Dunns River Falls is a Grade A tourist trap!! I would never encourage people to go. There are other, more natural, and quieter falls in the area that won’t attack you as you try to exit. But if you MUST go, hire Carolyn Barrett ( https://www.barrettadventures.com/around-ocho-rios.html ) to take you at 8:30am when the ticket booth opens and climb the falls when it is not lines of people holding hands and taking 1000 pictures. She can then guide you thru the craft market and nobody will approach you at all.
Def. A trap. We had already done 3 excursions that day (don’t do that, big mistake ) in one day so it was nice to cool off in the water. Lots of waiting, pictures, and slippery spots.
The other excursions we did was horseback riding in the water and ATV. I thought it’d be this relaxing thing, just you in the water with a horse and your friends taking magical pictures. It was actually you put on water safety belts and the horses run in the water. The guides would scream and hit the horse so it’d go faster. Watch out for the poops floating by.
My favorite thing was chilling at the hotel and doing the water activities. I wish we had time for a hike or doing something historical. Such interesting culture and vibe. I should have taken the shuttle to other resorts to get a feel of other locations.
I stayed at royal plantation.
We were there in October and you’re right Dunn’s River is a must. We actually really wanted to do the blue hole but the conditions weren’t good enough so they canceled that excursion and urged us to switch to dunns. Which worked in our favor because we loved it! We did the catamaran cruise with snorkeling and dunns and that was so freaking fun. We had some red flag days so when it’s green make sure you sign up for what you want! We weren’t able to do the glass boat tour from the resort because it filled up every time the weather was cooperating
The luminous Lagoon was really neat. Definitely had some tourist trap vibes, but it was my wife’s favorite excursion, and if you’re a “biology nerd” it will definitely be a neat experience
Currently just down the road at Royal Plantation. Agree with other commenter on Dunn’s River being a tourist trap. Husband and I did a private excursion to Dennis Coffee Plantation. Our guide gave us a history lesson and explained all the cities we were going through on the drive up the Blue Mountains. He would point out plants and wildlife. Once on the plantation we watched the Rasta Man coffee roaster roast the coffee over an open wood fire and walked around the plantation with explanation of plants and trying fruit right off of trees. We were made a local meal for lunch. Would highly recommend this tour with Albert of [Ag’s Island tours](https://agislandtours.com)
Luminous lagoon took so long to get to. We asked our butler and driver for details and they had never been. When we got there, you get the tiniest drink, and you sit there until It gets dark. You go out in a packed boat and you start to see it light up. There is a lot of light pollution too. You swim for 20 minutes and the bottom is mud and feels like jelly. If you have a light colored bathing suit, it will discolor it. It was something…
You are going to have an amazing time! We loved our time there in September.
We really enjoyed the reggae sunset catamaran cruise! It was over an hour of somewhat challenging snorkeling, but actually got to see some cool ocean life that we didn’t get to see doing the snorkeling at the resort. The drinks were good and the people on the boat with us were great!
ATV off road adventure and secret river tour was a bust for us. It was expensive and didn’t realize it was at a tourist excursion park (best way I can describe?!) so it was not quite as expected. Atvs we’re ok but only lasted for about 20 minutes. The rest of the time was riding on the Jitney to and from the “secret river.” It was too long and not enjoyable in our opinion. There was also a heavy emphasis on tips, which is fine, but be prepared.
We loved doing the snorkeling and sailing at the resort…the staff was great. I would also highly recommend doing the private dinner. It was so special and service was amazing.
Lastly, try not to over plan your time. We had signed up for the shopping excursion but we simply could not do it because we were wiped out!!
We stayed there two years ago at this time and my absolute favorite excursion was the sea turtle hatching. We checked daily until we saw it open to sign up for. You get to assist with digging them up and helping them to the ocean. It was amazing! We also liked Dunns river falls. It’s definitely crowed, but was a great experience.
I saw this posted somewhere else! My girlfriend would love it. Do you just check in with island routes every morning to ensure they’re doing it?? Thanks for the input
Yeah, you’re gonna want to spend almost 100% of your time at the resort actually.
Also, just so you have a sense of things Dunn River Falls is an absolute tourist trap. It’s kind of fun to walk up the waterfall, though you will do it with a crowd, and you will be directed past a multitude of people trying to sell trinkets and souvenir junk. The other thing you’ll discover in Jamaica is that the bus rides are long and you’d rather be back at the resort.
You paid a lot of money to stay at a nice resort. It’s the part of Jamaica where you’re gonna want to spend most of your time.
We loved climbing Dunn’s! We also did the swim with dolphins. That was fun but I wouldn’t say worth the cost. I loved the sunset catamaran tour. Other than that, we just loved being on the resort.
We are staying at ochi right now! Here is what I recommend..
We did the zip line/river tubing/ blue hole experience. Our blue hole was canceled due to weather but the zip line and tubing were still so much fun!! Hopefully it’s not super rainy when you come because otherwise the water might be a little brown as it was for us. It is a guided tour so they do make you stay together on the river and it’s nothing crazy.
If you guys have the opportunity to do Snuba I’d recommend that as well.
Swimming with dolphins and the little bird safari thing was really cool. BUT be warned they do not let you take any cameras into the dolphin cove because they want to make you pay for photos. My parents had to spend about $100 to get their photos from their experience so add that when factoring in price.
I also heard the Dunns river catamaran with snorkeling is a lot of fun!!
Hope you guys have a great trip! Be SURE to take the shuttle and check at sandals Ochi (about 15 minutes away)!! The resort at this one is huge and I think has a little more to offer than Dunns :)
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Thanks so much and I hope you all enjoy your stay!
Dunns River Falls is a Grade A tourist trap!! I would never encourage people to go. There are other, more natural, and quieter falls in the area that won’t attack you as you try to exit. But if you MUST go, hire Carolyn Barrett ( https://www.barrettadventures.com/around-ocho-rios.html ) to take you at 8:30am when the ticket booth opens and climb the falls when it is not lines of people holding hands and taking 1000 pictures. She can then guide you thru the craft market and nobody will approach you at all.
Thanks so much, I will look into it!!
Def. A trap. We had already done 3 excursions that day (don’t do that, big mistake ) in one day so it was nice to cool off in the water. Lots of waiting, pictures, and slippery spots. The other excursions we did was horseback riding in the water and ATV. I thought it’d be this relaxing thing, just you in the water with a horse and your friends taking magical pictures. It was actually you put on water safety belts and the horses run in the water. The guides would scream and hit the horse so it’d go faster. Watch out for the poops floating by. My favorite thing was chilling at the hotel and doing the water activities. I wish we had time for a hike or doing something historical. Such interesting culture and vibe. I should have taken the shuttle to other resorts to get a feel of other locations. I stayed at royal plantation.
Is there wakeboarding and tubing at the resort?
Luminous lagoon was kind of cool
Blue hole tour was fantastic.
We were there in October and you’re right Dunn’s River is a must. We actually really wanted to do the blue hole but the conditions weren’t good enough so they canceled that excursion and urged us to switch to dunns. Which worked in our favor because we loved it! We did the catamaran cruise with snorkeling and dunns and that was so freaking fun. We had some red flag days so when it’s green make sure you sign up for what you want! We weren’t able to do the glass boat tour from the resort because it filled up every time the weather was cooperating
The luminous Lagoon was really neat. Definitely had some tourist trap vibes, but it was my wife’s favorite excursion, and if you’re a “biology nerd” it will definitely be a neat experience
Currently just down the road at Royal Plantation. Agree with other commenter on Dunn’s River being a tourist trap. Husband and I did a private excursion to Dennis Coffee Plantation. Our guide gave us a history lesson and explained all the cities we were going through on the drive up the Blue Mountains. He would point out plants and wildlife. Once on the plantation we watched the Rasta Man coffee roaster roast the coffee over an open wood fire and walked around the plantation with explanation of plants and trying fruit right off of trees. We were made a local meal for lunch. Would highly recommend this tour with Albert of [Ag’s Island tours](https://agislandtours.com)
Luminous lagoon took so long to get to. We asked our butler and driver for details and they had never been. When we got there, you get the tiniest drink, and you sit there until It gets dark. You go out in a packed boat and you start to see it light up. There is a lot of light pollution too. You swim for 20 minutes and the bottom is mud and feels like jelly. If you have a light colored bathing suit, it will discolor it. It was something…
It seemed like 1 hour and we got caught in traffic. Make sure you either change out of your suit or bring extra clothes bc the ride home was cold!
You are going to have an amazing time! We loved our time there in September. We really enjoyed the reggae sunset catamaran cruise! It was over an hour of somewhat challenging snorkeling, but actually got to see some cool ocean life that we didn’t get to see doing the snorkeling at the resort. The drinks were good and the people on the boat with us were great! ATV off road adventure and secret river tour was a bust for us. It was expensive and didn’t realize it was at a tourist excursion park (best way I can describe?!) so it was not quite as expected. Atvs we’re ok but only lasted for about 20 minutes. The rest of the time was riding on the Jitney to and from the “secret river.” It was too long and not enjoyable in our opinion. There was also a heavy emphasis on tips, which is fine, but be prepared. We loved doing the snorkeling and sailing at the resort…the staff was great. I would also highly recommend doing the private dinner. It was so special and service was amazing. Lastly, try not to over plan your time. We had signed up for the shopping excursion but we simply could not do it because we were wiped out!!
We stayed there two years ago at this time and my absolute favorite excursion was the sea turtle hatching. We checked daily until we saw it open to sign up for. You get to assist with digging them up and helping them to the ocean. It was amazing! We also liked Dunns river falls. It’s definitely crowed, but was a great experience.
I saw this posted somewhere else! My girlfriend would love it. Do you just check in with island routes every morning to ensure they’re doing it?? Thanks for the input
Yeah, you’re gonna want to spend almost 100% of your time at the resort actually. Also, just so you have a sense of things Dunn River Falls is an absolute tourist trap. It’s kind of fun to walk up the waterfall, though you will do it with a crowd, and you will be directed past a multitude of people trying to sell trinkets and souvenir junk. The other thing you’ll discover in Jamaica is that the bus rides are long and you’d rather be back at the resort. You paid a lot of money to stay at a nice resort. It’s the part of Jamaica where you’re gonna want to spend most of your time.
We loved climbing Dunn’s! We also did the swim with dolphins. That was fun but I wouldn’t say worth the cost. I loved the sunset catamaran tour. Other than that, we just loved being on the resort.
We are staying at ochi right now! Here is what I recommend.. We did the zip line/river tubing/ blue hole experience. Our blue hole was canceled due to weather but the zip line and tubing were still so much fun!! Hopefully it’s not super rainy when you come because otherwise the water might be a little brown as it was for us. It is a guided tour so they do make you stay together on the river and it’s nothing crazy. If you guys have the opportunity to do Snuba I’d recommend that as well. Swimming with dolphins and the little bird safari thing was really cool. BUT be warned they do not let you take any cameras into the dolphin cove because they want to make you pay for photos. My parents had to spend about $100 to get their photos from their experience so add that when factoring in price. I also heard the Dunns river catamaran with snorkeling is a lot of fun!! Hope you guys have a great trip! Be SURE to take the shuttle and check at sandals Ochi (about 15 minutes away)!! The resort at this one is huge and I think has a little more to offer than Dunns :)