Belize and Cave Tubing Advice

Britta519 · #1 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2010, 11:05 AM

My fiance and I will be going to belize on our cruise and we decided that the cave tubing seemed fun...

I think that we want to do the excursion through an outside company and have read pretty good reviews about both belizecavetubing.net and cave-tubing.com... can anyone tell me which company they have used and/or which is better?

Also, any idea how far in advance you need to book these things? Its the first time we are trying to book an excursion not through Carnival and are a bit hesitant.

Thanks! :-)

lhp · #2 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2010, 11:43 AM

Hi...hubby and oldest son used cave-tubing.com (Yhony) in 2008 and had a blast.

They were on the 9:15 run and were back at the dock by 2:30pm. ( I think the ship left at 4pm)

Yhony has been doing this for YEARS....and while there is always a first time...of the 5 years or so that I have been following his business...they have never had anyone miss the ship that I am aware of.

However, it can still happen. So I had hubby wear a water proof Carnival thingy around his neck with his Passport CARD and our son's Passport CARD (If you don't have the CARDS....I would take a photo copy of your passport and a driver's license)
one credit card and some cash. (enough to pay for the excursion and about $100 in case of emergency)

I would look at which port your cruise is headed to AFTER Belize. If it is Costa Maya, that is only a 6 hour drive and you could meet the ship the next day.

Yhony "links" everyone the entire trip ... which is safe. If you are going in May...that is the dry season...so the float will not be as fast. If you are going during the rainy season, there are times that these floats are cancelled for safety.

Have a great cruise!!!

ShotoJuku · #3 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2010, 12:13 PM

I looked into this a few months ago, here is the thread and some related information - http://www.cruisemates.com/forum/carnival-cruise-lines/368940-cave-tubing-problems.html

colorcrazie · #4 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2010, 01:55 PM

I don't want to discourage you, but you do need to be physically fit for this one. Carnival stopped offering it as a tour after 2 people died last year. Now, my hubby has done it twice and loved it. I couldn't even tackle the walk from bus to the river, so I didn't try. But, there can be very strong currents and even he admitted that he once had to rescue a woman who was being pulled down a current the wrong way. Luckily, he is strong enough that he was able to grab her and paddle the two of them back into the main channel. The other. more minor, caveat is not to let the water get into your mouth and make sure that any sores or cuts are not exposed to the water (I would put a heavy coat of ointment under any bandage to waterproof). But, some nasty bacteria in the water.
But, all that said, he would do it again....and again...and again. And I would, too, if I could. He said it was truly awesome.
Marty

Britta519 · #5 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2010, 02:21 PM

I'm not too worried about the hike in the jungle as we both frequent the gym and are pretty active.

What is interesting is that when we booked in the CCL excursions the cave tubing was not there, but it showed up about 2 months ago, so they must have deemed it safe enough again, or maybe it depends on the time of year.

we just figured that going with a private company would be both cheaper and not as huge of a group.

ShotoJuku · #6 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2010, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Britta519

What is interesting is that when we booked in the CCL excursions the cave tubing was not there, but it showed up about 2 months ago, so they must have deemed it safe enough again.

Excellent News - I now know what I'm doing in Belize this July!

Fern · #7 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2010, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Britta519

I'm not too worried about the hike in the jungle as we both frequent the gym and are pretty active.

What is interesting is that when we booked in the CCL excursions the cave tubing was not there, but it showed up about 2 months ago, so they must have deemed it safe enough again, or maybe it depends on the time of year.

we just figured that going with a private company would be both cheaper and not as huge of a group.

Britta, usually the reason an excursion shows up later is that the cruise line is still negotiating the price with the vendor. This really happens quite often. Unless there's something we "can't miss", I usually wait until about a month before we cruise to book ship excursions.

I hope you have fun tubing and will come back and tell us about it,

P.S. Marty, thanks for the info! While we don't have the same problems it seems that what we can both do (or not!) is similar. I always appreciate your opinion

.

nlb1050 · #8 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2010, 08:25 PM

Yes, Carnival has started to offer the cave tubing again. It was on the list when we were on the Legend last month. And they had a good size group sign up for it.

The only problem I see in doing an excursion that involves a good drive from Belize City is that there is only one highway going either North, South or West fromt the city so if there were to be an accident causing a road blockage you may not make it back to the ship on time so be sure to have whatever is needed if you could not make the last tender to the ship.

airforce95 · #9 (**permalink**) February 14th, 2010, 10:14 PM

We have done this tour twice through Carnival. It is fun and exciting but because of the distance you have to travel I would not use use anything other than Carnival. This is one of the few excursions that I will always book through the cruise lines. We have friends that have used both outside companies with no problems. One time they did cut it really close getting back. Just too much of a chance for me.

Britta519 · #10 (**permalink**) February 15th, 2010, 10:37 AM

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice...

We will definitely be taking some safety precautions and bringing those passport cards with us.

We decided to book with Major Tom and can't wait!

Thanks again!

nighthawk65 · #11 (**permalink**) February 15th, 2010, 10:45 AM

I have used Major Tom at Cave-tubing.net in the past and am doing the Combo Zip Line and Tubing with him in March and have not had any problems. Major Tom links people together in groups of 12 and and there is always some body with each group. I believe a majority of injuries are due to unsupervised people floating on their own. He also has back-up transportation and a tender boat on call, and has not had a passenger miss a ship in over nine years.

Happy Sailing

Mark