cave tubing with Yhony and Gillie

[chatuga]

I was on the Carnival Glory in November and consider myself very lucky to have booked on the internet with Yhony. He was very prompt in responding to my email reservation and answered all my questions. When I got to the dock in Belize I was able to connect with him very easily. I was by myself and while we were waiting for 11 coming from another boat Gillie took me on a wonderful tour of the city. He is extremely knowledge and went out of his way to answer my questions. I actually road up to caves with Gillie and we met other 11. Our tour group consisted of 12 and 2 guides so it was a very personal tour. I would definitely recommend these 2 men to anyone who wants a really fun cave tubing adventure. They were well prepared and went out of their way to make sure we didn't miss anything. You can contact them at http://www.cave-tubing.com.

[mgliva]

We too just went with Yhony and Gillie. Gillie was our guide (there was only 5 adults and one child). He was excellent! He really took great care of the boy who was only about 6 years old. I would go with cave-tubing.com again! And the price was right!

[asrey04]

did you go through the dry caves I have read about -- the 3 cave tour as compared with 2 caves? And the 12 foot jump into the water? Just curious for comparison sake.

[mgliva]

Nope - we did a approx. 30 minutes walk through the jungle. It was very interesting - Gillie pointed out several things. There was one "bat" cave we passed. We also crossed the river holding onto a rope. We did NOT jump 12 feet into anything. He brought us to a sandy area to get into our tubes which we then went into a current through a long cave. After going through that cave (about 10 mins), we came to an opening. Some groups had to get out there. We continued on our tubes down the river, over I think 3 or 4 little rapids, and had to grab the "rope" where we crossed earlier and that was the end.

 

I hear that some groups go different ways and also eat afterwards. Gillie took us to a "T-shirts" shop which was very reasonable in prices.

 

The only negative about the trip was the "slow, bumpy road" into the park!

 

That's it.

[debinnh]

Thanks for the info. I am booked with these guys in Feb. Are there photo companies taking pictures? How were the tshirts at the shop? I will be with a bunch of teenagers and cheap tshirts are perfect souveneers for them.

[mbisson]

My wife & sons went on this tour with Yhony (I went to the Altun Ha ruins). They had such a good time they all hope our next cruise also stops in Belize so they can do it again!

 

Oh yes, the price was the best I could find also. Less than half what the cruise line charged. AND their excursion had only 5 customers on it TOTAL.

 

-Monte

[LauraG]

Hi,

 

My family just returned from our trip on the Carnival Legend and we took the cave tubing tour with Gillie. We had four children in our group so taking the ship's cave tubing tour was not possible since they would not take either my 8 year old or my 5 year old. I had booked online with Yhony and he met us at the pier (make sure you exit at the correct pier number-- we didn't and we had to walk the gauntlet of eager guides until one of them took pity on us and delivered us to Yhony!!). Gillie took us to the cave in his air conditioned van. Belize is a tender port and the caves are quite a long so try to get off early (yes, we cheated and went down with the passengers that had booked ships tours) Gillie knows a lot about Belize history so the ride up to the caves was interesting. Gillie is very patient with the little ones and he showed them some interesting insects and plants during our walk through the rain forest. I can see why the ship does not allow the small children on their tours-- they have only one guide for about 25 people so it would not be possible for that guide to help with kids.

I highly recommend these guys. If you have specific questions, please post or email me!

 

Oh, by the way-- the caves are spectacular and not to be missed if you go to Belize. It is not particularly strenuous although my booty would scrape the bottom of the rocky river every now and then. Gillie would yell "butts up!!" when we got to rocky parts, but I was usually too slow.

 

Laura

[mnsawyer]

What time did you have to meet at the pier? Did you have any problems getting on the first tender without being booked on a Carnival tour? Did you have enough time to shop at the village before you had to catch a tender back to the ship in the afternoon?

 

Thanks!

[LauraG]

Hi MnSawyer,

 

Yhony had sent me an email telling us to get off the ship as soon as possible. Carnival said over the loudspeaker that only Carnival tours were to get off at that time and everybody else had to wait (I think another 45 minutes). We waited and watched as one tender after another left half full (Titanic style) so we just went downstairs and got in line. Nobody said anything to us. We did notice that the Carnival tour people had blue and purple dots (stickers) on their clothing but I think that was for the tour guides, not the tender operators. I wish that we had gotten in line earlier since that 30 minutes or so makes the difference between getting to see more caves or an extra site seeing tour, ect. In our case, there were two groups of seven and we were the first group off so Yhony sent us ahead in Gillie's van while he waited for the second group. We had about an hour (maybe a little more-- we ran out of money and returned to the ship with plenty of time to spare!) to shop in the little market at the pier-- most of the private guides will get you back about an hour early because they want to ensure that they have plenty of time to get you back.

 

HTH

 

Laura

[potchak]

Which ships have you all gone on? I can tell at least one person was on the Carnival Legend, but has anyone tried this tour while on the Grand Princess?

[Decoydonna]

I'm arriving in Belize next on NCL. Iam interested in the cave tubing and have a few questions after reading the posts:

 

1. Are these big caves that you float through or are they real tiny and could be a problem for someone with claustrophobia(sp)?

2. What time does Gillie and Yhony meet you at the pier - we are expected to arrive a 7am. Do they wait for you?

3. What is the beginning and end times of this tour?

 

 

Any info you provide will be really helpful as this is my first cruise. Thanks

[mbisson]

We were on the Norwegian Sun (great cruise imo). I didn't do the tubing but my wife & kids did, so these are their opinions. Caves are plenty big enough so claustrophobia shouldn't be a problem. Get off the ship as early as you can, we were not on the first tender, reserved for ships tours, but when we got there, they were waiting. And they got back in plenty of time for the last tender. If you email Yhony, he'll gladly answer you directly with specifics.

 

hope this helps

-Monte

[potchak]

I'm on the grand princess with only 5.5 hours in port, so I am a little worried. Yhony told me that his tour for the grand is 4.5 hours so we should have no trouble. I still wonder, so anyone using Yhony from the grand princess, please post ASAP. :)

[mnsawyer]

What about cost? $50 per person?? Also, how do you pay? Is there a deposit? What about lunch? Someone mentioned t-shirt shops...is there a place to get something to eat? What time did you meet at the pier? Restroom breaks?

[LauraG]

Hi MnSawyer,

 

We had a group of 7 and paid either 40 or 45 apiece (I can't remember). We paid after we returned from the tubing-- no deposit. There is shopping at the pier and right outside of the pier for t-shirts, etc. Lunch was not included with Yhony and Gillie. Time is tight anyway. When I made arrangements, I told them what time our ship was to arrive and he told us where to meet him (they meet the ship so the times vary of course). Try to "sneak" off with the people that booked through Carnival so that you can start sooner and have more to see! He had a sign with our names on it. There are restrooms at the pier and at the park where the caves are. Be sure to bring towels and a change of clothing!

 

Laura