After much research on TripAdvisor.com, my husband and I decided to cave tube with Vitalino. From the inital email (Judy Wilson takes care of all of the emailing/reservations) to the trip back to our cruise ship, EVERYTHING went flawlessly. We had a small group of 12. The experience of cave tubing was so much fun...we enjoyed the beauty of the rain forest and the cave systems. We were lucky to have such a personalized tour...the huge cruise ship tours (of 60 plus cruisers) certainly did not have the personal attention we did. Vitalino (AKA Vitamin) took us through a cave system that the other tours did not go through. It was so peaceful..eventually our tour met up with the cruise ship excursions, but have the 15-20 minutes to ourselves was wonderful and breath-taking. We were initially hesitant about booking an independent tour, but would do it again in a heartbeat. We were back at the cruise ship with plenty of time to spare...

We're just back from our Royal Caribbean cruise to Belize/Cozumel/Key West in early April and I have to say I had the best time in Belize.

The best decision we made was to book a cave tubing outing with Vitalino Reyes, a local guide and nature officionado in Belize. I originally got his name from right here on TripAdvisor where he was already getting rave reviews. This excursion was was fantastic and it was fantastic because of him. First of all it wasn't nearly as expensive as the excursions booked through the cruise line nor was it as crowded.

We passed several of the cruiseline arranged groups as we were floating down the river through the caves and they were massive (40 people and more) and unorganized. The ratio of guides to clients was insufficient to offer the attention or safety needed for groups that size.

With Vitalino, we hiked further through the rain forest, learned more and tubed through more caves than the cruiseline groups. As those groups were leaving the water, we still had more ahead of us to explore! Later, on the way back to port, we stopped off at a nice roadside eatery for a delicious meal and refreshments all included in the price we paid for the tour.

Vitalino met us in port as arranged, even though we were delayed getting to shore because the cruiseline tries to make passengers who did not book excursions with them wait until last to leave the ship. Since we had to tender into shore in Belize, this caused about an hour's delay from the appointed time we had arranged to meet, but he was there, polite and prepared.

He was so interesting. It was hilarious as he was tried to teach us words and phrases in different languages of the region. It made for a very funny drive though and before we knew it we were at the park! Of course he told us all about the forest and it's inhabitants ( we tasted the termites and cohone nuts and Begonia stems (which I loved)). On the way back he pulled
over and picked a cashew fruit so we could taste that too. That was really something. I had no idea that cashews grew on top of a fruit and that the fruit was so juicy and delicious.

I am so glad I went to TripAdvisor and got advice on who to hire for that excursion. They were right on the money. Can't wait to get back to Belize and hook up with Vitalino again for some of his other excursions!

If you're going to be in Belize, do yourself a favor and book with Vitalino Reyes - you will not regret it.

V. Sanders

Hey all,
Just got back from the Carnival Glory. Great time! The highlight of the cruise was tubing in Belize. We booked with Vitalino Reyes before we left on the cruise. He met us at the tender terminal with a sign. There were 5 of us myself, wife, sister in law, her 10 year old daughter and my mother in law. Vitalino was waiting for the rest of the people so we went off with Manuel in a van. It was about a 45 minute ride. Manuel was great--very articulate and informative. He knew volumes about the flora, fauna and the culture of Belize. He really kept watch on us through the cave and had us linked together in some stretches. All of us thouroghly enjoyed the trip. Can't wait to go back and do it again. Marty

I was the person to organize this excursion for a group of 10.
After reading about the reviews on Vitalino I convinced my party to trust in me! Believe me - my friends do not like to veer off the beat'en path! So as I held my breath and made arrangements with Vitalino's assistant, Judy, I started to relax. First of all, Judy kept in contact with me whenever I had a question or concern. She did not ask for payment (which made my group uneasy) but reassured me Vitalino would not leave us at the dock! So the day came when our ship sailed to Belize. We actually got off the ship earlier than expected so when we did arrive at the spot that was told to us, Vitalino was not there! Needless to say, there were a lot of other "companies" trying to pick us up. But when we told them we were waiting for Vitalino, they all backed off. We found out that Vitalino had trained almost everyone in belize about the back country of Belize. And realized the tremendous respect this man had from his "competitors". That was very cool to see. Vitalino drove up and we were off to an amazing day of cavetubing! I could write about our cavetubing experience but all the other reviews say it all. I do want to add one thing though - there are people taking pictures at the finish line. If you are from a cruise, chances are, your pictures will be with the group that took the excursion through the cruise . So don't forget to check for your cavetubing picture!