Cave Tubing where you don't ..........

[ciship]

Is there a Cave Tubing company that doesnt make you hold the feet of a stranger while tubing? I just know members of my large group who arent going to go for that at all!

 

Help!!

[GinDon]

We have used X-Stream Cave Tubing company about three years ago, and we were free floating. Great tour, highly recommend X-Stream, they were fun, and got us back in plenty of time.

[vacruizer]

I may be wrong about this, but after a woman died cave tubing a few years ago on the Carnival ship tour, I thought I read that all tours are required to be linked on the river now?

 

We did the tour with cave tubing dot com a few years ago and it was wonderful. The chaining thing was no big deal and when we saw the lost people loose in the dark caves we were actually really glad to be linked. Our guides even had to go help several people who had gotten stuck on their own and couldn't get out of the caves.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wow, does anyone know how someone died doing this? Drowning I presume, but this is kind of scary.

[vacruizer]

Wow, does anyone know how someone died doing this? Drowning I presume, but this is kind of scary.

 

It was several years ago and was on a Carnival sponsored tour. I tried to find the old news story here but I guess they don't keep the archives back that far. The lady did drown. If I remember correctly the water was up a little that day but the tours went on as scheduled and somehow she fell out of her tube in one of the caves.

 

This was after we went in 2006. At that time, our group was linked up with a guide pulling us through the caves. There were literally hundreds of ship tour people loose in the caves. Some were screaming for help, their head lamps didn't work, and others had tipped out of their tubes and couldn't get back in. One of our guides told us the water inside the caves was 90 feet deep and well -it's a cave. It's pitch black in there without a lamp. My husband actually remarked at the time that someone could fall off their tube and never come out of there and the tour guides who were waiting downstream would never know it. :( I think it was a year or so later the lady drowned. :(

[murphfam4]

Wow, does anyone know how someone died doing this? Drowning I presume, but this is kind of scary.

 

I am really scared now to do this....

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=2836

[AryMay]

We have done the cave tubing in Belize twice now...once in 2004 with Xstream Cave Tubing and just this past August with cavetubing dot bz (Vitalino Reyes).

 

The first time we went we were allowed to free float. However the river does not move very fast (at least not either time when we were there) and so we had to do a LOT of paddling. By the time we finished I had bruises on each arm from where they rubbed the tube. Also it was easy to get separated from the group and with the extreme darkness in the caves you could not always see where everyone was.

 

In August we had to link up and at times it was a bit uncomfortable but this time our guide did all of the work. Our family of 7 had our own guide and he would pull us at times, push us at times and just generally guide us down the river while we just laid back and relaxed.

 

After experiencing both I would choose being linked together.

 

I have read that the tour companies will all be required to have everyone wear helmets and life vests starting in November I believe. Helmets were not provided at all for us and the old style life jackets were just strapped onto the tubes. Perhaps with the new rules it is possible that groups may have to be linked as well. I'm sure we will be reading more about this as folks experience the new set up.

[suewill444]

When my family went cave tubing in belize, we were required to wear life vests, and they also provided us with head lights. Our guide checked all our gear to make sure everything was operating properly before we started down the river.

At no time was our guide out of our site and he was constantly communicating with us. I did link up with my husband when we were inside the caves, but that was just by choice.

I too would not be into hanging on to a strangers feet!

All in all, tubing isn't scary at all.

I did white water rafting in Costa Rica, and while they provided us with helmets and life jackets, that was exciting and a bit scary.

Cave tubing is unique and something you should definitely try!

[berge11]

Do you think this excursion is safe for younger kids? Sounds terrible??:(

[butterflyfish]

We went with Major Tom Cave Tubbing a couple of years ago and didn't have to hold feet. My husband held my feet so we could stay together. Maybe your group could just hold each others feet. But I would check with Major Tom since there may be new policies since the Carinval excursion accident.

[pjpurple6]

I would rather be linked together. Did this tour in 05 and kept crashing into the cave wall it was not fun doing that! Have fun.

[cgrist]

Do you think this excursion is safe for younger kids? Sounds terrible??:(

 

We took children with us last January, aged 11 and 9. It wasn't bad at all. My dd was a little scared b/c of the dark, and big brother trying to freak her out. I was actually pretty nervous about encountering bats (I am terrified of them!), but I just didn't look up with my head light. I don't recall hanging onto someone's feet. You link with your arms, so your hands aren't really touching feet. It was no big deal. I would rather stay linked than go on my own. We went through Jaguar Paws - lots of fun! Good luck!

[readytogo813]

We have done the cave tubing in Belize twice now...once in 2004 with Xstream Cave Tubing and just this past August with cavetubing dot bz (Vitalino Reyes).

 

The first time we went we were allowed to free float. However the river does not move very fast (at least not either time when we were there) and so we had to do a LOT of paddling. By the time we finished I had bruises on each arm from where they rubbed the tube. Also it was easy to get separated from the group and with the extreme darkness in the caves you could not always see where everyone was.

 

In August we had to link up and at times it was a bit uncomfortable but this time our guide did all of the work. Our family of 7 had our own guide and he would pull us at times, push us at times and just generally guide us down the river while we just laid back and relaxed.

 

After experiencing both I would choose being linked together.

 

I have read that the tour companies will all be required to have everyone wear helmets and life vests starting in November I believe. Helmets were not provided at all for us and the old style life jackets were just strapped onto the tubes. Perhaps with the new rules it is possible that groups may have to be linked as well. I'm sure we will be reading more about this as folks experience the new set up.

 

 

Not to get off subject but we were torn between these two companies for our upcoming trip in December. Do you prefer a certain one? We were leaning towards Vitalino. Thanks!!

[jstcruizin]

We just returned from our western Carr. on the Dream and we did the Cave tubing , Some things were Hyped up a bit and I wish I had researched it before hand, but all in all I'm glad we did it.

[loquacious punky]

I say go for it with the cave tubing! It was def one of the best things I did on my last cruise.

 

On my tour (4 weeks ago) The water was higher than normal in the caves from the tropical storm they just had. Carnival actually made the announcement that the government had cancelled the cave tours and they were "pretty sure" all 3rd party tours were cancelled as well.

 

Come to find out (I guess from that death that was previously mentioned) that certain guides aren't well equipped to handle water that is higher than normal. So what Carnival had told us wasn't exactly the truth. The Carnival tours were cancelled but not the other vendors. Our tour with Major Tom ran as scheduled and we had so much fun! We ziplined first and met up with the rest of the tour group in the cave. My friend held on to my feet and our guide Mogwli took us through. It was really a unique experience and we got to jump off the 10 foot rock into the water at the end (only if you were daring enough to).

 

We made it safely to and from our ship with plenty of time to spare so that there was no rushing to make the last tender back. Big vote for Major Tom & his tour group.

[AryMay]

Not to get off subject but we were torn between these two companies for our upcoming trip in December. Do you prefer a certain one? We were leaning towards Vitalino. Thanks!!

 

I would choose Vitalino's tour. If you can, request Fabulous as your guide...you won't be sorry. Fabulous was very knowledgeable yet fun to be with. If you still aren't sure then you should read some of the reviews of this tour on trip advisor dot com. Vitalino's reviews are pretty much all favorable.

[tces4]

I have done cave tubing twice this year with two different companies. Cavetubing.bz was last week and they were amazing!!! They keep their tours small. They never have more than 15 people...for us it was just the two of us. $45 included a very informative tour, an extra cave, lunch and drink. They have the new yellow tubes with handles and new helmets/lights. I would highly recommend cavetubing.bz!

 

Have a great time in Belize!!

[kiraryker]

I have done cave tubing twice this year with two different companies. Cavetubing.bz was last week and they were amazing!!! They keep their tours small. They never have more than 15 people...for us it was just the two of us. $45 included a very informative tour, an extra cave, lunch and drink. They have the new yellow tubes with handles and new helmets/lights. I would highly recommend cavetubing.bz!

 

Have a great time in Belize!!

 

Happy to read this! We are booked with them in January - he seems really nice - my father can't go because of mobility issues (he uses a walker) so he welcomed my dad to stay back with his father and he would keep him company while he hands out the tubes. We can't wait!

[kassimer1]

Is there a Cave Tubing company that doesnt make you hold the feet of a stranger while tubing? I just know members of my large group who arent going to go for that at all!

 

Help!!

we used cave-tubing.com and due to health reasons we were alot slower to ge tto the river so one guide broke away and stayed with just the 3 of us . it was like a private tour. i bet if you asked them they nay be able to help you that way

[tiggerfan616]

Because of that death of the Carnival passenger 2yrs ago tour operators are not supposed to allow free floating. Many of the new rules that were implemented after this tragedy Major Tom had already institued and we felt completly safe with him.

We used Major Tom in Jan 08 and couldnt say enough about him and his company. His guides are top rate and your safety is his number one priority.

 

My DS who was 7 at the time became scared when we entered the cave, Tom's son, who was our guide, was right at his side to make sure he was ok and stayed linked to him until he relaxed.

 

I would book with Major Tom again in a hearbeat!

[In2why]

The drowning was a tragedy, but 1 drowning in hundred's of thousands of people isn't surprising. People drown every year at the beach and in pools yet people still go in the water. Bad things happen, and sometimes they don't make sense, but this is so rare that it is almost a non issue.