Cave tubing. Best one?

We are trying to decide which company to go through for cave tubing? We just want to cave tube. I am currently looking at cavetubing.bz.

Any comments good or bad, will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I am trying to figure out the same thing. I have never done any excursions that were not through the cruise line. So really looking for input. Fingers crossed that your thread gets better results than previous ones.

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I normally do excursions through the cruise line but I was apart of a FB group where a lot of people were using cavetubing.bz.

So we were in the first group to be tendered off the ship. As we sat and waited on the tender boat, we watched the cruiseline booked excursions to be loaded on tender boats and leave about a half hour before the general public's tender boat left. We go on the tender boat about 9.00 and probably didn't get off until about 10.00. We found our group and met the cavetubing.bz people. We waited in line in the shopping area for everyone in the group to get there. We finally left the shopping area and boarded the bus. An hour long bus ride that seems to take forever. We make a stop right before we arrived, which was to use the restrooms and pay for your excursion. No receipt saying you paid or anything, just used the honor system i suppose.

We finally arrived, didn't actually start the walking part until 1pm. They took us through the wooded areas and talked to us about some of the plants and trees growing there. Got our tubes and walked some more. We finally get to the area where we get in the water. They take 8-12ish people at a time. Takes a little bit to get everyone because they have to tie all the tubes together and then one by one each person gets in the tube. Water was nice and cool, refreshing. The guides then take you into the cave where you have flashlights on your helmet, they talk to you about the caves and area. you do hit some very shallow parts where you have to lift your butt up to get going through the water inside the caves and outside.

When we were done tubing, we had to get onto the bus to go because it was already late in the afternoon. I don't remember what time it was, but I know we had 1 hour and 45 minutes to get back to the tender boat. After everyone boarded the bus and left, we stopped again at the place where you paid to have the provided lunch. We stayed there for about 20-25 minutes then back on the bus for another hour drive back to port.

Once on our way back to port, they assured you that the boat will not leave with them. They said they have a special relationship with the tenders and assured us we will be back on the boat. When we finally go back to the port and walked straight to the tender boats where we waited in line maybe 5 minutes and boarded and left 10 minutes later. Which was the time the last tender boat to our ship was headed out.

I personally didn't enjoy it because I felt like we were being rushed the whole time. We couldn't enjoy the sites or even the shopping in port. It may be because the first tender boat for the people without cruiseline booked excursions left so late and didn't get started until late. If I do cave tubing again, I may just book through the cruise line. I like the enjoy myself and I felt like I didn't because of the late start and the feeling of being rushed, but that's just me and my experience. You may have better.

That was back in April and actually headed back to Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel in a few weeks. We don't have anything planned

Thank you very much for this review. It is very helpful to hear about your experience with a private company.

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Another thank you for your review. Sounds like it was a bit of a stressful day. Don't need too much of that when on vacation. We will be in Belize in late October and have been trying to figure out what to do. Your review was very helpful in our decision making.

Just found an older post about BZ and was about the same time I went.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2344988

Look up cave tubing R us.

David has a great reputation and doesn't pack his tours with lots of people.

Also consider Reggie's Tours. Again small groups.

Not sure why it took nolaguy8 so long for a non-ship excursion tender to arrive and an hour to tender in. Must have been a lot of ships in port and they anchored out a ways. The issue with private vendors and many ships in port is that private vendors have to wait for lots of different folks from different ships.

The ship offers cave tubing excursions in 3 different destinations, wondering how to find out more about each site. The go to Jaguar Paw/Crystal Cave, Nohoch Chen, and Jaguar Cave/Darknight Cave. And excursion this long and this far from the ship I am only interested in doing a ship excursion so I really just want to hear about the caves. Maybe the variety of sites has something to do with the wide range of reviews.

Thanks for the review.

I have 2 reviews listed in my signature line for .bz and they are amazing! Wonderful experience both times. I highly recommend them. :)

I have done several and we like http://www.cave-tubing.com

They got the best tubes too... some tubes you must hold the person behind you feet... yuck

their's you are linked by links .. in pairs of two side by side with a total of 6 tubes.. nice back rest too that made it so comfortable to ride in.

guys were real gentlemen too. Just took my tube out of my hands and carried it for me.. DH complained he still had to carry his so we took turns..

I have done several and we like www.cave-tubing.com

They got the best tubes too... some tubes you must hold the person behind you feet... yuck

their's you are linked by links .. in pairs of two side by side with a total of 6 tubes.. nice back rest too that made it so comfortable to ride in.

guys were real gentlemen too. Just took my tube out of my hands and carried it for me.. DH complained he still had to carry his so we took turns..

I believe pretty much all of the local private vendors all have the "best" tubes and are linked with the links and not the feet anymore. It's been years since they did that. As for the gentlemen that carried your tube for you and DH still had to carry his... .bz does not make ANYONE carry their tubes. As a matter of fact, they take the tubes to the entrance of the water way before you ever arrive there. ;):)

But I'm sure all the private vendors are good vendors to go with. I just wanted to make a point that the "linking feet", "good tubes" and "carrying tubes" is not an exclusive thing to just one vendor. :)

Forgot to mention that cave-tube.com did serve my group of 30+ the best customer service vs the others... from the start of the trip to the very end and I too highly recommend them as well...

But I'm sure all the private vendors are good vendors to go with. I just wanted to make a point that the "linking feet", "good tubes" and "carrying tubes" is not an exclusive thing to just one vendor. :)

We are booked with cavetubingrus on Nov 1. We have heard excellent things about them and other members of our roll call are going, and others have gone with David - the owner, in the past. Others said that he got them back to the ship with 1 1/2 hours to spare. I would be far too stressed to cut it close. We are in port from 8:00 to 5:00.

I liked them because they carry your tubes for you and you don't have to put your feet under anyone's armpits.

This is the description in the email that he sent to us:

You have available 5 to 6 hours from the point of pick for YOUR CAVE TUBING ADVENTURE WITH CAVE TUBING R US; we have tons of time to explore Belize, the culture, the landscapes, the people and most importantly the caves and the rain-forest. It is a 45 min to 1 hour drive from Belize City to the National Park. You will have a vehicle and guide.

We will meet at the exit of the cruise terminal 1 with a sign bearing your name. You will be tendered to shore therefore do your best to get off the ship as early as possible for cruised booked guest. We provide pickup from any location in Belize City including the airport for no additional cost.

The terrain is mostly flat with a rocky riverbed type path, visit our face book page for some pictures. We tailor our pace to suit your needs during the 30 min hike.

The vehicle serves as your locker room during the entire tour; changing and rest rooms are available at the national park "Nohoch Cheen Archaeological Park".

Bathing suit is the attire during the cave tubing leg of the tour; prepare as if you are coming to the beach except Bug spray is needed with the Sunscreen and comfortable footwear _ water shoe or an old sneaker works best, "No Flip" flops allowed for the cave tubing part of the tour.

Our tubes are comfortable and have a netted bottom. The hike in the forest complements the tour so we take our time during this leg of the adventure.

We provide all necessary transportation from any location in Belize City including the Phillip Goldson International Airport, the Fort Street Tourism Village, Water Taxi Terminals and Local Airstrips...to the cave site and return including your tour guide for the day and all tubing gears.

Please reply to this email if you plan to be with us so we can confirm your reservation.

Cave tubing only is US$50 per adults and US$45 for kids under the age of 12, a minimum of two required for this activity.

We will be on a lazy river, there are no big rapids. We will hike for 30 to 35 minutes in the rain forest before tubing down the river approx. 2 hours.

We also offer a zip and cave combo which is US$85 adults and U$80 for kids under 12 years. 6 runs almost a mile long in the jungle canopy.

We also offer a ZOO and cave combo which is US$100 adults and kids under 12 years US$90. Animals that are native to Belize in natural habitats; black Jaguar, Toucan, Tapir, Jabiru Stork, Howler Monkey and many more...

If you can walk for 30 to 35 minutes you can do this tour; it is mostly flat rocky/stony paths visit our facebook page "cave tubing r us" for some pics.

We can do a full Belizean Buffet price US$10 per person including desert and a real fruit drink.

With us you pay at the end of the tour and we prefer US cash and have the credit card payment option.

The zip line is the longest in the country; both cave and zip are done at the same site. The Belize Zoo is on the same route on the way to the caves.

YOU MUST REPLAY TO THIS EMAIL TO BE CONFIRMED.

This price includes ground transportation, tour guide, tubing gears, park fees and bottled water.

All of us will wear a life vest and head light and at no time are you required to swim. You will be guided in a comfortable tube attached with clips, NO LEGS UNDER ARMPITS.

Water proof camera would be great to capture this memorable tour. Crocs or an old sneaker would be the best footwear for this adventure. Remember to bring along a dry suite.

My name is David Almendarez and my aim is to ensure that this will be the best tour during your vacation in Belize :).

I will report back after our cruise and let you know how it goes. I have only heard positive things about them, and have not been disappointed on a CruiseCritic referred trip yet. :p

Used VIV Tours last week. It was fantastic. Met us right outside Terminal 1 and had us to the van in seconds. Air conditioned van ride to the the starting part was great, including a quick snack stop at a local market on the way. Plenty of good information was given to us about Belize on the way. Walk to the drop in point was long, hot and humid, but doable. Hint: I bought a couple of cheap gel insoles from Walmart and put them in my water shoes; helped out immensely! Guides gave us lots of info on the jungle going, including an up-close with a tarantula. Reached the drop in point, water was high, but not too high and off we went. Great trip down the river and through the caves; we all enjoyed it. Oh we did not have to carry our tubes there, saw others that did though. Had a nice lunch afterwards, included, while my children zip-lined. The ride back was uneventful and we arrived in plenty of time to do some quick shopping. Highly recommend VIV Tours.

Good to know, I bought my excursion with credit card points and it is through Viator and. Cave-tubing.com is our vendor. Did you have to carry your own tubes far? Was there any stress over getting back to the ship on time?