Caves River Kayaking, Explore More with V.i.V.
Recommended by 93% of travelers
Belize City, Belize
- 5 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Venture deep inside an ancient cave system at Nohoc Chen Park on a cave kayaking adventure from Belize City. Old legends and an underground waterfall await inside a series of caverns that you explore by single or double kayak, wearing an LED headlamp to illuminate crystalline rock formations. Hike through the Belizean rain forest and paddle down open stretches of the Caves Branch River on this half-day tour in the heart of the Maya Mountains.
- Half-day cave kayaking tour from Belize City
- Paddle through an ancient underground cave system in Nohoc Chen Park
- Makes a great shore excursion for cruise ship passengers
- Includes pickup and drop-off from Belize City hotels or the cruise terminal
What's Included
- Shared Transport by air-conditioned minivan
- molded heavy duty sit on top kayaks, single or tandem, paddles, PFDs, Helmets, jackets
- We Tour on Ship Time, arrive early and return to the dock with plenty of time to spare
- Kayak Portage
- Bring Refillable water bottles, avoid disposing water bottles
- Complimentary Pickup at Belize City Hotels, Cruise Port, Municipal Airstrip, Water Taxi Terminal
- Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
What To Expect
Your day begins with pickup from your Belize City hotel or the cruise terminal. Meet your group and settle into your air-conditioned vehicle for the drive to the Nohoc Chen Caves network.
Upon arrival, take an easy hike through the lush Belizean rainforest to your put-in. Hop aboard your sturdy single or tandem sit-on-top kayak and, under your guide’s watchful eye, navigate downstream along the beautiful Caves Branch River.
Paddle your way through the dark caves at Nohoc Chen Park and see many rock formations and a waterfall. Bring your swimsuit and spend some time swimming in the crystal-clear water.
Your tour ends with a drop-off back where you started.
Upon arrival, take an easy hike through the lush Belizean rainforest to your put-in. Hop aboard your sturdy single or tandem sit-on-top kayak and, under your guide’s watchful eye, navigate downstream along the beautiful Caves Branch River.
Paddle your way through the dark caves at Nohoc Chen Park and see many rock formations and a waterfall. Bring your swimsuit and spend some time swimming in the crystal-clear water.
Your tour ends with a drop-off back where you started.
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not wheelchair accessible
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- we pick up at FSTV cruise port, Terminal One Exit, street side, San Pedro Express water taxi, hotels
- A moderate amount of hiking is involved
- Not recommended for children aged 11 and under
- Inclement Weather Concerns: we get hourly weather updates as to the condition of water levels at the rivers.
- sometimes its raining around the cruise line and coastal areas, and the rivers are fine.so we go ahead and do the tour as scheduled. only if the rains are in the mountains and right now the rivers are low and we need more water in the rivers then the float will be better, last week the kayaks were getting stuck in the lower parts of the rivers. if the rains are in the mountains and more than normal and the water rises and we can not take up the kayaks , then we use tubes to do cave tubing.plus the Crystal Caves... if the rangers in the mountain top measure more than usual water then the caves system are closed for all activities....we have the zipline tour. or the altun ha Maya site tour or refund for not participating on the alternate tour.
- participants must know how to swim
- bring a reusable water bottle, disposing of empty plastic bottles is not allowed
- for helmet cam use, bring helmet attachment
- restaurants, river shoe rentals, available at the park
- bring towels, change of clothing, swimwear, insect repellent, footwear with thick soles used to walk on gravel path and do the river crossing.
- Reserve Online and come ashore early, we dispatch as the vans fill up
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 48 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
It was a fabulous excursion. It may take longer than expected. Lunch and water are not provided but could be purchased there.
Those in kayaks experienced 5 caves whereas those who were on tubes only got 3.
Our bus driver and guide were exceptional: professional. knowledgeable, helpful, safety conscious and humourous!
Best excursion I've done in a while.
Reviews
4.8
based on 442 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Very knowledgeable crew. The kayaking in the caves was quite an experience, will recommend this to anyone
We came from a Carnival Cruise. Our water shuttles were late and we were on the second shuttle of 12+ we arrived 10 minutes late to the meeting point and called and she said she left us but would come back. 35 minutes later a lady shows up and tells us we missed it and there’s no way to do the tour, told us even if we found our own way to meet them at the river, we couldn’t do it because it’s a big group but told us she’d refund our money since we did show up. We ended up finding another guy that took us on a private tour on the same river and charged us less. Not only was there plenty of time to do the river he also took us to a mall. Now I tried to get a refund and they denied it! This was the worst experience of our entire vacation! No flexibility for things out of your control or even attempt to be understanding to the cruise travelers that are buying their excursions.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thanks for the review, yes you missed your scheduled tour which is longer than the abbreviated tour you eventually did, everyone else arrived from the Cruiseline ontime and did the regular kayak cave tour which is more caves than tubing, we remind guest, reserve online, the tour starts and hour and fifteen minutes after the ship arrives in port, everyone that is interested comes ashore early and checkin, the tenders to shore have doubled there capacity and bring guest ashore within the first hour, then they slow down and bring those who may want to come ashore to walk around, dont miss your tour, others arrive ontime onshore and ready to tour. reserve early, come ashore, text, whattsup, email if there is any changes, these individuals refused to communicate. thanks for your consideration and tour the Caves of Belize with us as thousands of cruisers have done over the past 20 years, see you soon.
It was an amazing trip, the tour guys Naz, Cardinal and Abner were personable, well knowledgeable in the history and culture, and made is so much fun! They took their time not rushing the tour and made it an amazing experience! Definitely will go again when visiting!!
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thanks for the review, Cruisers are welcomed and we are Happy to hear that you enjoyed you're tour with us, and yes, we don't rush our tours, we try to show as much as possible and share our culture and natural wonders, thanks for choosing us.
Waited for us at the port. In the ride to the caves they gave great talks with pictures of animals, plant, fruit, and maps. The hike was very nice. The cave where great and made even better with the guide.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Thanks for the review, we are happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour, thanks for choosing us.
Family of 5 thoroughly enjoyed this day long journey. Shared bus ride about an hour each way with about 20 people and 3 guides. At park, our family with Fab who was extremely knowledgeable and kind. Initial hike about a mile, fairly level and easy, crossing river a few times. Beautiful jungle. Kayak equipment in good shape. First went up river through caves to magical spot where opening to beautiful jungle and stone walls… felt like movie scene but completely natural. Two in our party not comfortable in kayaks so when returned to starting point, they decided to walk back. Three of us continued on and thoroughly enjoyed the little rapids and further exploration of caves. Waterfalls, stalagmites, and tubers in this portion. The hikers made it back about the same time as we did. Chicken and rice/ bean lunch was additional but good. We had to rent water shoes, missed that in the fine print but they were just $3 per pair. Fab was perfect guide and very patient with a grumpy teenager, my old lady knees, and husband who wasn’t comfortable in kayak, accommodating us at every juncture.
This was a wonderful personalized experience four our group. Our guides Cardinal snd Enru (not sure of the spelling) who drove us to and from the location and were our guides on the river were engaged and very attentive. They gave us a great history of the area and insights about the rainforest and caves. The kayaking in the caves was amazing and our guides were very sensitive to needs of each person and safety conscious in the water. They were also very cognizant of the time and ensuring we got back to the ship on time. Most other groups were strapped together in tubes which limited freedom to explore the caves. Would highly recommend.
Naz was a fantastic guide! He is not only knowledgeable about the history of Belize but also a lot of fun! I would highly recommend Naz for the cave kayaking! It's definitely on my top 10 excursions!
Great 👍 tour guides were very informative, caves were beautiful, water was refreshing, lunch was good.
Fab and Naz were great guides, very knowledgeable and helpful. It was an awesome experience, small group and it was easy to walk to the cave and kayak. Helmets with lights were provided. Highly recommended this trip!
Great tour and guides. Only complaint would be they need better helmet lights. 2 of us had ones that weren’t working right.
Very nice experience. Our guide, Cardinal, was very friendly & shared lots of interesting information. Caves were beautiful, & enjoyed seeing so many bats. The kayaking was not too difficult.
This is a great way to learn the history of Belize... much more than just the kayaking in the caves. Our tour guides were fabulous. I can't remember the drivers name but he also was the guide for our kayaks and did a great job of rescuing us when we tipped over. Do not do a double kayak as the single gives you more stability. It was a very fun day. Cardinal filled is full of the history and importance of Belize.
Naz was a great tour guide and made sure we got back to the port in time! He was very patient for my older parents. The hike can be a little rough for older folks but was a great experience overall! Loved seeing the bats in the cave!
Tour supposed to start at 9am. Got on bus sat there 45 minutes with only 4 other people showing up was told tour was canceled. Do not use this tour. Did same tour with another provider. It was cheaper.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Impossible. Fake news. The north america weekend cold front entered the Caribbean, turned up the choppy seas, became rain and caused flash floods. Park management team informed the public of the occuring flash floods, so we cancelled the trip. The Caves were flooded and public national park wardens prohibited everyone from entering the Caves. Nohoc chen caves. These Caves are managed by the national institute of archeology and can be seen on there Facebook page that it was closed for January 28th 2026. No kayaking yesterday. Today the 29th the flash flooding over and our team and Carnival Liberty cruise guest are in the Caves. We understand you're disappointed, your safety comes first,and you were refunded. There is a small cave downstream where someone may have taken you for a 20 minute float, we understand your disappointment.
It was a fabulous excursion. It may take longer than expected. Lunch and water are not provided but could be purchased there.
Those in kayaks experienced 5 caves whereas those who were on tubes only got 3.
Our bus driver and guide were exceptional: professional. knowledgeable, helpful, safety conscious and humourous!
Best excursion I've done in a while.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thanks for the review,and thanks to cruise passengers for coming ashore and Touring.
Naz was a fantastic guide. I was a little nervous because I hadn’t kayaked in over 10 years but he helped me get comfortable on the water and there was another guide in the water (“Abuelo”) who was super helpful in the handful of tricky spots we had to pass. There was a short hike to the kayak, and Naz showed us some local animal and plant life along the way. Very interesting, and the cave system itself is incredible.
Response from Host, Jan 2026
Thanks for the review and thanks for choosing us
This is a fantastic excursion. Very exciting to walk through the jungle and see parts of Belize you would normally not be able to. Our guides Abner Sr, Abner Jr and Naz were fantastic and were always able to answer our questions and cared about our safety on the trip.
We were scheduled for a 9:30 am tour and told to arrive by 8:45. We had to wait 45 minutes in hot sun to leave port. Transport bus was old, with little AC. Transportation to caves took over one hour each way. Once at park, walked about 30 minutes in rain forest area to caves... Guide was very good and caves were fun to explore. The process of waiting and transport to and from the caves, not so much.
Outstanding from start to finish. The tour guide was friendly and gave plenty of history of Belize’s culture, food, animal and plant life on the way there and back. The kayaking was phenomenal and my group had so much fun!
The caves were amazing, and the guides were very helpful and knowledgeable. I'd definitely do it again!
I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely recommend kayaking over tubing when it comes to options. The “hike” is not difficult, but bring water shoes (they must have a strap on the back - my tevas were just fine) as you will be wading through shallow rocky water on a few occasions. The guides have someone bring all the kayaks to the put-in spot so you’re just walking through the decently flat jungle and then kayaking back down through the caves. For essentially a full day excursion, the kayaking portion felt short in comparison to the hour-long drive there and back but nothing you can do about that. I will say the van was a little run down and ac was not working very well. This was one day after my partner and I had gone on an excursion where we had a lovely transportation experience in a similar style van that was way nicer and the contrast was noticeable. I’d also skip the $10 chicken meal they offer as there was nothing special about it. Overall though, we had a great time, took some breathtaking photos, and really enjoyed our guides.
Abner and Naz were very nice , and gave us a lot of history while driving and walking through the jungle. We even got to see a tarantula. Kayaking in the caves was pretty easy for us novice kayakers. We were able to stop along the way and take pictures and here all about the caves. You can purchase lunch for 10 USD which was chicken with rice and beans and very tasty. We were in a hurry to get back to the ship and Abner made sure he got us there in time. I would recommend this tour if your able to walk at least 30 minutes leisurely, you'll have a great time.
We had so much fun exploring the caves and kayaking. It was easy to follow the meet up instructions. It was about an hour drive to the caves. They have clean bathrooms there to change into. We had to carry our paddle and helmet through the jungle. The guides were great the entire time, telling us about Belize and showing us things as we walked down the jungle. We never felt unsafe and we would love to do this again!
It was fun kayaking through the caves. Better than tubing. Saw some bats and the caves were really cool! Would definitely recommend this excursion.
Lotta fun! Nice to jump in the water. We have done the tubing and the kayaking, both are great. Kayaking provides more freedom / exploration.
On our recent Alaska cruise, we did every adventure excursion, and this topped everyone of those. Kayaking in the caves with Naz and. Abner was absolutely amazing. We were hesitant because of the long van ride to get to the caves, but that turned out to be a big positive. While Abner drove, Naz narrated the trip through the country and Belize City. He answered lots of questions and we learned more about Belize than if we would have gone on one of those bus tours. They even stopped the van and jumped out to pick a cashew nut and show us what it looks like when it’s growing. once we got to the site, they took extra care in outfitting the three of us with correctly, fitting helmets, life jackets, and paddles. Our canoes awaited us after our walk through the jungle. You do need shoes that can walk in the knee deep water and lots of stones. on our hike, Abner told us about plants and animals, stopping to point out different insects and amazing plant life. The trail was not hard at all, similar to a state park trail. Our kayaks were first class. My grandson had brought along his fancy camera and was going to leave it in the van, but Abner told him there would be great photo opportunities and he provided him a dry bag to take in the kayak. The picture opportunities were spectacular, including bats flying, tiny bats, bats roosting, and a toucan, the national bird of Belize. We left our stuff in the van, and it was completely safe. There is security all over the place. We saw the tubers and their expedition, and we were so glad we chose the kayaks. The tubers are all tied together and your guide pushes and pulls them down the river. It would be good for families with little children, though. A tip, that we learned, if you book the tubing through carnival, you have to carry your own tube through the jungle for about a mile. If you book with VIATAR, they have the tubes waiting for you at the riverbank. VIATAR was very conscience of getting us back to the cruise ship on time and were waiting for us when we got off the ship. I cannot say enough good things about this trip, and our guide.
Response from Host, Jun 2025
Fantastic, thanks for the review and thanks for choosing Belize.
This was 100% worth doing. I loved it all. The tour guides taught about the area on the drive out there and stopped to get snacks at a gas station so they would be less expensive for us.
On the ‘hike’ (it’s a walk and a 2 year old could do it, so if you’re worried about your abilities, this is not a problem), the guides stopped several times to show us some cool things like these little coconuts (which they broke open and we tasted), termites nests (which he stuck a stick into so we could taste if we wanted, apparently they are minty), a colony of leaf cutter ants (did not taste) and then my favourite, a tarantula hole where we could look in with our flash lights and see a tarantula (no, she wasn’t scary and did not attack us, but she did have an egg sac and it was very very cool).
We crossed the river 3 times (bring appropriate footwear) and could cool off in the water. It helped so we weren’t sweaty and sticky.
When we got to the kayaks, we loaded up and went the OPPOSITE way of all the tubers. They went down stream while we paddled into the back parts of the caves upstream. It was so dark that without the headlamps, we couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces. We saw a colony of bats (nope, again, they didn’t attack anyone), and then pulled off to take a swim and jump off the rocks which was so refreshing. When we exited the upstream caves, we were back where the tubers were and made our way down the same as the tubers.
The people in tubes were all tied together floating and relaxing but having no control over where they went or how long they stopped. With the kayaking tour, I could explore and go at my pace. The pace was very manageable even for those of us who don’t kayak much. Not too much of a current so it was easy. My husband and I both commented on how much of a better experience it was kayaking and were glad we chose that instead of tubing, although I’m sure tubing was good, just this was even better.
When we got back, we got on the bus/van and had preordered a Belizian lunch to eat on the way home. Rice/beans, stewed chicken and plantain with a drink for $10 USD. The chicken was dry but flavourful and the rice/beans were good but the plantain was delicious!
The tour guides were great. Very fun and informative. Abner (pretty sure that was his name) is of Mayan decent and I loved learning as we went instead of just walking quietly for 30 min.
If I could give a higher rating, I would. This was certainly the best excursion we did. 100% worth doing this, especially over tubing.
We were on a cruise that had delayed tendering to port due to ocean conditions but the guides waited for us and were able to put together a great experience within the time constraint we had to deal with. Friendly and fun to talk with during the drive and shared a lot of laughs!
It's a very fun and unique experience. The caves are an amazing, like being in another world. The kayaks are far better than tubing. This was our third time to take this excursion and we have enjoyed it each time.
What a great experience!
Frederick was a fantastic guide.
Definitely experienced more with this tour than if we had booked through the cruise ship.
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