Cave Tubing questions?

[srbb03]

Will be in Belize for a New Year's Cruise on Carnival with a non-swimmer & claustrophobe! therefore, need to address couple of concerns before deciding on a Cave Tubing excursion.

 

How deep/shallow is the water?

I've heard of the phrase 'Butts up' so I figure a non-swimmer would be fine but, looking for some confirmation.

 

How high/low and dark are the caves?

Would claustrophobia be an issue here? :eek:

 

Thanks for your help. :D

[GinDon]

I'm a non-swimmer, and I went. You will be given a life vest to wear, and I felt pretty safe cradled in that big inflated tube. Can't even begin to guess if the water was deep or not. Tried not to think about that! There are definitely lots of shallow areas, but in the caves it's dark, and the water looks black, so you can't gauge the depth.

 

It's pitch black in the caves, just the light from your little headlamps, and the spotlight that the guide uses to point out cave formations, etc. The headlamps you wear aren't very bright, they don't help you see much. I think they are more so the guide can see you. The caves are HUGE, with high ceilings, and everything echoes.

 

It's really an awesome adventure. I'm not a brave person, and I loved it.

[Sarae]

Will be in Belize for a New Year's Cruise on Carnival with a non-swimmer & claustrophobe! therefore, need to address couple of concerns before deciding on a Cave Tubing excursion.

 

How deep/shallow is the water?

I've heard of the phrase 'Butts up' so I figure a non-swimmer would be fine but, looking for some confirmation.

 

How high/low and dark are the caves?

Would claustrophobia be an issue here? :eek:

 

Thanks for your help. :D

 

Went on the cavetubing-com Nov 11...the water is at most that I saw waist high...the cave was fairly high in most places..is dark however. I get claustrophobia in small tight places so this was not even close.

Take the tour you will have fun

[srbb03]

Thanks for your help guys.

 

I assume that timing was not an issue as it's a not a cruise company excursion.

[Moochanator]

I went a few years ago and I periodically got out of my tube to reposition or take a picture of my beautiful wife. ;)

 

I don't ever remember a section of the river that was too deep for me to stand up. Probably 4-5 feet was the deepest if I recall correctly.

 

As for cave size, the caves are very big, but I do remember one section (towards the front where it was still light) where the ceiling was pretty low. (about 4 feet from the surface of the water.) It was only one short section, though and it was very wide there.

 

Make sure you turn your headlamp off while you're in the light. Our headlamp batteries were pretty weak by the time we rounded the last bend.

[Oompaland]

We just went cave tubing last week. For the most part the water is only a couple of feet...yes, butts up were needed.

 

However, our guide was extremely informative. There ARE areas that are 40 - 50 feet deep. He had explained by the waterfall inside the cave is probably the deepest part. (He said he watched his brand new flashlight float downward the first day he used it. :( ) Also, there are areas before and after tubing where you can jump off a cliff into the water that are about 15 feet.

 

I hope this info helps. We had an AWESOME time and WILL do this again!

[tropicaltammy]

We had an amazing experience with cave tubing through cavetubing.com. We had a young man personally pull our tube train of 4 through the cave as he swam and pulled us from up front. There were places that he could not touch the bottom, but we felt very secure with the vest, the tubes, and the guide right there with us. Others in the cave were free floating and bumping into other tubers and rocks. I would specifically as for a guide to pull you through (with a nice tip as an incentive!) Loved the day (we did the zip-lining there too). one of the 2 most memorable excursions ever taken! I am a swimmer, but a big chicken and was SO glad I let my family talk me into the adventures of a lifetime that day.

[stunned]

Do you have to jump off the cliff to get into the water? I don't do good with heights.

[tropicaltammy]

No jumping in. You waded out to a wide part of the river with your tube in hand. Water was shallow at the beginning of the trek. A bit chilly, but not uncomfortable.

[TeacherCruiser09]

Did anyone tip their guide? If so, how much?

[TexasMoogy]

How far and how difficult is the hike from the bus to the beginning of the cave tubing? I had a knee replacement some months back, and I am trying to judge whether I am strong enough to make the hike.

 

Thanks,

TexasMoogy

[Sarae]

How far and how difficult is the hike from the bus to the beginning of the cave tubing? I had a knee replacement some months back, and I am trying to judge whether I am strong enough to make the hike.

 

Thanks,

TexasMoogy

 

It is a bit of a walk..went with cavetubing dot com...and the guide found out I had neck surgery a couple of years ago..so the guide carried my tube after about the first 3 minutes...they have stopping points and will go at your pace...a guy in our group of 51 had a prothesic leg and used a cane so I am sure that the guides from this company will help you just like Omar and the guys helped us.

[Morebeer]

I don't find the cave tubing excursion available on our May 29th 2010 on the Carnival Dream. I think my Carvinval PVP said they had to cancel those tours as someone got hurt. I've always read great tertimontials about these cave tubing excursions did anyone book thru an independent operator or was Carnival still offering that excursion when you were there? Thanks.

[CMM]

Nov 26 our family went with cave tubing . com and they took us to a different cave system as the normal one was closed for safety reasons. It had rained the days previously and they were flooded within inches of the cave ceiling.

The entire tubing experience was in 100% darkness. we had little flashlights on our heads but there was no guide pointing out cave formations with a spotlight or anything. Lots and lots of tubers with very little instructions or guidance. The water was very deep for much of it. We wore our lifejackets and did our best to hold on to kids tubes the entire time.

We arrived back 10 minutes before the last tender.

 

This cave was also located on the Jaguar paw resort that the other one is. The hike to the caves was at a pretty good clip. There is no way my mom with knee issues could have done it. Our family was ok with it. The decent down to the cave though was challenging. Dark, slippery and undefined. That was a real challenge for me.

 

Tipping is expected. They went around on the bus trip back and individually collected your payment and tip.

[smc0320]

We were on Carnival Legend last week...in Belize on Thurs 12/17 and did cave tubing with Major Tom...can't recall which url is his...water depth ranges from inches to 60 ft in some places...though most is 5-6 ft so the guide walked beside us as he pulled us. Life vests are mandatory. Jumoing from cliffs into water is only if you want to in some places. The walk was not bad...very enjoyable actually as they educated us a lot on their rainforest. Amin was our guide..he was AWESOME. Water temp was ok...a little cool at times. Major Tom's group is VERY safe...only 8 ppl per guide...never had a concern for my safety.

[bastrddrmr]

We did Major Tom's this past week. It was an excellent experience. Our guides were Greg, Javier, and Charlie. For the actual cave tubing part of it where it is broken down to 1 guide per 8 people, my brother and I each tipped our guide (Greg) $5.

 

There were 2 locations where you could jump off rocks into the water. These are totally optional and if you aren't well balanced don't do it. The rocks are a bit slippery.

 

I do recommend that if you are not in good physical condition, pass up on the experience. There was an elderly lady in our party who was heavyset and was having a very difficult time with the walk through the rainforest. It worried and irritated the rest of us at the same time.

[jean1221]

:)

I just want to say that if you are hesitant to book with Cave-Tubing.com don't be. This was our first cruise and we were trying to find alternatives to to expensive shore excursions that the ship offered. We were a family of five traveling on a budget. This tour was the best part of the trip !!!! It was under half the cost of the ship's price and better than what the ship offered. In fact the ship's excursion was near this one and people in that tour were very disorganized and were drifting off and one person even lost a camera but one of the members from Cave-Tubing.com went back and dove under the water and retrieved the camera for the person. People from the ships tour were commenting on how they should have booked with tour group instead. The whole experience was very easy. You just send your reservation online (no credit card or payment needed). Then you get a confirmation to print, and when you get to shore Cave-Tubing.com has a person holding a sign.WARNING: After this experience it's all you will talk about the remainder of your trip. My husband talked about it for the remaining five days of our cruise. We are home now and he cant stop talking about it. If you want a lifetime memorable experience book this trip you wont be disappointed. If you have limited funds and are planning excursions, this is the one!!! Best time on the cruise. Thank you Cave-Tubing.com we will be back again and again.

[chloes_mom]

I don't find the cave tubing excursion available on our May 29th 2010 on the Carnival Dream. I think my Carvinval PVP said they had to cancel those tours as someone got hurt. I've always read great tertimontials about these cave tubing excursions did anyone book thru an independent operator or was Carnival still offering that excursion when you were there? Thanks.

 

We just went with cavetubing.bz, and had a great time. There were only 11 of us, and our guide, Joe, was very entertaining on the drive there. We saw some of the other comapnies with large roups that allowd people to float off on their own. I don't recommend this, because no one is watching out for you. With our group, we were in 2 small chains, each with a guide pulling us (another reason to be linked up). most of the areas the guide had to paddle to get us moving. If I had to do it on my own, I would have been exhausted!

 

I don't think I saw it on carnival's excursion list (12/6 sailing).

[chloes_mom]

How far and how difficult is the hike from the bus to the beginning of the cave tubing? I had a knee replacement some months back, and I am trying to judge whether I am strong enough to make the hike.

 

Thanks,

TexasMoogy

 

I had an ACL reconstruction Sept. 15, and just did this tour. I've been doing physical therapy since then. My knee felt fine, but it is a long walk, at a fast pace. If you have any pain or difficulty walking at home, I wouldn't do this. I know that a knee replacement is a lot more involved than ACL.

[LiseD]

We are just back and went cave tubing...due to rain we also did the "other caves" so not sure which is which...but we did 2 caves total. the first one was very low ceiling and my 16 yo did start to get claustrophobic but the 2nd cave was really high ceilings and she felt fine. As for water debths....some parts were very shallow but other parts we were told by our guide were very deep (60ft?)

[klmorg]

Just another quick question... I understand the walk is relatively long to get to the cave tubing part, and I'm guessing you'd need to wear whatever shoes or foot coverings that you'll be wearing in the water, right? So is the walk pretty rough for someone with water shoes? All 4 of us were planning to wear our water shoes, so buying something else is not an option for us. Anyone know how rough that walk is on the tootsies? Thanks!

[LiseD]

I would wear some kind of shoes for the walk...we all had Teva type sandals on for the walk and tube and did fine. We used a guy named Nacho to drive us there and he takes you a lot closer then some of the larger buses...our walk was only about 20 min. He is in a van and it can make it farther up the road. You can google "Nacho Belize" and see his website. Very nice guy...we enjoyed being by ourselves instead of a large group.

[CMM]

Just another quick question... I understand the walk is relatively long to get to the cave tubing part, and I'm guessing you'd need to wear whatever shoes or foot coverings that you'll be wearing in the water, right? So is the walk pretty rough for someone with water shoes? All 4 of us were planning to wear our water shoes, so buying something else is not an option for us. Anyone know how rough that walk is on the tootsies? Thanks!

 

You need to wear shoes of some sort and they say no flip flops. My son wore sandals and the rest of us had water shoes. My husbands were the cheap kind without much treads and he found it slippery. They will have you rent water shoes for $3 if you don't have footwear. They are an odd assortment of kmart quality used shoes, so you are better off bringing your own. Old sneakers would be fine too.

[sbhdmh]

I saw one company is offering a special cave tubing excursion for kids under the age of 8. (Belizecruiseexcursions dot com) Has anyone done this? My dd just turned 5 but is big for her age (height and weight) and is a good swimmer. They say they have special child size equipment for the kids. Most of the companies say that they start at 10.

 

It sounds like this would be too much for my mother, who is not terribly fit, but it might be nice for dh and dd to do together. Any input would be appreciated.

[CBeachMom]

Just another quick question... I understand the walk is relatively long to get to the cave tubing part, and I'm guessing you'd need to wear whatever shoes or foot coverings that you'll be wearing in the water, right? So is the walk pretty rough for someone with water shoes? All 4 of us were planning to wear our water shoes, so buying something else is not an option for us. Anyone know how rough that walk is on the tootsies? Thanks!

 

We were there on 12/22/09. I wore some cheap water shoes that I bought at Wal-Mart. They were the perfect footwear. The walk is quite long and the pace was a little fast for me. I am 52, overweight and I have a knee problem, but I made it! The tubing experience is well worth the walk.