Current reviews of Blue Hole tours requested please

[Illa Zilla]

I see you're location is Frozen Tundra in MN. Are you a packers in MN??? :-) I am a packer backer here in Cowboys land....

 

I absolutely agree you don't need fancy to be good. :-) We had fantastic jamaican patty from a food truck!!! i just don't like overpaying for mediocre food. The festival bread was good...it reminded me of a bread i had growing up. :-)

Absolutely NOT a Packer fan ;). Former Viking fan :o. At least the Packers manage to get it right while the Vikings just keep saying "Wait 'til next year!" Come to think of it, I think that's what all Minnesota teams say...

 

I loved the Blue Hole and would go again in a heartbeat.

[lifeasme123]

Absolutely NOT a Packer fan ;). Former Viking fan :o. At least the Packers manage to get it right while the Vikings just keep saying "Wait 'til next year!" Come to think of it, I think that's what all Minnesota teams say...

 

I loved the Blue Hole and would go again in a heartbeat.

 

Thanks for the laugh!!!

[hlb76]

First timer to BH or to Jamaica?

 

Honestly, the time from Falmouth to BH went by really fast for our group. We had a fantastic driver and tour guide who kept us well entertained. We learned about the parts of Jamaica we drove by/through (history and folk lore). The taught us slangs. we sang to the music. The driver kept us safe while the tour guide entertained us. The return trip everyone (except me, the tour guide and driver) napped - we were all tired out from the BH.

 

some advice - which others have also posted on other threads:

 

1. wear your bathing suit under you clothes. there isn't a changing place there. they do have bathroom (with a toilet and sink) but no door. :-)

2. bring tips for your blue hole tour guides - they are independent from your transportation operator.

3. if you are getting quotes from tour operators, be sure to ask if the price they quoted you includes the BH admission fee. For us, we paid directly to the Blue Hole when we got there.

4. if you have a Go-Pro like we did, bring it. the BH guides did amazing stunts, etc....we had him hold our go-pro while he did them and we got amazing footages.

5. bring a camera - we had both waterproof and non-waterproof ones. the guides will hold onto your camera and take pictures ofyou as you jump. :-)

6. if you have watershoes, bring them. otherwise you can buy them for $10 at the place. my niece didn't have any water shoes on and she was fine. the guides do a great job at telling you where to put your feet along the rocks. the rocks are wet and can be mossy....that's why you'd need shoes. the mossy feeling didn't both my niece one bit.

7. bring a towel.

 

that's all i can think of at this time. have fun!!!

 

Thanks!!

 

We where just talking about the water shoes. We dont have any so I was going to start looking. Buying them for $10 might be our best bet. I'm not finding them much cheaper on-line. I was wondering though about light weight sneakers or strap on sandals.

 

Will for sure remember the cameras!!

[lifeasme123]

Thanks!!

 

We where just talking about the water shoes. We dont have any so I was going to start looking. Buying them for $10 might be our best bet. I'm not finding them much cheaper on-line. I was wondering though about light weight sneakers or strap on sandals.

 

Will for sure remember the cameras!!

 

The problem with the strap on sandals is that when you jump in and then try to come up, water will get in between the bottom of you feet and the sandals...this may drag you as you come up. you can always wear the sandals and then take them off when you jump. the guides will bring your sandals to you. i cannot stress enough how awesome these guides are!!! like i said, my niece didn't wear any shoes. come to think of it, one of our friends wore her tennis shoes and she didnt have an issue. i dont remember what the brand was.

 

the $10 shoes there are equivalent to something you can get at the dollar store :-)

 

Yep ...check out online.

[nol4am]

We have done the blue hole and loved it. We were quoted the 40.00 per person price also and once there, they asked us for 15.00 more so I would just be prepared but do hope the quote is right. Everyone is different and maybe the Scotchies they stopped at was different but when we stopped there we absolutely loved the pulled pork and chicken. It truly was super. The rice and beans were dry I will agree with that. When I returned home I researched and actually ordered the woods they used to try to make it here in my bbq pit. Sure wasn't as good and cant wait to be there again in March to return to Scotchies.

[cocotea]

I'm not very good at swimming. Do you think it's still worth to go to the blue hole? Or should I bring the life jacket with me?

[Pshkbb]

Hey all,

 

do you guys know how long the drive was from Falmouth to Blue Hole? I know it is farther than Dunn's River Falls (Which we have done and it gets to be a ZOO the later you get there). Also, anyone do Blue Hole AND river tubing? we went tubing after the falls last time and that is the one thing EVERYONE wants to go back and do this trip.

 

I have reached out to a few different tour guides (we used Peat Taylor last time) but know there seem to be A LOT more guides now! YIKES.

 

I want to make sure we find one that has an air conditioned van and one that doesn't take like 30 people at a time. any suggestions?

[lifeasme123]

I'm not very good at swimming. Do you think it's still worth to go to the blue hole? Or should I bring the life jacket with me?

 

I saw people there with life jackets. I was told that Blue Hole provides the jackets. however, you may want to ask the tour operator.

 

BTW - I am not a very good swimmer either. Once I jump in, I swim underwater to get to the edge.

 

Blue Hole is worth it in my opinion...

[lifeasme123]

Hey all,

 

do you guys know how long the drive was from Falmouth to Blue Hole? I know it is farther than Dunn's River Falls (Which we have done and it gets to be a ZOO the later you get there). Also, anyone do Blue Hole AND river tubing? we went tubing after the falls last time and that is the one thing EVERYONE wants to go back and do this trip.

 

I have reached out to a few different tour guides (we used Peat Taylor last time) but know there seem to be A LOT more guides now! YIKES.

 

I want to make sure we find one that has an air conditioned van and one that doesn't take like 30 people at a time. any suggestions?

 

We docked in Falmouth early Dec2014. I hired a private tour operator to take us from Falmouth to BH. It was about 1 hr 20 min each way...give/take some minutes. Because we were late getting off the ship, and I wanted to be back at the port 2 hours before depart time, we weren't able to do another excursion in addtion to the BH. Just ask your tour operator.

 

We were a party of 8 and that was all in the van. We went with Great Vibes Tour company. godfrey950 at gmail dot com. The owner's name is Donavan Reid and he was our driver. He was AWESOME and very affordable!!! Tell him Jenny & Michael refered you - he said he'll give our referral additional discount.

 

Hope that helps....

 

His van was fairly new (2012 or 2013), it had AC and he provided complimentary beverages. We gave him what we wanted to drink and he had a cooler full of it for us. :-)

[familymum]

I emailed Ricardo asking if the $40 per person included transportation and the blue hole entry. He said I was correct. Maybe it's less because we are coming from Ocho Rios. I do need to bring the $40 per person in cash.

We have 5 in our immediate group. I'm thinking another 7 to 8 people will be added to the van by Ricardo.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

I also booked a private tour with Ricardo/Liberty Tours for our upcoming cruise for March break.(We are a group of 17.) The price we agreed on was $40pp and it includes transportation, blue hole and lunch. He told me verbally that every was included in his pricing and confirmed it in his email to me.

[mdrobtx]

We're going with Liberty Tours in Feb and they've quoted us $75pp ???:confused:

But we are traveling from Falmouth. Are the $40 quotes also from Falmouth?

Edited January 12, 2015 by mdrobtx

[NightOne]

We're going with Liberty Tours in Feb and they've quoted us $75pp ???:confused:

But we are traveling from Falmouth. Are the $40 quotes also from Falmouth?

 

I haven't done the Liberty Tour but have read about it here a lot and the price from Falmouth is normally $75-$80. It is about a 1 hour and 20 minute from Falmouth as opposed to a 20 minute ride from Ocho Rios so there is no way they would charge $40 from Falmouth. The $40 price is from Ocho Rios. (in my opinion)

[ShellDil]

We're going with Liberty Tours in Feb and they've quoted us $75pp ???:confused:

But we are traveling from Falmouth. Are the $40 quotes also from Falmouth?

 

We're using Liberty Tours and if I remember they told us it would be $40 from Falmouth, but we asked to also go river tubing and that made the price $80/pp because that also includes the entrance to the tubing. Or something along those lines. The $40 might not be exactly right, but it was definitely not $75 or $80 until we added the tubing.

[familymum]

We're going with Liberty Tours in Feb and they've quoted us $75pp ???:confused:

But we are traveling from Falmouth. Are the $40 quotes also from Falmouth?

In our case we are docking in Ocho Rios, which is close by Blue Hole.

[NightOne]

We're using Liberty Tours and if I remember they told us it would be $40 from Falmouth, but we asked to also go river tubing and that made the price $80/pp because that also includes the entrance to the tubing. Or something along those lines. The $40 might not be exactly right, but it was definitely not $75 or $80 until we added the tubing.

 

I would recommend you double check your price because I cannot see anyone taking someone round trip from Falmouth to the Blue Hole for $40.

Edited January 12, 2015 by NightOne

[IAFF1605]

Anybody ever use liberty tours/blue hole excursion from Montego Bay?? We are on the carnival dream and will be there 2/11/15. Liberty tours says they can/will do it, just curios if anyone has done it from Montego Bay and any suggestions. Thanks!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[hlb76]

We where in Mo Bay last year. Our roll call mate did it thats how I knew about it. She blogs and has a nice report. When ship Happens is the name of her blog. Search her Sunshine review

[BigJon]

On my Courtney Taylor tour back in November, it was $35 per person. And we had to pay our admission to the Blue Hole ($15), and our meal at Scotchie's....jonathan

[SarahD112]

Peat Taylor quoted me $50 pp from Falmouth just to blue hole and back. For four of us.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[tncap]

Anybody ever use liberty tours/blue hole excursion from Montego Bay?? We are on the carnival dream and will be there 2/11/15. Liberty tours says they can/will do it, just curios if anyone has done it from Montego Bay and any suggestions. Thanks!

 

Yes, we had a group of 20-30 on the Dream that did this in September. Went to the Blue Hole, then back to MoBay for lunch at Scotchie's and a brief shopping trip. Took the entire day obviously but was well worth it.

[mdrobtx]

I haven't done the Liberty Tour but have read about it here a lot and the price from Falmouth is normally $75-$80. It is about a 1 hour and 20 minute from Falmouth as opposed to a 20 minute ride from Ocho Rios so there is no way they would charge $40 from Falmouth. The $40 price is from Ocho Rios. (in my opinion)

 

I agree.

Our of $75 quote includes transportation, entrance to BH and lunch at Scotches.

[jaxstiles]

Anybody ever use liberty tours/blue hole excursion from Montego Bay?? We are on the carnival dream and will be there 2/11/15. Liberty tours says they can/will do it, just curios if anyone has done it from Montego Bay and any suggestions. Thanks!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We did the tour from Montego Bay and it was a great experience. Got to see beautiful scenery along the way to The Blue Hole. The drive was about an hour and forty minutes but the time went fast as we were engaged with Ricardo and all his interesting facts of Jamaica. We had a great time at the Blue Hole. Highly recommend you give Liberty Tours a call!

[QTPieRye]

We just returned from our Caribbean cruise and the kids have not stopped talking about our trip to the Blue Hole! As the planner of our excursion, I cannot say enough good things about working with Ricardo of Liberty Tours.

 

From the first time I emailed liberty regarding this tour to the time we said goodbye after the excursion Ricardo offered A+++ quality service.

 

Although we were only in port for 1 day, Ricardo made sure we maximized our time! We had so much fun and learned so much about the history and culture of Jamaica. Ricardo greeted us at the port in an air conditioned van with cold beverages including rum punch.

 

Our first stop was Discovery Bay, where Columbus first landed where we got a breathtaking view and took pictures. We then continued our journey through the various parishes of Jamaica where Ricardo narrated the entire time. Words and computer images cannot describe the beauty of the Blue Hole, until you see it in person! Ricardo arranged for guides to take us up the falls, where we stopped for pictures under the running falls, jumped off cliffs, swung from a rope, and went into a cave! An absolutely amazing adventure that everyone should experience.

 

After the Blue Hole, we stopped at Scotchies where Ricardo arranged for us to have lunch. At his recommendation, we tried carribean jerk chicken and pork, as well as festival. OMG... was it delicious. Our journey then continued to a local street bakery where the locals make sweet potato pie baked in car rims under charcoal! I cannot even describe how wonderful this pie tasted! We then drove to Bengal Beach where the kids went for a swim, saw some crabs and got to talk to more locals.

 

Overall, this was the highlight of our 2015 cruise! The next time we return to Jamaica, we will definitely contact Ricardo as he has been by far the BEST, guide we've ever used in our travels.

[QTPieRye]

We did the tour from Montego Bay and it was a great experience. Got to see beautiful scenery along the way to The Blue Hole. The drive was about an hour and forty minutes but the time went fast as we were engaged with Ricardo and all his interesting facts of Jamaica. We had a great time at the Blue Hole. Highly recommend you give Liberty Tours a call!

 

Our tour was from Falmouth and was $55.00 per person...... we paid for our own lunch (light tasting) at Scotchies and got bottled water. I believe it came to around $30.00 for a whole chicken, 1lb of pork. 8 festivals and 8 bottles of water.

[mdrobtx]

Our tour was from Falmouth and was $55.00 per person...... we paid for our own lunch (light tasting) at Scotchies and got bottled water. I believe it came to around $30.00 for a whole chicken, 1lb of pork. 8 festivals and 8 bottles of water.

 

Thanks for the information and review.

Michael.