Belize cave tubing for 5.5 year old?

Does anyone know if there are cave tubing opportunities in Belize for younger kids? We have a 5.5 year old and there are age restrictions on the NCL shore excursions.

As far as I know this company does allow kids.

I know friends that have used them and we will be using them in September.

http://cavetubing.bz/tours/cruise

Private tour companies routinely allow young kids to tube, typically in parents' laps (always with life jackets, of course). There's still a minimum age, but it's certainly lower than what the cruise lines show.

I wouldn't book cave tubing through the cruise line anyway. They're (mostly) through Chukka tours, and if you look up Chukka on TripAdvisor (and compare to others), you'll see why.

Thank you for all the information. We will skip it for Belize. We found the Amazing Secret River excursion in Cozumel. The ship excursion age limit is 6, but the website of the owner of the river (also the tour operator) says 4. So we'll think about this one as a possibility.

We have done the cavetubing twice with .bz and the first time our daughter was 3 years old and the second time she was 5 years old. She loved it both times. I have both reviews in my signature line with tons of pictures if you are interested and might still be considering it. :)

We have done the cavetubing twice with .bz and the first time our daughter was 3 years old and the second time she was 5 years old. She loved it both times. I have both reviews in my signature line with tons of pictures if you are interested and might still be considering it. :)

Thank you. Earlier this week I found your reviews in my searches and have been going through them. Very informative and they are very helpful especially since we have young ones too. :)

A departure from cave tubing to snorkeling:

We are also very interested to introduce our kids to snorkeling and glad to see in your reviews that your daughter loved it and was able to see sea life while she was floating on the surface. So we're debating Tabyana Beach, Maya Key (based on your review) or a West Bay Kayak and Snorkel for Roatan. Snorkeling that will be easy for the kids, but still exciting for us. They love the water and they also like to play in the sand on the beach. I read your first trip to Tabyana was a bit cloudy, but you are going back soon right? To hit that kidney area? I was leaning toward Tabyana, but am put off by what I read about all the vendors.

Belize - If only Caveman would pick you up from the port. :( We only do ship excursions, but he sounds awesome. So it will probably be the Sharks, Rays Island Getaway excursion.

Cozumel - If we don't do the cave tubing there, unfortunately snorkeling at Chankannab is out since the age restriction for the excursion is 8. :-( Thinking of the Easy Seaside Snorkel which is at Sunset Beach to introduce them to it. No reefs, but I read there is plenty of fish. Or maybe the Fury Catamaran Snorkel and Beach Party.

Thank you. Earlier this week I found your reviews in my searches and have been going through them. Very informative and they are very helpful especially since we have young ones too. :)

 

A departure from cave tubing to snorkeling:

We are also very interested to introduce our kids to snorkeling and glad to see in your reviews that your daughter loved it and was able to see sea life while she was floating on the surface. So we're debating Tabyana Beach, Maya Key (based on your review) or a West Bay Kayak and Snorkel for Roatan. Snorkeling that will be easy for the kids, but still exciting for us. They love the water and they also like to play in the sand on the beach. I read your first trip to Tabyana was a bit cloudy, but you are going back soon right? To hit that kidney area? I was leaning toward Tabyana, but am put off by what I read about all the vendors.

 

Belize - If only Caveman would pick you up from the port. :( We only do ship excursions, but he sounds awesome. So it will probably be the Sharks, Rays Island Getaway excursion.

 

Cozumel - If we don't do the cave tubing there, unfortunately snorkeling at Chankannab is out since the age restriction for the excursion is 8. :-( Thinking of the Easy Seaside Snorkel which is at Sunset Beach to introduce them to it. No reefs, but I read there is plenty of fish. Or maybe the Fury Catamaran Snorkel and Beach Party.

Our daughter is a water "freak"...she absolutely loves anything to do with the water. We started her "snorkeling" adventure with us when she was just 3 years old and she has been going strong since. We purchased her a pair of speedo goggles and since then, she has snorkeled right along side of us with her face in the water viewing everything we do. Then she will also snorkel along the shallow part in the water by herself (with us standing at the beach or swimming by her of course). She has learn to hold her breath for a pretty long time when snorkeling.

West Bay snorkeling is supposed to be very amazing. Yes, the day we were there, it was a bit stirred up in the water from a previous rain/storm from the day before. The further out you went, the clearer it was. I know that everyone just loves this beach, but I honestly was not too impressed with the beach itself. Yes, they will have a lot of vendors, but then again, we weren't too pestered by them since we tend to stay out in the water most of the time (they won't go chasing me out there :D). We are going back to Roatan in November, but aren't planning on going back to West Bay. I have been looking for something different each time. I like experiencing more than 1 place to get more of a feel for everywhere I go. Although, I must say I'm not having any luck at the moment. Maya Key does have some awesome snorkeling and you couldn't go wrong there either. The beach isn't as nice, but works for a little swimming and to cool off. The rest of the place is very nice as well and plenty to do and see.

I plan on doing the Shark Ray Alley in Belize with the cruiseline myself this November. I would much rather prefer to do a non-ship sponsored tour (with someone like caveman too), but we are meeting other cruise friends that we have traveled with before and they prefer to go with the ship in this port. So...ship it is. :p If you aren't cruising until after November, I will have a full report on how the ship excursion goes. :D

Cozumel-I didn't realize they had any cave tubing??? If they do, it will not be anything like it is in Belize. Chankanaab is just SO easy to do on your own. I know sometimes booking outside of the cruise lines can be intimidating at first, but it saves time, money, and gives you a better experience, especially when it's at such an easy port. Cozumel is a safe and friendly port. They have TONS of cabs everywhere and the system at Chankanaab is one of the best I have encountered with transportation to and from. It's only 15 minutes from the port as well. Sometimes it's best to step out of your comfort zone to get a great experience. If you ever wanted to try a non-ship excursion place, this would be your place...so easy. :)

What ever you do, have a wonderful cruise with your family.

Our daughter is a water "freak"...she absolutely loves anything to do with the water. We started her "snorkeling" adventure with us when she was just 3 years old and she has been going strong since. We purchased her a pair of speedo goggles and since then, she has snorkeled right along side of us with her face in the water viewing everything we do. Then she will also snorkel along the shallow part in the water by herself (with us standing at the beach or swimming by her of course). She has learn to hold her breath for a pretty long time when snorkeling.

 

West Bay snorkeling is supposed to be very amazing. Yes, the day we were there, it was a bit stirred up in the water from a previous rain/storm from the day before. The further out you went, the clearer it was. I know that everyone just loves this beach, but I honestly was not too impressed with the beach itself. Yes, they will have a lot of vendors, but then again, we weren't too pestered by them since we tend to stay out in the water most of the time (they won't go chasing me out there :D). We are going back to Roatan in November, but aren't planning on going back to West Bay. I have been looking for something different each time. I like experiencing more than 1 place to get more of a feel for everywhere I go. Although, I must say I'm not having any luck at the moment. Maya Key does have some awesome snorkeling and you couldn't go wrong there either. The beach isn't as nice, but works for a little swimming and to cool off. The rest of the place is very nice as well and plenty to do and see.

 

I plan on doing the Shark Ray Alley in Belize with the cruiseline myself this November. I would much rather prefer to do a non-ship sponsored tour (with someone like caveman too), but we are meeting other cruise friends that we have traveled with before and they prefer to go with the ship in this port. So...ship it is. :p If you aren't cruising until after November, I will have a full report on how the ship excursion goes. :D

 

Cozumel-I didn't realize they had any cave tubing??? If they do, it will not be anything like it is in Belize. Chankanaab is just SO easy to do on your own. I know sometimes booking outside of the cruise lines can be intimidating at first, but it saves time, money, and gives you a better experience, especially when it's at such an easy port. Cozumel is a safe and friendly port. They have TONS of cabs everywhere and the system at Chankanaab is one of the best I have encountered with transportation to and from. It's only 15 minutes from the port as well. Sometimes it's best to step out of your comfort zone to get a great experience. If you ever wanted to try a non-ship excursion place, this would be your place...so easy. :)

 

What ever you do, have a wonderful cruise with your family.

Thank you! You are so informative and so nice to take the time to share. Our cruise is after yours, so I can't wait to hear your review when you get back. I hope you all have an awesome time!

 

Cozumel-I didn't realize they had any cave tubing??? If they do, it will not be anything like it is in Belize.

 

I forgot to comment on this. It is cave walking/swimming and not tubing. Here is an excellent review of the Amazing Secret River (Rio Secreto) and some photos of it. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1430308&highlight=amazing+secret+river. NCL offers it as an excursion.

Many reviews on Travelocity are excellent, but say the cave it totally dark with the only light from your small head lamp, so you may not enjoy the sights of the cave if you are concentrating on where you are walking most of the time. The photos shown of it are all lit up from the intense camera flash of the camera person (you can't take a camera in there and will need to buy the photos they took if you want any). Since the cave is raw the walking is unstable, so take the offered walking stick. You may get scrapes on knees and ankles. Several have had really bad food poisoning they think from the provided lunch, so I would pass on the food just to be safe. Looks awesome, but I am not sure if it will work for us this time. I asked our kids if they want to walk through a cave in the dark with a cool head lamp and they said no. Also our oldest is mildly autistic and has some balance issues, so it probably wouldn't work too well and a tubing experience would probably be better.

I forgot to comment on this. It is cave walking/swimming and not tubing. Here is an excellent review of the Amazing Secret River (Rio Secreto) and some photos of it. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1430308&highlight=amazing+secret+river. NCL offers it as an excursion.

 

Many reviews on Travelocity are excellent, but say the cave it totally dark with the only light from your small head lamp, so you may not enjoy the sights of the cave if you are concentrating on where you are walking most of the time. The photos shown of it are all lit up from the intense camera flash of the camera person (you can't take a camera in there and will need to buy the photos they took if you want any). Since the cave is raw the walking is unstable, so take the offered walking stick. You may get scrapes on knees and ankles. Several have had really bad food poisoning they think from the provided lunch, so I would pass on the food just to be safe. Looks awesome, but I am not sure if it will work for us this time. I asked our kids if they want to walk through a cave in the dark with a cool head lamp and they said no. Also our oldest is mildly autistic and has some balance issues, so it probably wouldn't work too well and a tubing experience would probably be better.

Oh ok. I have never heard or seen that tour before. I thought you might be referring to the xcaret tour with the caves there. :)