Cave-Tubing in Belize

[Sprint]

Hello from Ontario, Canada!

 

I'm looking for some advice on booking a cave-tubing adventure in Belize.

 

My husband and I are travelling with our two teens, another family with two teens and a mother with 1 teen (10 of us in total) on Carnival Miracle, March 6th.

 

I've been reading lots of contradicting information on booking excursions.

 

Should we play it "safe" and book through Carnival? I've also been reading lots about a Major Tom?? Everything I've read about Major Tom has been amazing.

 

The price is definitely less with Major Tom, but my real concern is making it back to the ship on time, as well as safety precautions.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you!

[*Mach*]

Belize is one of the forums that I host.

 

Stop by and read the first page and you'll find TONS of great info on tour operators, where, when and how it all comes about!!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=109

 

Have a great time!

 

Mach

[Colton's dad]

Cavetubing.com. been there twice, with 4-8-11 yr olds. Yhoni and his gang are great , small personal group. Carried 64 yr old over deep part of river, 1/2 the price of Carnival, and will meet you as soon as you get of boat. Stop at Canadians, place for lunch on way back to ship. '

 

boat tour will have 35 + like when we went, Yhoni had 10 and 4 guides.

[Sprint]

Cavetubing.com. been there twice' date=' with 4-8-11 yr olds. Yhoni and his gang are great , small personal group. Carried 64 yr old over deep part of river, 1/2 the price of Carnival, and will meet you as soon as you get of boat. Stop at Canadians, place for lunch on way back to ship. '

 

boat tour will have 35 + like when we went, Yhoni had 10 and 4 guides.[/quote']

 

Thanks for the information.....is cavetubing.com different from Major Tom? Did you have any problems getting back to the ship on time?

 

Also, did you get any special immunizations before you went? We are getting Twin Rix (Hepatitis), but our doctor didn't suggest anything else.

 

Noticed you are from Orillia, ON.....my brother-in-law is an artist there and my mother was born there....we live in southwestern Ontario.

 

Again, thanks for the info.

[snugbug]

Back when my family went in Aug 05, we used Reggies and absolutely loved it. http://www.regtours.com It was the highlight of our trip. At the time my sons were 11 and 12. We walked past a group of CC tubers on the trail and they were packed with around 40 + guests. We had 10 with 2 guides. No comparison with service. Have fun!

 

snugbug

[davethomasowns]

Hello Sprint!

 

I am planning on booking the March 6th Miracle sailing for me and my girlfriend next week. I too am interested in finding a non-Carnival, but trustworthy, guide for cave-tubing. Out of curiosity, what do you guys plan on doing in Panama and Limon?

 

Also... immunization? Does everybody get shots before they get on cruises or is there something particular about Belize?

 

Reason I ask... I am planning this as a surprise for her 21st birthday. Her party is the night of the 5th, and we leave on the 6th. Not enough time to pack, buy stuff, etc, let alone go to the doc.. :o

 

I am new to cruising, so thanks for any tips all!

Shane A

[dnialcdlo]

My family also booked with Cavetubing.com The kids were 9 and 12 at the time and we had a great time. Our ship got into port late that day because of weather and even with that they took us to the tubing place, pampered us, and then allowed us to all vote that we'd rather stay tubing instead of stopping for lunch since we got a late start. Believe me, they'll get you back to the ship. The ships try to scare you into booking their tours but fact is, it's much cheaper to do it yourself. If they didn't get you back to the ship they'd be out of business really quickly and they know that.

[Sparky58]

Hello from Ontario, Canada!

 

I'm looking for some advice on booking a cave-tubing adventure in Belize.

 

My husband and I are travelling with our two teens, another family with two teens and a mother with 1 teen (10 of us in total) on Carnival Miracle, March 6th.

 

I've been reading lots of contradicting information on booking excursions.

 

Should we play it "safe" and book through Carnival? I've also been reading lots about a Major Tom?? Everything I've read about Major Tom has been amazing.

 

The price is definitely less with Major Tom, but my real concern is making it back to the ship on time, as well as safety precautions.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you!

 

We booked a tour with Major Tom last month and were lucky enough to get Major Tom himself as our guide. It was truly the most AMAZING tour we've done on any of our 3 cruises! He has an AMAZING wealth of knowledge about the history of Belize, the Mayan culture and the ecology of the rainforest.

He was always very conscious of getting us back in plenty of time. We

returned to the dock with an hour to shop before the last tenders.

We would consider another cruise to Belize JUST to do Major Tom's cave tubing again!

Hope this helps - have fun!

[Sprint]

Hello Sprint!

 

I am planning on booking the March 6th Miracle sailing for me and my girlfriend next week. I too am interested in finding a non-Carnival, but trustworthy, guide for cave-tubing. Out of curiosity, what do you guys plan on doing in Panama and Limon?

 

Also... immunization? Does everybody get shots before they get on cruises or is there something particular about Belize?

 

Reason I ask... I am planning this as a surprise for her 21st birthday. Her party is the night of the 5th, and we leave on the 6th. Not enough time to pack, buy stuff, etc, let alone go to the doc.. :o

 

I am new to cruising, so thanks for any tips all!

Shane A

 

I've been given lots of advice for travelling to the islands on this itinerary. We've been on 2 other carnival cruises and never had any shots. This time we are getting Twin Rix (sp??) for hepatitis, but that's all. Not sure if we should be getting something else, but our physician didn't seem to think it was necessary.....hope that's true.

 

Your girlfriend is pretty lucky......we'll be married twenty years this year....perhaps I'll get a nice surprise like that!!

 

Not sure what other excursions we are doing.....hoping to snorkel, but haven't yet found a lot of information in Panama or Costa Rica for that....I'll keep looking. The cave tubing is something that I keep hearing over and over and so that's the main one for this trip. Lots of times we just "wing" it and end up having a blast. So, we'll see what the rest of our group wants to do and go from there.

[Colton's dad]

Thanks for the information.....is cavetubing.com different from Major Tom? Did you have any problems getting back to the ship on time?

 

Also, did you get any special immunizations before you went? We are getting Twin Rix (Hepatitis), but our doctor didn't suggest anything else.

 

Noticed you are from Orillia, ON.....my brother-in-law is an artist there and my mother was born there....we live in southwestern Ontario.

 

Again, thanks for the info.

No he is Different. Yhoni is the owner and guide. They have several others on each trip. One poster mentioned pamper, that is it. The mother in law from Waterloo was carried over deep (3 foot section) on walk up. He also did 2 sections of caves versus 1 of Carnival. " we actually saw that tour just getting in at first set, total mayhem and only saw one female guide with 25 +. While we waited for other small group Yhoni had his van driver give us a 15 minute tour of back roads Belize. Trip was wonderful and a fond memory. No we did no do any other immunizations. I e mailed him about small one, he gave truck tube and I carried on chest, he is so safe. Enjoy:) :D

[Roni3]

We just returned from a 12/30 cruise, and Belize was one of our ports. We thoroughly enjoyed cavetubing with Major Tom. Our ship tendered late due to weather and Major Tom had everything rearranged so that we could still cave tube and return to the ship on time. Manuel was our guide and was in constant contact with Major Tom. Safety was in the forefront of importance, and I was very comfortable with the situation. I enjoyed going with a smaller group and learning about the history of Belize from our guide. I highly recommend Major Tom.:D

[misand]

Cavetubing.com. been there twice' date=' with 4-8-11 yr olds. Yhoni and his gang are great , small personal group. Carried 64 yr old over deep part of river, 1/2 the price of Carnival, and will meet you as soon as you get of boat. Stop at Canadians, place for lunch on way back to ship. '

 

boat tour will have 35 + like when we went, Yhoni had 10 and 4 guides.[/quote']Was it cheaper for kids? Mine are 4 and 9. How did the 4yo do? We leave on Sunday of next week still unsure.:o

Thanks,

 

Misand

[Colton's dad]

Was it cheaper for kids? Mine are 4 and 9. How did the 4yo do? We leave on Sunday of next week still unsure.:o

Thanks,

 

Misand

HI, He did OK, you have to know it is a rugged dirt trail up to the get in site. I carried him half way, and during the one river crossing. He is skidish of water, and be warned the caves are long, some roughly 300+ yds long I would say. So it does get dark, :eek: thus the use of head lamps. Yhoni was extra careful with the families and gave senior guides or himself to these groups of 4-6. KEY there ; We and groups we spoke to had 1 guide per small groups with in your trip. My kids loved it, and ask each day if the next cruise stops there? When we went last, the water was not moving at half the pace of the video on Yhoni's site ( cave-tubing.com) As for price, I can't remember, I want to say $25 for 4 yr since he sat on my lap on the bus.

[dkb363]

When we went to Belize, we booked with Yhoni (sp?). It was much better than the one booked through Carnival. Got back with lots of time to spare and he met us at the port. He has great reviews and would not get them if he didn't deliver.

Debi

[Jayhawk]

We did the one with Yhoni with a 3 1/2 year old and a 24 month old, and it was great. The 2 year old actully fell asleep on my lap in the second cave. Yhoni gave us extra help. Highly recommended!

[arnieandflo]

we did the combind tour quad biking and cave tubing with yhony@cavetubing.com. it cost 75$ each much cheaper than the ship which did not do this (ocean village).

[BoBandy]

We just got back from Belize and we had booked cave tubing and the zip line tour through Major Tom. We had an really great day. There were 6 of us with Major Tom and our guide Mike. We had trouble getting an early tender also but Major Tom made sure we had time to fit everything in and we even had time to stop for a quick local lunch. Our guide was very informative about Belize history and their culture. We had a super day and would highly recommend Major Tom for your tour.

[Tracyisme]

We went with Major Tom..actually with MINOR Tom...the son. They were awesome with us. We had a ball. Plenty of time to shop. The street vendors were far too agressive. The deals inside were just as good.

Even the 13 year old girl enjoyed the Cave tubing. OR MAYBE IT WAS MINOR TOM! lol

Tracy

[Sprint]

We went with Major Tom..actually with MINOR Tom...the son. They were awesome with us. We had a ball. Plenty of time to shop. The street vendors were far too agressive. The deals inside were just as good.

Even the 13 year old girl enjoyed the Cave tubing. OR MAYBE IT WAS MINOR TOM! lol

Tracy

Thanks for the information. I think our friends want to go with Major Tom as well. My problem is that I'm not getting a reply from him by email. Any suggestions?? I'm in charge of 10 people, so I don't want the responsibility of leaving it until we get there. Thanks so much!

[p5woody]

We were on RCCl Navigator of the seas in January and had a great experience with Major Tom. Our family of 6 (2 kids(8 and 11),parents, and Grandparents) toured with Major Tom and George of the Jungle. Major Tom drove the van and George gave us the history of Belize, guided us through the Jungle, and down the river.

 

The only issue we had was waiting for two people from our ship that never showed. Since the other two never showed, we ended up with a private tour for just our family. We lost an hour waiting for the other two people but the private tour for our family was well worth it. Tom was very aware of the time and made sure we were able to do the complete tour and get back to the tender on time.

 

After the wait we drove through Belize City while George filled us in on the history of Belize, told us what to expect on the tour, and answered all questions. Even the kids enjoyed it. We then took our time hiking through the jungle for about 45 minutes while George explained the plants that we were seeing and what they were used for. Other tours passed us along the way, they seemed to be in a hurry to get to the river. George ate termites and offered them to us, but we declined the invitation. Once we got to the river we got on our tubes, hooked our feet together, and let George steer us through the caves. George knew the river very well and kept us going in the right direction. Other groups we saw were not as fortunate. Once we were out of the caves and safe, George let my son break free of the group. I guess my son was too close to his parents for comfort :). After tubing we had time to get a quick lunch at a local restaurant and then back to the ship in plenty of time.

 

We saw other tours at the river and we were very happy to be with Major Tom and George. They were great and I would highly recommend them.

[p5woody]

We were on RCCl Navigator of the seas in January and had a great experience with Major Tom. Our family of 6 (2 kids(8 and 11),parents, and Grandparents) toured with Major Tom and George of the Jungle. Major Tom drove the van and George gave us the history of Belize, guided us through the Jungle, and down the river.

 

The only issue we had was waiting for two people from our ship that never showed. Since the other two never showed, we ended up with a private tour for just our family. We lost an hour waiting for the other two people but the private tour for our family was well worth it. Tom was very aware of the time and made sure we were able to do the complete tour and get back to the tender on time.

 

After the wait we drove through Belize City while George filled us in on the history of Belize, told us what to expect on the tour, and answered all questions. Even the kids enjoyed it. We then took our time hiking through the jungle for about 45 minutes while George explained the plants that we were seeing and what they were used for. Other tours passed us along the way, they seemed to be in a hurry to get to the river. George ate termites and offered them to us, but we declined the invitation. Once we got to the river we got on our tubes, hooked our feet together, and let George steer us through the caves. George knew the river very well and kept us going in the right direction. Other groups we saw were not as fortunate. Once we were out of the caves and safe, George let my son break free of the group. I guess my son was too close to his parents for comfort :). After tubing we had time to get a quick lunch at a local restaurant and then back to the ship in plenty of time.

 

We saw other tours at the river and we were very happy to be with Major Tom and George. They were great and I would highly recommend them.

[marysb]

Sprint,

I just reserved with Major Tom and haven't heard back either. Not sure if I should send it again.

 

I was not sure about ordering lunch...has anyone done the $5 lunch. How was it?

[dec2007w3boys]

We used Major Tom on our trip in November on the Valor. Highly recommend and have done so many times. We had Major Tom, George and Keith on our own tour van. They also had a larger van with the rest of the tubers in. We kept joking that we had our own special tour. Keith was our guide through the caves, awesome. My four year old loved it and he was free - kids under 5 are free and the other two boys were only $25. It was cheaper then cave tubing.com. With that and all the good reviews, I was happy I selected them.

[dec2007w3boys]

Sprint,

I just reserved with Major Tom and haven't heard back either. Not sure if I should send it again.

 

I was not sure about ordering lunch...has anyone done the $5 lunch. How was it?

Major Tom was always good about getting back to us. Here is the email I have from him with an address and some of his great sense of humor:

 

From: Tom [mailto:info@****************]

Sent: Fri 9/21/2007 12:31 PM

Subject: RE: CAVE TUBING / Carnival VALOR / Thursday 29 November 2007 / LISA RINDLER (6) incl. 3 children ages 4, 8 , 10.

 

Hi Lisa,

You think you’re having one of those Fridays? Today 21 September, is our national independence day – holiday, people all over the place, liquor, dancing, screaming ranting and raving, sweating, traffic locked down all over, the cats bawling in the backyard, my great big mongrel, Rocky Balboa III tried to bite me, and my three boys are demanding to be taken to the caves. I am considering suicide by throwing myself in front of a bicycle driven by a 700 pounder Sumo wrestler.

 

 

No, we do not charge for kids under 5.

And yes, Belize is absolutely beautiful – a peaceful, sunny little corner of God’s world. You will love it. See you on 29 Nov. And thank you for deciding to pay cash. Easiest, quickest system.

Regards, Major Tom

 

WE didn't do the lunch, but I have heard great things about it.

 

Have fun!

[dec2007w3boys]

Sprint,

I just reserved with Major Tom and haven't heard back either. Not sure if I should send it again.

 

I was not sure about ordering lunch...has anyone done the $5 lunch. How was it?

Major Tom was always good about getting back to us. Here is the email I have from him with an address and some of his great sense of humor:

 

From: Tom [mailto:info at cave-tubing dot net ]

Sent: Fri 9/21/2007 12:31 PM

Subject: RE: CAVE TUBING / Carnival VALOR / Thursday 29 November 2007 / LISA RINDLER (6) incl. 3 children ages 4, 8 , 10.

 

 

Hi Lisa,

 

You think you’re having one of those Fridays? Today 21 September, is our national independence day – holiday, people all over the place, liquor, dancing, screaming ranting and raving, sweating, traffic locked down all over, the cats bawling in the backyard, my great big mongrel, Rocky Balboa III tried to bite me, and my three boys are demanding to be taken to the caves. I am considering suicide by throwing myself in front of a bicycle driven by a 700 pounder Sumo wrestler.

 

 

 

No, we do not charge for kids under 5.

 

And yes, Belize is absolutely beautiful – a peaceful, sunny little corner of God’s world. You will love it. See you on 29 Nov. And thank you for deciding to pay cash. Easiest, quickest system.

 

Regards, Major Tom

 

WE didn't do the lunch, but I have heard great things about it.

 

Have fun!