comparing cave tubing companies

[familycruzer]

Can anyone compare these two companies for tubing?

 

I read that cavetubing does two caves but could not find out how many Major Tom does.

[tnrnchick74]

Major Tom does 2 as well. Both are respectable companies with great reviews here on cruise critic. I think it comes down to personality and whether you want to link your legs together or free float.

 

MY fiancee and I are booked with Major Tom. I can say from experience that he confirmed my reservation and answered all my questions in about 10 minutes after I sent the email. WOW!

[familycruzer]

I think it comes down to personality and whether you want to link your legs together or free float.

 

Which one links and which one free floats? I will be taking my nephew along on this cruise and am leary of doing anything even slightly dangerous with someone who is not my child. (even though he is 18)

[carm225]

Which one links and which one free floats? I will be taking my nephew along on this cruise and am leary of doing anything even slightly dangerous with someone who is not my child. (even though he is 18)

 

I've heard cave-tubing.com are the ones that link. We are booked with them for march of 2008 and they are very good at emailing you back quickly. I recently needed to add 4 people to our reservation and in 5 minutes I had a reply from Yhony stating that it was no problem. I've emailed him on a few occasions with questions and always have gotten a quick response. I'm very impressed so far! :)

[tnrnchick74]

Yeah cave-tubing.com links the legs together. Like I said - BOTH companies have GREAT reputations here on cruise critic. I don't think you would go wrong with either. My fiancee and I chose Major Tom. No real reason other than "it just felt right". I'm glad to hear that Yhony also answers email in a very timely manner!

 

I think no matter what, you will have a great time - either company you choose!

[carm225]

Yeah cave-tubing.com links the legs together. Like I said - BOTH companies have GREAT reputations here on cruise critic. I don't think you would go wrong with either. My fiancee and I chose Major Tom. No real reason other than "it just felt right". I'm glad to hear that Yhony also answers email in a very timely manner!

 

I think no matter what, you will have a great time - either company you choose!

 

I agree 100% Both companies have fantastic reviews on here...We also went with a gut feeling and chose Yhony; however, we have already decided if we go back to Belize, we'll try Major Tom out the next time around! :)

[Travel Angel]

We had much success using Major Tom the two times we have done this tour....It;s like having a "Family" in Belize we often say. Check him out I think you will be impressed at what he offers and in my last visit with him, while purchasing a condo on Ambergris Cay, he mentioned to watch for his tours to expand in the future... he would not say to what degree but I know he will do it right and when I am back in October to Belize, I will certainly be talking with him to see what he means by expansion.

[tnrnchick74]

It's very nice to have 2 REALLY GOOD options that get such good reviews. Different personalities for different people! I am VERY excited about my tour. I just can't wait. And I look forward to everyone else's review of the cave tubing experience!

[hoopsielv]

We just went with Major Tom last month and we DID link together. There were 10 of us in the group (myself and a friend, and 2 families) It was great! He also took us to a restaurant afterwards (we paid on our own but it was inexpensive). He was extremely knowledgeable and gave us a lot of information.

[DONNALAKA]

JUST RETURNED FROM EXPERINCING MAJOR TOMS TOUR. IT WAS GREAT ! WE DID ALSO LINK TOGETHER @ CERTAIN POINTS ! ;) { I THINK OUR GROUP WANTED TO :)} HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TOUR !

 

ONE THING I DID NOTICED........ I AM A SHORT ADULT {4'11} W/SHORT ARMS ;) AND IT SEEMED I HAD TROUBLE PADDLING D/T MY ARMS NOT REACHING OVER THE INNER TUBE ;) , HOWEVER I THINK A SMALLER TUBE {LIKE A CHILDS} WOULDN'T HAVE HELD MY WT :rolleyes: LOL ! MADE FOR SOME INTERESTING FUN !

[Astron]

We just did Major Tom's tour last week. My DW has significant foot problems so we were concerned about the walk in. After she emailed Major Tom, he said he would have a man stay with her so she could take her time and rest as needed. He had George do everything but carry her, and I think the man would have done that if needed. Major Tome bragged that George once towed a man who could not finish the walk to the normal cave entrance from the point on the river where you get out of the cave, upstream from the exit to the entrance and thus enable the man to float back down through the caves with his family. George is a young and powerful man who not only towed the man upstream through the caved to the entrance, but beat the rest of the group that walked to the entrance!

 

As others have said Major Tom is a fountain of information and shares it freely. We would book again with him in a heartbeat! He is not only fun, but he is an honorable man. When a multiple fatality bus and truck wreak closed the highway for nearly an hour on the way back to the ship, it became impossible to stop for lunch. He made sure that everyone got their money back in cash from his pocket as soon as the decision was made to skip lunch. He also assured us that he would get us back to the ship before it sailed even if he had to put us on a special tender. That did not prove to be necessary, but knowing the lengths he was willing to go really helped to turn a bad situation into a tolerable one.

 

The Major get 4.9 out of 5 stars from me. If he gets rid of the small Toyota van and replaces it with another large Ford van;), I would give him 5 stars:)

[lookin4fun@sea]

We also did the tour that the previous writer spoke about the bus crash. Tom came highly recommended and I am glad we booked him. While the other tours just marched right through the jungle, Tom stopped on several occasions to teach us about various vegetation, rock formation, etc. The other tour guides just walked right by us every time, never teaching or talking about anything. You do free float, but there are times when you will link up in lines of 4 or 5, side by side. This is done because of sharp rocks and heavy current, but the guides are there in the water to make sure no one gets hurt. But for the most part you do free float. It was an awesome experience. Go with them!!!

[samiam519]

We are just back from the Legend 9/16-9/23. We used cavetubing.com and had an awesome time! I highly recommend them. We did link together and I think that is the way to go. No problems with getting too close to the walls because our guide made sure the whole line of us stayed toward the middle. These guys also know where all the rocks and shallows are and make sure to warn you to put your "Butt up" so you don't scrape your behind on the rocks! Also noticed several other groups walking around the rapids, but lined together our guides were able to get us through the rapids with no problem. Hope you have a great experience as we did, no matter who you choose. Have a great time, we sure did!

 

Samiam:D

[EricaLovesCats]

JUST RETURNED FROM EXPERINCING MAJOR TOMS TOUR. IT WAS GREAT ! WE DID ALSO LINK TOGETHER @ CERTAIN POINTS ! ;) { I THINK OUR GROUP WANTED TO :)} HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TOUR !

 

ONE THING I DID NOTICED........ I AM A SHORT ADULT {4'11} W/SHORT ARMS ;) AND IT SEEMED I HAD TROUBLE PADDLING D/T MY ARMS NOT REACHING OVER THE INNER TUBE ;) , HOWEVER I THINK A SMALLER TUBE {LIKE A CHILDS} WOULDN'T HAVE HELD MY WT :rolleyes: LOL ! MADE FOR SOME INTERESTING FUN !

 

Donna, we are in the same boat! (Or should I say same tube)

I am also 4'11 with my arms being on the short side. I know when I am in a tube, my hands just barley touch the water. I would be very interested to hear more about your experience!

[gabbyg]

Hello we just got back from our trip and we booked the cave tubing with the cave-tubing .com guys, they really took great care of all of us and would even let you know when to watch out for the rocks " Butts- UP" they would yell. Yes they do link us together in small groups and then each guide has a team but it worked out really well. I will be taking my family next year and will for sure use the Cave tubing guys again so 2 thumbs up for these guys!!!!

 

Gabbyg

Can anyone compare these two companies for tubing?

 

I read that cavetubing does two caves but could not find out how many Major Tom does.

[dmaycott]

My wife & I just got back from the Carnival Valor this past week and used the cave-tubing.com group and they were great. I understand why they link everyone together, it just makes it easy for the group to stay together. The only thing is if you're looking for a explanation of what is in the caves then they are not for you however if your looking for fun use them. :)

[mjohnson]

Do you wear a life jacket? we have a non swimmer going with us. How deep is the water?

[DONNALAKA]

maj tom is a stickler about safety so happily we all wore vest. :)

[DONNALAKA]

erica : i concur w/the others ! no worries booking w/this honorable crew ! they told me they have taken babes tubing . they will keep u safe ! i have no doubt if u let them know u r having any trouble or uncomfortable not being able to paddle they will help u ! u will be fine ! maybe ask about the smaller tube ????? can't hurt, right ? email me if u have specific questions . ok?

 

hey astron: ....... we must have been traveling together {we were in "tomas" jr's and george's van}major tom is def. a man of many hats huh ?

ie: military, tour guide, mayan expert,termite eater, radio announcer......... ºÜº

[jmgimg]

We used Tom & his son when we visited Belize in October 2004. They were exceptional. My wife and her bridge group just visited Belize on Carnival and she & a friend set up another trip with Tom & his son. They were super and we highly recommend them on your Belieze tubing tour.

[anaslile]

I currently have inquiries into both Major Tom and Yhony. I see advantages of both. I kind of like the idea of being 'connected' to the other people in your group, but at the same time admire Major Tom's experience and adherence to the ecosystem and understanding its needs. I'll decide after hearing back from both places.

[salesgirl]

so, how do you find these two cavetubing groups on the web?

someone else on our ship just booked with regtour.com for $45.

[anaslile]

Yhony is at cave-tubing dot com and Major Tom's site is Belize cave tubing, if you do a google search for Major Tom and cave tubing it'll pop right up.

 

This post was also really helpful to me. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=613379

 

Both Yhony and Major Tom got back to me within a few hours about my inquiries, now to just decide who I'm going with.

[MMoore1851]

Major Tom, hands down.

 

We just got back from a cave-tubing/zip lining excursion with him, and were so impressed by him and his son!

 

He has a wealth of knowledge about the country of Belize, as well as the Mayan people. He kept us spellbound from the moment we met him, he is so charismatic and charming. I learned more about Belize and Mayan/Aztec history in five hours with this man than I ever learned in school. He also made us feel very safe in Belize, all the people we encountered knew him and treated him very respectfully. I never had a moment's pause, he and his son both were wonderful.

 

We did notice that Major Tom and Tom Jr. take smaller groups than the guys with the other outfitters. I liked the group of 12 we had, it made things go faster and we didn't feel like cattle being herded! We did hook together at points, the water was up just a bit, and there were several places where he said the torrential rains after Hurricanes Dean and Felix had washed spiny bamboo and large logs into the water. He wanted to be sure no one free-floated into these hazards. We took our time going through two cave systems...Major Tom showed us different formations, what they represented to the Mayan people, told us about rituals that took place in the caves, etc.

 

Also, I think we had one of the best meals on our cruise with him...we were running a bit behind the day we were in port, so we stopped at a roadside stand in Hattieville called Pearl's, I believe. We had a meal of two pieces of chicken coated in a wonderful sauce, some fabulous potato salad and rice and beans (NONE of which I will eat usually, but I licked the plate clean) and a sweet orange drink that my DH keeps talking about. The piece de resistance? Thick, warm slices of bread pudding! I could have died happy after our day in Belize cave tubing, zip lining, and with a belly full of good food!

[DONNALAKA]

MMOORE:

 

GLAD U ALSO ENJOYED MAJ TOM ET AL . THEY WERE GREAT WEREN'T THEY ! FOR THOSE BELOW THAT R LOOKING FOR THE WEB SITE IT IS :

www.cave-tubing{dot}net AND THE EMAIL ADDY IS ALSO cave-tubing(dot)net