I know I have seen posts but haven't had any luck searching. Planning to cave tube and was wondering if we would need long pants for the trek thru the woods. Will comforatble water sandals be okay? If I remember right they provide dry bags we can put clothes in to put back on afterward, right ?? Planning to go with Jaguar Paw with the trip to the Belize Zoo afterward. Any input will be helpful !!

Hey Phyllis: I wore a bathing suit and water shoes. I didn't need long pants as the path is really clear. I brought a zipped line baggy for my personal affects, money, camera etc. I was able to leave my other personal affects,like t-shirt and shorts behind and they locked them in the van.

Fluffy: Did you go with Jaguar Paw from the island? We didn't have time to even think about a mainland trip last year, we are staying longer this year. Was wondering what time you leave the island and when you get back. Thanks a bunch!

I went with a company called Tuff E Nuff. We left around 8:00 a.m. and returned around 5:30 p.m. Long day but well worth it.

Teva Sandals are perfect for the trip, as a matter of fact that's the only shoes you really need on a trip to Belize. Easy off/on at the airports and beach.

Just got back from 9 awesome days in San Pedro and Belize City. We did the cave tubing trip. Took a flight from San Pedro to Belize City ($24US) and then booked a tour to Jaguar Paw through BelizeNativeTours.com. Roberto is the owner and the best (hands down!) tour guide I've ever had. He really took the time to teach us about so many things in the rain forest. He is SO knowleadgable about it ALL. He knows the trail and the caves like the back of his hand and will tell you exactly where the low spots in the water are (and I quote.."butt up! butt up!). It was GREAT! He will answer any and all questions you can possibly come up with during the tours. He is very, very personable and seems to really enjoy what he is doing. He also took us on a Maya Ruins tour that was incredible. Again, his knowledge is priceless - I learned SO much from him. His contact number is 501-600-7171, or you can e-mail him at info@belizenativetours.com. Tell him that Lisa from Nashville sent you. : ) To answer your original question...I wore water shoes and just put a pair of shorts and tank top on over my suit, for the walk through the rain forest. Roberto had a dry bag and put my clothes in the bag just before we got on the tubes. Your suit will be wet when you get done so you might want to bring something along to change into (unmentionables!) before you put your shorts/shirt back on. They have bathrooms/changing rooms on site. I left my jewelry and watch in the van and it was fine - very safe there. VERY IMPORTANT - take bug spray! The mosquitoes were not bad at all throughout our stay in San Pedro, but when we got deeper into the rain forrest they swarmed us and the bug spray (100% deet) saved us! We also took a little snack to eat before we got on the tubes, and I'm glad we did - I was hungry after our hike through the forrest. Hope you have a wonderful and relaxing time!

Mountain Larry - I sooo agree. I brought several pair of shoes last year and only wore my flip flops and water shoes, less is best. I will bring a pair of footies for on the plane, last year my toes froze !!

AFotoGirl - that sounds like what we are looking for. It sounds like you arranged your transportation back to the mainland yourself, and stayed, do you think they would arrange the round trip transportation for us too? And with that Cave tubing adventure, were you also able to visit the Belize Zoo, I have hear it is pretty cool, so want to stop in. Did your trip include lunch, otherwise we could get some subs at D.D.'s Lunch Box for the trip. I noted their e-mail and will have to touch base with them when it gets closer, thanks a bunch.
Only about 65 more days!

I went cave tubing last week with Searious Adventures and it was awesome. When you get to the river on the mainland you get a breakfast of johnny cakes, fresh fruits and mango juice(with or without rum). Then the bus takes you to the Belize zoo for about an hour, very intersting zoo and well worth the trip. Then arive at Jaguar's paw for a sit down lunch of very good chicken, rice and beans and cole slaw (the Belizean standard). They have a lock up for your stuff and some changing rooms. Water shoes or teva type sandals are perect.Then you hike for about 20 minutes on a trail through the broadleaf forest to the caves entrance. The water is slow now so it took about 90 minutes to tube through the caves. way cool. Bring a change of clothes if you like for the way back. They also provide plenty of beer and rum punch for the return trip. Searious has great guides. I highly recommend them. It's a long day of travel but well worth the trip for a unique experience. Enjoy

Thanks for the input SnorkelG !! How did you get to the mainland and back, fly or boat? Wouldn't mind going by boat, do they arrange it for you or do you take the water taxi that goes to Caulker and get a cab to the river?

The trip with Searious Adventures is all by boat. They picked us up and dropped us off at our place(Captain Morgan's). They will pick you up whereever you are staying on the island. The boat trip is fun but seems long on the way back.

We did the cave tubing at Jaguar Paw in June, 2003, and it was one of the most unique travel experiences I have ever had! You will love it. We wore old tennis shoes because we had heard we would need them for the jungle walk, but we did NOT and wish we had had Teva's or watersocks. You might check and make sure that you are not going on a day when a cruise ship is in port as I have heard the caves are VERY crowded on those days. Be sure to eat a termite from one of the trees on the jungle walk! Yes, I am serious! Our guide did, so I tried one too! Enjoy.

Phyllis - You can arrange transportation to Belize yourself, or call Roberto; I'm sure he has connections. We spent the week on AC, but spent the last two days of our trip in Belize City, so we just flew their from AC. Roberto picked us up at the hotel and even stopped at the grocery, or wherever we wanted. He really was an awesome tour guide. He spent so much time explaining things to us about the culture and the environment; I learned SOOO much from him. We didn't just walk through the rain forrest, we constantly stopped, studied, and learned about the different plant/animal species. Roberto was like a walking encyclopedia. He was very patient and accommodating as well! We tasted sugar cane, and some other things that I've never heard of, but were very tasty! He also took us on a Maya Ruins trip; also awesome! You absolutely will not regret choosing him as your guide. We stopped after the cave tubing trip and ate at Amigo's - great food. We did not do the zoo, but Roberto can do that as well. One peice of advise - try to do the trip on a Sunday; that's when the cruise ships depart, so it's not as crowded. We went on a Sunday and saw only SIX other people the whole time! Hope you have a WONDERFUL time!!!

We leave on Tuesday for our first trip, and we all can't wait!!! I have a 6 year old and 9 year old, is the cave tubing ok for our little one? Is anyone worried about the mosquitos? Or is DEET enough. Thanks for the info, I love this board.

AFotoGirl - Just curious about the airfare price from SP to Belize City. $24 US - Is this round trip and who is it through? I guess I'm just comparing it to the price to get from BC to SP when we first get there and I thought it was around $100 round-trip. Thanks for the info. We went to AC last year and did not have time to go cave tubing, but would like to when we go back in May!

$28.50 one way from SP to the municipal airport in BZ City.

Thanks Barbara!! You're always such a help!

luvphins...I assume that you'll be flying in/out of Belize City. Maybe you take advantage of two options....

Fly back to Belize City a day early and stay in a hotel for the night (I can give you the name of a pretty nice hotel for $100/nite). That way you won't have to pay to get back to AC...and then BACK to BC again, to catch your flight home. If you did decide to stay in BC over night, then you would have time to cave tube and go the the zoo one day; then see some Maya ruins the next day, before you catch your flight. That's what I did and it worked out perfect (we had a departing flight out of BC at 3:30). Left for the ruins at about 8-ish and got back to pick up luggage and and head to the airport at 1:30. Definitely try to cave tube on Sunday and flight out on Monday, if you do it this way. The caves are dead on Sundays and nobody was at the ruins on Monday.

OR..

You could schedule your flight home, from BC for a little later, and just leave after cave tubing; have the tour guide take you back to the airport. You can leave your bags in the van while you cave tube. It's totally safe and secure there. And there are individual, completely private showers and changing rooms right there at the parking lot (no mirrors though..haha).

Juli - your kids should be fine, as long as they can swim and are not afraid of the water or dark caves. You'll get head lamp bands for your heads, but it can still get dark in a few small areas of the caves. The water, for the most part is shallow and it is low right now so you shouldn't have any worries; just don't let the 6-year old get too far from you as there are areas of really shallow water where one can drag the rocks and hurt one's bum. : ) Also, there are two spots (depending on how far you walk and how many caves you tube)where you'll run into some VERY mild rapids, and your 6 yr. old probably won't be able to keep his tube from hitting the rock wall, but if you have a good guide (Roberto that I mentioned above, is AWESOME) then your guide will know exactly what to do and when!

And yes...100% Deet is fine. We wanted to walk to the the fifth cave (I think most people walk to the third cave) and once we got past the third cave the mosquitos really got heavy. But...with the deet we were absolutely fine. The walk to the fifth cave is a little harder then the first three, but still a great walk, and very do-able and worthwhile!

PS Juli - be prepared to carry two intertubes through the rain forest. I have a feeling your 6-yr old will not want to carry a tube for the entire walk. You know how they get..."Mom...this is heavy....Mom...I'm tired". HaHa...spoken from oh-so recent experiences with my 5-yr old! ; )

I read somewhere that the only day there are no cruise ships in port was Sunday. Anybody know for sure?

I think it varies, here is a website that someone posted a while ago which we are planning our mainland trip by:
http://www.cruisecal.com/dnn/default.aspx
Put in Belize as the port and your dates. For when we will be there in April, ships are there Wed, Thurs and Friday, so we are planning our Cave tubing on Tuesday.

E-mail my tour guide, Roberto at Belize Native Tours; I bet he knows the ship schedules! : )

info@belizenativetours.com