Ocho Rios Beach day?

[cruisinquestions]

Hey all,

 

We have decided to make Jamaica our beach day, as we will have 3 kids, the youngest being 5 with us. The falls and tubing doesn't seem like a good idea with such a young one in tow.

 

So, my questions are these: Is there a beach within walking distance from the pier? Is it bad walking to it, as in are the vendors there and can not be avoided along the walk?

If there is a better beach that we can reach by cab, that's fine too. Any advice or suggestions in that regard?

 

We will be there this January from 730-330pm.

Thanks for any and all info on area beaches.

Jules

[TheWog]

There is a beach at the pier right in front of Margaritaville. Not a long walk to get to. Get some drinks and you get wrist bands allowing you to use it. It is protected from vendors so they will not hassle you. It is not the "tropical beach" you picture when seeing commercials or the like. There are some much prettier beaches that you can take a cab to, but it depends on what you want to do. Margaritaville has a waterslide and food so that may work well for you.

[jcs56]

When we were there last year there were people harrassing us at the beach at Margaritaville. A police office chased them away but when he left they came back. My son was offered some marijuana (the guy had it in a hat, tried selling him the hat with a little "extra")....he was 16 at the time. The beach there is not much of a beach but Margaritaville is awesome. I would suggest a different beach especially with little ones. You can take a taxi but be careful which ones you use. I guess there are some that are "approved" and others that are not. Carnival told us (at the "talk") NOT to take a cab in Ocho Rios. That same police officer hooked us up with a reputable cab driver that took us over to Dunns River Falls....that was a great time. With that being said....we loved OR, just gotta get past all the bad stuff. Not so good to be on your own with little ones.:cool:

[runner15km]

Turtle Beach is nearby and the walk was less than ten minutes from the main pier but if you are at the wharehouse pier you will need a taxi. We had a good time in Ocho Rios, my wife went to the Island Village area to do some shopping and to get her hair braided and I went for a Red Stripe at Margaritaville.

After shopping we went to Turtle Beach for the rest of the day. The fee to use the beach was $1 and chairs were $5 and drinks were very reasonable. We sat near a little hut were they had snacks and drinks. Be careful of the rum punch, they were powerful, yea mon, we be jammin!!

 

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b103/ZefH/Dock.jpg

[jackieN]

we went to mahogony beach last week, we were picked up at the pier by marva shaw from know jamaica and she took us to the beach got us settled with our chairs and then came back to collect us and then took us to a little shopping centre and then back to the ship. the beach was great there is a bar and a place to get food and there are water sports and banana boats it was great and nobody hasselled us at all my kids age 14 and 11 loved it

[creempuff0530]

When I went in April , we went to a beach called Ocean Bay beach which was walking distance from the pier. I was on the Mariner(RC) and from where we docked, when you got off the ship Island village was to the right and Ocean bay beach was to the left on the same street. It cost us $5 for the two of us to get in. Once you paid admission, you had to walk about 2 minutes to get to the beach area on the other side of the marina. There were people renting waverunners and selling bracelets along the way, but they just asked, they didn't really harass. I have to say that we were not harassed on the beach at all, which I found to be a pleasant surprise after having walked to Island village and the Taj mahal shops. There were people selling cold drinks and ice cream, but they didn't come up to you, you went to them if you wanted anything. It seemed like more of a locals beach and there were probably only about 20 people there including us. The beach itself was okay, not as nice as other caribbean beaches, but we could see the ship from where we were, and more importantly, did not have to take a cab or venture too far off in Jamaica(the people we encountered when we were shopping were very aggressive and we were offered drugs several times). We did not feel unsafe at this beach at all. There are a few pics in my cruise album- http//community.webshots.com/user/cris530

[cruisinquestions]

Thank you folks for responding. I'm still trying to decide, and appreciate all info here. Hopefully we will make a decision soon, but I do so enjoy the planning process.;)

 

Thanks,

Jules