Cave tubing....convince me

[goldgirl2]

I booked cave tubing through RCI. Are there major advantages to booking local other then the price? I can't find what company RCI uses. I have read great reviews for cave tubing bz. If its mainly cost I don't really care about that.

 

 

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[Canadian Tyler]

For me it was mainly cost but .bz also advertises that they go further than the cruiseline excursions for a longer tubing experience. And lunch was included.

 

 

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[chipmaster]

I've been torn between independents and the ship. In some places ship is a no brainer when the distance is larger and travel can be hit or miss.

 

My experience in Europe with long all day drives independent was still the the way to go. Small group, control your schedule, you get off the boat on your schedule not the slowest person of your bus or tour of 50. Trust me when 40-50 people are shopping or walking it will go at the slowest persons clock. Thus small independent usually gives you more for less. That is of course you reseach the company carefully, plan your day efficient, are off the boat early.

 

I was uncomfortable at first doing independent in Caribbean but after research here and on tripadvisor am going all independent and DIY. The independents are highly motivated to make sure you have a good time ( especially the ones that are mentioned here ) nothing like having a bad review and our a group miss the boat to ruin your livelyhood.

 

Lets be honest the cruiseline make money on the tours, get the operators to cut prices and move volume and take a big cut. In some places the tour companies will contract to the independents, in others the volume is big enough its a stand alone business. Also independents may make enough money that they dont' want give a cut and headache of serving the cruiseline.

 

Cruiseline tours offer convenience and turnkey for those cruisers that dont' want to or don't know how to do research.

 

Happy planning!

Edited March 20, 2014 by chipmaster

[Percyfitzgerald]

With bz it was a little longer than the ship tours,but not by too much. Our guide was great and he made the trip there and back entertaining and informative, and the lunch with rum punch was nice. I was surprised, though, to see that RCI seemed to have some smaller groups than ours (I'm not complaining, though, as we had a really fun group of people.) There were so many different tour groups in the caves at once that it would be hard to hear your guide no matter how small your group happened to be. We were there right in the middle of spring break season, so I don't know if it would be as crowded at other times.

BTW- I don't know who RCI uses, but their tubes actually had Royal Carribean printed on them.

Edited March 20, 2014 by Percyfitzgerald

[goldgirl2]

Thank you for your replies. I think I will stick with the RCI tour. It just seems safer.

 

 

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[marjosagb]

Is cave tubing boring? Most people seem to like it, but I just want to make sure we're picking the right thing to do for our group while in Belize.

 

We are a group of 7

 

Five of us are between 19-31 years old...and two are around 50 years old.

 

We're doing a private tour and snorkeling in Roatan. Shopping and a bit of beach time in Cozumel.

 

Wondering if we should stick with cave tubing or take the water taxi to Caye Caulker and book a snorkeling trip from there to Shark/Sting Ray alley...

 

If cave tubing is fun and a worth while unique experience we're all for it...just want to make sure it's not too boring.

[ttnc4me]

Boring is subjective, but IMO I wouldn't necessarily consider it exciting. It's an hour drive to the site, a 25 minute walk through the jungle and ~ a 40 min float trip on calm water through the same jungle, then caves, then jungle again. My kids enjoyed it. I thought it was ok & something I'm happy we can say did....once.

[BelRik]

We did not find it boring but very relaxing...you are not really looking at a lot of action but for sure it is a little adventure.

[pokerpro5]

Don't use BZ. Vitilino the owner is not a reputable businessman and will cheat you if it serves his purpose. I had a terrible experience with him in Belize (see the other thread I just posted in for details).

 

For what it's worth, give Altun Ha a shot. It's interesting, you get to see the "real" Belize on the way there, and it's not as crowded and touristy as cavetubing.

 

I considered cavetubing but decided against it. Too many cons and not enough pros.

[David_Zen]

I would encourage anyone booking a tour in Belize to book through a local and reputable independent tour operator. You will not only get better personalized service for much less but you will also be supporting Belizean families who could really use the help. As for Cave tubing being boring... No, it is not! Relaxing, fun, and fascinating are the most appropriate adjectives I would use to describe cave tubing. It may not give you an adrenaline rush like ziplining or ATV'ing through the jungle but it's a fun and unique adventure nonetheless, and Belize being the only place in the world where you can float on an inner tube through the sacred underworld of the ancient Mayas, I'd say go for it!

[kaybeeeeeee]

My wife and I really enjoyed cavetubing with .bz. Vitalino and his staff went out of their way to make our experience enjoyable. My wife has mobility problems and couldn't walk the 20/25 minutes to the entry point so they pulled her upstream to meet us in the caves.

 

I'm not sure what experience pokerpro had and can't find any specifics in any recent post on the Belize forum but ours was extraordinary. Without specifics my gut is to just ignore those kinds of posts as sour grapes.