Cave tubing and kids?

[MandynJim]

I posted this on the ports of call thread but didn't get any responses

What do you guys think about taking a 10 year old and an almost 6 year old cave tubing in Belize? I went back in 05 and loved it, I think my kids would like it too, but I know my little one would be able to carry his tube up the trail. What are your thoughts?

[gobucks_43228]

You know your kids best. If they are up for the "hike" and are not afraid and experienced with water conditions then personally, I see no reason to not take them.

[Halya50]

I posted this on the ports of call thread but didn't get any responses

What do you guys think about taking a 10 year old and an almost 6 year old cave tubing in Belize? I went back in 05 and loved it, I think my kids would like it too, but I know my little one would be able to carry his tube up the trail. What are your thoughts?

 

I think it would be awesome, when we took ours I believe we saw some younger kids with our tour, which was incredible.... Highly recommend our tour operator....

[blindhrtd]

We leave on July 7th, and I am taking my 5 and 9 year olds cave tubing in Belize. It was actually the 5 year old that begged to do it :)

 

I will let you know how it goes!

[HUBison2008]

I think it would be awesome, when we took ours I believe we saw some younger kids with our tour, which was incredible.... Highly recommend our tour operator....

 

Who was your tour operator? Did you book through the ship or on your own?

[tfero1]

We took our 5yr old daughter 3 yrs ago and she loved it! We helped her with her tube and it is a very long ride out to the caves but, well worth it:)

We zip lined after that but she couldn't do it and stayed down with other adults that didn't go. I think we booked thru Island Marketing as we don't usually book thru the cruiseline. Have a great time :D

[MandynJim]

Awesome thanks!! Can't wait to take my kids!

[stargate fan]

I posted this on the ports of call thread but didn't get any responses

What do you guys think about taking a 10 year old and an almost 6 year old cave tubing in Belize? I went back in 05 and loved it, I think my kids would like it too, but I know my little one would be able to carry his tube up the trail. What are your thoughts?

 

We went cave tubing in Belize back at the end of April. It was a fantastic excursion. We used VIV tours. http://www.vivtours.com/. I had done a lot of research and decided on this company for one main reason-the inner tubes are tied together using ropes and carabiners. All the other tour companies have their tubers hanging on to each other by putting the feet of the person under the armpits of the person in front. I'm sorry, but I don't want some stranger's feet in my pits nor do I want to put my feet under someone else's pits.

 

The other pluses were the tubes themselves. They had a netted bottom and head rests. And as we floated along, about 2/3 of the way through, those that booked the Carnival tour left the caves. We had another 25 minutes of the most beautiful scenery that those other people missed.

 

The ride inland is long-about an hour. The walk to the river takes about 40 minutes. The actual tour was about an hour and a half. All the tour companies arrived at the same time. The only differences were the prices, the equipment used, and the amount of time allotted for the tour.

[ata1976]

My son went when he was 3 and he still talks about it. He didn't have his own tube and he rode in DHs lap. It was a pretty long hike thru the jungle for him and we ended up carrying him lots.

[readytotravel44]

We did it in December. If my 79 year old mom can do it, your boys can! I will admit that I helped my mom carry the tube. You can certainly carry two tubes. The guides were great and very carefully assisted my mom across the water with the rope. The one guide even helped me carry the tube. We used .biz - they were fabulous!

 

Do it with your kids. They'll be fine.

[nybumpkin]

When we did cave tubing, our youngest son was 8. He did fine with the hike through the forest, but he found the tubing to be harder than he - or we - thought it would be. He had a good time, but it wasn't what he expected.

[Cruzface]

Do VIV Tours, take the kids and enjoy. Best thing we did in the Caribbean.

[kiraryker]

We did cavetubing.bz and it was AWESOME! My daughter was 11 and handled the hike just fine - the tour guides were wonderful and helped her with her tube and were very informative about all the vegitation along our hike - and after we jumped off a ledge into the water it was so fun

 

BUTTS UP!

[DEL67]

I posted this on the ports of call thread but didn't get any responses

What do you guys think about taking a 10 year old and an almost 6 year old cave tubing in Belize? I went back in 05 and loved it, I think my kids would like it too, but I know my little one would be able to carry his tube up the trail. What are your thoughts?

 

We took my niece and nephew when they were about those ages and they loved it. However, you need to go with a private vendor who takes special care of the kids. Our actually took the kids separately linked together with 2 guides.

[LHP]

While I agree that the feet under the arms of the person in front of you is totally gross.....

 

I would never cave tube with anyone that did not link EVERYONE together in some form.

 

Last time I checked, cruise line tours still did not link EVERYONE. (some have two or three linking together)

 

Being linked to a GUIDE is key!! enjoy!!

[wmjrdn4ever]

We went to Belize last September and went cave tubing with our son who was 3 years and 5 months and absolutely loved it. We did the Vitalino Reyes independent tour. It was half the price of the Carnival excursion, included lunch and had a much better tour before the actualy tubing.

 

His guides took us through two dry caves and we entered the river further upstream for a longer tube.

 

Plus they welcomed the younger ones.

 

We kind of shared duties carrying my son's tube - with the guide carrying it about half the time.

 

When we reached the river we originally set him up with his own tube and he was going to be the lead tube. It ended up working better for him to just share a tube with me or his cousin.

 

I think with the ages you are talking about it would be the highlight of the cruise for them - especially with Vitalino as you can eat termites and pet tarantulas!

[wmjrdn4ever]

A couple of pics

[scottlives]

Hello all,

 

We are also on the July 7th sailing on the Dream, and we booked thru VivTours for cave tubing in Belize.....mainly due to the info from these boards.

 

Tube linked together with caribeaners and netting in the bottom of tubes.

 

Daughter is 10 and Son is 7. Both of them cant wait.

 

Scott

[PrettyHazardous]

I went Cave Tubing with Nacho and Cynthia of the NCQ Tours and loved it! They took you thru 2 caves and they have the tubs the have the hole in the tub filled so it's perfect for kids. I thinka 10 yr old would be fine if they can handle the walk.

[crusinpsychRN]

How was timing to get back to ship with viv company?

[kiraryker]

We went to Belize last September and went cave tubing with our son who was 3 years and 5 months and absolutely loved it. We did the Vitalino Reyes independent tour. It was half the price of the Carnival excursion, included lunch and had a much better tour before the actualy tubing.

 

His guides took us through two dry caves and we entered the river further upstream for a longer tube.

 

Plus they welcomed the younger ones.

 

We kind of shared duties carrying my son's tube - with the guide carrying it about half the time.

 

When we reached the river we originally set him up with his own tube and he was going to be the lead tube. It ended up working better for him to just share a tube with me or his cousin.

 

I think with the ages you are talking about it would be the highlight of the cruise for them - especially with Vitalino as you can eat termites and pet tarantulas!

 

 

Funny! That is who we went with (cavetubing.bz) aka Vitalino and yes they do eat the termites YIKES!! But my kids loved the tour guides they were so funny

[Catrin]

I posted this on the ports of call thread but didn't get any responses

What do you guys think about taking a 10 year old and an almost 6 year old cave tubing in Belize? I went back in 05 and loved it, I think my kids would like it too, but I know my little one would be able to carry his tube up the trail. What are your thoughts?

 

we went last year with a 6 year old. she was not able to go in her own tube. she had to sit on my lap the whole time.

[stargate fan]

How was timing to get back to ship with viv company?

 

We were back to the ship with a couple of hours to spare.

[izzydog]

We went cave tubing in Belieze with Major Tom. He did a great job. Our daughter who was 10 at the time had no problems at all keeping up or tubing. She had a great time.