Anyone used Jaguar Paw for cave tubing???

[southern cruising couple]

I see alot of great reviews on Major Tom's tours but we are just going to do the cave tubing portion since we are ziplining in Costa Rica so I do not want to go with a mixed group of zipliners and tubers...I would not like to wait or rush for a part of a tour we are not doing...Also it says that if you go with Jaguar Paw you dont have to take that 45mins-hour walk to the river since the resort is closer than the governement parking area...

 

Has anyone had a good/bad experience booking and touring through Jauar Paw directly. The area seems very nice and lunch is provided at a restaurant on site with othr options available in that extra time...

[murphalina]

I see alot of great reviews on Major Tom's tours but we are just going to do the cave tubing portion since we are ziplining in Costa Rica so I do not want to go with a mixed group of zipliners and tubers...I would not like to wait or rush for a part of a tour we are not doing...Also it says that if you go with Jaguar Paw you dont have to take that 45mins-hour walk to the river since the resort is closer than the governement parking area...

 

Has anyone had a good/bad experience booking and touring through Jauar Paw directly. The area seems very nice and lunch is provided at a restaurant on site with othr options available in that extra time...

 

Did you do a search on this forum? I have seen lots of raves for Jaguar Paw.

[southern cruising couple]

I definitely did a search and only one really seemed to be about Jaguar paw but all other were Major Tom. Jaguar Paw has good reviews on tripadvisor but they are mostly from a land trip perspective...would like more details about them meeting you at the port, the private van, etc. With correspondence through email it appears like we will have our own guide (just us 3) no waiting on a group to do anything, so it is on our schedule, which is what I like BUT I would really like to hear a person's experience....

 

ANYONE????:confused:

[King Ognik]

We are booked with Major Tom for now, but I'm thinking about switching to Jaguar Paw. Does Major Tom park their vehicles at the government parking area and is it really an extra 45 min. walk to get the the same starting point as the Jaguar Paw excursion?

[jlmza2350]

Our group of 8 will be there in 3 weeks. They have been quick to answer any questions we had via email.

 

They told me that it is only a 25 minute walk to begin cave tubing then a 5 minute walk back to their resort.

 

All 8 of us are doing the cave tubing and 4 of the kids are also going to do the zip line and jungle tumble.

 

I would like to hear any recent reviews also.

[packard89]

We are booked with Major Tom for now, but I'm thinking about switching to Jaguar Paw. Does Major Tom park their vehicles at the government parking area and is it really an extra 45 min. walk to get the the same starting point as the Jaguar Paw excursion?

 

 

I went cave tubing with Major Tom last week and yes, it was about 30-45 minutes worth of walking to the river while carrying your tube. It wasn't the hardest thing I've ever done, but I was very happy when that part was over. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't choose Major Tom again. We had several "issues".

[southern cruising couple]

I am also booked with Major Tom right now, but am seriously thinking about canceling and switching. Jaquar Paw seems to be a better choice based on several things: shorter distance to the river, they will take you to the ship when you are done-no waiting on other people all day, we would have time to see other parts of the area like the butterfly area, dining in the restaurant which has good reviews, and seeing what a jungle hotel looks like...

 

What were your other issues with Major Tom? I have read alot of good things but the most recent seem to keep coming back with more issues than in the past.

[southern cruising couple]

I am also booked with Major Tom right now, but am seriously thinking about canceling and switching. Jaquar Paw seems to be a better choice based on several things: shorter distance to the river, they will take you to the ship when you are done-no waiting on other people all day, we would have time to see other parts of the area like the butterfly area, dining in the restaurant which has good reviews, and seeing what a jungle hotel looks like...so for the same amount of money it is a better deal if it is a good organized company!

 

What were your other issues with Major Tom? I have read alot of good things but the most recent seem to keep coming back with more issues than in the past.

[loves2floatonaboat]

I was wondering the same thing - My husband and I will be there in June and would love to cave tube - but I don't want to zip line - we have done that and just would rather do the tubing part - I looked at Jaguar Paw online and it does seems nice....

The only part I'm worried about is booking it through independent people - they always warn not to do that because if you book it through the ship, they will wait on you if the tour is late or whatever---independently, you are on your own........

[travelntreats]

We are booked with Major Tom for now, but I'm thinking about switching to Jaguar Paw. Does Major Tom park their vehicles at the government parking area and is it really an extra 45 min. walk to get the the same starting point as the Jaguar Paw excursion?

As far as I know, the vast majority of independent operators and all the cruiselines now use the park, which is a total of 10 minutes or so walk to get to the Jaguar Paw entrance, with a walk thru two superb dry caves, and then at the end, an additional open air river float, which Jaguar Paw DOES NOT DO. All in all, a greater experience, in my eyes, with plenty more float time. I have used two tour operators in the past and based on my experiences with them on multiple occassions, Major Tom wins hands down regarding safety, knowledge of his country and just an overall nice guy.

[travelntreats]

I was wondering the same thing - My husband and I will be there in June and would love to cave tube - but I don't want to zip line - we have done that and just would rather do the tubing part - I looked at Jaguar Paw online and it does seems nice....

The only part I'm worried about is booking it through independent people - they always warn not to do that because if you book it through the ship, they will wait on you if the tour is late or whatever---independently, you are on your own........

If you are using a reputable tour operator in Belize, they will make certain you get back to the ship on time or make arrangements to get you to the ship somehow. I have done this tour numerous times and never even cut it close at all getting a tender back to the ship before it departed. Email Major Tom or other tour operators and ask them their policy.... I did and was assured we would not miss our ship... and they have yet to let me down yet. My personal preference being Major Tom and I will be on a tour with him in the next few months on a cruise and look forward to seeing his smiling face and kindness he offers to his guests ! Good luck in your tour operator selection.....and have fun cave tubing !

[bqkali]

I went cave tubing (along with the jungle tumble/rappelling) with Jaguar Paw in December, so hopefully I can answer some questions. We had great communication when booking prior to our cruise and were set up for a combination trip of cave tubing/jungle tumble/ziplining during our day in Belize. We paid for half of our tour as a deposit ahead of time.

 

After tendering to shore, we had to go to the Radisson hotel to meet our driver for the tour. They were not allowed to meet us at the port, though I am not sure if this has changed since then. The hotel was only about a five minute walk away. When we arrived at the hotel, we did not find the driver as expected, so we went into the hotel to call. We were told at this point that we were there at the wrong time. Well, in the end we realized that Jaguar Paw had written down our arrival time wrong - we had given the time we would arrive in Belize based on Belize's time zone, but they had assumed we had given them Eastern Standard Time (ship time) and had adjusted accordingly. Regardless, we were told to just get in a cab at the hotel and they would pay for it. We were a little wary that we'd be stuck with the charge, but since we had already given the resort about $100 for our tour, we decided to risk it. They did cover the cab fare in full, so we ended up okay.

 

Upon arriving at Jaguar Paw resort, we were told that we couldn't zipline due to legal reasons (there are several threads about this from back in December/January if you are interested) and that we would just be charged for the other portion of our tour. We asked if we could substitute something else for the original price since otherwise we wouldn't have a full day's worth of activities and after some badgering, they relented and we chose rapelling. We were frustrated they had not contacted us ahead of time to tell us the ziplining had been cancelled, but we went with the flow.

 

The cave tubing itself was excellent (as were their other activities). It was literally just the two of us and two guides, with no other guests. We could spend as much or as little time as we wanted swimming at the mouth of the cave before we started tubing and it was very cool to be in the dark cave with no other voices from other groups and only 4 little headlights glowing (or at some points, none). The guides were fantastic, sharing insights to the local culture as well as pointing out things in the caves.

 

I can't speak to how long the walk to the start of cave tubing is since we went straight from rapelling to cave tubing, but the walk from the end of the cave tubing back to the hotel was only a 5 minute easy walk. Lunch was included and was chicken, cole slaw, rice and beans, and soda. There was a small bathroom to change in, and they stored your bags behind the front desk, but not locked up or anything so I do not suggest bringing anything too valuable. Our ride home was uneventful.

 

Overall, I think if you go with Jaguar Paw you will have to be extra careful in your booking (and be very clear with all your details) and also you will have to take the initiative to confirm right before your cruise. If you are willing to put in that extra effort, then the one-on-one attention you get during the tour is wonderful. In my opinion though, I would advise looking into a second or third activity while you are there to make the drive more worthwhile (1 hour each way). There is not a ton to do at the Belize port itself so if you are only cave tubing, you will get back to the ship pretty early.

[packard89]

I am also booked with Major Tom right now, but am seriously thinking about canceling and switching. Jaquar Paw seems to be a better choice based on several things: shorter distance to the river, they will take you to the ship when you are done-no waiting on other people all day, we would have time to see other parts of the area like the butterfly area, dining in the restaurant which has good reviews, and seeing what a jungle hotel looks like...so for the same amount of money it is a better deal if it is a good organized company!

 

What were your other issues with Major Tom? I have read alot of good things but the most recent seem to keep coming back with more issues than in the past.

 

The biggest problem that I had was, I booked this for a very large group (48) I emailed Major Tom several times to make sure that there would be plenty of time for all of us to to the cave tubing and for around 25 of us to do the zip line, he assured me that we would. We ended getting back to the port with just enough time to get on our tender boat. What caused the delay was when we 1st got there. Once all of us were together and found Major Tom, he announced that 1 of us needed to collect everyone's money and then go into the office to pay. Talk about mass confusion! The people in my group just started walking up to me and handing me their money. I had no pen or paper to keep track of everything. (I shouldn't have had to do that, that's his job. Right?) This process took us at least 1 hour. (In the many emails that Major Tom and I exchanged, he never mentioned that to me, if I would have known in advance, I would have collected everyone's money the day before on the ship and it would have been a lot less stressful.) Then, we rushed off to the bus and headed for the caves. Each guide took a turn talking to all of us to pass the time. Then they handed the microphone to Samuel, we could barely understand his english and he spoke really low. Of course, he ended up being my guide in the caves. All the other guides were pointing out various things in the caves, he didn't speak one word except when he told us "butts up" so that we wouldn't hit the rocks. (At least he told us that, thank goodness.) On a brighter note, everyone really enjoyed the zip line!!

After we were done, we started heading for our bus. When we got there it wasn't the same one that we arrived in with all of our belonging. They switched buses on us while we were ziplining. They tossed our bags on that bus, half of us couldn't find our bathing suits, shoes, towels, etc.... Needless to say, everyone was pretty irate over that. We started heading back to the ship, everyone was starving....but we were cutting it too close to stop for the lunch that we all kept hearing about. Like I said earlier, we arrived back to port with just enough time to get on our tender. I am very disappointed! The sad thing is that I did my research, I read all the reviews here on CC, I visited his website several times and thought I was making the best choice.

[southern cruising couple]

. We started heading back to the ship, everyone was starving....but we were cutting it too close to stop for the lunch that we all kept hearing about. Like I said earlier, we arrived back to port with just enough time to get on our tender. I am very disappointed! The sad thing is that I did my research, I read all the reviews here on CC, I visited his website several times and thought I was making the best choice.

 

I have been researching ALOT and at first Major Tom really has the number spot but then as I keep reading MANY of them mention the "rushed" feeling and "cutting it close" at the end. Feeling rushed stresses me out WAY TOO MUCH...call me paranoid but that's me. Plus many people say that lunch often gets skipped because of the time constraint, instead it seems like you are lucky if you get to stop for lunch.

 

I enjoy seeing unique areas and having extra time after cave tubing may be more of my kind of tour...and since I am a bit detail anal I can handle the last minute double checking our reservation. The email correspondence has been nice and they offerred to show me the hotel rooms since I am a travel agent. Plus the one on one attention appeals to me as well...I am gonna give myself another week of reading all the pros and cons of both then decide

[NinjaSoSlow]

I did the rappelling / cave tubing combo with Jaguar Paw about a year ago with a bunch friends. Heights are not my favorite, so I wasn't really into the rappelling part (although I have to admit, the view of the jungle from the top was breathtaking). It was definitely safe, there were two spotters, I was tied in six ways to Sunday, and yet still I get scared. Oh well, c'est la vie.

 

The cave tubing was great though, it certainly relaxed my nerves after scaling my way down a cliff. There were some interesting things I saw while cave tubing. For one, looking up at the ceiling, there were tree branches and logs lodged up there! Apparently, the caves get pretty flooded during the rainy season and get debris stuck up there. Also, there were a few Belizeans snorkeling between the two caves, looking for knickknacks that touristy types that cruisers like us drop.

 

The lunch was good, my friends said that the chicken that they ate was really good, but me being a vegan and all, I just had rice and beans (which were fine enough -- it's kind of hard to mess that up).

 

As far as the walk goes, it was maybe a 5-10 minute walk to the top of the cliff, which was enjoyable, as the guide pointed out a lot of the flora/fauna along the way. I could certainly imagine, though, a 45min/hour hike from the other places could get old fast. With Jaguar Paw, we were tubing very quickly, and had plently of time left over to nurse a few Belkins before heading back. =) I'd definitely recommend Jaguar Paw over the other places, the extra convenience is worth it.

[walsh1]

I've done the cave tubing with Major Tom and it was ok, but in February this year my wife and two teenage sons did the tubing and zip line with Jaguar Paw. The experience was very different. With Jaguar Paw you have more time, less walking to the river, far more relaxing than with Major Tom. At Jaguar Paw we had a really good meal in a beautiful restaurent and enjoyed a drink at the hotel bar. The staff were great. Jaguar Paw has a Butterfly Farm and we learnt so much. it was interesting to hear that Bill Gates when he visited was enchanted with the butterflys and stayed for a couple of hours.

We tried what I think was called the Jungle Tumble, which was introduced to Belize I believe by the owner of Jaguar Paw Donna Young. You roll down a hill in a transparent inflated ball, a fantastic feeling. Donna was an amazing lady, a fantastic host, who told us how she came to Belize, and how she introduced the cave tubing experience to Belize. You could see she loved what she was doing.

We had such a good time. Back in England now, but have already booked our return later in the year. Its so much nicer than the Government Park, you are not surrounded by hundreds of people, and you can park right at the door, and then just a few minutes walk to the river.

Jaguar Paw is a very special place.

[southern cruising couple]

Thanks everyone! That helps ALOT!!!! jaguar Paw it is, I will post a review when I return in April...

[CriSyss]

I am also booked with Major Tom right now, but am seriously thinking about canceling and switching.

What were your other issues with Major Tom? I have read alot of good things but the most recent seem to keep coming back with more issues than in the past.

 

We're booked in at Jaguar Paw next week....it looks and sounds like a perfect excursion...hike in the jungle and then lunch and drinks afterwards....

[yvogarden]

I think you'll get the best of both worlds if you try Ignacio (Nacho) and Cynthia. They own NCQadventures and are licensed tour guides in Belize. My sister and I did the cave tubing / zip line tour combination at Jaguar Paw about a year ago, and they were great. They have a minivan (new), and park right at the resort, which minimizes the walk to the caves. They knew the ziplining and river guides at the resort, and made sure we were matched with great guides for those activities. It was just the two of us, and we had 2 guides for zip lining, and 1 for the river tubing...very personal attention! We also had a delightful lunch in the resort's restaurant, along with a small tour of the resort. We were able to use the resort's facilities to change after cave tubing. We were worried about the time, and they got us back to the port with plenty of time to spare. They don't ask for any money up front, and were waiting for us at the port with a sign with our name on it. They take care of paying for everything during the day, and our fee covered it all. On the way to Jaguar Paw, we got a great overview of the history, customs, etc. of Belize. I think that by using a smaller tour operator like Nacho and Cynthia, you'll get that "direct resort" experience, and the assurance you have someone "supervising" the rest of the process. Nacho has also lived in the U.S., so he has a great perspective to bring to the tour. I would love to go back to Belize and use them for other tours of the country.

[Maureen4]

Can anyone tell me the difference between the caves at Jaguer Paw and the caves done through Major tom? They are not the same caves are they?

[Sandy Sails]

I'm thinking they ARE the same caves.

[yvogarden]

Same caves... I think the difference between the companies / excursions are: method of getting there, where the buses or vans park (which impacts the length of the walk thru the jungle), lunch or drinks provided, changing facilities, number of guides assigned to group, and size of group. I'm sure there are others I haven't thought of, but you should at least ask these questions so make sure you are comparing apples to apples among the tour companies.

[VaTraveler]

I just have to chime back in here, not because I care what company anyone uses, but because I hate to see unfair practices taking place. Please look at the posters that are praising Jaguar Paw and see how many previous posts they have. The posts from two other posters praising Jaguar Paw have already been removed because it was clear they were on here for the sole purpose of promoting Jaguar Paw. Every post they did was for that purpose. I had a good experience with another company. No company who does these tours is going to risk not getting people back to their ship. They wouldn't be in business long if they did.

[southern cruising couple]

from my research it seems to be the same river and caves....just not as far to walk.

 

as far as Nacho and Cynthia, they charge $30 more per person then booking directly with Jaguar Paw...I can't justify paying an extra $100 for the same exact tour...

[jlmza2350]

I just have to chime back in here, not because I care what company anyone uses, but because I hate to see unfair practices taking place. Please look at the posters that are praising Jaguar Paw and see how many previous posts they have. The posts from two other posters praising Jaguar Paw have already been removed because it was clear they were on here for the sole purpose of promoting Jaguar Paw. Every post they did was for that purpose. I had a good experience with another company. No company who does these tours is going to risk not getting people back to their ship. They wouldn't be in business long if they did.

 

I saw those posts and wondered about them...

 

I have not finalized my plans with Jaguar Park because of a few reasons.

 

1) I can't book my reservation on their website. I called and they directed me to another website. :confused:

 

2) They require a 50% deposit (no problem with that). But I was told via email the deposit is non-refundable, even if your ship misses the port, if you do not call 24 hours in advance to cancel. Well I have been on a few cruises and you don't always know if you will miss a port 24 hours in advance. Also every other independent tour I have booked did not have this stipulation.

 

3) There are just are not many reviews on this board. Positive or negative. With a tour company that offers so much and their costs appear so good I would expect a lot of feedback.

 

I am still considering this tour but I would sure like more honest reviews.