Day 2 of my friends’ visit! From the Belize Zoo we took the short drive down to the Nohoch Che’en Reserve, or more popularly known as either the Caves Branch Outpost or Jaguar Paw Reserve, to do their zip lining and cave tubing. There are a number of tour operators and guides that can facilitate your visit and we were so fortunate to hook up with a great guide named Juan Hernandez. He was so kind and knowledgeable and moved our tour along at a great pace without ever feeling as if we were being rushed- he’s wonderful! The parking area has a little market place and snack vendors and big beautiful toilets/ changing rooms. They have all the usual Belize souvenirs: tee shirts, Maya crafts, wood carvings, key chains, and so on but they also have really thoughtful and useful items on offer as well. You could show up completely unprepared to cave tube and rent EVERYTHING you could possibly need from swim trunks to water shoes to waterproof pouches for your phone. Our group came prepared so aside from a novelty build-your-own rum punch in a pineapple, we didn’t need anything before setting off on our first onsite adventure. Zip Lining!
Okay this isn’t the best zip lining in Belize but you can’t beat it for a 2-in-1 adventure as it’s right there in the park along with the cave tubing. If you’re on a limited time table (and who isn’t? seems like a vacation can go by in the blink of an eye) you’ll be happy enough with the Nohoch Che’en park’s course as a combo activity package with the cave tubing. Some of my friends had never been zip lining before so even though I wasn’t overly impressed (sorry, I suppose I’m spoiled now- Belize has a lot of amazing zip lining), they were sufficiently wowed. There’s eight runs I think, and you pass through the jungle canopy then zig zag over a river twice.
When we finished zip lining, we traded our harnesses for tubes and took an easy scenic hike to the launch point for the cave tubing adventure. Juan told us about the topography of the area and native flora and fauna as we followed the winding path through tropical forest and limestone caverns. He taught us about a new (to me) edible wild plant- wild begonia -the stems taste like lime and have a juicy crunch.
Launch your tubes in the river and immediately enter the cave network. The current is slow and the caverns are cathedral for the majority of the float so you never feel claustrophobic. You’ll see all the usual cave features: stalagmites, stalactites, columns, flowstone, and resident bats. There’s one grotto with a small but powerful and chilly waterfall in it. I think cave tubing is an experience that isn’t offered many other places outside Belize and probably not done as well as it is here. I can comfortably name this as a “top tour” to do when you visit The Jewel; and compared to other adventure tours, this requires minimal physicality so it appeals to the masses. Almost everyone can do it- young, old, short, tall, fit, or fat.
To get a hold of Juan to arrange your cave tubing tour (or any number of other tours: jungle, ruins, zoo, ATVs, horseback riding), connect with him on Facebook at Belize Jungle & Caves Adventures or WhatsApp him +501 667 8300 and tell him Real Life Recess sent you!
great read Megan. I was there !! It was a few years ago but it was awesome. As I recall the resort was closed but the cave tubing was open. Very nice,
Yes! I remember- that was our first introduction to Belize right?! Pretty spectacular. I think you are do for a second tubing trip
I think you and Phil and Aunt Debbie and Joe went to a different spot and Len and I already had our ride set up to Jaguar Paw. I will go again…Ill be there next year. Mom is only days away from her trip. Its going to be so awesome. Love you