Wet-N-Wild Trip was GREAT! --Long Review!

[Cruisemaiden]

The Wet-N-Wild Cave Tubing excursion is great! Very awesome experience my DH and I will not soon forget.

We were in Belize off the Carnival Elation April 21, 2005. Weather was HOT and sunny. We met Marvin at the Pier a few minutes late at about 9:10am Belize time as that was the first tender we could get off the ship. Belize in on CST the same as the ship and we left from Galvaston.

Marvin is so nice!! he took us to his little booth a short walk from the pier and we paid our balance. Our group was small, only 10 persons. We had a great group and the fun part was that most of us were from the Cruise Critic Board!!! Anyway, off we went in a small air conditioned van, thru Belize City. The drive was approximately 1 hour and our guides were Charlie and Junior. Very informative, as Charlie pointed out many points of interest along the way, he is very knowledgable and proud of his country. He even pointed out where Carnival is planning on building a 52 million dollar pier in the next few years!! Yea...cause I hate the tendering process! Most of the ride in the van is on a cement highway type of road, the last 6 miles of the drive is down a VERY BUMPY rocky road. In Belize, they use very large rocks for their gravel roads. Once at the cave tubing site, we were able to use the restrooms to change and what not , they are pretty nice and very large. They we were off on our excursion. We had to walk about 30 minutes or so, the temperature was approximately 95 degrees and hot but really did not feel too bad as we walked in the Jungle in the shade most of the time. Tip: MAKE SURE YOU WALK IN OLD TENNIS SHOES!! I walked in my water shoes and there are so many rocks and such it really was hard to walk and hurt my feet. Our walk (to me) was at quite a fast pace, but I am not a fast walker anyway. But Charlie stopped many times for the group to catch up and to point out things like termite nests, (you can eat a termite!! I did!), pineapple bushes, mahogony trees and other interesting things. We walked up and down a few small hilly areas, several sets of steps but most was flat land with plenty of rocks along the way. Again, most of the walk is in the shade of the beautiful jungle. Our group ranged in age from teens to 70 years of age and everyone seemed to get thru the walk with no problems. Once at the river, there are two ways to get into the water....you can chose to dive the 15ft rock cliff or slide into the water....everyone in our group chose the dive. The water is beautiful clear and blue...a welcome sight after the walk! Once in the water we paddled and started to enter the caves, we saw three caves all of which are very beautiful. The caves are dark but Charlie shines his large flashlight on beautiful stalagtite formations that are of interest. We had to do alot of paddling as the water was very low in many spots and the river was slow. Tip: Make sure you wear a tee shirt with sleeves over your swim wear or you may suffer from "tube rash". I did not see any snakes, fish or much of anything in the water...there really was not any bugs, so for those of you afraid of those things....you are safe. If you are overweight or heavy, you may have to get out and walk a bit as the river is so low you will get stuck and not move on the rocks. The rainy season is in Aug, Sept. and Oct. so the river is up during those times. All I can say is that the float down the river is awesome and the caves beautiful...you will be glad you took the excursion. Once out of the water and thru all the caves, you have a small walk to the open air eatery where we all had a nice lunch. I am so glad we did not have to walk back 30 minutes! Our lunch was great! We ate BBQ chicken, rice & beans, coleslaw, and a bananna muffin. Your lunch comes with some punch but you can purchase local beer and some pop if you wish. At 2:30 we were back on our van and ready to return to Belize...Charlie does give you time to return to the restrooms to dress and such before the journey back to town. Charlie says the the bumpy rocky road is soon going to be paved so for those of you taking this excursion in the next year or so...you will not have to endure the rocky road! I would definately take this trip again, it is alot of work make no mistake about that....but well worth the scenery that you would not see otherwise. I highly recommend Marvin and his wonderful group...you will not be disappointed!

 

I hope my review has been helpful, I am happy to answer any questions you may have. If I get some time in the future I may be able to post some pictures for you all.

[Sneakermom]

Dear Cruisemaiden,

What is the slide option like? I don't think I want to do a 15 ft. dive!!!

[Cruisemaiden]

Sneakermom: Looked pretty easy to simply slide in the water on your butt!! Just sit at the edge and slide on in the water from the bank.

 

Dear Cruisemaiden,

What is the slide option like? I don't think I want to do a 15 ft. dive!!!

[alleghator]

Sounds like Belize and Carnival are really working to improve conditions at this port ... what with pier planning and road paving.

 

Did you notice any of this civil unrest that's been going on in the area? Did Charlie comment on any disturbances or anything?

 

--Heidi

 

ps. Did you take your passports ashore or just copies?