Is Cave Tubing a little scary?

[jmrfamily]

Our 7 year old daughter will be taking her 4th cruise with us next March and we were thinking about doing the cave tubing. She is an adventurous kid - she has swum with the stingrays in Grand Caymans, snorkeled with sea turtles in Barbados and went on a rope swing off a sailing ship in Curacao. She has been river rafting once and she is a strong swimmer. However, she does not like the dark and I certainly do not want to do something that would make her uncomfortable.

Is it really dark inside? How long are you in the dark? Is it a little scary?

[HERKIMER417]

I took the cave trip with Yhoni ;) in March, so I can't speak for all trips and what they do.

 

Yhoni issues miners lights that run by battery. You put them on your head - where ever you look the light goes - you can see fine. Especially, with the rest of your party all having their lights on as well.

 

We passed other groups - from an unknown tour - that did not have the lights and they had some unpleasent and unexpected encounters :eek: with the rock walls inside the caves.

 

 

J

[dgack1]

I would agree with the prior post..our kids loved Yhony. He told me to just enjoy myself and let him keep up with our boys, he stayed with them the entire tour and kept them laughing the entire way. I highly recommend him.:p

[alb38]

We booked cave tubing through RCCL and we were all given miners lights to wear.

[NYHartChapp]

Our 7 year old daughter will be taking her 4th cruise with us next March and we were thinking about doing the cave tubing. She is an adventurous kid - she has swum with the stingrays in Grand Caymans, snorkeled with sea turtles in Barbados and went on a rope swing off a sailing ship in Curacao. She has been river rafting once and she is a strong swimmer. However, she does not like the dark and I certainly do not want to do something that would make her uncomfortable.

Is it really dark inside? How long are you in the dark? Is it a little scary?

 

It's not scary at all. We went with Yhonny last week and had a great time. With all the others in the cave and all wearing the miner's lights, it doesn't get very dark at all. Have a great time.

[katbid10]

Was the excursion with Yhonny booked through the cruiseline or on your own? If it was on your own, what website did you use?

[caribbean dreams]

On the Belize website they also offer a kids tubing tour.

[dgack1]

Was the excursion with Yhonny booked through the cruiseline or on your own? If it was on your own, what website did you use?

Yhony is at cave-tubing.com

[steel123]

Which Belize website offers the "kids cave-tubing tours"? I did a search, but couldn't find the website. I know the age limit through Carnival is 12 years old. Our children are 9 and 11 so they don't make the age limit for the ship's excursion. Thanks for any info. you have.:)

[HERKIMER417]

While the cruise tours list a minimum age - the independents do not.

The day I took Yhoni 's tour we had 3 kids that were - 6 to 10 years olds. They had a great time.

 

Our group was only 18 and we had 3 guides.

 

Lots of attention to those that need extra help - older folks, disabled or children. Read the posts on Yhoni or ********* both have had excellent reports with all ages of rafters. On the other hand, the cruise tours are larger with less guildes.

 

 

J

[steel123]

Thanks for the info. on children cave-tubing. It would be better to have extra attention for the children through the independent tours. I noticed the age limits for the cruise line actually changes depending on the time of the year and is either 12 yrs old (July - Jan) or 8 years old (Feb - June). I was wondering if the higher age might be due to rougher river conditions during that time period. Does anyone know?:)

[noahsark99]

We just went with cave-tubing.com last week. Had a great time and so did my 7 year old son. There was one time in the cave that they asked everyone to turn their lights off just so you could see how dark it was...a few people did keep their lights on so feel free to keep yours on if it makes your daughter more comfortable. We had Keith as our guide and he was GREAT! My friend's 6 year old son was a little scared and Keith stayed with him until he felt okay.

 

They said the water level was a little low at this time so we had lots of "butts up" calls. If I remember right I think they said that November starts their rainy season.

[Belinda J]

We went cave tubing last week with Tom of ********* Adventures. He and all of his guides were terrific. We had 10 of us ages 8-68 and they were very attentive to all of us especially the ones who needed it the most. My mom was a nervous wreck about it, but had a wonderful time. She loved the caves. With all of our lights on our heads it really wasn't very dark in there. This was our third excursion on our cruise and Tom was by far the most organized and well run. The same tour was offered by the cruise line for $85 but Tom charged $53. He didn't even take payment until the end of the day. The website is info@*********************. Check them out they are great.:) Tom says they have taken children of all ages. Have fun tubing!

[Belinda J]

I just posted for the first time and for some reason it blocked out the web site and name of the business. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but if someone could tell me I'd appreciate it.

 

Thanks

[jmrfamily]

We just went with cave-tubing.com last week. Had a great time and so did my 7 year old son. There was one time in the cave that they asked everyone to turn their lights off just so you could see how dark it was...a few people did keep their lights on so feel free to keep yours on if it makes your daughter more comfortable. We had Keith as our guide and he was GREAT! My friend's 6 year old son was a little scared and Keith stayed with him until he felt okay.

 

They said the water level was a little low at this time so we had lots of "butts up" calls. If I remember right I think they said that November starts their rainy season.

 

Noahsark99, thank you for your reply. I read it to my daughter and she feels much better and wants to go. Looks like I need to get us signed up for next March!

[Eliot Ness]

I just posted for the first time and for some reason it blocked out the web site and name of the business. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but if someone could tell me I'd appreciate it.....

You're not really doing anything wrong, but the system is set-up to blank out (insert ****'s) certain words. This is done automatically and it seems to prevent some words (links) from being posted. I think the person you are talking about has been banned so that might be why his site is being censored. Here is an explanation I received when it happened to me:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=304544

 

John

[cowprintrabbit]

We did this on our last cruise with Carnival. Loved it! The darkness didn't start to bother me until the cold sunk in. I was so chilled I could barely get out of the river at the end. If you can keep your daughter warm (kid's wetsuit?) the dark might bother her less.

[noahsark99]

Noahsark99, thank you for your reply. I read it to my daughter and she feels much better and wants to go. Looks like I need to get us signed up for next March!

 

Glad I could help... please let me know if you have any other questions. :)

[Tarheelbelle]

My friend and I did the cave tubing with X-streme last November. It was great. We too had headlights and turned them on if needed. Our guide was Carlos and he was great. I believe that X-Streme has a special trip for kids under 8yo. Check Belize Cruise Excursions website.

[jmrfamily]

We did this on our last cruise with Carnival. Loved it! The darkness didn't start to bother me until the cold sunk in. I was so chilled I could barely get out of the river at the end. If you can keep your daughter warm (kid's wetsuit?) the dark might bother her less.

 

Kid's wetsuit -- good idea. We have a shorty wet suit (the type for water skiing / inner-tubing) and I would not generally think about bring it along to the warm waters of the Caribbean. Thanks for the suggestion.

[cruiseneophyte]

Our 7 year old daughter will be taking her 4th cruise with us next March and we were thinking about doing the cave tubing. She is an adventurous kid - she has swum with the stingrays in Grand Caymans, snorkeled with sea turtles in Barbados and went on a rope swing off a sailing ship in Curacao. She has been river rafting once and she is a strong swimmer. However, she does not like the dark and I certainly do not want to do something that would make her uncomfortable.

 

Is it really dark inside? How long are you in the dark? Is it a little scary?

 

 

I went with cave-tubing.com with Yohnny. They are fantastic. If you have anyone with disabilities or young children, the guides will stay with them throughout the trip. I actually walked through the rain forest using a cane and needed help throughout the excursion. One of the guides carried my tube for me, walked with me and talked just to make sure I was okay and made sure I was seated in the beginning of the line while in the water or seeing the caves. There were three young children with us and they took special care with them. The caves never really get totally dark because there are other groups traveling in the caves simulatneously with their headlamps on. Even when they tell you to cut off the lights, there is usually a group ahead or behind you that have their lights on.

 

Another reason why I recommend Yohnny and am weary of the excursion brought via the ship is the tour/tourist ratio. Yhonny had about a 1:7 ratio while in the water. Some of the excursions booked through the boats had at least a 1:12 ratio. (Sometimes a little more). I saw a lot of free floaters in the caves (people who broke loose from the chain). Yhonny never let us get seperated. I can't say enough about them. Our belongings were safe on their bus. And last but not least, they guarantee, you get back on-time to the cruise boat or they will burden the expense to get you to your ship. They walked me from their bus to the dock where my tender was for Carnival. I actually heard nice things about one other independent ( who seem to be as competent- I can't remeber their name) But would definately use cave-tubing.com when I return with my nephews.:D

 

Sovereign of the Seas 2004, Fantasy 2005, Inspiration 2005, Glory 2006, Sensation, 2006

[Wkendgardner]

We went last week with a small group, a family owned business , our tour guide was Jamai. The guides in the smaller tours are able to give more individual attention. We went with our 2 boys ages 11 and 16. Our oldest son was fine floating along on his own. The rest of us linked up with the guide and basically let him do all the work. There was another couple with us, I'd say late 40's early 50's and we all enjoyed it. My 11 year old tends to get cold as well, wish I'd thought to bring along his wetsuit for the trip. He had such a good time he didn't complain until it was all over. I typically don't like being in confined areas but didn't find this a problem. It was amazing- a walk through the rain forest, a easy ride down the river, and a great meal at the end. R e g g i e tours took good care of us.

[alliec10]

I have a question about the cave tubing. It seems to be one of the most popular, if not the most popular excursion in Belize.

 

We are cruising in July. There are 4 of us. My husband really wants to do this excursion. I am a little on the weary side of this as I, as embaressing as it is to admit, am deathly afraid of fish and pretty much all critters. I told him I wasn't going and I would stay on the ship while he went with the other couple that is going to be on the cruise with us.

 

I don't swim in the ocean. Period. However; I love the beach and we go at least once a year. I don't snorkel, nor am I a nature girl. I much prefer concrete. We went to Costa Rica 2 years ago and did a zip line tour through the rain forest that included a 45 minute walk in the forest. I was miserable and pretty freaked out by some of the *critters* that I spotted along the path. Had I known beforehand that we would be trekking through the rain forest, I wouldn't have agreed to this tour.

 

Now, for my question....how bad is this tour for a city girl that only swims with other humans? ;) Are there a lot of fish/other things swimming in the water? Do the tubes have bottoms or are they the donut kind? Should I stay on the ship at the pool and have a peaceful day by myself that day so that everyone else can enjoy this outing without putting up with my whining and freaking out all day?

 

Any advice or input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance!

[noahsark99]

I saw no "critters" of any kind on the walk or in the water. The only "critters" I saw the entire trip were a few bats hanging in the caves. I am not scared of bats but these were just hanging there and if the guide didn't point them out I probably wouldn't have seen them anyway.

 

I would say to "go for it"...it was a fun experience... no "critter" worries!! :)

[antcyd]

Yhony and the crew from cave-tubing.com are the BEST!!!! I have been on 38 cruises and by far, this was the best excursion I have ever been on and he is the best tour operator out there. His main concern is everyones safety, well being and of course, having the most awesome time. I had so much fun that I am doing it again in October. Yhony rocks!!!!!