Comments about Yhony ATV/Cave tubing welcomed

Anyone have any comments about Yhony and his atv/cave tubing excursion. Please limit it to people that have actually gone on this excursion with him or have one booked with them. No flaming, politics, or advertising for other guides PLEASE! I can get those from other threads.

Anyone have any comments about Yhony and his atv/cave tubing excursion. Please limit it to people that have actually gone on this excursion with him or have one booked with them. No flaming, politics, or advertising for other guides PLEASE! I can get those from other threads.

This was one of the vendors I used on one occassion.... I cannot say I really found him any better than the other booked thru Major Tom, but did feel that Majory Tom was more professional and took safety as a high priority in the caves compared to Yhony... i.e. no slapping of innertubes on the water due to delicate rock formations, no touching of walls, and keeping the noise levels down as well. He also shared a wealth of information about the Mayan culture and their beliefs of what the rock formations meaning was. His regard to safety and knowledge just impressed me more... but this is just IMHO w/out predjudice. I feel confident that both oeprators will come out about 50 - 50 in other responses. If Major Tom was unavilable the next time I went or his tour was full, I would not hesitate to use Yhony again.

No flaming, politics, or advertising for other guides PLEASE!

Note, we are considering the ATV/cavetubing excursion.

We are doing this excursion next Thursday. I'll post a review. There will be 9 of us, ages 10,14,16,16,18, and 4 "40-somethings"! The guys have atv's at home and Yhonny said that he would let the guys go ahead to go faster if they wanted. We're looking forward to the tour. He has already given great service from emails and a phone to our house.

I haven't been on this particular excursion. However, I used Yhony in Nov 05 and had a blast cave tubing with him. He has a great energy level and was a riot to be with all day. I am going back this November and will definately use him again.:)

That sounds encouraging brodie, and yes savannah, please do post when you get back :) Enjoy your trip.

We just did this exact excursion this past Wed. It was a ton of fun. I will give more details a little later. We just got back home a couple of hours ago.

Just returned from a cave tubing trip with Yhonny and cave-tubing.com. We found the service and experience very good. We had our 5 kids ages 9 - 15 and they all had a great time. The cruise ship tours were floating everywhere with no direction or control, while Yhonny's staff kept us clear of them and took us to two caves instead of the one travelled by the cruise companies. Also, after tubing we went to Yhonny's nice gathering site where we had cheap beer and soda's along with homemade tamales (super!). Major Tom seems to get kudos as well, but if you go with cave tubing.com, you will not be disappointed.

jjcruisemay,

I have a question for you. You mentioned that you had tamales and cheap beers at Yhonny's gathering place. Is that the $6 lunch that is mentioned at the website? Or is that something else? We are also considering this excursion & was curious about lunch.

Also, did you have time to do anything else after you got back? It says it takes about 4 hours so it seems like you would. Thanks in advance!

Wow Safetyal! We were in Belize as well at the same time. The coincidences continue as we are just about an hour north of Atlanta! To the OP, we did do the ATV, Cavetubing combo. It was very memorable and extremely fun. If you don't mind, I'll give you a DETAILED review, from beginning to end.

We got off the Enchantment of the Seas on the second tender. We followed the directions Yhony gave us and we found him right where he said he'd be, with our names on the sign. I introduced myself and he promptly got our group (of 12) along with another group from a Carnival ship together and loaded us up on a bus. Not just a bus...but a NICE bus with cushioned seats and air conditioning. The bus ride was about an hour..maybe less. Richard was our main guide and he was extremely fun, knowledgeable and friendly. We also had Dutch-Boy and Lionel (the bus driver) along with us. Let me tell you, that they are NOT kidding when they tell you that their main concern is getting you back to your ship ON TIME. They knew exactly what both (RCI and Carnival) ship times were and even joked about doing WHATEVER it takes to get you back on time (including stealing a boat and taking you to it personally). Anyway, on the way to the ATV site where just our group was originally planned to be dropped off at Richard educated us on the country of Belize in a funny/informative way. Halfway to the site the Carnival group decided to join us on the ATV tour. Now, mind you, they were an hour behind us and much more pressed for time. Richard and the guys were happy to accomodate. About half way thru the ATV ride, the sky opened up and the bottom fell out. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Richard stood in the rain with our cameras and took GREAT pictures of us as we drove by. Dutch Boy jumped on the back of the 12 year olds ATV and rode shotgun. He was there if any of us got stuck in the mud or if any ATVs stalled out. It was definately good to have him around as we were slingin mud all over the place! About 3 of us didnt want to take the ride so they hung out and drank Belikin Beer and Cashew wine. They said it felt like we were only gone for a few minutes, they were having fun.

We then loaded up on the bus again and headed to the cave tubing site. Again, the guys were very concious of time and kept us moving. After passing out the headlamps, tubes and life jackets, we started our hike to the launching site. Not a bad hike. Long enough though that you're thankful for the "refreshing" water once you get there. They linked us all up and started us down the river. You get very familiar with the term "butts up". Richard explained to us that the rainy season is around the corner, and I am guessing that is why the water levels were pretty low. My dad joked around about it being cave-dragging, not cave tubing. Despite the "extreme butts up" for about half the ride we had tons of fun. The guys did ALL the work. We enjoyed floating thru the cave and down the river. Again, Richard took tons of pictures for us and made sure we were ALL in the shot. A guy named "Hollywood Lenny" tagged along and recorded our trip. He was a little cheesy, but he was just doin his job. After the tubing we loaded back up on the bus and were on the way to the pier. We made a quick pitstop by the ATV site and picked up some of their crew. They sold us some tamales, Belikin Beer, Cashew Wine, and t-shirts. ALL of it was welcomed. The tamales were AMAZING, and everyone loved the beer! Hollywood Lenny sold a couple of DVDs (he mails them in a few weeks...hopefully). I heard they were pushy about spreading the "love" (tips). This couldn't be further from the truth. They hardly pushed the gratuities, but when they received them..they were extremely grateful! The only thing I wish could have been different would be how pressed we were for time. I understood, as their reputation is on the line and they want to make sure you get back on time. I would have liked a little education on the rock formations, or whatever else they could have told us..but again, I understood their lack of time.

Sorry, this is so lengthy, but this was the most memorable and fun part of our entire cruise. It was loved by all! Not sure about any other tour guides, and I can tell you, I won't concern myself with any others. As far as I am concerned, we used the best!

Hubby and oldest son just did the cave-tubing with Yhony and everything was FIRST CLASS.

While they did not do the ATV part, there was a group that joined them for the second cave that did and LOVED IT!

Hubby and oldest son were on the 9:15am run and were back at the port by 2:30pm. I think our ship left at 4pm that day.

When you get off the tender, simply walk through TERMINAL ONE.

Tip: Do not let the crowds gathering to go on Carnival excursions confuse you. Simply walk right on through TERMINAL ONE (through the sliding glass doors) and Yhony will be waiting right there with a large white board with your first name and last initial written on it.

I walked with hubby and oldest son outside of the Village (that is what they call the area inside the fence). We walked right past all the excursion groups that were blocking Terminal One (not on purpose..that is just where they are suppose to gather). Gave hubby and son a kiss goodbye and took youngest son back to the ship. He was not having a great morning. (he has autism)

The food mentioned is not the $6 meal. If you do that you are eating at the end of the tour with the tour guides from cave-tubing.com. Yhonny has a site about a mile from the tubing where people start the ATV adventure. When we were coming back from cave tubing, both bus loads stopped here for about 15 minutes and we sat under a large, fairly new Tiki type hut. Here they served snacks and drinks and a local woman sold her tamales right under the hut. They were $2 each and were great with home made hot (very hot) sauce. Most people ate here. I saw very few go to the advertised meal at the end of the tour.

We were just on this tour off the Valor as well. We had a great time...I felt very safe on the tour compared to the cruise line where it was a free for all to get to the end. We were all in an organized line, being pulled where necessary by the tour guides, who pointed things out to us and had HIGH energy. I also had our 6yo son with us who was attached to my DH tube.

Not to mention, our ship ended up getting to port on a different day than originally, planned and Yhony was there ready to go.

Safetyal's wife here....

Ditto to what Pincheman said. And, eat the tamales when you are done cave tubing - they are a bit spicy for some folks (not us), but very, very good. They are homemade by the woman we picked up along the way. The beers are $3 each and the soda is $1. The tamales are $2 each. So, bring some small bills.

We had our 11 year old with us and she rode with me on the ATV. Those that don't do the ATV portion (with cave tubing is $75) go through an extra cave. You have about a 25 minute walk to the cave if you do the ATV where you meet the others that chose cave tubing only.

They collect the cash for the excursion AFTER the cave tubing - almost when you are back in port - basically when you can see the ship so that they give you the best service possible.

Don't forget to give them a tip too - they aren't pushy at all about this. In fact they were very appreciative.

We most definitely will use them again.

What did you bring for clothes. Is there lockers to change? Did you where shows on the ATV's and bringwater shoes for the tubing?

Thanks!

We just did the ATV/cavetubing tour last week June 6th, I believe. We'll be writing a review in the next couple of days. It sounds like some things were the same, others were different. I'm getting they are flexible and make changes as they need to. (this is a good thing!!)

The clothing and shoe question:

At the ATV "hut" they they mentioned, there are some pretty modern bathrooms that have maybe 3 stalls, running water, soap, towels. (I was impressed given we were in the middle of the jungle!) We wore our swim suits and shorts with water sandals. You could bring along old tennis shoes if you wanted. ( would not wear your good gym shoes that you like however, because the mud was brutal and they may never be the same!!

I wouldn't wear white if I were you, I don't think you could get out the mud stains. We did the cavetubing first and the ATV's second, but I'll explain that in our review. It was really fun but we were a little rushed, mainly because they wanted to get us back on the ship in time.

If your kids like adventure and things a little rough...they will love the ATV's. I rode behind my SIL and loved it, however I wouldn't want to drive one myself, it was really rough and takes a certain amount of upper body strength to handle the big bumps. Just hold on tight!!!

We asked the purser and they said go at 8am for early tender. I believe we were on the 2nd one. No problem. We were the first group to find Yhonny. He immediately greeted us and put us on a nice, Grayhound looking bus. I was worried they would have to fill it up, we waited about 10 minutes and were off.

I 'm guessing that the numbers of atv and sole cavetubers vary from day to day, but I think he has a big bus for atv/cavers and another bus for people just caving and they head out pretty quickly.I think he then waits for latecomers and takes them in a smaller van/bus. Both Yhonny and Keith were extremely detailed in the information of the excursion and reassuring us that we'd get back in time. The ride is informative and fun.

We arrived at the ATV place. There were 27 on the bus, several were younger children.(maybe 9-12ish) The ATV's were out in a line. Everyone just started getting on one, we were waiting for instructions but there weren't any. Then we realized there weren't enough ATV's. The little kids had gotten on solo and 3 in our party didn't have one. The guys working there looked unsure what to do. They asked if we'd ride double. We were starting to get upset and said no way, we booked 2 months ago and these are grown adults. (I think the kids didn't originally have an ATV reserved solo and that threw off their count)

They knew we were unhappy. They then offered to take our group of 8 to cavetube first and then do ATV second. We agreed.

It's about 5-10 minutes to the cave area from the ATV stop. We got our tubes and started hiking. We had 1 guide and he did carry our 10 yr old's tube.

The walk is about 30 minutes. It is warm, I wouldn't call it strenuous, but there is no way a stroller or WC could do it. Our guide pointed out a couple of interesting things but was pretty quiet.

When we reached the river, he helped us get hooked up. He tied our 10 year old's tube to my DH with a life jacket and we all wore lifejackets.

The float trip is amazing and our guide helped us go where we needed to go. The water was moving nicely. I would rate the speed similar to that of a lazy river at at water park. The "rapids" last maybe 3 seconds or so, they are nothing scary, at all.

After the river float, we went to go back to the ATV site. Our bus wouldn't start!!! He tried for about 5 minutes, then decided to "borrow" another bus. I think it was the last bus that Yhonny drove up there with the late-comers. We went back to the ATV site-he asked another guide to take us on the ATV and he went to return the bus.

There were now just 8 of us ATVing instead of 27. The track was extremely bumpy and muddy. Our 10year old rode behind her 18yr old cousin. I rode with my SIL. It was really a blast. The bumps could very easily "throw" off a passenger, I think, I was holding on the back and then decided to hold onto my SIL, the driver because I was afraid I'd topple off.

The ride was maybe 20-30 minutes. Very scenic. It's a big circle. I'm not sure, maybe they have extra trails to lengthen the ride if they have time. We then got back to the hut, I changed my clothes and we had ice cream and coke. No one was selling tamales the day we were here. We waited for the other group to come back and pick us up, (the first ATV'ers) they also had 8 cave-tubers that were "Yhonny's" and we all rode back to the cruise ship port. THey didn't give us an option to eat anywhere, I think it was do to the shortened time.

Final thoughts: WE had fun but did feel a little rushed. It all turned out fine but we were upset originally about them letting the kids take the ATV's first when we had had reservations for over 2 months for adult riders. The other thing, they didn't give one word about safety, use helmets, offer any instructions. There were no "test runs". The pediatric nurse in me feels this excursion has the potential to be very tragic if a child flew off the back and hit his/her head on a tree or a kid driving lost control and flew into a tree.

I would say, just know what you are doing, and decide ahead of time if you are letting your kids ride solo so you don't have to be the "bad guy" and make them get off when the guides tell them to "go for it".

Thanks for the review! I hope it isn't terribly crowded in September but I do know there will be three ships in port that day.

My group was the other large group with Savannah. I had been emailing Yhony back and fourth over the last couple of months and he had made it clear to me that our children, who are experienced dirt bike and atv riders, could decide once we got to the location as to whether or not they would ride solo or with a parent. It ended up that only one child wanted to ride with a parent and that is where the confusion set in (sorry about that). We had one of our parents agreeing to ride double with another parent to make it work and I had offered to ride with one of my children to free up another ATV. I think that Yhony's crew did an excellent job of resolving the problem. The ATV's are automatics and they only allow you to ride in 2nd gear (unless you are the Husbands at the back of the pack;) ) so it was very safe for the kids. We had a terrific time and would not hesitate to book again in the future. Our ship arrived a day late due to a tropical storm that had hit Belize earlier in the week and Yhony was still there at the port waiting for us. I recommend just wearing water shoes for both ATV and cave tubing. If you do not want to buy Water shoes just for the excursion you can rent water shoes at the cave tubing location for $3.00. The lunch that is mentioned on the site is at the resurant that is directly across from the port and is right where the bus lets you off at the end of the excursion. :) Just remember that these guys only work when the cruise ships are in port. That week we were the only boat to come to Belize. All the other ships skipped the port due to the weather. They do not push you for tips but they are welcomed and very much appreciated! So....If they do an excellent job.....tip them! If you were to book this excursion through the cruise line you will pay a lot more and children under 12 can not participate! CAVE-TUBING.COM!!!!!! "BUTTS UP"!

Add us to the list of people who weren't happy with Yhonny. Once we got of the tender, we waited for an hour to make sure no one else was coming on the tour. What a joke! Our bus was very old, with ripped up seats. It might have been the one that wouldn't start for the previous poster. The total time in the spent in the water cave-tubing was only about 30 minutes. We left early because another ship was in port and some of those passengers had to be back before the Miracle left. But they still had time to stop at their little souvenier shack, the place where they also sell snacks and drinks. Can't miss the chance to make an extra buck or two!