours?

[esd087]

Thanks for posting the info. I think I've narrowed it down to Cave-tubing.com or VIV, but I'm still trying to figure out if they are the same time/distance? Some people's reviews said their particular company tubed further than the others...seems to be mixed info.

 

Does anyone know for sure if there is a company that has the longest tubing distance, or are they all the same? This will help make my decision...I can handle the extra $5pp for lunch with VIV if necessary.

[Kissfan44]

Finally got a confirmation from .com. Looking forward to August 22nd and our cave tubing adventure!

[runeu]

Seems like you can't go wrong with either of them!

 

I emailed .bz and got a very quick and nice reply! I was not sure which tour to do and was considering a combo of altun ha & cave tubing. I told Vitalino that I easily get sick on buses/cars when the road is bumpy...and he replied that he would recommend cave tubing only for me, because it's a much shorter ride in total. I was impressed by his honest reply and think we're gonna book with him ;)

[imluvncruzn]

I decided to go with .bz after corresponding by email, reading the excellent tripadvisor reviews, and talking with a facebook friend about their experience.

 

$40/adult & $25/kids was the best price I saw and this was the only one that I found that included a full lunch and rum punch :)

 

1 excursion done...3 more ports to go!

 

I got my confirmation from .com and it was $35 adult (group rate) and $25 for children under 10. Also not sure if you are aware but I believe .bz still does the feet under the armpit linkage. The pics on their website confirm this, as well. That eliminated them for me immediately! We did that type years ago and it was not ideal by any means; especially with young kids.

[imluvncruzn]

Thanks, ImLuvinCruzn for your response about your experience with your 6 year old and cave tubing with no headrest. I will keep following this thread (our cruise is not until April 2013) but I think we will be booking with Cave-tubing.com!!!! :D

 

 

We are using .com in January. I just bought an expensive underwater camera to take with me so I'll be sure to take lots of pics and report back here when we get home!