Dunns River falls with kids?

[Jajone]

Has anyone climbed the falls with kids? How did they do? My kids will be 9, 11 and 4. It's the 4y.o I am most worried about. Can 1 of us take him up the stairs and the other climb with the older 2? What else is there to do for the 4 y.o.?

[China1234]

Personally, I wouldn't do Dunn's River with the kids. The climb is steep, slippery and you do not go at your own pace. They take everyone in groups and you join hands and climb the falls. Several people (myself included) have fallen and have gotten injured. They did not stop the climb, they just continued on their way and wanted a tip at the end. Then in order to get out of the park you have to walk through a marketplace where they are pushing their wares. I'm sure there are more kid friendly things to do in Ocho Rios.

[Canadian Tyler]

I haven't done the climb with children, but wouldn't recommend it based on doing it myself.

It's pretty slippery and steep at points. I think there's a viewing area off to the side, so as you said maybe one of you can go with the youngest to watch the others.

[A&Jfamily]

I wouldn't want to do it with a 4 yo - just too risky. The others would be fine. I have an almost 6 yo DS who is very athletic and I would have real concern about letting him try it.

[MamaParrotHead]

I agree, I wouldn't do it. I personally didn't think it was that big of a thrill...kind of a hassle and a pain in the butt. I don't know if I'd even take my kids off the ship in Jamaica, but if I did, it'd probably be to hop in a cab, go straight to a resort with a day pass, hop back in a cab and back on the ship.

 

I've been to 8 ports on 3 cruises, and Jamaica is my least favorite.

[my $.02]

I would not recommend doing it either with the kids.

[Bluegirl]

I have a four-year-old and a six-year-old. We are planning beach days in both Labadee (natch) and Grand Cayman, but Ocho Rios stumps me. The only activity that seems sort of suitable for them is the glass-bottom-boat-type excursions, but I hate to book through the cruiseline (whatever it might be) - waste of money.

 

Maybe we SHOULD just stay on the boat. Or does anyone else have another suggestion? Are the beaches so excellent (and WHICH ONES?? we would even be willing to pay a moderate resort fee for a nice, gentle, kid-friendly beach that also serves food and drink) in Jamaica that we should not pass them up and, say, stay on the ship at Grand Cayman instead?

 

TIA for any advice and sorry if I've hijacked the thread a bit.

[A&Jfamily]

I have a four-year-old and a six-year-old. We are planning beach days in both Labadee (natch) and Grand Cayman, but Ocho Rios stumps me. The only activity that seems sort of suitable for them is the glass-bottom-boat-type excursions, but I hate to book through the cruiseline (whatever it might be) - waste of money.

 

Maybe we SHOULD just stay on the boat. Or does anyone else have another suggestion? Are the beaches so excellent (and WHICH ONES?? we would even be willing to pay a moderate resort fee for a nice, gentle, kid-friendly beach that also serves food and drink) in Jamaica that we should not pass them up and, say, stay on the ship at Grand Cayman instead?

 

TIA for any advice and sorry if I've hijacked the thread a bit.

 

I can't recomend an excursion as I have never cruised there. But staying there 20 years ago, I can say that it was rough. We were in a condo on a public beach and every 20' they wanted to sell you pot or braid your hair.

 

Don't get me wrong - it is a beautiful island and well worth seeing. This is just the one place that I would advocate booking through the cruiseline for the piece of mind. A private beach resort would be just the thing that I would recommend - but let the cruise line get you there and back.

[MamaParrotHead]

I'd do a quick search on the Jamaica board for "all inclusive" and see what pops up.

 

I'd go a step further and say that if you do decide to book through the ship, be careful WHAT you book. There was a ship sponsored excursion a few years ago that was HIJACKED by gunpoint and machetes (that one was like an island-type plantation tour of some sort). The ship can't promise that they're the "only safe" way to tour a port, it just isn't true.

[jam82]

I wouldn't plan on hiking up the falls with the kids. It's really not that much fun to do, but it is nice to see. You can go to Dunn River Falls and just hang out.

 

The kids would probably be just as happy going to Margaritaville which you can walk to from the boat. There is a little bay where they could swim and a small water slide at the pool. You can walk there from the ship.

[2112]

I wouldn't do Dunn's River Falls with a 4 yo - no way. You could go and take him down the stairs, but it is far too dangerous to do the climb up the falls with him. I also would not recommend Margaritaville. It is a very adult atmosphere there and not suitable for children. I would think seriously about doing an all-inclusive for the day.

[Jajone]

Thanks everyone for confirming what I was thinking in the first place. After doing some research, I might make OR a stop where we don;t get off the ship. We were planning a beach stop or simple cheap excursion in Grand Cayman, but maybe it fits better here. We can do the rays in GC or beach and snorkel there. Anyone have rec. for all inclusives?

[chipmaster]

Has anyone climbed the falls with kids? How did they do? My kids will be 9, 11 and 4. It's the 4y.o I am most worried about. Can 1 of us take him up the stairs and the other climb with the older 2? What else is there to do for the 4 y.o.?

 

9 and 11 should be no problem, the 4 year old I would suggest NOT. There are stairs that go up along the river climb that are dry and safe for you and the 4 YO to go, watch and maybe choose to get wet in a few places.

[Nebr.cruiser]

Your older kids will probably be fine, though people do get hurt there fairly often, but I wouldn't take a 4-year-old up the falls. There is a beach right there if one of you stays with him.

 

We've been to Jamaica several times and have done various activities. We took four grandkids ages 3,4 5 & 5 there are few years ago. We did a tour with private company that included a little sightseeinbg (the kids didn't appreciate this) a tubing ride--they loved this and wanted to do it again, and the falls.

 

Since we'd climbed the falls before we took the kids to the beach while their parents climbed--they had fun with no worries about the falls. To me, it's hard enough to climb without having to worry about/help a small child.

 

Previously when we climbed we hired one of the guides that were hanging around just for us and did not go up in one of the chains of people. I think that made it a lot easier.

 

You do not have to go through the shopping area. Turn left after exiting the falls and go directly back to the parking area, ignoring the signs that point you to the 'exit' which is really the shopping area.

 

Just two weeks ago we were in Jamaica again. Having been there so often, we decided to just walk to a beach. We went to Margariteville. It's less than 10 minutes away. Hardly anyone was there when we first got there, but it was more crowded when we left.

 

It's basically a bar/restaurant with a nice pool with waterslide and a small beach. Note the word small! Their beach is acutally only about 50 feet wide. Adjoining it is a somewhat larger, but not big, beach that has lounge chairs, a few trees, etc. It cost $3pp to use that beach, $5 if you wanted a lounger. There was a water tramp on the beach, but it wasn't in the water.

 

Knowing that we wouldn't be there for hours we just layed out towels down on the Margariteville side and relaxed. I swam for a while--nice gentle waves, water was warm.

 

It costs the price of a drink to use their facilities--since we don't usually drink alcohol, we had a soft drink for $2.75 each. When we were there there was music and people drinking and eating but nothing that would be out of line for kids. I have heard that it gets rowdy at times; it just wasn't (yet) that day.

 

There is also another beach you walk to right off the ship, but I haven't been there. Reports are that you walk left off the dock instead of right (to Margariteville) and that it costs only a dollar or so to enter. The beach to the left looked very nice and much larger, but I don't know if all or part of it is accessible to walk-ons.

[Jajone]

Can you tell me more about the tubing ride?

[Nebr.cruiser]

The tubing ride was part of alonger tour we did with a company we found using recommendations from these boards. We went to Fern Gully, drove around the town and saw some sights, stopped at a couple of stands, etc. To be honest, the little kids didn't enjoy this part much.

 

The tubing was lots of fun. There were three guides with us who went along the whole way and spent most of their time in the water making sure the tubes didn't get caught up under trees, separated from the group, or in any kind of trouble.

 

The ride was pretty mild, and we wished it had been longer. Each adult had a large tube with a bottom to themselves. The little kids each rode with an adult. The water was pretty cool, but we all adjusted quickly.

 

We had the kids' swim vests along, but there were life jackets available; not sure if they had child sizes, since we had our own, but I bet they did. As I said earlier, the kids loved the ride; it wasn't scary or too difficult.

 

The kids are very used to water, living on a lake, and none of them are the kind that scare easily if that makes a difference.

 

Enjoy your trip!

[Cuizer2]

Has anyone climbed the falls with kids? How did they do? My kids will be 9, 11 and 4. It's the 4y.o I am most worried about. Can 1 of us take him up the stairs and the other climb with the older 2? What else is there to do for the 4 y.o.?

 

My (then) seven and nine year old nephews did it and they had a lot of fun ...

 

 

 

I don't know how old this little girl was ...

 

[lowestar]

We did an independent tour in Jamaica in early Feb 2008. My daughters were then 8 and just turned 5. Part of the tour was Dunn's River Falls and river tubing. My 8 year old was in her glory ... she absolutely loved climbing the falls, and was doing the "extra" things within the falls that the guides had you do (going down the "slide", etc.). She loved the river tubing too. My 5 year old (at the time) is tiny and very nervous around water. Dunn's River Falls was not her cup of tea, but she finished it ... with us having to carry her part of the way. I think it can be fine for some 4 year olds depending on their personality, etc., but in retrospect, it was not probably the best idea for my 5 year old! The 5 year old rode with me in my tube for the river tubing, so she was less scared of that.

 

Perhaps you could do river tubing, and one of the adults could ride with the 4 year old? You could still climb the falls, and assess it when you got there. So, maybe everyone climbs the falls excpet the 4 year old and one adult who climb it by way of the stairs? If it is not busy, your 4 year old will have an easier time, but if it is busy ... is is crazy busy because you have to keep moving at a good pace since you are in a chain!

 

lowestar

[Cuizer2]

We did an independent tour in Jamaica in early Feb 2008. My daughters were then 8 and just turned 5. Part of the tour was Dunn's River Falls and river tubing. My 8 year old was in her glory ... she absolutely loved climbing the falls, and was doing the "extra" things within the falls that the guides had you do (going down the "slide", etc.). She loved the river tubing too. My 5 year old (at the time) is tiny and very nervous around water. Dunn's River Falls was not her cup of tea, but she finished it ... with us having to carry her part of the way. I think it can be fine for some 4 year olds depending on their personality, etc., but in retrospect, it was not probably the best idea for my 5 year old! The 5 year old rode with me in my tube for the river tubing, so she was less scared of that.

 

Perhaps you could do river tubing, and one of the adults could ride with the 4 year old? You could still climb the falls, and assess it when you got there. So, maybe everyone climbs the falls excpet the 4 year old and one adult who climb it by way of the stairs? If it is not busy, your 4 year old will have an easier time, but if it is busy ... is is crazy busy because you have to keep moving at a good pace since you are in a chain!

 

lowestar

 

Busy?

 

 

 

[A&Jfamily]

Busy?

 

 

 

 

Wow! Yet another reason not to do it with a 4 yo! When I did it, we were able to do it early as we were staying on the island - it didn't look like this at all! Sadly, you can't even appreciate it's beauty. If this is what you could be facing because there are many ships in port, I would say skip it entirely and find a nice AI to hang out at.

[Jajone]

WOW, that's even too busy for me. How can you even enjoy that? What month and time of day was that taken? Do you know how many ships were in port?

[Cuizer2]

WOW, that's even too busy for me. How can you even enjoy that? What month and time of day was that taken? Do you know how many ships were in port?

 

There were two small ships in port. The Freedom of the Seas and the Caribbean Princess.

 

The date was June 27, 2007. The time was right around noon.

 

Believe it or not, it was a lot of fun.

[texasgirl29]

We just got off the Island Princess. My kids -- 9 and 12 year old girls -- loved the falls. There was one spot that was a little tricky for the youngest one -- rushing water and a little steep -- but she got past that and did not want to leave to go up the stairs. My husband hung on to them and I did better balancing by myself.

 

 

 

It was not very crowded when we were there -- first thing in the morning.

 

BTW, my brother in law is a 42 year old man with Downs and has a lot of vision problems. One of the guides grabbed his hand and successfully navigated with him all the way up the falls.

 

JoAnn

[pittsbcruiser]

DH and I did Dunns Falls a few years back and I do not recommend it.Look at going to Mayfield Falls, we did this with a private tour and had a wonderful time.