Tell me about-Jaguar paw

[debnjoe1438]

Hello,

 

Could you please tell me about Jaguar Paw. I'm looking for the Good, Bad, & Ugly.

 

Thanks

[jdbmga]

I'm interested in your responses as well. We are thinking of using JP in July for the zip lining and cave tubing.

[stiej]

We just got back and used jaguar paw 12/30/09. I highly recommend them. They pick you up right outside the gate at the Radisson. It is a LONG drive out and back. We did the crystal river as the other was flooded. It was very tame. We had a group of 4 and our guide. After the tubing, we went to lunch back at the resort and sat out in the patio and had chicken, rice & beans, and cole slaw with a glass bottle sprite in the middle of the jungle. Then DH and DS went ziplining. They got us back to the port in plenty of time to look around and catch our tender back.

[debnjoe1438]

Thanks for the response. :D Glad you had a good time.

[StartrainDD]

Hello,

 

Could you please tell me about Jaguar Paw. I'm looking for the Good, Bad, & Ugly.

 

Thanks

 

I originally posted this on Nov 16th:

 

I can't speak for the zip-lining, but our group of 8 CC'ers last week went on the cave tubing and lunch ($45) with Jaguar Paw. Our guide, Miguel, was terrific. He showed us where the big operators park and people start their walk... We drove on for at least another 1/2 mile to their private resort within the park (they owned the land before the area became a park).

 

The walk begins with a "Wet" river crossing as you ford the river with your tube. It was refreshing. We walked the trail for about 45 minutes, and saw no one else the entire time. The reason this took 45 minutes is we stopped and asked lots of questions about the plants and trees. Miguel showed us termite nests and tunnels, and I was taking photos of the flora. If you didn't stop, the walk is about 1/2 that time.

 

We entered the river in a most wonderful setting between two caves. For the first 45 minutes or so in the cave system we were the only group and we could float free or in small groups. As we were nearing the end of one cave we could see the masses coming into the river from the big operators. At this point Miguel told us to all link up so we would stay together.

 

Right after this point we all went down some minor rapids (it was a lot of fun) and the middle of our 8-person chain fell apart. No problem for Miguel though, he had it under control.

 

At the end of the cave system we exited and were right back at the resort, it's not more than 100 yards from the river. We changed into dry clothes, had a great indoor bug-free lunch at the resort, bought the neatest T-shirts (you HAVE to buy one of these) and Miguel gave us a tour of the resort. He had us back to the pier by 3:00 and the last tender was at 4:30.

 

This was the BEST SHORE TRIP WE HAVE EVER DONE, PERIOD!

 

Suggestion: Unless your heart is set on the zip-lining, do that somewhere else. That's offered elsewhere. Cave tubing isn't. I think (but can't swear it) that Miguel mentioned if people do both, the cave tubing part is shorter. Missing the first part of the cave tour (when no one else is around) would be missing a lot, in my opinion.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________

[maggieworkman]

We just got back and used jaguar paw 12/30/09. I highly recommend them. They pick you up right outside the gate at the Radisson. It is a LONG drive out and back. We did the crystal river as the other was flooded. It was very tame. We had a group of 4 and our guide. After the tubing, we went to lunch back at the resort and sat out in the patio and had chicken, rice & beans, and cole slaw with a glass bottle sprite in the middle of the jungle. Then DH and DS went ziplining. They got us back to the port in plenty of time to look around and catch our tender back.

 

I thought I read on another thread that their excursion was switched to the crystal caves because the "other, normal caves" were flooded. She said they were dangerous and slippery. But you say it was tame?? Are these the same caves?

 

I like the idea of Jaguar Paw if you can drive closer than the other operators (for my mom's sake). But if they take us on a dangerous course, I'm not so interested.

 

Maggie

[path145]

I thought I read on another thread that their excursion was switched to the crystal caves because the "other, normal caves" were flooded. She said they were dangerous and slippery. But you say it was tame?? Are these the same caves?

 

I like the idea of Jaguar Paw if you can drive closer than the other operators (for my mom's sake). But if they take us on a dangerous course, I'm not so interested.

 

Maggie

 

Just yesterday I booked with Jaguar Paw for February 22nd to do the Cave Tubing and Ziplining. I've heard from others on here that they cancel the excursion if they believe it to be unsafe.

 

The confirmation email that I got from Jaguar Paw states that if the Five River Cave System is flooded they will substitute the Crystal Caves. If both are flooded and deemed dangerous, they will close both cave systems and refund that portion of your deposit. They would rather be responsible and have you mad than have anything bad happen. "Better safe than sorry." I feel very safe going with them as a tour operator.

[trtllovr]

They pick you up right outside the gate at the Radisson.

 

This concerns me a bit. Granted, I haven't heard any bad reviews regarding Jaguar Paw. But, I've heard a lot of reviews that say stay inside the gates in Belize City.

 

If anyone has done this excursion- how far "outside the gate" do you have to walk to meet the bus?

[StartrainDD]

This concerns me a bit. Granted, I haven't heard any bad reviews regarding Jaguar Paw. But, I've heard a lot of reviews that say stay inside the gates in Belize City.

 

If anyone has done this excursion- how far "outside the gate" do you have to walk to meet the bus?

 

The Radisson is about a block away and is well within the heavily patrolled port security area. A JP representative was waiting right outside the port building doors for us, and walked us to the Radisson.

 

It is true that once the port building doors open there are a bunch of people there trying to sell tours, but we did not find this to be unpleasant. I highly recommend JP!

[roboref]

We did the combo cave tubing/ziplining with Jaguar Paw on Dec 10, 2009. I will highly recommend this tour. Even though our driver had a flat on his way to pick us up, he still was there in time to pick us up (we had tender tickets 10-14) so we were on the 1st tender. The ride is about 1 hour and our guide (Omar) described the areas we were driving through and some of the history. We stopped and did the ziplining first, there are only 7 ziplines at this site, enough for our first time but would have liked to do a few more. Although there weren't as many ziplines here as some of the others, the rainforest canopy was amazing. Then we went on to the cave tubing, you do save quite a bit of walking with Jaguar Paw, my wife has some mobility issues and she was able to make the walk to the 2nd cave others have mentioned, it was a mostly flat walk and enjoyable, we had several stops for Omar to point out termite nests and the different kinds of vegetation. We also free floated through both caves, however most of us tired of paddling and Omar ended up towing most of us through the 2nd cave. The water was very slow moving and if we didn't paddle it would have taken about 4 hours to just float.

 

I would not be concerned about the safety of this tour in the least, the walk to the Raddison was very easy and we were not bothered at all, though several tour operators offered their services, they were not aggressive at all. The cave tubing is regulated by the Park service and the guides cannot operate if the water level is too high. The ziplining also was very safe as you are never not locked into safety lines.

 

The food was very good. We hardly ever eat off the ship, do to food safety concerns. We ate everything but the cole slaw and none of our party got sick. Wish we could have taken some more time to enjoy the pool, but wanted to get back in time to shop and not cut it too close to the last tender. Our last tender was at 4:30 and we said we would like to be back NLT 3:30 pm and so he had us leave at 2:30 and had no problems.

 

Omar was an excellent guide, safe driver and had an air conditioned MiniVan. He was funny, enjoyable and a very confident guide. He realized my wife's limitations and worked extra hard to help her have a great time.

 

I can highly recommend Jaguar Paw.

[Seminole876]

We used Jaguar Paw on December 17th, and it turned out to be a great day. We came in on the Navigator of the Seas. I was concerned about the "walk" to the Radisson, and was talking about it the second I stepped off the tender saying "I'm kind of worried about this walk!" I was nervous as we were about the walk outside the gate but then there were JP tour guides standing right at the gate asking if we were booked with Jaguar Paw. Right when I saw them standing there I immediately knew I had been concerned for nothing!

 

It was fine, he walked us to the hotel which was a perfectly safe walk and they allowed us to go into the hotel and use the restrooms, purchase any breakfast items, etc. We then drove to the rainforest where we did ziplining, cavetubing, and then ate lunch. Everything was great. The cavetubing was crowded as it uses the same caves and river as all of the other tours and there were about 5 or 6 ships in port that day. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable, and our guide brought us up close to the waterfall unlike the others.

 

Everything was completely safe, and the river was shallow almost the entire time. Coming from a worrisome person, saying it was safe means it was fine. We made it back just in time for the last tender which was at 3:15, but they were actually still bringing tenders to the ship until about 4:15. They dropped us off right in the tourist area where we needed to be. Go with them, it's definitely worth the price!

[ilovethesun]

We just went with Jaguar Paw and I can't say as many kind things about them. Please read my full review here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=22691782#post22691782

 

We had a very frustrating experience!

[debnjoe1438]

I originally posted this on Nov 16th:

 

I can't speak for the zip-lining, but our group of 8 CC'ers last week went on the cave tubing and lunch ($45) with Jaguar Paw. Our guide, Miguel, was terrific. He showed us where the big operators park and people start their walk... We drove on for at least another 1/2 mile to their private resort within the park (they owned the land before the area became a park).

 

The walk begins with a "Wet" river crossing as you ford the river with your tube. It was refreshing. We walked the trail for about 45 minutes, and saw no one else the entire time. The reason this took 45 minutes is we stopped and asked lots of questions about the plants and trees. Miguel showed us termite nests and tunnels, and I was taking photos of the flora. If you didn't stop, the walk is about 1/2 that time.

 

We entered the river in a most wonderful setting between two caves. For the first 45 minutes or so in the cave system we were the only group and we could float free or in small groups. As we were nearing the end of one cave we could see the masses coming into the river from the big operators. At this point Miguel told us to all link up so we would stay together.

 

Right after this point we all went down some minor rapids (it was a lot of fun) and the middle of our 8-person chain fell apart. No problem for Miguel though, he had it under control.

 

At the end of the cave system we exited and were right back at the resort, it's not more than 100 yards from the river. We changed into dry clothes, had a great indoor bug-free lunch at the resort, bought the neatest T-shirts (you HAVE to buy one of these) and Miguel gave us a tour of the resort. He had us back to the pier by 3:00 and the last tender was at 4:30.

 

This was the BEST SHORE TRIP WE HAVE EVER DONE, PERIOD!

 

Suggestion: Unless your heart is set on the zip-lining, do that somewhere else. That's offered elsewhere. Cave tubing isn't. I think (but can't swear it) that Miguel mentioned if people do both, the cave tubing part is shorter. Missing the first part of the cave tour (when no one else is around) would be missing a lot, in my opinion.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________

 

Where did you keep your change of clothes? Thanks for the review, Debbie

[Tiger55]

I just posted this on another thread..then noticed this one...no complaints what so ever about Jaguar Paw..was one of the better excursions on our 16 day cruise.

 

We used Jaguar Paw on our November 2009 cruise. I can not stress how wonderful it was to book with them. We were suppose to meet the guide at the hotel at 9am(very short walk from the pier, you can see the sign as you get off the tender boat). The tendering process was a nightmare, and we never got to shore until 10:15am. Our driver was waiting for us as promised (even after we were late due to NCL examining the tender boats before we could go ashore, and we had Priority Tender Tickets too):D..We only had a group of 5 (3 did zip lines and tubing, and 2 just did tubing). The zip line process took some time to complete and we just took photos of the other 3 while they were zip lining. From there, it was a short ride to Jaguar Paw resort. We got there, changed, got geared up and headed out. The walk was about a 20 minute walk with the tube, and very easy. Tubing took around 1 hour to float down the river. It was a blast. Once finished we changed, had our lunch (chicken/rice/salad/Coke or Sprite) and that was the only part that we felt rushed. The guide got us back to the pier with over an hour to go before the last tender to the ship. Our guide (I can't remember his name, but he has vast knowledge of Mayan history) was AWESOME. He made sure we got back to the pier in time (the free high speed ride through Belize was free:D)

 

Would totally book with them again, it was a wonderful day, even though it was rainy and damp for the most part. The water was not cold, it was refreshing.

[debnjoe1438]

Thanks for the replies:D

[gatorphin]

Booked them for April cave tubing/ziplining. Like the fact there is less walking to get to the cave tubing - saves time. Can't wait.

[path145]

Hello,

 

Could you please tell me about Jaguar Paw. I'm looking for the Good, Bad, & Ugly.

 

Thanks

 

I wish I could give them a glowing report. I can't, but I WILL give the good, bad and ugly... I experienced all three.

 

BAD... First of all, the walk to the Radisson isn't bad, not long at all. But waiting there for a ride for an hour and a half wasn't my idea of a great way to start. We had a cab driver come over and talk to us and he had Jaguar Paw's phone number so he called them. They "LOST" our reservation which I had put a 50% deposit on. Luckily I had my printout with me. After waiting so long to find out what they would do, they never sent anyone for us so the cab driver found someone who could drive us out there for $100 US. Since we didn't have any other plans for the day, we thought we'd go out and get our deposit back and see if we could still do something in that area with another tour operator.

 

Our driver Floyd from the Radisson was great. On the long ride out and back, he told us about Belize and explained some of the things we were passing.

 

GOOD... When we got to Jaguar Paw, we got out of the taxi and there was a gentleman in the parking lot who looked at my printout and said he was sorry for our inconvenience and that we should get started on our tour and they would credit us the taxi fee... GREAT we thought!!

 

We went to the zip lining area and met Emilio and Clarence. They got us all harnessed up and took us up to the first platform. I was a nervous wreck but they were very safety conscious and cautious and they earned my complete trust. By the time we had gone through all the platforms I was starting to relax and have fun!

 

Then we went to the cave tubing part of the tour with Vita. Once again I felt that the guides were very careful and made sure that the guests were safe. We had a great time floating down the river and through the cave... it was beautiful!

 

Now for the UGLY... I went inside to pay. Their customer service is terrible!

 

Since no one had picked us up at the Radisson, Jaguar Paw decided that, even though I had a printout of my confirmation, that we were to be treated as a "walk in", which meant that we were covering OUR OWN cost to get there and then also paying for the tours. I told them that was unacceptable because the confirmation I had said it included round trip transfer AND lunch (which we never got). I asked to speak to a manager and he was no help also. After stating that they were calling the owner and we could go have lunch while it was sorted out, we never spoke to the "manager" again.

 

Lunch didn't happen because I told them I needed an answer now and we had 15 minutes before we had to leave to get back in time for the last tender to the ship since it was an hour drive. After arguing with them for what was close to 30 minutes, they finally agreed to take the final payment that was on the printout and we left with bad feelings for the management of Jaguar Paw and NO lunch included.

 

Their only explanation was that the person who sent me the confirmation on January 9 for our February 22 tour no longer works there. I definitely got the feeling that I was expected to pay for their poor record keeping.

 

We got back to the dock at exactly 3:15 and luckily there was still a line for the tenders. We got the last one back.

 

The guides at Jaguar Paw rate an A+ from us but the management gets an F (except for the one gentleman who apologized when we first arrived-I just wish he had been in charge-he was the only one who seemed to understand customer service).

 

During the time we were waiting for our original ride to Jaguar Paw which never showed up and also later when we got back to the ship, we were told that ever since their management had changed over, in the past few months, there were other guests who were also left waiting. The assumption seemed to be that if there are only a few people on the tour they don't feel that it's worth it to pay for a bus or cab to bring them out.

 

While the guides were great, if (or when) I visit Belize again, I will not use Jaguar Paw.

[jdbmga]

I'm sorry you experienced poor customer service from Jaguar Paw but I thank you for warning other (including me)

[dogbert's mom]

I was going to book through Jaguar Paws for our teip in May but when the new manage ment took over they also raised the Cave Tubing price by $20/pp. After reading the negative review I will look else where. Maybe Major Tom or Cave Tubingdot com

[path145]

I but when the new manage ment took over they also raised the Cave Tubing price by $20/pp.

 

I just went to see if they changed the price for the tours we took. It looks like they raised the zip line/ cavetubing combo by $29 per person. Maybe that's why our reservation was "lost".

[myers0214]

Yes, they "lost" another person's reservation. When I tried to make a reservation online they said my credit card wouldn't go through. Then they would not reply to any of my emails. Finally - after 3 weeks they emailed be back and told me to try to book again on their website. Imagine my surprise when I found it would cost us $125 more now. We don't know what we are going to do now - my kids were excited to go on this excursion but we are also on a tight budget :(

[kinseysmom]

just returned from 9/4/2010 carnival dream cruise. i cannot say enough positive things about jaguar paws resort. i am so glad we took the "50% deposit" chance (other posts were very negative about this). first of all, as soon as we arrived in belize, they were herding all the cruisers to various tours in droves. our instructions were to walk outside the gates and two blocks to the radisson resort. you could see the large sign for it at the port. this was our first time in belize with a 10 yr old and we were a little nervous. as we exited the port gates a number of people were approaching us for taxis, etc. but all we said was "radisson resort - jaguar paws" and they simply pointed us in the two block direction to get there and left us alone. as soon as we arrived to the parking lot of the radisson there was a driver there waiting for us. we travelled in a nice a/c van along with one other couple from ga. we had a nice drive to the countryside to the resort. it is definitely closer to the drop off point than other tours. we had a very short walk to the entrance of the caves. no exersion at all. a guide was with us the whole time, from the moment of arrival until departure. after the tubing, we had a wonderful meal at the restaurant (with a/c) located right there. we were treated very courteously by everyone. by the way, we were virtually alone at the caves, arriving prior to the massive amount of buses from other tours. it was very peaceful. our guide even let us float freely and not leg locked. WHAT A GREAT DAY!

 

ALSO, WE USED THE LARGE YELLOW TUBES, SMALL LIFE VESTS (NOT LARGE ORANGE ONES THAT HANG AROUND YOUR NECK), AND HELMETS WITH LIGHTS ON THEM SO YOU CAN SEE THE BATS UP IN THE CEILINGS)

 

one more imporantant fact - they were no more expensive than other tours if you have younger children. we only paid $25 for our 10 yr old with jaguar paws and the other tours wanted to charge adult price for her.