Nacho zip and cave tour July 14 review

[RJA67]

First let me say, this was what I thought would be the highlight of our trip. That being said, I was disappointed. Nacho picked us up at the pier and he was wonderful. Tour of the city, out to the resort was exactly what I was expecting. The zip lines were very short zips. They went in a circle and you ended up in the same place as you began. If you have done the zips in Jamacia you will be disappointed. The rain forest is just that thick and full and lush. I expected a little more "color" mixed in.

 

Cave Tubing -- We picked up our tubes and lights and headed out. It was about a 35 minute walk. Not over taxing for anyone. We wore Crocs, and while they are okay, the walk through the forest is muddy and slippery so be careful. We arrived at our beginning point and it is a beautiful little "hole". Let me be very honest -- FREEZING -- I expected cool, and after a warm little walk refreshing -- NO -- FREEZING. We all hooked up in our tubes after we individually went through the first little set of rapids. We hooked our feet under the person in front of us and floated through with our guide pulling us along. This gave us a chance to look around and relax while floating along. I was thinking we would float through several caves going in and out of the sun, you do not. It is one continous cave. After you leave the sunlight, you do not hit it again until you get out of the river.

 

We intermingled with one of the ship's tours. Regardless of age or size, each had to have a life jacket. Most of them had them attached it to their tube. They were floating along individually or in small groups. They had to get through the cave on their own. But the weird part to me was, they were not given lights to look around. They were just floating along in the dark. Not pitch black, but dark enough that you could not really see the different formations on the cave. A few of them asked us to look a certain way so they could see with our lights.

 

Had I have been on the ships tour I would have been really angry.

 

While we had a good time and it was a chance in a lifetime, I would not choose this again.

 

Any questions? I'll try to help.

[cruisefreak13]

Dear RJA67,

 

We will be in Belize at the end of April 2008 and were contemplating this excursion with Nacho and Cynthia or Tom with ********* but after reading your review, I am a little hesitant. I guess my main question would be, we have never zip lined in Jamaica but we have zip lined in Puerto Vallarta and it was awesome - each zip line stretch got higher (don't remember how high but very to me) and longer (the longest being 400 meters) and there was a total of 14 cable we zipped on, would this zip line tour in Belize even compare to what we were on in PV? I don't want to be disappointed. We were also considering the cave tubing but I don't think I want to be hooked together with someone else's feet touching me (I guess I think that might be kind of gross). Was the cave tubing fun and/or exciting - honestly please? Just so you know what we are like, one of our stops will be in Key West and we will be going Parasailing and of course we have zip lined before in PV and we love snorkeling (we snorkeled at Shark Ray Alley in Belize the last time we were there - with the nurse sharks and sting rays) plus we have white water rafted in Alaska - so I guess you could say we are pretty adventureous.

 

I know Nacho and Cynthia are great people because they get wonderful reviews but I am trying to figure out if this will be something that we will actually enjoy (it doesn't matter how great the guides are if the excursion does not meet one's pleasure level).

 

Thanks for all your input and help.

 

cruisefreak13

[RJA67]

The zip line was 8 zips total. Very short zips. There was only 1 that had any real lenght to it and it was pretty short. There was 8 of us 10 including the guides and we were done in 45 minutes. At the end we rappelled down from the platform and that was the highlight.

 

The cavetubing was maybe an hour, hour and a 1/2. Think lazy river. One small set of rapids.

 

We are pretty mobile--Want to do something fun-- Amusement park people and we were bored.

[cruisefreak13]

Thanks TJA67 for the insight!

[shaqdaddy34]

First let me say, this was what I thought would be the highlight of our trip. That being said, I was disappointed. Nacho picked us up at the pier and he was wonderful. Tour of the city, out to the resort was exactly what I was expecting. The zip lines were very short zips. They went in a circle and you ended up in the same place as you began. If you have done the zips in Jamacia you will be disappointed. The rain forest is just that thick and full and lush. I expected a little more "color" mixed in.

 

Cave Tubing -- We picked up our tubes and lights and headed out. It was about a 35 minute walk. Not over taxing for anyone. We wore Crocs, and while they are okay, the walk through the forest is muddy and slippery so be careful. We arrived at our beginning point and it is a beautiful little "hole". Let me be very honest -- FREEZING -- I expected cool, and after a warm little walk refreshing -- NO -- FREEZING. We all hooked up in our tubes after we individually went through the first little set of rapids. We hooked our feet under the person in front of us and floated through with our guide pulling us along. This gave us a chance to look around and relax while floating along. I was thinking we would float through several caves going in and out of the sun, you do not. It is one continous cave. After you leave the sunlight, you do not hit it again until you get out of the river.

 

We intermingled with one of the ship's tours. Regardless of age or size, each had to have a life jacket. Most of them had them attached it to their tube. They were floating along individually or in small groups. They had to get through the cave on their own. But the weird part to me was, they were not given lights to look around. They were just floating along in the dark. Not pitch black, but dark enough that you could not really see the different formations on the cave. A few of them asked us to look a certain way so they could see with our lights.

 

Had I have been on the ships tour I would have been really angry.

 

While we had a good time and it was a chance in a lifetime, I would not choose this again.

 

Any questions? I'll try to help.

 

I was wondering what made your trip so disappointing? It seems the only bad things were lack of color in the jungle, cold water, and not enough sun. We've never been zip lining so the short zip will not make a difference to us. We've been cave tubing before and had a great time. The entire back half of our trip was in the sun. I'm not trying to start anything, but I am interested because we are booked for this excursion in Sept. Any more thoughts would be great. Thanks.

[cruisefreak13]

Dear shaqdaddy34,

 

I believe that RJA67 was just giving his opinion of the tour. He did say the guides were wonderful but he probably just had higher expectations for the actual zip line and cave tubing, that's all. Which I for one think like him. Plus, you must remember he has been zip lining before so by going in Belize, he had a previous experience to compare it to. If you have never gone zip lining before I am sure that this will be great for you. It is a rush. My hubby and I have been zip lining before in Puerto Vallarta and it was so spectacular I was grateful to hear RJA67 comments because we would probably be disappointed doing this in Belize (as I said above our longest cable was over 400 meters and I can't even begin to guess how high off the ground we were). I guess when a person has a GREAT experience somewhere and then does it somewhere else that is just okay it can be a let down. I feel that for anyone who hasn't zip lined before that this excursion would be fine. My hubby and I are pretty adventureous so I am thinking that the cave tubing may be too mild for us but that will be our preference. I have heard a lot of good things about cave tubing though.

 

I hope you have a great time and report back on your experience once you return from vacation in September.

 

cruisefreak13

[RJA67]

Yeah, my original post is just an opinion. Like I said Nacho was wonderful. The tour was what I paid for and I don't for one minute want to imply that Nacho was inadequate in his service. He went above and beyond what I thought he would do. I just wanted to give a realistic opinion of the actual zip line course and the cave tubing. We wanted to take this excursion because it had been so much fun in Jamacia. Had I have known that it was as "sedate" as it was, I may have choosen something more up tempo. I had read many many posts regarding the different tour guides for this excursion. Most all the posts talked about the guides at lenght but very few talked about the zip course and the river. You only get one shot at a port and I just wanted to give an opinion to hopefully provide a little more insight for someone else.

[shaqdaddy34]

Thanks for clearing that up. We have done the cave tubing through Carnival before. It was fun because it was our first time. This time we are booked through Nacho and Cynthia and are looking forward to our group of 4 to be the only ones with him( as of right now). It is REALLY crowded through the ships tour. Also, Carnival does not offer the zip/cave combo, it is one or the other. So, we are excited about doing both for the price one through Carnival.

Also, how was Jaguar Paw. Did you stop there and eat and see the butterflies? Thanks again for you opinion.

[kcparrothead]

We are cruising with friends who have already cave tubed there, so not sure if they want to do that again - they always like to do something different at the ports they return to. If we went with Nacho on the zip line/cave tubing excursion, would they have something to do at Jaguar Paw while we tubed?

[RJA67]

J Paw was unique. It is in the middle of the rain forest. There is no electricity running to it, it is run by generators. When you look at the restaurant from the outside you are thinking "what have I gotten myself into". It is a cinderblock type building with vines all over it. All you can see are these really intricate carved doors. It reminds you of something out of an Indiana Jones movie. Once inside is is incredible. It only has about 6 to 8 tables. The murals on the walls are beautiful. It has this massive rock fireplace. The artwork is spectacular.

 

Nacho took us on a tour of the immediate grounds. We went into the butterfly house -- Think greenhouse look and size. There were parrots and a cage of rats -- Nacho will explain.

 

There is a beautiful pool that backs up against the edge of a rock wall. There is a waterfall into the pool from the rocks. Your friends could maybe hang out around the pool. It is pretty shaded so not much sunning but a very pretty serene atmosphere.

 

We saw one of the guest houses from the outside. We were not able to see the interior. Once again the outside was cinder block, painted yellow covered in vines. I would think that it is beautiful inside since the dining area/restuarant was so pretty.

 

The one thing to remember is this place is in the middle of the rainforest. Very lush, thick vegatation. You could hear birds and monkeys "talking". We were not lucky enough to see a monkey. I just kept imagining what it would be like at night. Thick vegatation, such that you cannot see from one building to the next, with all these animal sounds going on around you . . I'm just not sure I could stay there over night.

[DolphinFan]

I have never zip linned before so I am curious how the contraption works that holds you up? I have a small "glitch" with one of my hips (pops if I sit too long) and was wondering if the straps go between your legs or are you sitting in a type of "swing" seat? Also, how far up did you have to climb to get to the top?

[kcparrothead]

Thanks for the info, RGA!! So J.Paw wouldn't mind if our friends used the pool (since they wouldn't be guests?)

[RJA67]

The harness that they put you in is the type of harness you would see someone using to rapel (sp). It fits pretty snuggly across your stomach and around your legs. The guides then fasten hooks to two different cables that you zip on. At the end of each zip you are unhooked and hooked to a rope tied around the tree platform for security. Then when it is your turn again you are hooked back to cable and so on. I am 5 foot 3 and I have to really stretch on my tiptoes to be hooked up to the cable. My family has zipped twice and not for one second on either course did I feel uncomfortable or uneasy about the equipment used.

 

On this course we had a pretty good little walk and climb to get to the beginning platform. About a 15 minute walk. There were quite a few upward steps. If climbing stairs are a problem then you might be challenged. I did not feel rushed at any point so if someone needed a short breathe break I am sure it would be okay.

 

On this course when you got to the last platform, you had to repel down to the ground. We were probably 10 feet in the air. Not a big deal you just kind of "sat" down in your harness and dropped. Both guides and a hold of two different ropes that helped you down and for the adults that also attached a hand brake. The one in Jamacia just ended on a platform and then you stepped down about 10 steps.

 

As far as the swimming a J Paw. I would check with Nacho about that. Nacho stayed right with the van with our belongings in it the whole time. And the van is parked right beside the dining hall and the swimming pool is about 10 feel from the dining hall. We we were there there was no one in the pool Nacho met us at the end of the zip course and then again right at the end of the cave tubing. I believe that usually Cynthia accompanies the group down the river but she was out of town and another lady was with us. There was also a gentleman from the resort that went and Nacho's 13 year old grandson Mike.

[DolphinFan]

The harness that they put you in is the type of harness you would see someone using to rapel (sp). It fits pretty snuggly across your stomach and around your legs. The guides then fasten hooks to two different cables that you zip on. At the end of each zip you are unhooked and hooked to a rope tied around the tree platform for security. Then when it is your turn again you are hooked back to cable and so on. I am 5 foot 3 and I have to really stretch on my tiptoes to be hooked up to the cable. My family has zipped twice and not for one second on either course did I feel uncomfortable or uneasy about the equipment used.

 

On this course we had a pretty good little walk and climb to get to the beginning platform. About a 15 minute walk. There were quite a few upward steps. If climbing stairs are a problem then you might be challenged. I did not feel rushed at any point so if someone needed a short breathe break I am sure it would be okay.

 

On this course when you got to the last platform, you had to repel down to the ground. We were probably 10 feet in the air. Not a big deal you just kind of "sat" down in your harness and dropped. Both guides and a hold of two different ropes that helped you down and for the adults that also attached a hand brake. The one in Jamacia just ended on a platform and then you stepped down about 10 steps.

 

As far as the swimming a J Paw. I would check with Nacho about that. Nacho stayed right with the van with our belongings in it the whole time. And the van is parked right beside the dining hall and the swimming pool is about 10 feel from the dining hall. We we were there there was no one in the pool Nacho met us at the end of the zip course and then again right at the end of the cave tubing. I believe that usually Cynthia accompanies the group down the river but she was out of town and another lady was with us. There was also a gentleman from the resort that went and Nacho's 13 year old grandson Mike.

Thanks for the info..