Cave-Tubing.com Review

[chellencrette]

We are just off the Miracle, 8-7 thru 8-14. We chose cave-tubing.com from all the great comments here on cruise critics and I am so glad we did. After about a 20 minute tender, we went to "reef" terminal and through 2 sets of doors to find our bus waiting for us. We had about 10 people in our group with 2 tour guides. The ship's tours have around 50 people with 2 tour guides.....chaois (sp?) inside the caves. The bus ride is about 50 minutes long, but doesn't seem that long at all. Our guides name was Gillie and he was great!! He talked to us the whole way there, telling us about the culture and the life in Belize, very informative. The last 6 miles are very bumpy, they called it the "massage" part of the trip, but not uncomfortable. Once we were there, we got our headlights and tubes and off through the rainforest we went. The walk is about 30-40 minutes, but Gillie stopped several times to point out certain things along the way and to make sure everyone was keeping up. Once we made it to the water, we walked right in.....no rope to hold onto.....and we split into 2 small groups and hooked together to make a train so we would all stay together, and off we went. The water was not too cold, actually very refreshing after the walk. It is absolutely beautiful, inside and outside of the caves. The water was a little swift, but that made for a very relaxing float, no paddling to get down the river. We did have to paddle some to try to stay on track.....away from the rocks. Now, we did hit some rocks, but that was part of the fun.....all you have to do is use your hands or feet to push off.....no one was hurt, no one tipped over. Once we were out of the caves, we then floated a rather long way on the open river....it was absolutely beautiful and so relaxing. The cruise ships tour does not do the open river float. There are people standing in various spots along the way to help you stay away from the shallow parts and if you head that way, they grab your feet and give you a swift push the other way. Once we reached the end we got out and waited for all our group to get together and walked a short distance back to the bus. We stopped at a local restaurant/bar on the way back called Amigos for a few drinks. They were all very nice there and the drinks were good. We got dropped off at the exact spot that they picked us up......right at the terminals. No worries at all about making it back to the ship. You do not have to pay until the tour is over on the way back to the terminal. I highly recommend using cave-tubing.com. It was a once in a lifetime experience. If we ever make it back to Belize, I would use cave-tubing.com again, without a doubt!!!

[mirthmaiden]

Thanks for the great review. My family will be doing that excursion too in November. The kids are really excited (so am I!) I have a question that may seem a bit silly, but I'll go for it anyway.

 

I've read several reviews where they mentioned "hooking" together with feet, etc. That sounds like it would be tiring on your legs, not to mention distracting from paying attention to the surroundings. We have 2 kids in our group - ages 11 and 10 - and I'm considering bringing along a long piece of nylon rope to tie our tubes together so they won't get separated from me and panic. Is that impossible? totally impractical? How wide is the river? Would we be within easy reach of each other even if we did get separated?

[chellencrette]

The hooking of the feet will not be tiring or distracting. What you will do is line up in a row and you put your feet over the back of the person's tube in front of you and that person will place your feet/legs under their arms, so your legs are resting on their tube the whole time. I was lucky enough to be the first person in the "train" and part of the time the guide was in front of me, then beside the "train" holding on to someone's tube. You will still be able to enjoy the view and take a few pictures if you'd like. My husband was behind me with someone's feet/legs under his arms and he was still able to take pictures and paddle when we needed to stay on track. Once we got out of the cave we did end up breaking up and floated the river by ourselves (me and my husband stayed hooked together), it was just easier that way. Parts of the river are wide, but you would still be able to see each other and paddle back together if you needed to. The river did not move too swiftly where we were swept away from each other out of sight. It is possible to tie your tubes together, you will just need to let the guide know ahead of time so he will allow you the extra minute or two to do so. More than likely there will be alot of other people in the caves at the same time (other tours and ship tours), but it is was easy to stay together in the caves and not be seperated, but if it would make your children and you feel better I don't see a problem with tieing together. You and your family will have a great time!!!:D