Tours Available for Cruise Ship Passengers

For people on a cruise who are stopping in Belize for a day, we have several options for tours available for you. The most popular tour available is cave tubing, and we are specialist in this area, and refer to ourselves as "Cave Tubing Pioneers." If you want more detail about our company see About Us.

Vital Nature and Mayan tours is registered with the Belize Tourism Board and we are members of the Belize Tourism Industry Association. Our vans are late model, we have experienced drivers, passenger liability insurance, and we are conscientious in seeing that you get back to the terminal in time for your tender to the ship, and we have a lot of experience doing so.

All our guides have cell phones that function, and there is a backup plan in case of some unforeseen car trouble.

To date, we have not had anyone miss the tender back to the ship.

For a map of the location of Caves Branch, where cave tubing takes place, click here.

Cave Tubing

Here is a list of the features of our cave tubing tour for cruise ship passengers:

You will picked up for your tour outside Terminal One after you arrive from your tender. You will receive instructions by email on how to meet up with Vital when you get to Belize.**

four to four and a half hours

* The cost for cruise ship passengers is $45 US per person*, and includes transportation, a free city tour, entrance fees, equipment rental (tubes, life-jackets, headlights), tour guide fees, a 3 cave tour, soft drinks, water, and after cave tubing, rum punch. Lunch may be purchased for $5, and is included if you have 6 or more in the party you book. For children 9 years old and younger the cost is $25.
Travel (one hour to Caves Branch) is in late model, clean, air-conditioned vehicles. Vans have a public address system so you are provided information during the ride. Groups are small, the largest van holds 14 persons, and only one guide is assigned for every 8 people. Buses are only used if a large group books and wants to travel together.
Valuables including clothes, towels, and personal items can be safely locked in the van, which is in the parking lot where there usually people around.
To be safe, bring bug spray and sun screen.
You can wear your bathing suit under your shorts, take shorts off for cave tubing and change in the dressing rooms afterwards where there are also toilets and showers.
There is a short walk down to the river that you cross for an easy hike to where you enter the river for cave tubing. Paths are wide and well worn, it is not a steep uphill hike, and guides are very helpful for anyone who might have any special needs, like going slow for any reason.
**People in tubes are usually linked with ones feet being under the arms of the person ahead of them.
Travel back to the terminal takes about one and a half hours and includes a stop for lunch.
Groups for cave tubing are small, with one guide for every eight or even fewer people. Safety is a major consideration for us.
Children of all ages are welcome, and small children can ride on a tube with a parent if they like. We have small inner tubes and life jackets for children and are especially attentive to them. For children under the age of 10, the cost is $25.
Guides will provide information about the caves, the rain forest vegetation, animals and insects, and of the customs of the Maya who inhabited the land in the past.
Water and soft drinks are provided with rum punch after cave tubing. Lunch may be purchased for $5 and is included if you have six or more in the party you book.
We prefer cash on the day of the tour, paid to the guide after the tour. We accept travelers checks.
Booking can be done by email.
About a week before you leave on your cruise, you will receive instructions to print on how to meet up with Vital when you get to Belize.
We encourage you to get off the ship early, and are told there is no problem if you get to the tender a little before 8:00. You will go to and then through Terminal One, also known as the Reef Terminal, that's important, and go outside where we will be waiting with the cave tubing sign. If you have booked with us, the guides will have your name.
If you are looking for a cave tubing adventure, and you have not contacted us, just look for us outside the terminal, and we will be glad to take care of you. Be sure and get off the ship early.
If you would like a longer description of cave tubing, along with pictures, click here.
Please email us at , and include:

Full name
Phone number
Date of tour
Number of people
Name of cruise ship
Any special needs you have
If you book a special tour, a large group or a combination tour that we have to make special arrangements for, we may call and ask for a credit card number to secure the tour. We do not make any charges unless you do not show up and have not contacted us to cancel. Then we only charge what the preparation cost us, not the cost of the whole tour. Please send your phone number when you email us at

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