Cave-tubing.com or Explore Belize caves?

[superwell]

So I am tossed up between the 2 tour groups? Both got great reviews on tripadvisor.com but for some reason i feel "better" going with explorebeilzecaves.com.

 

Can anyone that has recently been out with either of these 2 please share your comments?

 

thanks!!

[Nik]

I don't know about the other tour group, but we just returned from Belize and we did the cave tubing with Yhony and Jimmy. Absolutely incredible. We did a fair bit of research on this website about the different tours and decided to go with Yhony. They certainly didn't disappoint us. I'm sure you've read all of the other reviews about them and I agree that they are worth going with. I highly recommend them.

[Cruzaholic2000]

belizecavetubing dot com/ecological tours gets my vote they did a great job and the guide was fantastic $45.00 w/lunch

[ClarkKentBlues]

Just last week six of my friends and I stopped in Belize for the day while on an excursion from the Enchantment of the Seas. My friend had found cave-tubing.com online weeks before we went on the cruise and pre-registered with them. She got a confirmation e-mail saying that she could bring friends along and so 7 of us ended up going. And we are all so glad we did.

 

Rafael was our tour guide and he was the best. We all had so much fun with him. And as a bonus, he took us on a tour of Belize City and told us many interesting things about the history of the city and Belize. He went above and beyond with our group and every single one of us loved our day with him.

 

I highly recommend booking an excursion through this site. When we arrived in Belize, they were there and ready to pick us up. We had no problems trying to find them and within minutes we were on our way through the countryside. We had a very fun drive to the caves and Rafeal could not have been more accommodating or entertaining. Also, the price cannot not be beat! It was waaaay cheaper than booking through the cruiseline. (Only $45....and DO TIP your guide...they work hard!)

 

I just wish I could come back again soon and do this all over again.

 

P.S. Don't be afraid to leave your stuff that you don't want to get wet in their van.

[swimmer64]

I'm tossed between those same two cave tubing groups. I've read a few negative reviews regarding Yhony's group recently. We would like to try the ATV jungle tour with the cave tubing and Yhony's group is the only one I see that offers it. If not for that I think we would go with explore belize. Has anyone else recently done Yhony's cave tubing that can offer any additional comments. This decision is driving me crazy!

[Cruzaholic2000]

<P>swimmer64,</P>

<P> </P>

<P>We did this tour 3 times already and trust me making a decision was no easy walk through the park for us as well<IMG alt=0 src="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/smilies/confused.gif" border=0 smilieid="10"> </P>

<P> </P>

<P>For us it was either belizecruiseexcursions or belizecavetubing dot com/Ecological Tours.  and we chose Eco.</P>

[mmtmrb]

Our family of 6 with kids ages 6, 8, 11 and 12 went on the cave tubing adventure on February 14, 2008. We were on the Navigator of the Seas cruise ship and researched this expedition rather than take the cruise arranged tour. From the get go, our incredible tour guides Joe and Bernard assured us that they have never missed a cruise ship departure and they were true to their word so we could sit back and relax. There were about 18 people in our group so we had 2 lines of 9 people each. Joe and Bernard were very attentive especially to our 6 year old who was the youngest one in the group. They carried the kids tubes through the jungle and helped the little one across the first river. They also tied his tube to my husband's tube during the cave tubing. Our family was awes by the experience. There is a short scenic hike though the jungle followed by the tubing though the caves where everyone is hooked together by their feet. The guides make sure you never hit a wall or go astray. You sit back and relax during the 1 hour ride through the caves. Just going through the caves is an unforgettable experience. All the other competing tours did not guide their groups. They were left to aimlessly float and Joe and Bernard had to help several other groups as we passed! This is the key difference between the tours and why we went with cave-tubing.com. The other company's guides appeared lazy just letting their groups float all over. Our guides were constantly steering us so that no matter how small your children are they will be taken care of so they can enjoy this adventure!!! You can relax not worrying about your kids!! We got back to the boat with time to spare. Joe and Bernard were absolutely amazing energetic guides and I would recommend this tour to everyone no matter how young or old. The experience was priceless!!!! Michele

[BigGreg]

we are also considering cave-tubing.com and may want to do the atv's as well. Anyone have any experience with their ATV's? Glad to hear some good reviews as this is the excursion we are swaying more towards

[NYHartChapp]

Yhonny.

[ladycop50]

I just returned from a cruise and did the cave-tubing/ATV adventure through Yhonny at cave-tubing.com When I booked it, they sent very clear directions, and I had no trouble at all finding them and boarding the bus. The ATV adventure was a blast and I would do it again in a heartbeat. The cave-tubing was also great. Everyone involved was wonderful and friendly. I would definitely recommend cave-tubing.com, and would also recommend the ATV adventure on top of the cave-tubing!

[mom513]

We just got back from our cruise this weekend and did cave tubing with Explore Belize Caves. Before this we had a bad experience in Roatan and almost missed our ship. We had a delay getting off the ship in Belize and by the time we met Dennis Perez, all 29 of us (yes, there were 29 of us!) were cranky and ready to cancel our tour. Dennis assured us that we would have a great time and promised he would get us back to our ship in time. He was right - Dennis and Lewis put us at ease right away. Not only did we have a GREAT time, but they made sure they got us back to the ship in time (we even had some time to shop!). Explore Belize Caves is a first-class organization! Thanks Dennis!

[NCTribeFan]

How about Coral Breeze? One of our Miracle 12/17/07 Roll Call people used them and said they were great. Seems to be a little more expensive: $66 pp including lunch.

 

A few of the above posts have given people's names, but not the name of the tour company! Michele, who are Joe & Bernard with?

 

Thanks all! Can't wait to do this!

[FanofCruising&Colts]

I'm tossed between those same two cave tubing groups. I've read a few negative reviews regarding Yhony's group recently. We would like to try the ATV jungle tour with the cave tubing and Yhony's group is the only one I see that offers it. If not for that I think we would go with explore belize. Has anyone else recently done Yhony's cave tubing that can offer any additional comments. This decision is driving me crazy!

 

Go with cave tubing .com let me tell you about our experience:

 

We got off Our ship and went to find cave tubing.com they were standing right outside the port gates per their direction with their sign, we were escorted to the bus and I started getting nervous, the bus was an older bus and I did not see anyone from our ship. We boarded the bus and off we went, immediately it was discovered we goofed and got our time wrong we went by ship time instead of island time so... we ended up with guest from a different ship. We were assured it would be fine and we would get back to port in time. Enroute they told us about life on the islands we stopped for drinks and arrived at the beginning of the rainforest! These guys were great carring tubes for the women, we could choose from 1 cave or two our group choose two. the group ahead of us was having trouble getting in the river, the cave tubing crew helped them to speed along the progress. In the water you could lay back enjoy the caves and the river these guys did everything alls you had to do is listen for the butts up call and get your hiney up! There were people from other groups having trouble the cave tubing guys helped. We were in the water longer then we thought and when we got out they had a bus waiting for me and my husband, so we would not be late back to our ship! I never thought a bus could go so fast! But... they got us back in time for the next to the last tinder... I must say I was worried! This was our mistake and cave tubing went out of their way to take care of us, even giving us free cave tubing t-shirts for our trouble. What other company would take care of you like this! Go with cavetubing.com

 

Happy Tubing and remember BUTTS UP!

[kareng1]

On Feb. 21/08 my husband and I as well as another couple we were on a cruise with went cavetubing with Vitalino Reyes of cavetubing.bz due to his excellent reviews on tripadvisor. He was fantastic! His company is still new and a little smaller so you get really personal attention. Vitalino picked up the 4 of us at the port and gave us a great tour as we drove to the cavetubing location. Once there we met us with other groups who had booked his company and had been picked up by other guides. In all there were 17 guests booked and we had 4 great experienced guides for us. The price was so reasonable and the experience was awesome, I would highly recommend looking into using Vitalino and can't wait to go back to Belize to do some of the other tours he offers!

[Gator22]

My wife & I did the caves with cave-tubing.com on Feb 25th.

We had a great time. More caves then the cruise ships. You do not wander aimlessly down the river , you are chained too gather. The guides do most of the work. Some people from the cruise tours where paddling in circles, bumping into walls & getting stuck in low water. Not with cave-tubing.com. GREAT TIME & HALF THE PRICE !

[Nutnhoney]

We boarded the bus and off we went, immediately it was discovered we goofed and got our time wrong we went by ship time instead of island time so... we ended up with guest from a different ship.

 

Sorry if this is a silly question, but what is the time diffference between the ship and Belize? If our itinerary says we are in port from 8a.m. - 5 p.m. is this ship time or island time? So confused . . . . LOL

[savannah2117]

I just got an email from cave-tubing.com and they confirmed that we would meet at either 9:15am or 10am ship time and return between 2:30pm-3pm ship time. This is for the ATV/cavetubing tour. I wasn't completely clear about the 2 start times. Maybe they fill 2 buses and the first on go first? From another post, I read the ATVer were on the bus with the cavers, got off and did their thing and then took another, later bus to the cave tubing. I'm not sure if we all ride back together or not. Anybody know?

[cserviss]

I just reserved the ATV and Cave tubing tour with cave-tubing.com I'm looking forward to this adventure. I'll gladly report back next week!!!

 

Quick question...do you get wet on the ATV ride or just muddy?

 

...I was thinking about bringing a non-waterproof camera for this part of the adventure. :confused:

[jhrn]

I have emailed cavetubing.com several times and have not heard back from them so now concerned what's up with them? We leave next Sat. Any thoughts?

[cfsteve]

We just got back from a cave tubing .com adventure. I can definately recommend them.

I don't know the details, but for some reason we ended up in a private tour just for our family. Our guide, Evan, was exceptional, lots of history about Belize on the drive to and from the tubing site, and of course excellent work on the river.



For some reason, the tours from the Cruise Ships didn't run on the day we were there. They said the water was too high.... But considering we had a four year old in our group, it couldn't have been that high... There were lots of stories of disappointment on the ship, and shock that a four year old could do the tour - but they couldn't!



Just before we got out of the river, we encountered another tour group, they had about 12 people and only one guide. They had a lot of trouble getting out of the river. Evan made sure our group was OK, then proceeded to help the people in the other group. Very professional on his part.



It was a great adventure, count us as EXTREMELY satisfied customers,



Steve and family.

[cfsteve]

Some answers and details about the trip.

 

It will be very easy to meet the .com group when you get out of the terminal. They will take good care of you and make sure that your tour is completed and you are back to the ship in plenty of time.

 

The ATV tour was quite muddy when we took it. The guide held our camera and took a few pictures of us. It is safe from the mud in their hands.

 

The tubing part is not appropriate for non-water proof cameras. In hindsight, it would have survived, but there was a definate risk of it getting wet.

 

We had two possible start times for our trip, and even though our ship was late with the tenders, Yhony was waiting for us. (and it turns out he waited for an hour for another group that was a no-show).

 

I definately got the feeling that these guys go out of their way to ensure the customers are happy.

[crzer]

Sorry if this is a silly question, but what is the time diffference between the ship and Belize? If our itinerary says we are in port from 8a.m. - 5 p.m. is this ship time or island time? So confused . . . . LOL

 

After the time change here in USA, If you have Eastern Time, Belize is 2 hours behind. The ship stays on Eastern Time, so just keep you watch on ship's time and deduct 2 hours when in Belize, Roatan and Cozumel. Grand Cayman is 1 hour.

[maxamuus]

Does the cruise line use one of these companies?

[DiveCruiser]

belizecavetubing dot com/ecological tours gets my vote they did a great job and the guide was fantastic $45.00 w/lunch

Mine also

 

Bob

[Laurablue]

We just got back from our cruise on NCL Spirit 03/23-03/30. We did the cave tubing adventure thru cavetubing.com. Our guides were Keith, Dutch boy, Jimmy (there were more guides & can't remember their names...sorry)

 

We had such an awesome time!! We were late getting off our ship in Belize and they waited for us as they had promised in my e-mail confirmation.

 

Keith was very informative about Belize and also very entertaining. My 13 year old son had a blast! The rain forest was gorgeous and I am so glad we booked this excursion with this hard-working group of individuals.

 

Please show them the love (tips)!! They definitely deserve it!!