Blue Hole Ocho Rios. help!

[TakeMeAwayy]

We’ll be visiting the Blue Hole in Ocho Rios in January through Carnival horizon. I messaged a couple tour companies but wasn’t aware you also have to pay an entrance fee on top of the tour price. Now I’m wondering if it would make more sense to skip the company and just take a taxi to blue hole + entrance fee? Has anyone does this? Any insight is helpful thanks!

[72islandcruiser]

Taxi prices may end up being round about the same, most companies offer private transport to the tour and you pay the entry out of pocket. Sorry can't be of much help with this one

 

[TakeMeAwayy]

I can’t find much info about taxis in Ochi online. My concern is I don’t want to be rushed with the tour companies because it seems like all of them add in other stops and lunch that I’m really not interested in. Just looking to chill at the blue hole then maybe stop a beach for a couple hours. Oh and I’d like to check out Kaya Herb House. In reviews people have said they were rushed and only spent an hour there and that threw me off because I’ll be with a large group (8 of us) and we want to take our time there if that makes sense. Thank you I do appreciate you replying back. 

[72islandcruiser]

We weren't rushed with the company we used, this being the reason we skipped the cruise excursions to avoid the rush and the crowd. Unless we booked a tour with lunch stop included we didnt endure the unnecessary stops unless ofcourse we wanted to. With taxis most times you have to end up finding your own way back (what I've heard), which put us off because we would have been concerned about getting a cab in time to get back to the ship. This is the company we used https://globetrotteradventuretours.com, maybe they could be of better help. Good Luck

[kcsavage]

We used Ricardo Riley from libertytoursjamaica.com and didn't have to pay any additional entrance fees.  You might give him a try.  It was one of the best excursions we've been on.

[CurlyQgrL]

While recently traveling met a lovely gentleman whose wife is from Jamaica. We are doing a land trip and wanted to go to the Blue Hole. His advice was to go to the cruise port and hire a driver and agree in advance on a price of $100 for the day and driver will stay with you for the day. We are going in November so will let you know how that goes.

[jiimmy2k]

You can also try the Blue Hole Shuttle offered by coolblueholeochorios dot com. I think their prices are the very best so far...

[lillulu]

On 10/18/2019 at 2:36 PM, CurlyQgrL said:

While recently traveling met a lovely gentleman whose wife is from Jamaica. We are doing a land trip and wanted to go to the Blue Hole. His advice was to go to the cruise port and hire a driver and agree in advance on a price of $100 for the day and driver will stay with you for the day. We are going in November so will let you know how that goes.

Just remember to not pay ahead. You pay the driver once they take you back to the port. Just a warning. Also be forewarned. We have had a cab driver smoke gonja aka pot while we were in the cab. He offered us some,  we were not interested. 

Edited October 22, 2019 by lillulu

[TakeMeAway1001]

OP, I just saw this thread and did a double take, your board name is so similar to mine that it caught my eye.  Anyhow, when is your cruise? I am going on Nov and just decided to book with Liberty Tours based on their excellent reviews, if your cruise is after mine I would be more than happy to come back and let you know how it was. 

[TakeMeAwayy]

44 minutes ago, TakeMeAway1001 said:

OP, I just saw this thread and did a double take, your board name is so similar to mine that it caught my eye.  Anyhow, when is your cruise? I am going on Nov and just decided to book with Liberty Tours based on their excellent reviews, if your cruise is after mine I would be more than happy to come back and let you know how it was. 

How funny!! I guess it must be a popular name haha. I did the same (another thing we have in common) I was going back between them and Marvyns and last week confirmed through email with liberty tours. I’m on the Horizon in January so I would definitely appreciate your feedback for sure. 🙂