The Dangers of Cave Tubing in Belize

Travel Blog  •  Jim Benning  •  09.25.08 | 10:31 AM ET

belize tubingPhoto by Beemans via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

A 52-year-old woman on a Carnival cruise drowned yesterday while on a shore excursion in Belize. She was tubing on the Caves Branch River—in what some say were questionable conditions—when, according to one account, she was swept under a rock. Reports USA Today: “A local news station in Belize, Channel 7 News, reports that most local tour companies that operate on the Caves Branch River had canceled their trips Wednesday due to poor conditions.” Obviously, her trip wasn’t canceled.

 

Her husband, who was with her at the time, offered a chilling account to the country’s Channel 5 News. They were screaming for help when they were sucked under, he said, adding:

“I don’t remember anything because I think we flip upside down. Somebody was watching my wife and I and it was just second and we keep going down, down, down and you can tell the water pressure is pushing us inside the cave. I kind of panicked and I am trying to keep my mouth shut to keep little air, trying to find my way. I was trying to find where to go. It took maybe twenty seconds, fifteen seconds and I was like no more air. I said, I am dying right here.”

Carnival says it has suspended the excursion offering and is investigating.



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