Cavetubing.bz Vital Nature and Mayan Tours

I had booked a big day with cavetubing.bz we were set go zip-lining, cave tubing and ATV riding. We are a family of five. 11yr old daughter, sons 15, 17, myself and my wife mid 40s. They told me to try to come off the ship as early as possible since we were going to do all three activities. So we got the 1st tender possible. I was worried about finding our tour guide today after our missing guide the day before in Cozumel. No worries though it was to be smooth sailing the whole way. Before I even I got off the tender boat I could see our guys with their yellow cavetubing.bz signs, YA!

They took us right over and introduced us to Alfredo who would be our driver, tour guide, cave tubing guide and all around friend for the day. As it turned out Alfredo is the owner Vitalino’s brother. You can’t help but feel in safe hands with this mild mannered, good man. We headed out of Belize City and he explained how our day would go, what we would do first and so on. As we settled back for about an hour ride, he explained what we were seeing and answered all our questions about his beautiful county. As we left the city it was very flat like going through the everglades but after a while the trees and hills started to rise up. We stopped about 5 minutes from our first adventure at their headquarters to pay the bill. We rented my daughter some water shoes since we didn’t have any for her and went on to the zip-lining. Now I’m a pretty fair chicken as heights go so I was a bit nervous about zip-lining. Alfredo handed us off to two, maybe 20 something young men to guide us to zip-lining. He stayed right at the site and waited for us. The guys got us all geared up in our helmets and harnesses. These young men explained the setup and the triple safety protections we had. They had left me feeling safe and ready for fun.

Then they lead us up a hill into the jungle. The jungle was SO pretty and they would stop and show us stuff along the way. I realized that they were finding something interesting in the jungle to show us so that it would allow us to catch our breath and have a relaxed walk up the hill. This is a great setup in my opinion, no big ladders to climb, just maybe one flight of stairs at the top of the hill onto the first platform. I would much rather climb up a hill than a ladder to get started. I was expecting just a zip-line across an open field like I had seen online in someone’s video for this place. We were in for a so much more than that! They had recently made many more zip line runs. The first run was across a nice wooded expanse of jungle and I thought wow so pretty. Then I think the second was longer still. Our guide, knowing I was a big chicken then said after that platform they had a surprise for me. They also can’t believe how brave Hope our 11 yr old daughter is, she is just jumping off platform after platform. I tell them, “Ya but she’s afraid of houseflies and spiders at home!” This peaks their interest and they say they may be able to use that info later. By now we knew we could count on these guides and were enjoying their leadership. They showed a playful side that was fun and the kids loved it. After the second platform is my surprise, a rope bridge to the third platform! It really isn’t bad, the bottom has planks of wood to step on. It’s really well built and didn’t bother me but it’s a fun adventure. Of course I didn’t really look down very much! We went across five beautiful areas we were just having a ball flying from one to the other. The 4th run was a very long one. They told us that we would be over the river we would be tubing on later and to check it out. Also, look left and we would see a great view into the mountains. It was really something, that extra time on the long run really gave you a few moments to take it all in. I wish I would have brought a Go Pro or my camera up but I mistakenly choose not to.

ATV

After our excited adrenalin rush of zip-lining we met our guide for the ATV ride. Amy, Noah and Eli drove their own and my daughter sat behind me. Zip-lining had been my daughter’s choice and I was really hoping that ATVing would be something the boys would love and remember. I know that I would have remembered driving my own ATV as a teenager, given the chance. We got a brief lesson and headed out. Even though they weren’t automatic transmissions no one had any issues. I took up the rear of our group and my daughter wanted me to go drive through ruts and puddles to get her muddy. That would not be a problem! It was fun and definitely not open field riding that some complain about at other companies. This was jungle trails, heavily used and rutted, that really made it so much fun. We stopped a few times to learn about the forest. Toward the end, I came around a corner to an area that opened up and our guide looked to be stuck out in this puddle with a big crusty wide open area of mud all around him. Well I thought, cool this will be fun and Hope will love getting muddy. I went zipping across and quickly figured out the crust was just on top of a bog. We got almost all the way across, but of course, we did get stuck. Our guide, Darin was amazing. He never once made me feel the least bit silly for not waiting and listening to him. He never tried to embarrass me in front of my kids. He let me cover him in mud as he had my drive out while he pushed. We headed back to the start and on the way he stopped at a rock. I was wondering what he was doing for a second as he got off his ATV was looking under some rocks. He came up with a tarantula for Hope! She was off my ATV in shot running away, HAHA. After he let the spider go in peace we drove past the zip-lining where everyone stared at our muddiness with open mouths. Then we drove down to the river for a refreshing bath before heading on to cave tubing.

Cave tubing

Alfredo drove us a few minutes to the national park that the cave is in. Lots of other companies assemble here to lead people in. It’s about a half hour walk on some really nice stone paths through the gorgeous jungle. We cross the river three times on our way but it’s shallow and so pretty. Alfredo stops and lets us swim in a beautiful lagoon for a little break. The path we walk is nice but it’s not just tiny pebbles and if you have sensitive feet I’d just leave sneakers on and let them get wet. If not the thin soles of water shoes will be ok for most. We are all fine with it but not Hope. I wish we would have let her wear her sneakers. She was sore and tired but Alfredo doesn’t push us and is patient. He just tells us stories and stops to show us cool things. He let us taste different things all from this jungle that he seems knows so well. As we walk and take breaks for Hope, it is clear that we have chosen a great company. We are the only ones not carrying big inner tubes for a half hour. In many case fathers and husbands carry two, one for himself and one for a child or wife. Cavetubing.bz brings them in themselves and waits for you at the end. We walk empty handed really seeing and enjoying the jungle around us. When we reach the end, we find a young man sitting amongst a bunch of empty tubes and some that are filled with air. Ah, that’s how they do it. The young man carries in the deflated tubes and fills them up at the end. We all are given nice tubes with bottoms and backrests. Alfredo hooks us all together and starts pushing and guiding us along. He tells me the river is lower than normal when I ask. I’m worried that he’s going to have to drag my big butt across shallow water. There are a few times that we do bottom out but just like our ATV friend there is no sign of discontent. He just patiently moves us along, never seeming to struggle or get angry. The other guides from other companies that pass, at times, look like the tour is a race. Some are very loud but Alfredo is not phased at all. He patiently waits and after they pass continues with his soft spoken stories of the cave and river. This cave is magnificent it is like we just jumped into an Imax Planet Earth documentary. I can’t believe our luck to be here. In the middle, there is a waterfall of water coming off the cave walls that Alfredo pushes us over to so we can touch it and cool off. This chamber is where the waterfall is really opens up. It is like a planetarium in there. The walls are so smooth. This is not an east coast cave in a mountain that you can’t touch anything, we are part of this place. Stalactites coming down, the bat holes in the ceiling, it’s so amazing to be here. When we do come out everything is so bright and green. At the end we can swim again and it’s just a really short walk to the van. There is a place to change into the dry clothes we have waiting in the van. Then it’s just a short ride up to the headquarters for lunch. They have a covered open air dining area. The meal is included and the waitresses are so nice. We can each have a pop or rum punch if you’re an adult. The meal is really good - rice and beans with chicken. If you’d like another drink you can buy it but if you’d like another plate of food they are happy to give it to you. It’s delicious and so satisfying after the day we’ve had. The owner, Vitalino stops by to talk and lets us know about how much time we have, to be sure Alfredo can get us back with plenty of time to spare. I’m so happy, this was one of the best days of my life and best of all Amy, Noah, Elijah and Hope all are happy too! I can’t say enough to recommend this company. I felt like my family was safe the whole day while doing all these adventures. These people were good to us. I tell you, I tipped at each point as our guides changed but only because I wanted to and they SO earned it. They never asked or had a hand out. It was one of those times were you’d never let them not take the tip and you so want them to have it.

That's great that you were able to do all three. What was the price?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

$100 pp.

Thanks!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Oh sure. If go on their website i think they have prices. I just emailed him what I wanted to do and he sent me a price.

I am trying to sign up with Cavetubing..bz but it appears their website email has been hacked because I am getting a response from a different company named Challenge Enterprise. I still have time to work this out but I thought I would put the word out there because it is not the same company or same tour

Here is his contact signature from when I used them in sept 2015

Vitalino Reyes

Owner/Manager

Vital Nature and Mayan Tours

Cave Tubing Pioneers

http://www.cavetubing.bz

011-501-602-8975/832-2640

Woops I left out his email, here it is. vitalinoreyes@gmail.com

What did you use to take your pictures? :) They turned out so nicely!!

What did you use to take your pictures? :) They turned out so nicely!!

I used a samsung galaxy 6 with thiis case to feel safe http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YE468T0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00

I wish I would have had some kind of go pro or mount to have taken it on the zip lines!

We did the exact same excursion (zipline, ATV, and cavetubing) with Vitalino last February and we had a great experience as well! No problems whatsoever, except for the fact that I left my brand new, waterproof camera on the bus that had all our pictures from snorkeling in Cozumel and our day in Belize, so I loved looking at all of your pictures! The guy with the tarantula was one of ours that we ziplined with! We are thinking about doing this again when we go back in 3 weeks, so I loved reading about your experience. They had told us in February they were adding more ziplines, so I'm excited to see what is new! Our kids loved hearing and seeing the howler monkeys. Great company- I agree!

Donfairview2001 so no problems with cavetubing.bz We are going to be there on December 7 and I have emailed Vitalino and everything so far seems good. Just wanted to make sure

Amazing pictures and review! Just this morning I sent an email for booking the zip-line and tubing. Your review makes me want to add in the ATVs! Thanks so much for taking the time to write out and post such a detailed account of your day! Make me feel like I've made the right decision! :)

We did the cave tubing with Vitalino's group 2 years ago and it was amazing. The best cave tubing company out there. Be careful when going to his website that you don't forget its just "bz" and not "biz". My friend almost booked the wrong tour with another company and they led her to believe it was Vitalino's. I'm so glad we caught that before the trip.