We used X-Stream Cave Tubing on Nov. 18th. I have only good things to say about this company. We were actually lucky because the ship's cave tubing was cancelled due to high water in the river. It was opened for the first day when we were there for vans only which is how we got there. Richard, the tour guide for X-Stream, was telling us how the river had changed since the last time he had been there. It had been closed for four or five days. Reggie's group was there too. There were only 8 in our group and Reggie had about 30. Reggie was lucky that Richard was there as he helped that group out alot. The current was really strong when we crossed at the beginning. I lost my footing but Richard caught me and pulled me over. He also rescued a girl from Reggie's group while two guys in our group caught their tubes. It would not have been possible to do without a tube. Our tubes were also bigger and stronger than Reggie's. A couple people had theirs break towards the end in Reggie's group. It was a wonderful experience and a lot of fun! I would do it again in a heartbeat!
After the tubing our group stayed and enjoyed a great lunch at the park. We had barbeque chicken, beans, garlic bread, salad and plantas for $5. It also included the best key lime drink I have ever had! He also gave us some muffins with maple frosting. They were big and we couldn't finish them. Our group had fun and enjoyed the outing. We did get bit by some kind of insect while walking to the tubing site. The first thing you do is cross the river. This washed off our bug spray. I would suggest a plastic bottle of DEET to reapply after this crossing.
On the way back, Richard explained that he use to do the cave tubing on his own. The company that he works for now is out of Grand Cayman. They chose him when looking for someone to work with. He has the exclusive business for X-Stream in Belize. He also explained that the Belize guides use to pay Carnival to advertize and discovered they weren't doing this. So they stopped paying and now Carnival tells their guests to use the taxis not associated with the Belize Tour guides that are right off the ship. He said it is terrible because those taxi drivers know nothing about the ships and when they leave. His group would make sure you got to the next port at their expense if you missed the ship due to their tour. That was pretty reassuring.
I also must say that we were two hours late to Belize because our ship had a medical emergency and had to go to Cozumel the night before. We came two hours late to Belize and stayed two hours later to make up for it. Richard knew about this before we got there. One person in our group had emailed him the day before and he had gotten the message. He knew it was late even without the email since they knew about it at the welcoming center where the tenders dropped us off.
We were lucky to be the only ship in dock that day. The next day they had 4 ships in. Richard said he had a group of 30 the next day. He has some helpers for bigger groups.
As far as Belize goes, I really enjoyed the country. It is not nearly as impoverished as Mexico or Roatan. Everyone seems to live in a structure with electicity. Some have outhouses in the country but all the kids go to school. We passed a school. It was in a rural area and all the kids looked well dressed in a uniform. This is a requirement for all schools in Belize. It helps all kids be equal. If the families can't afford the uniforms, they are given hand-me-downs from kids who have outgrown them. It was much more civilized then what I read on this board. We drove for over an hour to get to the river. Most of the drive was on a highway (what looks like a poor state road in the States) but we eventually took a dirt road to get there.
There was a check point along the way and Richard says they pop up anywhere. They are basically making sure there is not drug traffic though the country. Nothing wrong with that!
If I had to choose between Reggie or X-Stream, I would choose to do X-Stream again!
