We are commited to the highest levels of safety during our tours.
Minor Tom - Major Tom's son - and the rest of the guys and gals from Greenwood Adventures will take good care of you and your families and friends.
All of us at GREENWOOD ADVENTURES will take good care of you and your families and friends, and we have always insisted on ensuring SAFETY FIRST. 1. Every single guest MUST wear the lifevest provided, and is also given a
caving light along with a floatation tube for the cave tubing tour.
2. Every guest MUST declare swimming ability, YES or NO, so we can properly
prepare and protect that guest.
3. Any disability, recent injury or operation, special medical condition,
whatsoever, please declare that as well.
4. Our highly trained and experienced staff closely inspect the condition of the
river and caves THE MORNING BEFORE each excursion takes place. Based on that
information, we decide on carrying out the tour or not. In the event
that a tour must be cancelled due to safety risks, payments made will either be
refunded or tour rescheduled if applicable to guests travel dates while in
Belize.
5. This river system is NOT AFFECTED BY TIDES, only by rainfall in a particular
part of the Maya Mountain Range.
6. The various levels of water are from LOW, to MEDIUM, TO SLIGHTLY HIGH, and
HIGH/NOT POSSIBLE. We have cave tubed safely in LOW, MEDIUM and SLIGHTLY high
water, safely and in complete comfort, totally controlled by our guides.
7. We both freefloat as well as link up, depending entirely on the river levels,
and requests by our guests. We will, of course, decide if it is mandatory to
link up, as we see the condition of the river.
Linking, when not properly
carried out, tends to speed up the tour, causing guests to lose the experience
of the cave system, its natural beauty, special spots (such as the waterfall
tumbling into the river), and important stalactite and stalagmite formations
which were held sacred by Maya shamans boating through this sacred place they
called their "underworld" (XIBALBA in Maya - pronounced SHI-BAHL-BAH).
However,
in freefloating, ALL guests are personally assisted by our guides, so they do
not over exert themselves in any form or way. If you are linked up or not, we
absolutely ensure you lose NOTHING of the quality of the tour.
8. Families with children, especially the very young, or senior citizens, MUST
link up, for safety purposes and personal confidence, even in low water
conditions.
9. If freefloating, guests are kept together by our guides, again for control,
safety, and passage of information. This is one of the strongest reasons why we
do not shout and howl inside the cave system (besides the safety factor of
minimal noise pollution).
10. Our ratio is ONE GUIDE per TWELVE GUESTS in higher water levels, and ONE GUIDE per TWELVE GUESTS in low and medium water , although many times
we do have even less numbers of guests per guide, for instance when caring for,
say, a family of less than eight, particularly with children and/or senior
citizens.
11. If any guest
wishes to bring along any personal gear, such as light or lifevest, they are
welcome; we do have our stocks. Any gear brought by guests for personal use is subject to inspection to insure and
meet safety standards required if substituted for our equpiment provided, which meets all safety standards.
12. Our
operation at the caves dates back to 1992, when there was no park, no bathrooms,
only a rough dirt road and uncut rainforest, with a very basic trail to the
caves. We unashamedly claim pioneering background with this system, and pride
ourselves in a perfect safety record, which we thank the heavens for, and work
hard to maintain.
Our Major Tom was instrumental in the establishment of the
park and its facilities by NICH, the National Institute of Culture and History,
the controlling authority at the park, and in the paving of the six mile dirt
road into the park, through his efforts as President of FECTAB, the Federation
of Cruise Tourism Associations of Belize.
Major Tom Greenwood has consistently contributed
his ideas on safety and other protocol to tourism authorities in Belize, in
keeping with his senior standing as a guide from 1986, and in the official and
private sector tourism positions he occupied, in all that time, and continues to
occupy. GREENWOOD ADVENTURES in Belize will take good care of you and your families and friends. For verification of our guides'
credentials meeting the requirements of the tourism industry in Belize, please
feel free to email the Belize Tourism Board for
verification.
13. Smoking and Alcoholic Beverages are NOT PERMITTED during the duration of
your tour on the trail to the caves, or in the caves. After the tour has
concluded, there will be time to change clothes in the bathrooms/changing
facilities provided. Smoking is permitted at this time but we do ask that you
dispose of cigarette butts properly so as to maintain the eco friendly
environment of Belize.
14. Finally, feel free to ask any questions whatsoever on this particular
excursion, which has not been dealt with above.
Please feel free to email us your questions at info@cave-tubing.net any time – we will gladly provide
all necessary information to our guests.