Jaguar Paws Cave Tubing

[Sabiney]

Thanks for coming back & posting your update. :)

 

Pat

[punky8011]

I second the comment about Major Tom and wish I would have seen this post before I booked. We just got back from the Western route on the Dream and used Major Tom in Belize. While we did get back to the port with time to spare, we were not happy with the organization of the tour. We only did the cave tubing part which was fine but could have been better if our two tour guides had linked us together in smaller groups instead of linking all 15 of us together. At the end (after we were done in the river) any form of organization fell apart. We didn't buy the lunch through Major Tom and were virtually ignored by the tour guides as we were trying to figure out what was going on. We ended up sitting on a curb waiting for those who ordered lunch through the company to finish eating. I ended up very frustrated since I had read good reviews about Major Tom and figured they were organized...wrong.

 

The other cave tubing companies seemed to have much better equipment (our tubes were car tire tubes, we had no helmets, some of the head lamps worked and some didn't, and the life vests were gross), seemed to be better organized with smaller groups, and their transport vehicles looked much more comfortable than the ones we took out there (in fact one of Major Tom's vans had broken down once they made it out to the site).

[Turtle Lover]

It’s hard for me to imagine that you would have had such a terrible time with Major Tom’s tour. I have taken two tours with him in the past three years, and both tours were exceptional. The disorganization that you described does not sound at all like Major Tom. He prides himself in the safety measures that he provides for his customers. I purposely chose Major Tom’s tour over other tour operators because of his organization and safety measures. Each time I’ve visited Belize, Major Tom has linked his customers together, while other cave tubing tours have allowed their customers to free float down the river. Major Tom doesn’t link 15 people together. As a matter of fact, on our first visit to Belize, my family had to be split, because Major Tom didn’t want more than 5 people linked together (for safety reasons).

It was explained to us that the larger sized tubes tip easier, which could be potentially dangerous in the caves. The smaller black inner tubes stay closer to the water and are less likely to tip

I do agree that the bus was not comfortable, but I wasn’t going on the cave tubing tour expecting comfort. If I was going to a luxury resort, I would have expected a comfortable ride. But considering I was heading out to the jungle to go cave tubing, the bus ride didn’t bother me.

Although we didn’t have helmets, we did have headlamps (all of them worked fine) and I had no problems with the life vests. After our ride down the river, Major Tom saw to it that we were able to get lunch (chicken, rice, and beans) and a cold drink. The man that was selling the food was not able to give me change. He could not break the $20.00 bill that I gave him. Major Tom made sure that he found someone that could break the twenty dollar bill to get me my change back.

I would not think twice about recommending Major Tom to anyone. He is an honest, hard-working man with the utmost integrity. It was an honor to meet him three years ago, and he’s the reason that I went back to Belize.

[FloridaLaura]

It’s hard for me to imagine that you would have had such a terrible time with Major Tom’s tour. I have taken two tours with him in the past three years, and both tours were exceptional. The disorganization that you described does not sound at all like Major Tom. He prides himself in the safety measures that he provides for his customers. I purposely chose Major Tom’s tour over other tour operators because of his organization and safety measures. Each time I’ve visited Belize, Major Tom has linked his customers together, while other cave tubing tours have allowed their customers to free float down the river. Major Tom doesn’t link 15 people together. As a matter of fact, on our first visit to Belize, my family had to be split, because Major Tom didn’t want more than 5 people linked together (for safety reasons).

It was explained to us that the larger sized tubes tip easier, which could be potentially dangerous in the caves. The smaller black inner tubes stay closer to the water and are less likely to tip

I do agree that the bus was not comfortable, but I wasn’t going on the cave tubing tour expecting comfort. If I was going to a luxury resort, I would have expected a comfortable ride. But considering I was heading out to the jungle to go cave tubing, the bus ride didn’t bother me.

Although we didn’t have helmets, we did have headlamps (all of them worked fine) and I had no problems with the life vests. After our ride down the river, Major Tom saw to it that we were able to get lunch (chicken, rice, and beans) and a cold drink. The man that was selling the food was not able to give me change. He could not break the $20.00 bill that I gave him. Major Tom made sure that he found someone that could break the twenty dollar bill to get me my change back.

I would not think twice about recommending Major Tom to anyone. He is an honest, hard-working man with the utmost integrity. It was an honor to meet him three years ago, and he’s the reason that I went back to Belize.

 

 

I second this post! I just got back from my Carnival Legend Cruise and we booked with Major Tom ! It was one of the highlights of our cruise! We went cave tubing with his son Minor Tom and I could not have been happier! He was so accomodating. We were so lucky that day it was just my family of 4. Major Tom met us at the dock and introduced us to his son Minor Tom and off we went. I loved the personal attention. I will be doing a complete review in the coming days with pictures, but for now all I can say was I am sooo happy we booked thru Major Tom instead of Carnivals Cave tubing excursion!