Cave tubing for claustrophobe?

[GottaLuvCruising]

We had decided to book the "Canoeing, wine tasting and city tour" in Belize just for the two of us. It really looks interesting and a great fit for us.

 

But we are taking our 13-year old nephew. He can do something with my sister instead, but I'm wondering if I should take him on the cave tubing (his preference).

 

I am claustrophobic. How closed in are the caves? Can you see the other end? At the smallest point, how low is the ceiling and how narrow is the cave?

 

Thank you for any assistance.

[hogtyde88]

We had decided to book the "Canoeing, wine tasting and city tour" in Belize just for the two of us. It really looks interesting and a great fit for us.

 

But we are taking our 13-year old nephew. He can do something with my sister instead, but I'm wondering if I should take him on the cave tubing (his preference).

 

I am claustrophobic. How closed in are the caves? Can you see the other end? At the smallest point, how low is the ceiling and how narrow is the cave?

 

Thank you for any assistance.

 

The ceilings are not too low but you cannot see through the cave...It is very dark. There is however good air movement...you don't feel too "closed in".

 

I don't suffer from claustrophobia so I can't say whether you'll have trouble or not. Maybe another claustrophobic poster can be more specific on this.

[Dee777]

I am claustrophobic, and I went cave tubing this month. It's dark in some places, but never did I once feel closed in.

You can not see the end of the tunnel at times, but there are places that the cave is open and you can see trees. I was more concerned with seeing snakes hanging from the trees like vines (snakes are a very big phobia of mine!), thankfully I didn't see any on the jungle trek. I DID however, see a dead coral snake right near the buildings where you change and have the lunch after the tubing.... ewwwwww!

[CruiseinNJ]

We did cave tubing. In the caves, it is PITCH BLACK. If everyone turns off their headlamp (like we all did!) you can't see your hand in front of your face. My daughter (then 6) did the tubing, and loved it. She's easily frightened, but this did not bother her.

 

All that being said, it was one of my top excursions ever! We didn't do it thru Carnival, went with a local guide. Carnival has several guides posted along the route and you are on your own to get from Point A to Point B. Our guide linked us together and we had a blast. Our guides actually had to stop and help some of the guests on the Carnival excursion when they got stuck. I'm sure your nephew will love it.

[driftwood]

. . . and that might be a problem; but I can imagine no scenario there where you could feel "closed in." The caves are huge, the entrances and exits are huge, and in some ways I would think an agoraphobe would be more likely to have difficulty than a claustrophobe would. The waterproof flashlights are I am sure a comfort to almost everyone at one or more places! :D

 

Failure of a camera battery mid-cave fairly early on curtailed my photography of the beautiful interiors, as it is difficult to change the battery in an underwater camera midstream without untoward results for the camera; I feel of course like a fool; my only excuse was that the scenery around the area, during the hike and at the entrance to the caves, was so beautiful that I took picture after picture on the way in--perhaps fifty, almost all with flash forced in order to fill in shadows, and the ultimate failure was inevitable. Had I realized how many pictures I had taken, I could have changed batteries, as I should have, at the entrance to the cave, before we mounted our tubes. So be advised by a sadder and wiser hunk of driftwood--there are limits to everything, even batteries! ;)

[GottaLuvCruising]

The ceilings are not too low but you cannot see through the cave...It is very dark. There is however good air movement...you don't feel too "closed in".

 

I don't suffer from claustrophobia so I can't say whether you'll have trouble or not. Maybe another claustrophobic poster can be more specific on this.

 

 

The air movement is a huge deal for me when I'm feeling uncomfortable. That's really reassuring.

 

Thanks for sharing your pictures! We loved them (and forwarded the link to others in our group).

[gizmo22a]

The caves have the size, feel, and pace of the Pirates of Caribbean ride at Disney. As far as claustraphobia, if you can handle that ride, you can handle the caves.

 

I'm almost convinced Walt Disney had these caves in mind when designing that ride.

[smarks]

Hi, I am very clostrophobic, and went cave tubing.:eek: My husband almost had to drag me even after I wrote cavetubing.com and asked all kinds of questions about the height and width and darkness of the caves. Yhonny told me you could park two buses on top of each other in the caves and he was right. During the 30min. walk I had to keep telling myself I can do this. After my panic attacks (before we even entered the cave) were over I really enjoyed it. It is so beautiful inside. Everyone has a headlamp on except when for a brief time they all turn them off to see the total darkness. It is fairly wide and your all linked together, your feet under the armpit of the person in front of you. And quiet often you will hear people yell "BUTS UP" especially if it hasn't rained lately. What a blast. So go, enjoy the adventure, you'll be glad you did. Sometimes we need to face our fears, and mine is close spaces. Hope this helps.:)