Ocho Rios - Walk/Bus to a beach near cruise port?

Hello -

After looking through the excursion information for our cruise, we aren't crazy about any of the options. I know we could book with another company but I have a few questions...

Are there any nice beaches within walking/taxi ride distance from the cruise port?

Is it safe to do this and not do something through a guide?

Thanks!

I am not big on going it alone in this area. Other might be different but I didn't feel very safe.

A ships tour as fine or booking reputable tour guide ahead of time would be good too.

Keith

if you take a look at the Ocho area on something like Google Earth you'll see that the pier area has just to the east a long beach area .... this is a 'public' beach. A small admission fee applies as I recall. I've spent many hours here. You can find refreshments and rental chairs etc. You may encounter wandering 'vendors'. From the 'terminal building' it is 300 meters .... easily walkable, you are hardly out of the port parking lot!

if you take a look at the Ocho area on something like Google Earth you'll see that the pier area has just to the east a long beach area .... this is a 'public' beach. A small admission fee applies as I recall. I've spent many hours here. You can find refreshments and rental chairs etc. You may encounter wandering 'vendors'. From the 'terminal building' it is 300 meters .... easily walkable, you are hardly out of the port parking lot!

^^ This is what we did as well. It is very close. There were vendors but they were not overly aggressive.

It has been probably eight years since we were in Ocho Rios but we went to Margaritaville and accessed the beach there.

Following this for any other updates... We also want to just do a beach day in Ocho Rios... and not interested in the $100 US per person option from the ship... WAY overpriced... Any other suggestions would be great!

Many years ago, on both Carnival and NCL, warnings were issued for that beach due to high levels of e coli entering the water from exposed pipe runoff. On Carnival, they even drained the pools on board since those draw a sea water mix. Can't say if it was a typical cruiseline scare tactic to bolster their own excursion sales.

Hopefully that issue was addressed when the port area underwent its amazing transformation into a modern, clean, safe destination.

It has been probably eight years since we were in Ocho Rios but we went to Margaritaville and accessed the beach there.

Yes, Margaritaville in Ocho Rios has access to a beach and it's an easy walk from your ship. ;)