Dunn’s River Falls in Jamaica
Just one of the ports of contact for our Royal Caribbean cruise ship during the week of November 28/04 was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. In all probability the most well-known web page in the area is Dunn’s River Falls and we selected to tour it on our very own instead than by just one of the cruise ship excursions. At the time we disembarked from the cruise ship, there were being cabs and shuttle buses available at the pier. Cabs to Dunn’s River Falls have been $22 US for a return journey. Cabs authorized 1-3 folks for every car or truck. We were also told at the pier that modest shuttle buses also go to the Falls at $5.50 US for each human being. These were being also based on return excursions.
The only problem with shuttle buses was that we had to hold out until finally they loaded up the shuttle prior to leaving for the Falls so considering that we were being the initially on the bus, we experienced to wait around about 15 minutes for it to fill up. The driver then asks you when you want to be picked up at the Falls for the return excursion. Our driver proposed 2 hrs to see the Falls so we agreed on this time duration.
When at the Falls, a girl then came onboard the shuttle to promote tickets for admission to the web page at $10 US for every adult individual which was the identical level at the park’s ticket booth. Once inside of the Dunn’s facility, there were rentals for exclusive rubber footwear as well as lockers. We carried a compact backpack so we didn’t demand paying for a locker. We also introduced together our scuba diving booties so we did not have to hire these rubber shoes on site possibly. The cruise ship store was also marketing these rubber shoes in advance. Sneakers of some style are extremely advisable as the rocks on the Falls can be slippery and some of the bottoms of the h2o pools are a bit rocky. If you have old sneakers you never mind getting moist, they will be suited for the climb up the falls as nicely. Our scuba diving booties turned out to be sufficient. The entrance to the web page is at the prime of the falls so we took some stairs that were being adjacent to the falls to the base in which the seashore and entrance to the climb had been.
There are formal guides dressed in blue polo shirts and shorts who will choose groups up the falls. Ordinarily, they will check with to carry all cameras for you so they can acquire pics of you as you climb. Of system, they be expecting to be well tipped for their providers. Also, teams ended up advised to hold palms forming a human chain up the falls. This was suppose to make items safer but as we witnessed, this process of heading up the falls is not a warranty in opposition to falling. We saw a woman enable go and she fell down the rocks through a person of the steeper sections. She wasn’t terribly harm but we imagined that she sustained some wonderful bruises. There are several points together the falls where you could get off the falls and again on the stairs to wander up the rest of the way.
Not everyone there tried to climb the falls as many ended up pleased to just walk dry together the facet on the stairs. We selected not to go with any of the groups which are likely to go up the left facet of the falls. We designed our way up on our possess primarily on the correct aspect. With some breaks for pictures, we made it all the way up the falls in about 30 minutes. Going with a group would have taken extended for guaranteed. The drinking water is a bit cool and if you have a wetsuit, it is extremely prompt that you put on it for the climb. Cameras applied there up the falls are also suggested to be drinking water resistant considering that they most likely will get soaked. We still left our electronic digital camera on the ship and took a single of individuals $25 underwater cameras.
Following climbing the falls, we headed back down to the reasonably little but uncrowded seaside where by the ocean water was hotter till it was time to depart. The exit back at the best of the falls was strategically found at the stop of a marketplace so we did have to go via some locals who attempted to market us their souvenirs. These locals who worked inside of the Dunn’s internet site have been hustling but not as aggressively as those people in the town of Ocho Rios. The shuttle bus arrived at the web page parking good deal on time as agreed. The overall quantity we put in including the park admission and the shuttle was $31 US for the two of us. Getting an arranged tour via the cruise ship would have price tag far more than double this amount. So it is fairly achievable to tour Dunn’s River Falls on your possess rather than choose the far more high priced tours. We ended up happy that we did see Dunn’s River Falls but we thought that it was not approximately as amazing as depicted on images in journey brochures.
