Any thoughts on the flooding in Belize?

[zbar]

We are cruising this Sunday on the Valor, one of our ports is Belize. Any thoughts on the flooding, do you think the cave tubing and other river type excursions may be cancelled or labeled as dangerous? Just looking for thoughts or any Belize experts opinions on this, we want to plan accordingly. Thanks in advance!

[Safetyal]

If anything the cave tubing will be better. Before the storm there had been almost no rain for several months. The guides said that the river was the lowest it had been in years. In fact you could have walked the whole thing with the deepest parts coming up to your waist.

[LHP]

Yes, we just did the cave tubing last month and it was VERY VERY low.

 

It should not be a problem.

[pediatric-rnp]

We were on the 5/31 sailing of Carnival Glory, and our stop at Belize, planned for 6/4, was cancelled. It was announced to us on 6/3. We were told by our CD that all of the excursion companies had cancelled their planned excursions and the Belize government requested that the ship not come as planned, due to the major flooding, which had washed out roads, homes and caused several deaths. It was thought to be the worst storm there in the past 40 yrs. I'd be surprised if they had everything repaired by this week-end.

[Travel Angel]

I have put in an email to my friends in Belize to see what things are looking like regarding Cave Tubing and to verify the conditions of flooding that MAY have caused stops into Belize to have been cancelled as another poster stated.

[Travel Angel]

We are cruising this Sunday on the Valor, one of our ports is Belize. Any thoughts on the flooding, do you think the cave tubing and other river type excursions may be cancelled or labeled as dangerous? Just looking for thoughts or any Belize experts opinions on this, we want to plan accordingly. Thanks in advance!

Per my friends in Belize: Cave tubing is excellent, as the river has fallen and the level is perfect for this activity, and has been this way since Thursday 5 June.

[Travel Angel]

If anything the cave tubing will be better. Before the storm there had been almost no rain for several months. The guides said that the river was the lowest it had been in years. In fact you could have walked the whole thing with the deepest parts coming up to your waist.

 

Per email from my contacts in Belize who are tour operators: Even when the river is low, the experienced cave tubing guides know exactly where to lead their guests, who do not have to get out of their tubes. A little harder work by the guides, yes, but a great floating experience for the tourist.

[Travel Angel]

Yes, we just did the cave tubing last month and it was VERY VERY low.

 

It should not be a problem.

 

From the Tour experts email I recieved: At the moment, the shallowest areas are at least 12 inches. Water is flowing nicely, enhancing the tubing experience.

[Travel Angel]

We were on the 5/31 sailing of Carnival Glory, and our stop at Belize, planned for 6/4, was cancelled. It was announced to us on 6/3. We were told by our CD that all of the excursion companies had cancelled their planned excursions and the Belize government requested that the ship not come as planned, due to the major flooding, which had washed out roads, homes and caused several deaths. It was thought to be the worst storm there in the past 40 yrs. I'd be surprised if they had everything repaired by this week-end.

 

Our tour guide provided this answer in my recent email received from them:

 

Storm damage in Belize is in the south, north, and extreme west of the country. The Belize district, with the exception of one area in the south of the district (not an area visited normally by cruise guests), was spared any damage other than some potholes in streets and some roads. The Sibun River Caves Branch, which runs through the caverns that are used for cave tubing, is the fastest rising and falling river in Belize; when rivers south and north of this branch are flooded, the branch is not, as it is mostly fed from hundreds of underground fresh water springs along the length of the river, and only on rare occasions, when rain is heavy in the valley from which the branch comes, called the Sibun River Valley, the caves branch floods, and almost never for more than 24 hours or so. As older guides, our experience dates back to about 1992, when this activity started in earnest, and we have cave-tubed when even the cruiselines have cancelled the tour, safely and with great fun and adventure.

[miss nikki]

We were just in Belize on Friday (June 6th) off of the Carnival Legend. All excursions seemed fine from what I heard.

[savannah2117]

We cave tubed on June 6th, it was great. I wouldn't call it even remotely dangerous. It's about the same speed as a lazy river in a water park. The "rapids" were nothing, in my opinion. Very fun!

[MamaParrotHead]

I've heard quite a few tales of the rivers running unusually fast and/or high during flood times (I think this was back late 2005 or 2006), and tours still being operated. And therefore the clearance in some of the caves is almost zero, and people getting knocked off, dragged down by the current, etc. Those stories are the very reason we're not doing the excursion when we go to Belize, I don't care what the water conditions are or aren't at that time.