Cave Tubing & The Belize Zoo

Cave Tubing & The Belize Zoo

Cave tubing and a visit to the Belize Zoo will bring you face-to-face with Belize’s incredible outdoors. First you’ll visit the Belize City Zoo, which is known for its rehabilitation programs for endangered animals. Then you’ll head to the Caves Branch River, where you will ride on an inner tube through the ancient caves of the Maya

Featured in:Cave Exploration, Species Exhibits, Belize Zoo - Animal Rehab & Education Center
Duration:
8 hrs
Available Days:
Every day
Schedule:
6:00 AM, 6:30 AM, 7:00 AM, 8:00 AM
Hotel Transport Included
Mobile Ticket Included
Offered in English, Spanish

From Belize City, you’ll take the Western Highway from Belize City to the Belize City Zoo. Belize City Zoo offers a permanent home to animals that can’t be reintroduced to the wild, and a safe place for injured animals to recover. You’ll get to see jaguars, tropical birds, insects, and an odd, pig-like animal called a tapir. If you’ve never seen one before, then you’re in for a surprise.

After the zoo, you’ll drive to the Caves Branch Outpost in the Nohoch Che'en Caves Branch Archeological Reserve. The outpost is located a few hundred feet from the Caves Branch River. This river winds its way through the Nahoch Che’en caves, which were frequented by the ancient Maya thousands of years ago.

Once you’ve retrieved all the gear you’ll need from the outpost, your tour group will set out on a nature walk. During the walk your guide will point out various plants, roots, and herbs that the Maya used medicinally, as well as various species of birds. You’ll also hear about how the caves tie into Maya mythology and Xibalba (pronounced she-bal-ba), the cave that serves as the opening to the underworld.

To get ready for tubing, your guide will help you assemble your gear. You get your own inner tube, a hard hat with a headlamp, and a life vest. Before you enter the cave your guide will explain basic cave safety. Once your inner tube is in the water, the gentle current will take you through the cave system. Inside the cave you’ll see crystalline formations, as well as stalactites and stalagmites. Bursts of sunlight through openings in the cave will punctuate your voyage.

After you complete your tour of your cave you’ll head for lunch. Canopy Café at Caves Branch Outpost provides a sumptuous buffet. You’ll have a wide range of lunch options to enjoy at the end of your trip.

Attraction Visited

Belize Zoo - Animal Rehab & Education Center

The Belize Zoo is a small non-profit zoo that serves as a home to orphaned, injured, and rehabilitated animals that can no longer survive in the wild. Founded in 1983, the zoo has played an important educational role – it has taught both local residents and tourists about native Belize wildlife and the critical role these animals play in the ecosystem.

Read more:Belize Zoo - Animal Rehab & Education Center

What to Bring

Hiking clothes, hiking shoes, a towel, sunscreen, bottled water, and a waterproof camera. A change of clothes and a change of shoes is recommended.

What's included

Transportation, Guided Tour & Entrance Fees

Transportation

Many of our tours and activities offer transportation pick up & drop off options from several locations and destinations. Options vary by tour, see “BOOKING REQUEST” for full details.

Similar things to do
Actun Tunichil Muknal Caves, Belize
Actun Tunichil Muknal CavesBelize City

Actun Tunichil Muknal cave is the doorway to Xibalba, the Maya underworld. This cave contains ceramics and human skeletons that have fused with the walls of the cave. The most famous of these remains is the Crystal Maiden, a skeleton of a young woman believed to have been a sacrifice. Her bones are now partially covered with the sparkling build-up of cave sediment.

Best
Cave Exploration
Archeology
Xunantunich and Barton Creek Cave Tour, Belize
Xunantunich and Barton Creek Cave TourBelize City

On this tour, you’ll get to see two very different Maya sites. The first, Xuanantinuch, is the ruins of a compact but impressive Maya city. Here visitors can stroll around multiple plazas and temples. At the nearby Barton Creek Cave, you’ll see a cave that served as an entrance to Xibalba, the Maya underworld.

Cave Exploration
Naturalist Guide
Ruins
Cave Tubing & Xunantunich Maya Temples, Belize
Cave Tubing & Xunantunich Maya TemplesBelize City

This tour will bring you to the top of a Maya temple, and then to the entrance of the Maya underworld. The temple is inside the Maya city of Xunantunich, which is located near the border of Guatemala. Its name translates to “Maiden of the Rock.” After you ascend the walls of its temple, you’ll continue the tour to the Cave Branch River, where you’ll follow the river into a series of caves that had intense spiritual significance for the Maya.

Best
Cave Exploration
Guided Tours
Ruins

More things to do