Our Day in Belize - 1/21/2005

[AvMan]

My family of four had booked Cave Tubing with Reggie in Belize. We received a lengthy email from him confirming our reservation, with instructions on how to find his tour when we tendered in.

 

We strolled down to the gangway about 7:45am ship time, showed our paperwork to the Carnival person who asked us to step to the side. While waiting, we hooked up with Tim and Julie from Iowa (CC members) and their party, also booked with Reggie. They loaded us on a tender with the Carnival excursion and into Belize we went.

 

We had a perfect day to tour the country as it was going to be in the high 70s and sunny. Reggie's group was exactly where he indicated they would be and we had a few minutes to shop, etc, as we waited for the rest of our group to arrive. Once Steve (another CC member) and his party arrived, we loaded up and left. We were scheduled to go in a Van, but our guides, Lionel and Jahmal, switched us to an older school bus. The good thing about the bus was the extra room, I am not sure the van would have carried the 15 of us comfortably. The down side was that the bus was older and not as nice as the van.

 

As we drove through the city, Jahmal (Reggie's son), pointed out landmarks, spoke about the local economy, local politics, the history of Belize City, etc. It was very informative. There were no questions left unanswered, either by fact or opinion or both. It was about a 37-mile ride West into the countryside and about half way there, one of the rear tires on the bus blew. Fortunately, the bus had dual rear wheels, so it did not delay our excursion any. We pulled off the main road onto a rock and dirt road for the final 6-miles to the National Park.

 

On arriving, they handed out headlamps, life jackets, and tubes and we gathered up for the walk into the jungle. Lionel led the group and Jahmal walked behind, making sure everyone was ok. The first ten minutes of the walk are the hardest, as it involves some up and down steps and a trek across the river. I go about 350lbs. and I was puffing pretty hard at this point of the walk. At this point, however, the trail flattens out and I eventually caught my breath during the walk. All along the walk, Jahmal would point out different things to look at. We arrived at a pool of emerald green water where we were to enter the river. Jahmal and Lionel took pictures of us with our cameras before and after we entered the water.

 

The water was about 70 degrees and felt magnificent after the walk. The only way to describe the float down river is otherworldly. The coolest moments are when you turn the bend and first enter the caves, then again when you exit the caves back into the jungle. In the caves, Jahmal pointed out interesting formations, in-cave waterfalls, bat holes, etc., all the while he and Lionel kept the group together and directed our travel down river. There are shallow parts of the river where you have to get your butt up on top of the tube to make it through. They also informed us when we needed to be feet first in order to gently push off the cave walls, etc. as the current swept us in that direction. We ended the tube down river at the place we had crossed early in the walk.

 

Back at the bus, we had time to change and get a snack before heading back. On the ride, Jahmal spoke at length about his personal life, and about Reggie and running an independant tour in a Cruiseline-dominated port. He also spoke about the conflict between RCCL and Carnival over Belize, and showed us more landmarks, including the home of the Prime Minister of Belize.

 

They dropped us off at the door to the Cruise terminal at 2:25pm ship time, over an hour before the last tender back to the ship. We had time to shop, etc. before leaving Belize. I wish I had brought more cash to this port as the deals in Belize were better than Cozumel or Costa Maya, especially on T-shirts and trinkets.

 

All in all, it was a memorable excursion.

[CaribbeanCrazy]

Thanks for the great review! Sounds like you had a nice day in Belize.

Which company did you go with? When going through the caves did you have to form a train with the other tubbers or did you get to ride solo? The reason I ask this is that some of the other companies have you link legs to go through the caves...and my DH isn't very happy with this idea. I was all set to reserve...and now he wants to think about it. So I told him I would find out if all the companies work this way or not. I ask about this on another post...but haven't gotten any feedback.

 

CaribbeanCrazy

[AvMan]

We did our Cave Tubing with Reggie. His website is www.regtour.com

 

Jahmal and Lionel encouraged us to link up in some of the slow areas in order to help with paddling, but no, we never all linked up and traveled together. In fact, we were encouraged NOT to be linked together through some of the rapid areas. When we did link up, it was in small clusters of 2-4.

 

Bob

[CaribbeanCrazy]

Thanks Bob! It sounds like fun! :)

I have been leaning toward Wet & Wild...so I think I'm going to go reserve with them right now! Before DH changes his mind :)

CaribbeanCrazy

[jrb123]

Hey Bob!

Nice to "see" you again! That was a great review and I agree with everything! That day was my fondest memory of the cruise and is the first thing I tell folks about when they ask what we did. Jamai and Lionel took great care of all of us and I would certainly recommend Reggie's tour to everyone.

 

Julie

[Gramsof7]

We did our Cave Tubing with Reggie. His website is www.regtour.com

 

Jahmal and Lionel encouraged us to link up in some of the slow areas in order to help with paddling, but no, we never all linked up and traveled together. In fact, we were encouraged NOT to be linked together through some of the rapid areas. When we did link up, it was in small clusters of 2-4. Bob

 

Bob, how do you link up, and how rapid were those rapids? My husband hates water, can't swim, sinks like a rock, but will go on this if the rest of us want to go. I've not heard any comments from claustrophobics about this, and wonder also at the darkness in the caves. I realize everyone is given a headlight, but how effective are these?

 

Thanks!

[AvMan]

Linking up...we linked up by putting the toes of our feet under the tube of the person in front of us.

 

Rapids...most of the river is just like a lazy river ride, where you have to paddle with your arms to get anywhere quickly. The rapids areas are areas where you don't need to paddle, except to steer and keep your feet forward. They are short areas and not very fast...if I had to put a number to it, it would be a little faster than walking along the bank, maybe 5-6 mph?

 

Caves are completely black without headlamps in places where you can't see entrance or exit, and they will demonstrate this at one point. Headlamps are actually very effective.

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

Bob