Mayfield Falls

[Tinkrbell]

We will be in Montego Bay on the Conquest in less than 2 weeks, and I was wondering if anyone has gone to Mayfield falls? If so, how was it and how did you get there? Would you recommend it?

Thanks.

[anitainwa]

We were in Jamaica last week and went to Mayfield Falls. It was a wonderful excursion! I would highly recomment it. The water there is pristine and the series of falls really neat to climb.

[travmagic]

I agree. We have done both Mayfield and Dunnes River. I enjoyed the pace of Mayfield Falls better and there is a little bit more than just the climb at Mayfield Falls. It was a good experience.

[threecats]

Just make sure that they're open. We had booked a private tour and only found out the falls were closed that day when we were at the entrance to it.:mad:

[Tinkrbell]

Can anyone recommend an excursion to get to Mayfield Falls from Montego Bay? How long would you stay there? Is there an admission fee?

Thanks.

[sophie2001]

We will be in Montego Bay on the Conquest on the 22nd. After spending countless hours on the message boards, we decided to book a tour with A-Z Jamaica Planners. The tour is $46 for the entire day (30 minutes after the ship docks and 1 hour between the ship leaves) and we will go to Mayfield Falls, lunch and sightseeing. We could have gone to Docs Cave Beach instead of the sightseeing for the same price, but decided we would rather take our time shopping and seeing the countryside, since we will be doing a lot of snorkeling in Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I'll post my review of our day once we get back. A-Z Planners said they have room on our excusion is anyone else is interested.

[BPWJR]

Just returned last week form cruise on Liberty of the Seas, our stop in MoBay was on 7/31/07. Below are my views on our excursion that day which was suppose to be the Mayfield Falls, Doc Cave's Beach excursion (did not get the last portion in - see below). We used A-Z in the past, why we were willing to go with them again on trip last week.

 

The Falls were great - had an excellent guide at the Falls (we met him there) who helped with my girls (5 & 7) immensely. After doing, would not take a child younger than 7 and that 7 year old needs to be healthy and agile. You are climbing up and over rocks with flowing water. Some of this tough for the 5 year old and falls guide was great helping her, but if younger kids, something to keep in mind.

 

The problem - the driver for A-Z Planners picked a route up & down to the falls over a very damaged road (areas washed out) which slowed the trip down considerably. Additionally, the van used had the back windows covered by photographs of dogs, so those sitting in the back did not have great views of the countryside and hills as we traveled.

 

Therefore, I would not recommend this trip until I hear road fixed or new route to the falls used.

 

Because of road time, the driver did not want to attempt Doc Cave's Beach, but instead so took us to AuquaSol Theme Park and Beach. May be nicer in the morning, but by late afternoon, a teen dance event ongoing that was developing into a combination grind and booty shaking competition. I live in Daytona Beach, know something about Spring Break activities and this event was headed that way, we left. Had to wait about 5 minutes for the driver to show-up (he left to run an errand) after saying he would not leave.

 

Just the logistics left a bad impression on this trip, while the falls and countryside are beautiful.

 

If going to go with A-Z, I would ask Brenda to be specific on details and time line.

[lisabrooke1130]

I said it on the RCI board, but let me say it again here--thanks for the review of the A-Z excursion to Mayfield Falls. I have e-mailed Belinda (not Brenda?) and asked for some assurances/specifics. Otherwise, we will likely cancel. Thanks again!

[lisabrooke1130]

BPWJR:

 

Belinda at A-Z replied with the following:

 

The road to the Falls has always been rural and I do not see this changing any time soon. There is only 1 way to the falls so no change of route can be given, however we have many guests doing this tour each week and although the road is bumpy they put this down to the Jamaican experience. the drive to the falls is approx. 1 hour of which most is on good roads, it is only the last part that is bumpy.

 

She went on to assure us that we'd back in plenty of time to do lunch and Margaritaville (which we had elected over Doc Cave Beach). Thoughts? Was it really just an hour in the van each way? Thanks for your feedback.

[twingirlmomma]

I feel I have to add my two cents here... I took my 5yr old twins on this excursion. Though the falls were wonderful and once we got there we had a fantastic time, I agree with the previous posters on the road conditions. Belinda is NOT correct on the travel time, she needs to travel it again herself. It took us 1.5 hours up mountain roads (and yes, a lot of it was washed out) that were unbearable. The ONLY road that was okay was near the port. Once you turn off the main highway its awful. Both my children and I got car sick by the time we got to the falls and they begged me not to get back in the car once we were finished. Once we got back down the mountain there was not enough time to do anything else, so we missed the rest of the tour. Of course there was no discount given for that. We were also in the van with the dog pictures on the window, and your view is shielded. However, we were grateful for the seat belts.

[lisabrooke1130]

Ok, thank you for the feedback. I have an 8-year old, a 15-year old, and DH who gets inpatient quickly. No way will we all last on a 1.5 hour drive. I will cancel with A-Z. Again, thanks for the feedback and sorry that the excursion wasn't what you hoped for (especially with 5-year old twins!)

[BPWJR]

Sorry to see not the only ones to have the dogs, but thanks for support on the travel time. While we were at falls, other tour groups present, some in more standard size tour vans that I can not believe went up to the falls the way we did. As noted falls itself were great, but travel time is more like 1 & 1/2 hours, if not longer.

[kevrab]

Here's my photos of our trip to Mayfield Falls two years ago. I loved the place, thought it was magical. We had a great time with our guide Sala Kerr who owns Talk of the Town tours. Great guy, proud of his country, very knowledgeable and has new, comfortable vans. Check out pics of the falls----

 

http://family.webshots.com/album/352686455tNgpdf?start=12

[yummykaz]

we had such a great time last year, we will be doing this again in a week. A-Z was great. I have been talking with belinda since January about different excursions and realized we just had such a great time, we are doing it all over again... the road is horrible...and I am TERRIFIED of all forms of transportation. But I was so relaxed/// I realize our driver does this drive daily...he knows it well. In fact he told me how the tall bamboo acts as a natural road barrier. No Problem Mon...I really felt I OVERCAME much of my backseat driving issues. I loved this and Jamaica so much. We went to The Pork Pit after the falls for local flavor. It was awesome.ok I said that enough! I have teens, and I would never do this with little kids. The falls are a bit of a walk.

[Floflegs]

We too used A-Z and as previous posters said the road is poor and takes longer than initially told. However we had a brilliant time with an excellent guide. We were the first group - 4 of us - up the falls that day. On the way back we were held up when 2 huge lorries got stuck together so had to go straight back to the ship. I would do it again though. we had a very clean air conditioned taxi.