Cave tubing with baby?

[twopugs]

I have called a few vendors and all say that our son can go cave tubing and sit in one of our laps. He will be 7 months and two of the companies said that babies really enjoy it. Our son loves the water and we have a pool at home so he is pretty comfortable in it.

We have not been to belize nor have we been cave tubing....but we have done rafting in Costa Rica. If it is anything similar the water is quite cold and the area is full of mosquitos. I am a bit more worried about the bugs than the actual tubing.

If anyone has done this....please give me some opinions?

Also, I have seen/called many companies based on cruise critic reviews. What was your experience with them...who would you suggest?

[ChBoxers800]

I don't have an answer for you but am interested in an answer to this question as well. My daughter and son-in-law are going to cruise with us and love outdoor things. Only problem is, they will have my 8 9 month old grandson with them.

 

This is the first I have heard that cave tubing may be acceptable to take such a young baby on. I would love to relay this info to them as they'd be thrilled.

 

Does anyone know?

[twopugs]

Many of the vendors have told me that people do it and a few even have pictures...

http://www.cave-tubing.com/belize-cave-tubing-photos-page11.html

However, I have seen some posts about people slamming into the cave walls on the tubes which makes me quite hesitant.

[SgrMgn]

I went cave tubing this past June and I strongly DO NOT recommend doing it with a baby. I actually registered and created an account just to reply to you because I could not let you do this in good conscience. TERRIBLE IDEA I don't care what the tour guides say, they need the money in Belize! First of all, the hike through the jungle before the tubing is almost an hour and there are A LOT of bugs. Secondly, the water is very cold in the caves. There are also bats and large spiders inside the caves. Megtr is right, there were many times that I got stuck against the wall of the cave and could not push myself off and my fiance had to help pull me. (p.s. you have to use the light on your head to make sure that when you push off you are not touching a giant spider) Also there are times when the cave gets very shallow and you have to pick your butt up from the tube so it doesn't scrape against rocks. The guide says "BUTTS UP EVERYONE." I imagine this would be somewhat difficult with a baby on your lap because it was hard for me and I am a healthy fit 25 year old. There are also times where you bump into large rock formations in the middle of the cave. The whole time I was shivering because I was freezing. My fiance stood up at one point where it was shallow because he was too heavy to move in the tube and was dragging me and all of the sudden the floor dropped out where he was and he had to start swimming fast to get back on the tube. The depth varies without notice. And on the way the guide informed us that if our tube pops we're out of luck and we would have to swim the whole way. Granted you get a life vest but who knows what lives in the water of a cave and what kind of rocks you would be bumping into and when it would suddenly become shallow etc. p.s. I swear something bit my butt and I purposely kept my butt up the whole time! Once you are in the cave that's it for two hours, no turning around. Plus if you do it with a large group the guides are so far away sometimes that its hard to get them if you are having trouble. I did hear that some of the smaller tour guides link you and drag you through the cave. I still think its no place for a baby! I would say around 8 years and older

 

I love active adventures (but i did hate every second of being in that cave) but if you want to do it alone go for it. I

[cruisinlawn]

let's see, you'll be in a foreign country, likely 1-1.5hrs from the cruise ship, prolly a 30 minute hike into the jungle, where's the nearest health care should you need it and what is the quality going to be.

 

Sure, go ahead.

[ChBoxers800]

Thank you for you honest response SgrMgn. This was my gut feeling all along but on that website, you can see tons of family's enjoying the tubing. I did notice that the photos were outside, not in a cave.

 

No way would I subject my grandson, nor myself to that. Spiders? Ugh.

[lfdianne]

It's very hard to take decent pictures in the caves, they are very big and dark. Unless you have a professional camera and flash, the cave pictures won't turn out...I tried. We had a blast cave tubing, and honestly, I didn't come anywhere near to the walls of the caves, nor did I see enormous spiders and I was looking! While I don't necessarily think cave tubing is the right thing to do with a baby, it's not like bats are flying around and ginormous spiders are dangling from the cave walls.

[twopugs]

Thank you for the description of your experience. I don't think it is a good idea for us. While some parents (according to the pics) may be more daring...we are not.

[JTHOMAS]

Cave tubing with a baby......ARE YOU NUTS???

[ChBoxers800]

No need for rudeness JT. That's why people come to these boards for advice. The lady said that MORE THEN ONE company said it was just fine to take babies. And if you go to the website link posted above, you will see more then one person tubing with a baby in their laps.

 

Perhaps you should be praising those of us who don't know anything about cave tubing, and instead of just taking the advice of a couple of tour companies, chose to check it out on our own through knowledgeable people such as yourself.

[cruisinlawn]

Thank you for the description of your experience. I don't think it is a good idea for us. While some parents (according to the pics) may be more daring...we are not.

 

 

Very wise choice Megtr, not that anything would happen, but if you did go and something occurred, you would never forgive yourself. Your babe will be older in a few years and enjoy much more, hey, it'll give you a reason to cruise back:D

[torybruno]

There is no way I would recommend taking an infant on this excursion. It is completely dark in the caves, besides the headlights around your forehead which are not all that strong. There is a slight current to the river. My 11 year old loved this last year, but I know how panicked I was when he was out of my voice range!

[LHP]

To the OP: I would not recommend it on a normal run. What you don't know if that IF there has been some rain, these cave tube rides can get very "interesting" as the caves get flooded.

 

This makes the situation worse. And there is no way for the average crusier to predict how much water is going into the caves.

 

If you are going to Cozumel during your cruise....you would probably enjoy a nice day at Chankanaab Park with your little one. They have some areas where little ones can play safely.