Clothing for Cave Tubing

[skohrs]

Going to be in Belize on Tuesday on EOS and have booked cave tubing. Are water shoes sufficient for the hike and the tubing, or should we wear sneakers for the hike and then change into water shoes?

 

Is there a safe place to leave clothes after changing?

[alb38]

Going to be in Belize on Tuesday on EOS and have booked cave tubing. Are water shoes sufficient for the hike and the tubing, or should we wear sneakers for the hike and then change into water shoes?

 

Is there a safe place to leave clothes after changing?

 

We did the cave tubing in February through RCCL - and this was the best excursion that we did. We just wore swimsuits - however we did wear tshirts over top so your body doesn't rub against the tube. We wore sneakers but I think that water shoes would be sufficient. When we left all of our clothing was locked into a "shed" however I wouldn't leave anything of value in your bag!

[smrtypnts]

This is a great question........anyone else care to offer an answer?

[fitters]

Swim trunks/swim suits/shorts/shirt are all fine. Water shoes are great but try to get the type that have thick soles. The small granite rocks on the trail and in the river can cause some discomfort. Tennis shoes or secure sandals (ones with the strap in the back so they don't fall off) are totally perfect. Welcome to Belize - and cave tubing - the top tour in Belize.

 

Do you not get wet when you cave tube? Wouldn't the tennis shoes get wet?

[sheldon66]

Another question (hopefully not a stupid one); I understand that the water temp is approx 80 and the weather is in the 80's, but do you get chilly when you are in the cave out of the sun??

[Timmys_mom]

Yes, you do get wet cave tubing. I wore water shoes, my DH wore leather sandals and both options worked fine. The water is clear and clean, so even if you wear your tennis shoes, they won't stink when they dry out.

 

As for the water temperature, I thought it was perfect. I didn't have my thermometer with, but it was not uncomfortable. We tube on rivers up here in Minnesota and the water temperature was equal to, if not warmer than, the summer temps on the beautiful and scenic Zumbro.:)

 

I wore just my swimsuit and was just fine. However, be forewarned, there are photographers from the ships at the beginning and end of your float. Some of the pictures may not be pretty.

 

P.S. Cave-tubing.com rocks!

[sheldon66]

I am just about to book with Cave-tubing.com. How was the lunch they provided?

[scottcaps]

We had booked a shore excursion through NCL prior to boarding – the Cave Tubing and Jungle Trek.

 

There is a long bus ride, but watching the scenery and the small communities out the window was nice. We wound our way through the city, and then out on the highway. The last 7 miles to the Jaguar Paw resort was pretty rough (I can't imagine how often they have to change the shocks on those buses!!) On the way, our tour guide gave us a lot of good information about the country and the culture, explained the way of living, and inserted jokes and trivia. In addition, we took some good pictures along the way.

 

Jaguar Paw had bathrooms/changing rooms and they secured our backpacks while we were tubing. The weather was warm and sunny (mid 80's). The water in the river was warm, like unheated pool water. Once I got wet and into the caves, I did get a bit chilly, but didn't find it uncomfortable and it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the excursion. We tubed through Caves #3 and #4. We did about a 40 minute walk, carrying our tubes, through the jungle, and then the tubing part was about 70 minutes. Had to do more paddling with our hands that I had anticipated, but this is a river, so the current is subject to the recent rainfall. We didn't need bug spray the day we went. There were only two places we were told to "pick up our butts" due to shallowness and the guides took turns being motors for us, in a human chain. Saw bats hanging from the ceiling and interesting cave formations. It was a very unique shore excursion.

 

We found the included lunch (rice, chicken, slaw, and bottled Coke) to be very good and filling. And, we saw a pack of Howler monkeys in the tree right above the changing rooms.

 

I would recommend this excursion, whether through the cruise line or through a private company. I will say though that this may be challenging for small kids or non-active adults. Carrying the tubes through the jungle (a fairly level path but with lots of tree roots and general unevenness) would be tough for a small child. Our guide did carry one tube for an elderly lady in our group and I saw some husbands carrying their wives' tubes. The tubes aren't heavy, but are a bit awkward. There was some paddling required for movement as well as for steering, though the guides did often come to act as motors for people as we chained together by hand, especially helping the older folks and the women.

 

We all wore bathing suits; some also wore t-shirts and shorts over bathing suits. And, we took a dry change of clothes and ship towel and sunscreen. Anything you take tubing will get wet, so only a waterproof camera and yourself should be taken on the tubing - everything else can be left securely in a backpack or tote at the resort. Hats or sunglasses should be left in your backpack as the hat will probably get wet and be in the way of your headlamp and the sunglasses are useless in the caves and could easily get lost. Folks wore all sorts of shoes from river sandals, water shoes, old tennis shoes (they will get wet, so don't wear your good ones and socks are useless). Flip flops or mules would not work well, since they may come off in the river. There was a little gift stand at the resort with a few trinkets, and beer and ice cream could be purchased for lunch. Other than that and a tip for the guide, you should take little cash, and they did take US dollars. We only purchased a magnet, so we cannot really attest to the prices, although the same magnet was cheaper at the stores by the dock.

[stacybbb]

WE are going 1/4/06. Kids are 8, 11 and 14. WE cannot decide between Yhony or Nacho/Cynthia's tours. Yhony's is 45- and the other is 75- and uses the Jungle Paw resort facilities. I read the stories about snakes. Is this too much for a family? Is it too difficult for an 8 yr old unathletic girl? What else would be fun for a family in Belize? I'm getting sooooo confused!

[Ellya]

Are your kids good swimmers? Are they afraid of the water? Afraid of the dark? Are you any of the above? The trip might or might not be ok for an 8 year old. I personally would probably choose another tour if I were taking an 8 year old.

[smrtypnts]

Our day in Belize: We tendered in and 9 of our party had a cave-tubing excursion for $75pp scheduled with Nacho and Cynthia. There was another party of 16 on our tender who also had an excursion with Nacho. Half of them did just the cave-tubing and half did the zipline and cave-tubing. Nacho was waiting with a sign with my name on it upon arrival. We all got on a bus and he immediately apologized for not having a speaker to tell us of all there was to learn about the trip and Belize. I was very disappointed as I was sitting in the back of the bus and heard almost nothing of what he had to say, even though I leaned into the isle and listened very carefully. The trip took 1.5 hours and we went drove by a lot of poverty stricken areas. The last 15 minutes were an extremely bumpy dirt road. We parked at the Jaguar Paw resort and changed in their individual bathrooms. If you didn’t want something to get wet you left it behind in their “lock up”. We brought bug spray per our instructions and we started to put on sunscreen. Nacho told us sunscreen was unnecessary, so we stopped. We all wore water shoes, but I recommend thick-soled water shoes. I had thin ones and while they were ok, thick would have been better. We walked a very short distance with our large inner tube in hand. (maybe 10 minutes) and then got into our tubes and for about an hour or more went quickly downstream through the caves. It seemed like 2 caves, but I was told it was actually 4 caves. The water was probably about 78 degrees. Nacho stayed behind and met us back there later. Cynthia met us part way through our walk, apparently she had just finished another group tour. Neither our guides, nor Nacho or Cynthia told us anything about the fauna or any of the plant life and I was a little disappointed. Upon our return, our guides immediately left us to help new groups and we didn’t get to tip them, so we gave our tip to Nacho. We only hope that he gave it to them. The tubing itself was a lot of fun. We saw a little bit in the caves, but it was so dark and somewhat quick moving, so there wasn’t a lot of time to see anything. Occasionally, we’d have to paddle, but rarely. We never ran into shallow enough water to have the need to lift our butts. At the VERY end, where we were getting out of our tubes, the water was running so fast that one of our group lost their tube due to the swift moving water. When I tried to get it for him, I got caught in raging white water and needed to be rescued. We had a 6yo with us and the guides did try to help him a lot, but since his parents wanted to be more in control of him, the guides stopped trying to help him. I think in the dark caves, if anyone had had an accident, I’m not sure how well it would have been handled. Once we walked back up, we changed out of our wet bathing suits and went to lunch inside the Jaguar Paw resort. It was included in the price and was chicken, rice, cole slaw and a bottle of soda. We took a minimal tour of the resort, while we waited for those who ziplined. The bus driver kept the bus running so it was air conditioned when we got on. This wasn’t a good idea as it kept stalling out before we left the place. Once we left it stalled a couple of times and I got very nervous since we were on an independent tour and didn’t want to miss the ship’s departure. In the end, we opened all the windows and drove back to port that way. In the end, I’m not sure I would use Nacho again, but I’m not sure I wouldn’t either. I’m sure every guide has their plusses and minuses. Anyway, once back DS and I went shopping in the street. He bought a silver necklace for $20 and we just generally walked around. Then we went back to the dock and tendered back. Overall it was nice day and cave-tubing was something interesting that we’re not likely to get the chance to do again.