tubing in Ocho Rios question

[vmom]

I have a reservation with Phil Lafayette tours sice they were so recommended by these boards.

 

Question: I signed up for the city highlights tour with Dunn's river falls.

I wondered if I should switch it to Dunn's falls with tubing.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

If we do go tubing....are there alot of mosquitoes and is there anything in the water except small fish?

[ccrn]

WE wnet tubing last month with Peat Taylor. My kids had a great time. No bugs, beautiful greenery, and no fish that I saw, but there may have been some. There ar guides that go down withyou, so that if you go off course, they can get you back on.

[Linda-B]

We toured with Phil in February. Our tour included Dunn's River Falls, Tubing, and City Highlights. I'm sure you can ask to do all three. Just e-mail him.There were no bugs or water animals that we saw on the tubing trip. We had a great time.

[NCSkittles]

We went tubing with Phil last week. Whatever tour we did included Dunn's Falls, a driving tour and tubing. The driving tour was excellent. Phil really loves his country and shared a lot of neat information. There are little crabs along the banks of the river, but you are usually not against the bank. I only noticed little fish when I got stuck in an area of stagnant water. I am highly bug-phobic and constantly on the lookout for them. I didn't see any! I didn't notice any mosquitos.

 

I would recommend wearing water shoes while tubing. There were only two river guides for the group of 15 or so. There were a few kids who needed some help so some of us were kind of floating into walls. The watershoes helped me "kick off" from the bank.

 

Have fun!

[luv2bcruzn]

We went with Phil in February and the highlight ,to our family, was the tubing. There were no bugs or "critters" that we saw. Dunn's River Falls was a wonderful experience to climb! Make sure that you wear aqua socks (water shoes) they were very helpful to push off the banks on the river and you'll need them for climbing the falls. Phil was great you'll love him and his tour.

[Bunangst]

We signed up for the highlights tour which did not include tubing however it seemed everyone else on our tour did sign up for tubing. We went along with the crowd and we were glad we did. The only down side was we were then short on cash so we couldn't give Phil a tip.

[KnuckleDragger]

We signed up for the highlights tour, but the other family with us was on booked for the river tubing. We had to choose between waiting at the exit point with Phil, or riding the rapids with the other family.

 

We opted to ride the rapids, and had a GRREEEAAATTTT time. We too, fell short on cash because of the ride, but Phil waited at the pier while I went back on to the boat and grabbed some cash. He didn't even keep my family hostage as collateral!!

 

Thanks Phil!

[maryjohn]

What is the tubing like? Never done it before - what do you need to wear - swimsuits or should you be covered? Is the water gentle or does it move quickly?

[ccrn]

Wear a swimsuit and water shoes. The water is gentle, with some little rapids. My kids did not even need a life jacket, but they are available.

[Bonnie&Rob]

It is a very nice, relaxing ride for the most part. There a couple "rapids" that you go through, but nothing that was too much for the basic chicken that I am.

 

I agree on the water shoes, you need them for the falls and for the tubing. Another good idea is a waterproof camera and eyeglass holders.

 

We also used Phil, who was very flexible in doing whatever you wanted. Some of the group wanted to shop instead of the tubing, no problem - he dropped them off and came back for them later.

 

Oh, last thing - if you tour the area with Phil, there are many stops where locals 'perform' for you and would like to be tipped. A guy who swallows fire, etc. Bringing small bills is helpful. We didn't feel the need to tip everyone who crossed our path, but it's nice to be prepared just in case.

[maryjohn]

Thanks for all the advice. Is there lockers anywhere to leave your belongings?

[ccrn]

We were able to leave all of our stuff on the bus, when we went tubing. We did bring our cash though. The guides appreciated a tip.

[RachelD]

We went on the River Tubing and Dunn's River Falls Tour with Phil last week and had a blast! Phil is definately the best way to see Jamaica.

 

For the River Tubing I wore just my bathing suit and Tevas and was fine. DH had a sleeveless tee and his swimtrunks with his Keens. The guides that bring you down the river are absolutely fabulous... they are all over the place making sure that your group is together. They are both lifeguards and have been doing it for many years!

You can leave your belongings in the van and Phil keeps everything safe.

[1sttimemariner]

Vmom, when are you going? We signed up with Phil for the Falls, Tubing and highlights tour during our August 14 Mariner cruise. We just coudn't resist after hearing so much about Phil and the tubing.

[vmom]

Our cruise is for the week of 8/13 and we'll be in ocho rios on Tues 8/16. Can't wait! We'll be on the Caribbean Princess. Had a hard time deciding between the Mariner and the C Princess. We did RCCL on our last cruise (Navigator, loved it!!!) so we decided to do Princess this time around for a change of pace.

 

If you're there on Tues, maybe we'll be on the same tour.

[sealegs9]

Our cruise is for the week of 8/13 and we'll be in ocho rios on Tues 8/16. Can't wait! We'll be on the Caribbean Princess. Had a hard time deciding between the Mariner and the C Princess. We did RCCL on our last cruise (Navigator, loved it!!!) so we decided to do Princess this time around for a change of pace.

 

If you're there on Tues, maybe we'll be on the same tour.

V mom- we were on the caribbean princess in April -eastern. Loved the ship! You'll love it!!

We're on RCCL's Voyager OTS and dock on Tue, 8/16. We were on same itinerary on Voyager last year and went on Phil's falls, tubing, lunch, tour. It was wonderful! Tell Phil we say hi! We booked river tubing thru the ship this year because it starts further upstream than Phil's tour. We didn't want to repeat the falls (bben there...) and want to spend the PM at Island Village- shopping and Margaritaville.

See ya in Ocho!!!

[bahamamomma1]

VMOM-

 

we are also on the Princess Caribbean and have booked the tour with Phil, we'll see you on the trip! Tues. 8/16

 

We are also doing Nativeways RRR tour. I am still undecided about Cozumel.

[vmom]

Bahamamama1

 

What a coincidence! Can't wait till this Sat.!

 

In Grand Cayman, we have reservations on the Buccaneer for stingray city and 2 other snorkel stops. It was hard to decide...to much to choose from.

 

In Cozumel, thought we'd take it easy. Maybe go to Chanakaab Park or a beach club for 1/2 day with shopping the other half.

[jstpshe]

Hi ,

How would I get ahold of Phil Lafayette to set up an excursion for river tubing only. I've done Dunn River Falls already and would like to just do river tubing which I've never done before.

 

Could someone please tell me what site to go to for the best and safe river tubing?

 

Thanks and have a great day. :) :)

[Busymomof4]

Hi ,

How would I get ahold of Phil Lafayette to set up an excursion for river tubing only. I've done Dunn River Falls already and would like to just do river tubing which I've never done before.

 

Could someone please tell me what site to go to for the best and safe river tubing?

 

Thanks and have a great day. :) :)

 

Here is Phil's website. If you e-mail him and tell him what you are interested in, he will accomodate you.

http://www.phil-lafayette-tours.com/

[herecomesthesun]

We are thinking about river tubing but that is the only activity we are really interested in doing in Ocho Rios besides Island Village and Margaritaville. So we don't want to book a tour guide, and were just planning on taking a taxi to the river tubing place. We can do that, right? I haven't heard of anyone on here who has gone river tubing without it being apart of an excursion.

 

Anyway, I was thinking that we could spend the first part of the day shopping and having lunch at Margaritaville, then go river tubing, and go straight back to the ship after that. However, all I am hearing about is people river tubing first and then shopping. Are there any downfalls to my plan?

[Busymomof4]

We are thinking about river tubing but that is the only activity we are really interested in doing in Ocho Rios besides Island Village and Margaritaville. So we don't want to book a tour guide, and were just planning on taking a taxi to the river tubing place. We can do that, right? I haven't heard of anyone on here who has gone river tubing without it being apart of an excursion.

 

Anyway, I was thinking that we could spend the first part of the day shopping and having lunch at Margaritaville, then go river tubing, and go straight back to the ship after that. However, all I am hearing about is people river tubing first and then shopping. Are there any downfalls to my plan?

 

Not sure if you can do this on your own or not but we have a tour booked with Phil in October. After talking with him about what we are wanting to do, I know he will just take you river tubing if that is all you are wanting.

[sealegs9]

We are thinking about river tubing but that is the only activity we are really interested in doing in Ocho Rios besides Island Village and Margaritaville. So we don't want to book a tour guide, and were just planning on taking a taxi to the river tubing place. We can do that, right? I haven't heard of anyone on here who has gone river tubing without it being apart of an excursion.

 

Anyway, I was thinking that we could spend the first part of the day shopping and having lunch at Margaritaville, then go river tubing, and go straight back to the ship after that. However, all I am hearing about is people river tubing first and then shopping. Are there any downfalls to my plan?

 

I researched for 6 months, trying to find a private tour guide to go to the White River Valley for River Tubing. No luck. The only ones that do it are the ship's excursion and shore trips. Decided on doing the ship's excursion.

Phil Lafayette will do a tubing only excursion -however, it's shorter tan the ones mentioned, but less expensive. Just send Phil an e-mail and he'll book you in. Make sure you specify it's tubing, only. You're safe with Phil- I know we were.

Good luck in getting a private cab to take you tubing. Don;t think you can. And that's after a lot of research.

 

We decided to go with the ship's tour. Leaving in the AM for our cruise!

[herecomesthesun]

I researched for 6 months, trying to find a private tour guide to go to the White River Valley for River Tubing. No luck. The only ones that do it are the ship's excursion and shore trips. Decided on doing the ship's excursion.

Phil Lafayette will do a tubing only excursion -however, it's shorter tan the ones mentioned, but less expensive. Just send Phil an e-mail and he'll book you in. Make sure you specify it's tubing, only. You're safe with Phil- I know we were.

Good luck in getting a private cab to take you tubing. Don;t think you can. And that's after a lot of research.

 

We decided to go with the ship's tour. Leaving in the AM for our cruise!

 

Hmm...that is interesting. I figured that, like Dunn's River Falls, you could do it "a la carte" without any sort of guide, but perhaps I am wrong. I got this impression from "The Wog" on a different thread. The reason I am very reluctant to use Peat Taylor or Phil Lafayette or anyone else is because even if you specify that you only want to do river tubing, you still have to work around them. We may decide last minute that we'd rather just hang in Island Village or something and I don't want to have any obligation. I also don't want to have a specific obligation in regards to time, as it seems that most of the excursion groups convene right when they get off the ship, and we may want to shop and/or eat before doing the tubing. Basically, I would like to do my own thing - but with river tubing that may not be possible. I will email Phil for more information. He lives there so he should know what the deal is! Thank you all for your help.

[TheWog]

It appears that Sealegs wanted to do the very long river tubing excursion. There is one that must go much higher into the mountains. From the plan you described I don't know if you would have time to do that if your ship leaves around 5ish (at least that would probably cut it close for me). To do the shopping, hang around, lunch thing you have described, you could certainly take the phone numbers of the people listed here or use a "JUTA" cab to get to the tubing that the local tour guides take you to. I think you could still enjoy the white river tubing in the afternoon and return in time to make your ship. The tubing tour I was on lasted almost an hour from the time we started to the time we got back in the van. We were dropped off early afternoon by Peat so I bet others do the same and they would be around to pick you up. I know you could do it "a la carte" just not sure if the tour guides mentioned on this board could be the ones to take you. Let us know what Phil says.