Straight up on Cave Tubing?

[mrrick747]

There are so many wonderful reviews of the Cave tubing in Belize and these boards are so positive but with all that sunshine, a little rain must fall, believe me, i can take it!

 

There are references to... "we did an extra cave the others didnt" or "we waited til the other large group went by first", I think you get the idea.

 

Who are these "other" excursion companies??? It wont be mean or bad if you tell us, we really need to know. I am between Nacho and Yhoni (for now) and I do like the personal feel (15 or less) with the local touch...so please, be straight up and tell us who you were unhappy with and why??

 

Thanks, Rick

[mrrick747]

OK,

we have a very nice crowd in here today. I'm not asking for total badness, they all seem to be pretty good. Did anyone travel with a group larger than 15 on the tubing, or feel that their group didnt get the total experience, rushed?, late? too crowded? unexperienced guides. I'm thinking that maybe the reviews I'm looking for are from the cruise ship excursions?? Anyone, anything??, Rick

[damenacer]

I was with Yhony's group and our group was 17 people but we had two tour guides and a body guard as they put it for our belongings.

 

The other groups that we avoided were Carnival excursions. And when we were leaving the water to head back for lunch there were tons of people just coming in. I would have hated to be in that group, I have no idea who they were.

[gail811]

I went with Coral Breeze. Our group of five ended up being only three the day of the excursion. The three of us were late getting to the pier by 10 minutes. The rest of our group had left, but Ivar had waited and accompanied myself, my mom and a friend. I think the "extra cave" means walking a few minutes more and getting in the river a little more upstream. His cousin was along for the day, so we had two guides for the three of us! We went in early April and the water was a little low (we heard "bottoms up" more than once!) but we had a wonderful day! I would go with Coral Breeze again in a heartbeat. The rest of the group we were travelling with did the Shark Ray snorkeling and had an equally great day! Hope this helps!

[shrimp0]

yes, it is the large cruise tours ... they will sometimes have up to 50 people in a group. For that reason, they enter the caves at a different place and only go through one cave. While walking with our tour group ( a small group of 12), we were shown the path that the large groups turn on to to enter the cave. We walked another 10 minutes or so to a different entrance. It was here that when the water is at the right depth that you can jump from a hight point into the water ( if you want) .. otherwise, your guide will "guide your rear end" into the tube while you are holding a rope and backing down from the side of the cliff.... Now, it isnt as bad as it sounds. You stand at the edge and hold the rope... and turn your back side to the water. The guide will hold your tube and direct your backside into the tube. When he says "release" you let go of the rope and presto... you are seated in the tube. ( small splash at times). Anyway, your small group will go along through the first cave and then you will see what is meant by passing the larger groups. This is where they are all trying to get into the water and keep together. We just went on the outside of their groups and went along with our group. Basically, you are all going to the same place at the end... so, if you do get seperated, the river only flows one way... you will find your way. Also, from what I experienced, your tour guide will constantly be on the look out for all in his group and watching for upcoming groups. It is much easier to keep track of 1o other people in a group then it is to keep track of 50.

From what i have read ( and i did a LOT of reading before we went)... the private tour companies will all only accomodate up to 15-20 people. Most of them have smaller vans that only hold up to 15.

[Susky]

The rest of our group had left, but Ivar had waited and accompanied myself, my mom and a friend. I think the "extra cave" means walking a few minutes more and getting in the river a little more upstream.

 

Yep, that's the "extra cave" experience. I was really impressed with Ivar. I even sent the Coral Breeze folks a note and gushed about him. :)

[NDGal]

Hi:

 

This is our first cruise, and I've heard good things on the message boards about Reggie Tours-so I booked our cave tubing through them. Reggie e-mailed me information, as I was concerned about missing the tender back to the boat-he said they have never missed the tender, as they are very aware of the ship's schedule, and they will have one of their company take us back early if necessary to meet the tender-he said there is usually time to even go shopping usually after we get back to the pier. We're cruising in November on the Valor.

[mcbor]

I used Wet & Wild. Charlie was our guide. There were 5 in our group compared to 50 in other groups. We hiked a few extra minutes more than all the huge groups and got to jump from a cliff 10 feet above the river into the river. It was awesome. This gave us a third cave to go through.

[SunFunCruiser]

We also used Coral Breeze. A group of 13. Amazing is all I can say. Our tour guide Travis was excellent. From what I've read in a lot of Coral Breeze tours all the guides are great! It was only $59.00 for two caves & lunch.

Frankly, I have read many great reviews about Reggie, Yhony, Extreme and CB.

I would never go with the ship's excursions. Why pay more to do less with a large group??

These companies rely on this tours as their prime source of income. If they ever missed the ship's last tender, one of us would spread that info all over the net and they would be ruined.

BTW, don't forget to tip your tour guide!!

[vicocala]

Sunfun,

 

The tipping was my question, what is appropriate to tip the guide and does he share the tip with the folks at the BBQ? If not, what is an appropriate tip to them?

[SunFunCruiser]

Sunfun,

 

The tipping was my question, what is appropriate to tip the guide and does he share the tip with the folks at the BBQ? If not, what is an appropriate tip to them?

 

 

I really had no idea what to tip. I asked a few fellow CC cave tubers that morning. I got varies answers.

So, I did know the BBQ was separate and we gave $25.00 for 13 of us. I figured around $2.00 PP. Lunch couldn't have been more then $10.00 each.

 

Then everyone in our group tipped Travis separately. We gave $40.00 for the 4 of us. Travis really helped keep an eye out for my 8 year old.

I know most tipped around $7.00 or $8.00 each with exception to my cheap sister. God knows what she gave.

That's all I can tell you.