Cave Tubing Comparison and a few questions...

[elektrawmn]

Emailed all three to see who is linking via feet to armpit (big discouragement for us)

 

From dot com

 

Our cave tubing price is $40us per person and it includes lunch. You can bring extra cash if you would like to purchase sodas, alcoholic beverages, t-shirts, souvenirs etc. that we have on sale at the site.

 

We now link the tubes together and not with your feet.

 

and from bz

 

The tubes are connected to other tubes by feet to armpit.

[EhwinOnABoat]

I went zip lining with cavetubing.bz last October (caves were flooded due to some stormy weather, so it was our only option). I was so happy with the experience that I've booked with them again for Cave Tubing in December.

 

It sounds like they are getting new equipment with head rests and chain link instead of feet/armpit. However, even if they weren't, I would have booked with them again. The food, the rum punch, the vans, the tour guides, the services... all of it well worth the $40 they charge.

[elektrawmn]

Booked with VIV this morning! :D

 

61 days until we set sail!

[Jana60]

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!

 

The lunch and rum punch sounds good but I just do NOT want to link arms or feet. I had to do that on a river tubing tour in belize and it was NOT relaxing at all. Did you ask .bz if they still have unlinked tubes?

[Folsom]

Wow, this has been the best thread, with a ton of information. Thanks to everyone who posted for bringing me up to speed. This is what makes CC such a great resource.

 

Now my 2 questions... one simple and one not so much.

 

1. How deep is the water? I have someone who does not swim very well and does not really like the water. Do any of the tours supply life vests for him? (I guess that was 2 questions :)

 

2. I am bringing a group of 10 and feel as thought they are my responsibility. Thus I am freaking out about being 1 hour from the ship and not being on a ship run excursion. For me money is less of a concern than the piece of mind I gain by knowing that the ship will not leave us. I mean I would just die if 9 other people were stranded in Belize and had to get to Roatan on our own. So the question is has anyone done an excursion through the ship, and if not, what time do they pick you up and drop you off? (Okay another 2 questions?

 

Thanks again for all of the help.

-F-

[dz63]

Just got back from our cruise on the Legend this morning :( I so want to be back on the ship!! This thread helped me choose a company to book our cave tubing tour with so I thought I'd come back and share my experience. I booked this tour last minute, literally the day before we left, because we had nothing planned for Belize and I knew we needed to book something. We went with .bz mainly because of the price ($105 total for me, my husband, and 8 year old daughter) and because of the free lunch/rum punch. I was concerned about linking feet/armpits, but decided to deal with it. I AM SO GLAD I CHOSE THIS COMPANY!!

 

First of all, they break you into small groups and you only link with your own family members. You don't have anyone else's feet or armpits anywhere near you. For us, they paired us up with another family (2 adults, 2 kids), we were side by side with them and our separate lines were tied together with one guide in the front, talking to us, swimming, pulling us along. Our guides were amazing and kept us very entertained. The hike through the rainforest (in the pouring rain) was amazing. We swam in the river before the hike which was fun. During the hike, it seemed like all of the tours and guides stopped at the same things, had their groups try the same fruits/nuts/look at same trees. We did hike further than the vast majority of other tours, not too much further, but we went in the water further up the river and went through an additional cave. We then stayed in the water when most other groups got out and floated down the open river to where we originally crossed the river before the hike. They said they sometimes see howler monkeys during this part, but we didn't see any.

 

Lunch was extremely good, as was the rum punch. They make you feel very welcome and go around offering everyone seconds on whatever they want, including a container of rum punch to drink on the way back to the boat. The kids drank bottles of soda (Coke or Sprite), my daughter thought the glass Sprite bottles were very cool. They had cashew wine for you to try if you wanted to as well. Overall, we all agree this was the best day of the cruise. I am not doubting we would have had a wonderful experience with the other tour groups either, but I am glad we chose the one we did.

 

*edit: I also really liked the fact that they greet you after the 30 minute tender from the ship with very cold bottles of water. This was a nice touch and very appreciated!!

 

We were cave tubing the same day you were--so we had he same experience hiking through the rainforest in the rain! I am glad to hear that you had a great day with .bz, as our cave tubing adventure that day was somewhat disappointing.

 

We did not go with .bz--we chose a smaller company that had the luxurious inner tubes with a headrest, closed bottom and link together so that there is no hanging on by feet and armpit. Although we got to swim in the river after we exited the cave and were able to jump off a rock into the water, we did not find our day with them to be the highlight of our cruise. We did not receive a rainforest tour, and unlike you our guides did not keep us entertained during the hike. We did not have time to go further up the river to get an extra cave in, we were not greeted with cold water after meeting our guides outside the terminal and lunch was not included. In fact when we asked if we could go the usual place they stop for lunch, we were told there was not enough time to do that. There was no rum punch, cashew wine or soft drinks offered on the return trip. Bottled water was only offered on the last 20 minutes of our drive. The length of this excursion from start to finish was 5.5 hours—yet it seemed as we did not have enough time to experience this excursion to its fullest the way others had. In restrospect, if I had the chance to do it again, I would gladly trade in the fancier innertubes to receive an experience like you had.

[dz63]

Wow, this has been the best thread, with a ton of information. Thanks to everyone who posted for bringing me up to speed. This is what makes CC such a great resource.

 

Now my 2 questions... one simple and one not so much.

 

1. How deep is the water? I have someone who does not swim very well and does not really like the water. Do any of the tours supply life vests for him? (I guess that was 2 questions :)

 

2. I am bringing a group of 10 and feel as thought they are my responsibility. Thus I am freaking out about being 1 hour from the ship and not being on a ship run excursion. For me money is less of a concern than the piece of mind I gain by knowing that the ship will not leave us. I mean I would just die if 9 other people were stranded in Belize and had to get to Roatan on our own. So the question is has anyone done an excursion through the ship, and if not, what time do they pick you up and drop you off? (Okay another 2 questions?

 

Thanks again for all of the help.

-F-

 

I don't know exactly how deep the river is--but the river does vary from very shallow to deep areas. All tubing companies provide life vests which must be worn, by everyone, especially when inside the cave. (We were permitted to remove our life vests once we exited the cave). The river is slow moving--there are no rapids so no need to worry about your inner tube tipping over and causing you to fall out.

 

In regards to getting you back to the ship on time, I wouldn't worry much about this, as all reputable tour operators are very aware of this and make it their top priority to get you back on time--in fact most tour operators will state they have never missed a ship! This is their livelihood and they know if they would miss getting passengers back to the ship on time there business would go down the tubes very quickly! However, if you're really concerned about missing the ship and are willing to be with a larger group of people and pay more, then booking through the ship will definitely give you the piece of mind you need.

[Jana60]

We were cave tubing the same day you were--so we had he same experience hiking through the rainforest in the rain! I am glad to hear that you had a great day with .bz, as our cave tubing adventure that day was somewhat disappointing.

 

We did not go with .bz--we chose a smaller company that had the luxurious inner tubes with a headrest, closed bottom and link together so that there is no hanging on by feet and armpit. Although we got to swim in the river after we exited the cave and were able to jump off a rock into the water, we did not find our day with them to be the highlight of our cruise. We did not receive a rainforest tour, and unlike you our guides did not keep us entertained during the hike. We did not have time to go further up the river to get an extra cave in, we were not greeted with cold water after meeting our guides outside the terminal and lunch was not included. In fact when we asked if we could go the usual place they stop for lunch, we were told there was not enough time to do that. There was no rum punch, cashew wine or soft drinks offered on the return trip. Bottled water was only offered on the last 20 minutes of our drive. The length of this excursion from start to finish was 5.5 hours—yet it seemed as we did not have enough time to experience this excursion to its fullest the way others had. In restrospect, if I had the chance to do it again, I would gladly trade in the fancier innertubes to receive an experience like you had.

 

I checked the cavetubing.bz site and they state they now have new tubes with back/neck rests, cub holders etc.. that link together so no arm pit contact required. They still give lunch and free soda and rum punch. I have sent an email to confirm these facts and to double check price. The site mentions a higher price of $50 during peak season so I want to find out when peak is. Quite frankly with free booze its still a better deal than cavetubing.com if the tubes are the good kind that link. 5.5 hours seems really long but it does not sound like your company managed their time well. I will let everyone know the results of my emailed questions when received.

[burm]

I would not worry about getting back to the ship on time in Belize when cave tubing. You are not going to a remote area or a place where traffic would be a problem. The guides all have cell phones, and in the unlikely event of a breakdown, they could have someone out quickly to get you.

 

We were told that there were two different routes they take to the caves through the forest - one is shorter, which they use for large groups or people who are concerned about walking far. We chose the longer walk.

 

As there were only two in our "group", DH and myself, we were given the option of not linking at all.

[Jana60]

I checked the cavetubing.bz site and they state they now have new tubes with back/neck rests, cub holders etc.. that link together so no arm pit contact required. They still give lunch and free soda and rum punch. I have sent an email to confirm these facts and to double check price. The site mentions a higher price of $50 during peak season so I want to find out when peak is. Quite frankly with free booze its still a better deal than cavetubing.com if the tubes are the good kind that link. 5.5 hours seems really long but it does not sound like your company managed their time well. I will let everyone know the results of my emailed questions when received.

 

I received email confirmation of the above. The do not have the new tubes yet but they will have them by the date of my cruise in December. Their price is $40 per adult now but is going to increase to $50 in future. If you book by Oct 31 the Price is $40. They do not require any deposit, you just pay when you get there. You must send email to make reservation and print out the directions at their site that tells you where at the cruise port to meet them. ("outside of Terminal #2")

[jeckstein]

We did cave tubing with Viv last April. The experience was a highlight of our trip. My daughter and I appreciated the headrests, netted bottoms, hats with lamps, and links with ropes and not armpits. The guides were extremely knowledgeable. and made both the vanride to the park and the trek to the caves fun.

We are thinking about doing cave tubing again when we cruise next April, but would like to see different caves.

[Folsom]

We will have a group of 10, that will be doing the cave tubing (no real interest int ATV's). Has anyone had an experience where the send a van for just the 10 of us, or will we always be on a big "school bus"?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

-F-

[rockbock]

Hey everyone. I'm the OP of this thread. I'm back from our cruise last week and I really enjoyed the cave tubing excursion (with .com). I will be posting a detailed photo review of our trip to Belize either tonight or tomorrow. I'll be sure to link my review in this thread, so you can see my great cave tubing excursion.

[rockbock]

We will have a group of 10, that will be doing the cave tubing (no real interest int ATV's). Has anyone had an experience where the send a van for just the 10 of us, or will we always be on a big "school bus"?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

-F-

 

With .com, we were sent on a Greyhound bus (name removed, but the upholstery made it clear that it used to be Greyhound brand). The bus was very nice and comfortable. The day that we were in port, the Carnival Dream was the only ship there and .com sent out three Greyhound buses and two smaller vans.

[mara93]

Hey everyone. I'm the OP of this thread. I'm back from our cruise last week and I really enjoyed the cave tubing excursion (with .com). I will be posting a detailed photo review of our trip to Belize either tonight or tomorrow. I'll be sure to link my review in this thread, so you can see my great cave tubing excursion.

 

Great!

Can't wait, hope you had a great time.

[4my2girlz]

So glad to read your good review! We are booked with .bz in January with our 6 & 8 year old daughters! I can't wait!

 

Just curious, how early did they have you back at port? That is my ONLY concern but that would be with any company.

 

Just got back from our cruise on the Legend this morning :( I so want to be back on the ship!! This thread helped me choose a company to book our cave tubing tour with so I thought I'd come back and share my experience. I booked this tour last minute, literally the day before we left, because we had nothing planned for Belize and I knew we needed to book something. We went with .bz mainly because of the price ($105 total for me, my husband, and 8 year old daughter) and because of the free lunch/rum punch. I was concerned about linking feet/armpits, but decided to deal with it. I AM SO GLAD I CHOSE THIS COMPANY!!

 

First of all, they break you into small groups and you only link with your own family members. You don't have anyone else's feet or armpits anywhere near you. For us, they paired us up with another family (2 adults, 2 kids), we were side by side with them and our separate lines were tied together with one guide in the front, talking to us, swimming, pulling us along. Our guides were amazing and kept us very entertained. The hike through the rainforest (in the pouring rain) was amazing. We swam in the river before the hike which was fun. During the hike, it seemed like all of the tours and guides stopped at the same things, had their groups try the same fruits/nuts/look at same trees. We did hike further than the vast majority of other tours, not too much further, but we went in the water further up the river and went through an additional cave. We then stayed in the water when most other groups got out and floated down the open river to where we originally crossed the river before the hike. They said they sometimes see howler monkeys during this part, but we didn't see any.

 

Lunch was extremely good, as was the rum punch. They make you feel very welcome and go around offering everyone seconds on whatever they want, including a container of rum punch to drink on the way back to the boat. The kids drank bottles of soda (Coke or Sprite), my daughter thought the glass Sprite bottles were very cool. They had cashew wine for you to try if you wanted to as well. Overall, we all agree this was the best day of the cruise. I am not doubting we would have had a wonderful experience with the other tour groups either, but I am glad we chose the one we did.

 

*edit: I also really liked the fact that they greet you after the 30 minute tender from the ship with very cold bottles of water. This was a nice touch and very appreciated!!

[rockbock]

I got sick yesterday, so I haven't done my review yet. Not feeling great today either, but I might try to do it a little later. For now, I just want to test whether or not everybody can view a photo linked from a "public" Facebook album. Whenever I write a review and use photobucket to host, I end up hitting some sort of monthly view limit and then the photos disappear until the first of the next month.

 

[rockbock]

I've started my review. You can find it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1720035

[big_schots]

I've started my review. You can find it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1720035

 

 

Thank you so much for this awesome review. This is the type of review that really allows people to decide whether this excursion, with this company, is what they are looking for. You have now given me pause over whether the ATV portion is really worth it. It may be better for me to do a separate ATV excursion in Cozumel.

[rockbock]

Thank you so much for this awesome review. This is the type of review that really allows people to decide whether this excursion, with this company, is what they are looking for. You have now given me pause over whether the ATV portion is really worth it. It may be better for me to do a separate ATV excursion in Cozumel.

 

If you really want to experience an ATV excursion, you're probably better off sticking with the Belize plan. The terrain in Belize (rainforest/jungle) is so much better for ATVing than Cozumel would be.

 

I know the people who did the ATV/cave tubing combo had a great time. They do the ATV first, so after you get all muddy and disgusting, you can clean up in the water. I don't doubt that the excursion was amazing...I was only questioning the value ($35 for 5 hours versus $75 for 5 hours).

 

If you want a lot of time to jump off cliffs (like the photos in my reviews), then you should skip the ATV. The ATV group didn't have much swimming time in the water.

[afcj1]

Went cave tubing with these folks a couple weeks ago and I'm not sure why they've been so highly recommended. There were 13 of us stuffed in a van for an hour + ride to our destination. We had ppl in our group that wanted to drink @ 8AM, which wouldn't bother me, except that we then needed to stop for another beer stop and of course a bathroom break:mad:

 

We got to the park a couple of the ppl fell into the river that we needed to cross ..maybe too much beer. Then we were under the impression that lunch was going to be at the park, NOPE...Major Tom stated that he doesn't like the food at the park anymore and we'll go to a place that he likes. Cool...back into the van we go, about 30 minutes away (maybe 1:30 or so) we stop at another place and were asked to stay in the van. Lo and behold, Major Tom and company begin bringing out styrofome containers...our lunch. REALLY!!:rolleyes:

 

We weren't even told what it was, but I'm guessing chicken:o, rice/beans and coleslaw. I just love eating in a stuffed van. Anyway, I'd never recommend these folks. It's a shame since the cave tubing itself was great. Just use another provider.

[Schmurg]

Went cave tubing with these folks a couple weeks ago and I'm not sure why they've been so highly recommended. There were 13 of us stuffed in a van for an hour + ride to our destination. We had ppl in our group that wanted to drink @ 8AM, which wouldn't bother me, except that we then needed to stop for another beer stop and of course a bathroom break:mad:

 

We got to the park a couple of the ppl fell into the river that we needed to cross ..maybe too much beer. Then we were under the impression that lunch was going to be at the park, NOPE...Major Tom stated that he doesn't like the food at the park anymore and we'll go to a place that he likes. Cool...back into the van we go, about 30 minutes away (maybe 1:30 or so) we stop at another place and were asked to stay in the van. Lo and behold, Major Tom and company begin bringing out styrofome containers...our lunch. REALLY!!:rolleyes:

 

We weren't even told what it was, but I'm guessing chicken:o, rice/beans and coleslaw. I just love eating in a stuffed van. Anyway, I'd never recommend these folks. It's a shame since the cave tubing itself was great. Just use another provider.

 

 

To me seems the bigger problem was the people on the tour than the operator himself. That's the chance you take with a group tour.

 

I did Major Tom 4 years ago and sounds like the same lunch to me so don't know exactly what he changed.

[thesawch]

major tom is probably one of ther best in Belize.

[afcj1]

major tom is probably one of ther best in Belize.

 

Wow' if he's the best, i'll stick with the worst:eek: There appear to be to many other choices. I've been on many private excursions and have never been so this unhappy with service.

 

Different strokes I guess.

[Quilting Queen]

Going on NCL Star in April 2013. Checking Belize cave tubing sites and trying to compare. How do I get to the web sites for VIV and Major Tom?

 

Thanks,

Norine