What to do in Ocho Rios?

[Pesh]

I'm on the Carnival Breeze in March and our first stop is Ocho Rios. I visited that port about 15 years and did Dunn's River Falls and remember it being a mad house and not something I want to go back to. I prefer to book excursions through Carnival but most of theirs involve the falls. Any recommendations? The Blue Hole looks cool, what do you do there? Is it a climb? Thanks for the help!

[browns3030]

We were just there in November. We spent the day on a private tour with Chris from Chrisjamaicatours. We went to the Blue Hole. You will not find a Carnival excursion that goes to Blue Hole.

 

It is a series of waterfalls that you climb and then jump off of into the water below. There is also a rope swing to swing out over, then into the water. I also hear that there is a "hidden" cave. We never got to see that as we were shirt on time because we ported in Montego Bay and had quite a drive to get back.

 

My boys still talk about Blue Hole and how it was the highlight of our cruise!

 

Chris lives in Ocho, and loves when ships port in Ocho as it gives him more freedom and flexibility (time wise) to plan an awesome day for you.

[Cruze4Ever]

I booked Richard Brooks for a shore excursion for 5-6 hours. He has a car that seats 7 and a bus that seats 14. The more people you have the less you pay. I found people on Cruise Critic Roll Call for my Princess Cruise and posted a message telling everyone about the tour. Within a couple of days I had 14 people signed up!

 

He will take you anywhere you that you want to go! I told Richie that I didn’t want to go to the usual tourist places. Since I love Botanical Gardens I asked him about Turtle River Falls, Botanical Gardens and Bird Aviary. He said he thought it would be a great place to visit and afterwards he would drive around and give us a tour of Ocho Rios.

 

Richie was amazing! He is a laugh a minute type of guy and very entertaining! He took care of us the whole way, had beverages in his van and showed us the best of the island. His love of his country truly shows!

 

Turtle River Falls, Gardens and Bird Aviary are simply stunning. This tropical paradise will take your breath away with its rustic charm and natural setting.

 

We had an excellent tour guide there who pointed out hummingbirds, talked of various trees, including crushing the leaves on a pimento tree (which produce allspice berries!), discussed various flowering plants, fed the koi fish in a brilliant display of a feeding frenzy, and walked us past the lily pond to the aviary.

 

The aviary has dozens of bright colorful birds flying around. The macaws were gorgeous! They are all very friendly and will perch on your shoulder, arm or head! We were given some bird seeds and the birds were literally eat out of your hands!

 

There were 14 cascading waterfalls on the Turtle River, which flow through the property. The falls really cooled us off as we took off our shoes and climbed the large rocks to the cascading falls.

 

Richie drove us around pointing out many places of interest, made some roadside stops, which included a man making/selling fresh dried herbs and gave us a pottery demonstration!

 

I would recommend him to anyone who will be going to Jamaica. He without a doubt made the excursion to Jamaica a memory I will never forget!

 

Tell him that Carol recommended him and he gave us a grand tour in January.

[Cruze4Ever]

I forgot to give Richie's contact information. He will respond quickly.

 

http://www.excursionochorios.net

richiebrooks2@yahoo.com

 

Tell him that Carol recommended him and he gave us a grand tour in January.