Jamaica with 4 year old?

[moesyk4]

I asked this on the Jamaica board a few weeks ago, but all the responses I'm getting are for people with older children, so I was hoping for responses on here! We are desperately looking for something to do in Jamaica with a 4 year old that will be fun for both us and him...so IMO that takes out shopping (we don't shop), tours, etc. Dunn's River Falls has to be 6 and older...yes, you can wait at the bottom with him, but then what's the point?

I can't get a straight answer from the private tour guides if Irie Blue Hole is safe for a 4 year old, and I'm really drawing a blank on other options. We'd like to stay below $200...preferably around $150 if we can.

We are looking at river tubing, but would love any other options! We will do ship excursions if we have to, but would prefer private.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I asked this on the Jamaica board a few weeks ago, but all the responses I'm getting are for people with older children, so I was hoping for responses on here! We are desperately looking for something to do in Jamaica with a 4 year old that will be fun for both us and him...so IMO that takes out shopping (we don't shop), tours, etc. Dunn's River Falls has to be 6 and older...yes, you can wait at the bottom with him, but then what's the point?

I can't get a straight answer from the private tour guides if Irie Blue Hole is safe for a 4 year old, and I'm really drawing a blank on other options. We'd like to stay below $200...preferably around $150 if we can.

We are looking at river tubing, but would love any other options! We will do ship excursions if we have to, but would prefer private.

 

We did the river tubing with a 3, a 4 and two 5 year-olds. They all had a blast and wanted to do it again. Note that they are all the fearless kind and love water, but, it wasn't scary and the guides really take care of you.

 

This was part of a tour that did some scenic stops, like Fern Gully, etc., and Dunn's River Falls. The kids really didn't appreciate the scenic aspects--few kids do. At the falls we (grandparents) played with them at the beach, as we had done the falls before, while their parents climbed.

 

Honestly, with kids that age the beach is always a great alternative. There are beaches close by, depending on where you are porting; I'm assuming Ochos Rios because of the falls. We just walked over to Margariteville, which has a water slide and pool and very small beach--but we weren't with kids.

[cb at sea]

A guidebook would be very helpful to you....libraries have them....so you can find out ALL of the points of interest/activities that are available in Jamaica....get one and read it....then you can decide HOW to do what you want!!!

[Mistyhon]

If going to ocho rios, just go to margaritaville. It was dead when we were there and they have a pool with waterslide and a beach. DH and I went river tubing and wouldn't take our kids on it until they were at least 8 or 9.

 

If going to Mo'bay (like we are in a few weeks) maybe you want to try an AI? We're doing sunset beach with our 3 and 6 year old. Should be fun and around $150 for all you can eat/drink/play!

[Blk_Amish]

I asked this on the Jamaica board a few weeks ago, but all the responses I'm getting are for people with older children, so I was hoping for responses on here! We are desperately looking for something to do in Jamaica with a 4 year old that will be fun for both us and him...so IMO that takes out shopping (we don't shop), tours, etc. Dunn's River Falls has to be 6 and older...yes, you can wait at the bottom with him, but then what's the point?

I can't get a straight answer from the private tour guides if Irie Blue Hole is safe for a 4 year old, and I'm really drawing a blank on other options. We'd like to stay below $200...preferably around $150 if we can.

We are looking at river tubing, but would love any other options! We will do ship excursions if we have to, but would prefer private.

 

Where in Jamaica, Ocho Rios I can help:

 

Shaw Park Garden- Botanical Garden and waterfall, great to have a leisurely stroll -

 

My personal favorite when my kids were younger was Coyaba River Garden and Museum. This is a botanical garden with a nice manageable waterfall you can climb, along with a little swimming lagoon. Its still one of my favorite places with my kids now 18 and 15. There is a personal guy so a great chance for pics.

 

 

 

The Blue Hole though lovely I would not do with a 4 years old. It requires a bit of a hike t the falls. I think there are 2 entrances but we used the one at the bottom and did a 10 minutes hike to the falls.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited October 22, 2013 by Blk_Amish

[#1TravelMom]

We did the falls when DD was 3. We think she is part monkey and just loves climbing. She had so much fun! Are private guides limiting the age to 6 or is it the cruise line excursions ?

[moesyk4]

I'm not positive..it's on all the excursions so I didn't double check elsewhere.

[kitkat343]

We took our two year old son to Dolphin Cove, which he really enjoyed.

 

This was my trip advisor review:

 

There were many highlights to Dolphin Cove, which is an enjoyable stop for families and people who love animals. They offer many good opportunities to play with and feed animals, and you can take many lovely photographs with animals here.

 

Dolphin Cove offers several different types of dolphin encounters, and if you have any questions about which dolphin encounter would be best for your family you should email their facility directly since they were very responsive to our emails when I was organizing this tour.

After you book a dolphin touch or encounter, they will email you a confirmation letter with the time of your dolphin encounter, and they recommend that you print out this confirmation letter and bring it with you. It is absolutely necessary that you bring this letter, since our family and the people on line in front of us were both initially assigned incorrect times for the dolphin touch and Dolphin Cove was able to easily fix this mistake when we showed them the correct time in the confirmation letter.

 

We signed up for the dolphin touch so our two year old could safely participate, and he really loved meeting his friendly and cute dolphin. Please note that if you are on a cruise, you may need to book this excursion directly with Dolphin Cove since some cruise lines (like Princess) only allow children older than 8 to participate in the dolphin touch. Dolphin Cove appears to be much stricter than other attractions in terms of allowing cruise ship passengers to book independently. They turned away a previous trip advisor reviewer who had disclosed he was arriving on a cruise ship and wouldn't take our reservation until we disclosed where we were staying on the island. Dolphin Cove can arrange transportation for guests, but we didn't want them to know we were arriving at a cruise ship, so Richard Brooks at excursionochorios@gmail.com provided us with very good transportation all day in Jamaica. Please note that Dolphin Cove, like all other dolphin experience locations, does not allow you to take your own pictures. Their photographers did a very nice job, but you should factor their costs into your plans for visiting this park. They also will take professional pictures of your stingray and nurse shark experience (they allow amateur cameras in these areas, but it would be hard to get good amateur pictures here)

 

It is important to note the time of the shark show, since this show is terrible (and seemed to consist of a lot of chanting instead of sharks) and the handlers are also the people who help you touch a stingray and touch nurse sharks. For the 15 minutes prior to the show while the performers are getting ready, you can explore the lovely trail above the beach, where there is a very nice touch tank and an enclosure where you can feed love birds who will land on you. There are also lots of parrots they can pose on guests. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, and our two year old had a wonderful time here.

[mitsugirly]

I asked this on the Jamaica board a few weeks ago, but all the responses I'm getting are for people with older children, so I was hoping for responses on here! We are desperately looking for something to do in Jamaica with a 4 year old that will be fun for both us and him...so IMO that takes out shopping (we don't shop), tours, etc. Dunn's River Falls has to be 6 and older...yes, you can wait at the bottom with him, but then what's the point?

I can't get a straight answer from the private tour guides if Irie Blue Hole is safe for a 4 year old, and I'm really drawing a blank on other options. We'd like to stay below $200...preferably around $150 if we can.

We are looking at river tubing, but would love any other options! We will do ship excursions if we have to, but would prefer private.

 

It would be helpful to know what port you will be in. :)

 

It sounds like it "might" be Ocho Rios. If so, we were there last year in March when our daughter was 4 years old. We booked with Jamaica for a Day and went to an AI resort that was right down the road from the port. It was a fabulous day and the place was really nice.

 

You can check out my full review and pictures if you click on my review in the signature line. :)

[KatieCharlotte]

I asked this on the Jamaica board a few weeks ago, but all the responses I'm getting are for people with older children, so I was hoping for responses on here! We are desperately looking for something to do in Jamaica with a 4 year old that will be fun for both us and him...so IMO that takes out shopping (we don't shop), tours, etc. Dunn's River Falls has to be 6 and older...yes, you can wait at the bottom with him, but then what's the point?

I can't get a straight answer from the private tour guides if Irie Blue Hole is safe for a 4 year old, and I'm really drawing a blank on other options. We'd like to stay below $200...preferably around $150 if we can.

We are looking at river tubing, but would love any other options! We will do ship excursions if we have to, but would prefer private.

 

We're planning a cruise to Ocho Rios with a child who will be not quite six, and two older children. It is challenging, because we don't want to shop or go to an all inclusive. I like seeing the country a little. We've been told by a private tour company that children over age three can climb the falls. They also told us that DD could share my horse if we went riding, which is something we would all enjoy. We plan to confirm that info before booking.

 

I'd love to see the blue hole but decided that should wait until the kids are older, because the best features can't be enjoyed by a small child and I would be totally focused on keeping her safe.

[CruiseCouple02]

We took our two year old son to Dolphin Cove, which he really enjoyed.

 

This was my trip advisor review:

 

There were many highlights to Dolphin Cove, which is an enjoyable stop for families and people who love animals. They offer many good opportunities to play with and feed animals, and you can take many lovely photographs with animals here.

 

Dolphin Cove offers several different types of dolphin encounters, and if you have any questions about which dolphin encounter would be best for your family you should email their facility directly since they were very responsive to our emails when I was organizing this tour.

After you book a dolphin touch or encounter, they will email you a confirmation letter with the time of your dolphin encounter, and they recommend that you print out this confirmation letter and bring it with you. It is absolutely necessary that you bring this letter, since our family and the people on line in front of us were both initially assigned incorrect times for the dolphin touch and Dolphin Cove was able to easily fix this mistake when we showed them the correct time in the confirmation letter.

 

We signed up for the dolphin touch so our two year old could safely participate, and he really loved meeting his friendly and cute dolphin. Please note that if you are on a cruise, you may need to book this excursion directly with Dolphin Cove since some cruise lines (like Princess) only allow children older than 8 to participate in the dolphin touch. Dolphin Cove appears to be much stricter than other attractions in terms of allowing cruise ship passengers to book independently. They turned away a previous trip advisor reviewer who had disclosed he was arriving on a cruise ship and wouldn't take our reservation until we disclosed where we were staying on the island. Dolphin Cove can arrange transportation for guests, but we didn't want them to know we were arriving at a cruise ship, so Richard Brooks at excursionochorios@gmail.com provided us with very good transportation all day in Jamaica. Please note that Dolphin Cove, like all other dolphin experience locations, does not allow you to take your own pictures. Their photographers did a very nice job, but you should factor their costs into your plans for visiting this park. They also will take professional pictures of your stingray and nurse shark experience (they allow amateur cameras in these areas, but it would be hard to get good amateur pictures here)

 

It is important to note the time of the shark show, since this show is terrible (and seemed to consist of a lot of chanting instead of sharks) and the handlers are also the people who help you touch a stingray and touch nurse sharks. For the 15 minutes prior to the show while the performers are getting ready, you can explore the lovely trail above the beach, where there is a very nice touch tank and an enclosure where you can feed love birds who will land on you. There are also lots of parrots they can pose on guests. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, and our two year old had a wonderful time here.

 

So Kitkat343, you booked directly and told them you were staying at a hotel instead of on a cruise ship? Did they try to make you show any proof or did they not question it?