Ocho Rios Excursions?

[snoopy124]

What should we do in Ocho Rios besides Dunn's Falls?

Any other tours through princess that anyone suggests?

Please help!

[edste]

We went tubing and had a fabulous time. I hope they still have it.

[King Neptune]

I would recommend the canopy tour (zip line). It was a lot of fun and very scenic thru the rain forest of Jamaica.

[ljandiernp]

Hi, my sister and I did different things on this trip stop. She did the ziplines and thought they were fantastic. I went on the mountain bike tour which was also great fun. They take you to the top of a "mountain" (very high spot with great views as you descend) and then you get bikes and ride (mostly) down. A few uphill spots though and a bit of a challenge (if you don't regularly bike or exercise it will be hard work, but not impossible). You ride through villages, stop at a school to see the kids at work and stop at a "neighborhood grocery." This is great fun to see! They feed you a snack there (we had fish and yams from a grill in a snack-sized portion) and you can have a beer or a soda on the house (try the grape-fruit based soda). I got great pictures of the village homes and of the view down to the bay. You ride through Mt. Zion, which Bob Marley fans will recognize as his birth place. At the end of the ride you are bused back to the starting location and you have time to swim and snorkel, and to purchase lunch if you wish (the jerk chicken is really good). You are given a rum punch drink or a soft drink as you desire, and then you are taken back to the ship. I really enjoyed this excursion! Have fun on your cruise!

 

Laurie

[queenbead]

We did "White River Valley" and thought it was a beautiful look at the island.

[bthorn1108]

Whenever we've been in Ocho Rios, we have always done the Falls, followed by a lunch at Bi Bi Bips (a great restaurant that offers terrace dining, overlooking Mahogany Beach), and then river tubing. It makes for a full, action-packed day. We have always done this through Ionie McBeam. If you look on the ports of call board, I'm sure you will find recommendations on her.

[80spit]

I don't know if Princess offers it, But we did a tour of the Green Grotto Caves

which went right passed the Dunns River Falls, The caves were awesome,

lots of bats, then the tour took us to Dunns for climbing the falls, and we

still had time to shop when we got back.

Cheers

Gerry

[Ethel5]

We have used Peat Taylor (correct spelling) twice in Ocho Rios and he does a great job of keeping the pushy natives away!

[brainfreeze987]

We have done the zip line before, which was amazing, but on this last trip, much more recent, we did the 4 wheel drive tour... It was so much fun! our tour guide was so funny and very knowledagble!! You get to see much of the island you wouldnt see other wise!! Very interesting, informative and all around FUN thing to do... I highly rec. it!!!

[Mary Leslie]

Tubing on the White River...................this is the most fun we have ever had:D

[we2cruze]

whatever you do in ocho rios take a stick with you so you can beat the beggars off you! and don't buy any weed to take back on the ship as the dealers have a deal with the local police to pay them a bounty to turn in all the people they sold to so the police can charge them a big fine to get back on the ship. we saw it happen from afar fortunately, not up close and personal. everyone in jamaica is just trying to make a living anyway they can. yah mon

[CPPADILLA]

Another vote for tubing on the White River. We had a great time.

 

Paula

[Georji]

We have used Peat Taylor (correct spelling) twice in Ocho Rios and he does a great job of keeping the pushy natives away!

 

I second that! Peat Taylor is GREAT!! When we went his son helped him and they were hilarious! A little scary at one point when he said "everyone, look to your left", of course the rebel in me looked to my right and saw the cliff as he was trying to turn around! He's great! I don't know if I could do Jamaica with out Peat!

 

On another side note, do not go off on your own ... my hubby went off on a side street trying to find CHEAPER COFFEE (he'll NEVER live that down), so anyway, a guy grabbed my arm and tried to take me with him. Lucily my husband is a strong guy and had no problem staking his claim. HOWEVER, he'll never live that down, nearly losing me to save 2 dollars on a pound of Jamaican coffee!

[Tropical Fish Biz]

When we were in Ocho Rios, we used Phil and he was great! There were only 6 of us in his van and he caters his tour to what you want to do.

 

He took us on a tour of the area first, including Fern Gully. We did climb the falls, and Phil got us there before the crowds and was waiting for us when we were done. Four of us wanted to river tube and the other two did not, so he took us to the river where we had a private tubing experience at a family run "excursion" and took the other two to a shopping area. Again, he was waiting for us when we left the river. We wanted to shop, so he took us to the local outdoor mall and gave us plenty of time to browse (and buy ;) ) before getting back to the ship.

 

Phil is a wonderful guide who loves his country and is proud to show it off to visitors. Because of Phil, our time in Ocho Rios was full of good memories and no bad experiences.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[vmom]

For those who did the river tubing:

 

Did you sign up for a ship excursion or a private excursion?

 

We did the falls last time and am interested in either the tubing by itself or seeing something else combined with tubing.

[Northshorecruisers]

Peat Taylor is fabulous! We had booked a tour with him to do Dunn's River Falls and quite a few other things. The day we arrived in Ocho, the weather was terrible. We were late docking due to the weather and as we left the ship it was pouring rain. Anyone who had a trip booked through Princess had their day cancelled. When we arrived at the dock, one of Peat's son's was there to greet us with an umbrella. Even though Dunn's had been closed down for the day, Peat took us on a great tour of the island. We had so much fun. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I promised Peat we'll return and do a sunny tour during the good months of Jan - June.

[divamom2]

Please help us:) I had originally wanted to do the Princess tour that goes to the Jamaican Dog Sled Team - I am a bit crazy about dogs and thought it might be fun. DH wasn't thrilled, but agreed because he loves me:) Now I am afraid that we will be missing out on something we should do/see. I have checked out a few other excursions - One that goes to a Walkerswood Jerk country and Dunns, then a few others that go to Dunns. We also want to have time to do a little shopping.

 

If we go to the dogs - will we be missing something that we really should see? Who knows when we will get back to Jamaica..... ALso - for first time cruisers - is it better to stick with Princess excursions? We are just clueless.....

[Swabbie]

We loved both. They were both through Chukka Cove. One was through Carnival, the other through Princess. Full marks for both of the outings. We had a great time both years. I think I have a few photos of each in the links.

[BusterDoggsMom]

What should we do in Ocho Rios besides Dunn's Falls?

Any other tours through princess that anyone suggests?

Please help!

 

I haven't cruised to Ocho Rios but got married there. Dunns river falls is very pretty... if you go, take advantge of the tour guides, you can go up the falls separately with them rather than having to be stuck at the end of the line with everyone else.

 

We also, hired a cab to take us around the area... we saw some plantation homes, the location of where Christopher Columbus arrived, we went to Margaritaville... I highly reccommend just simply hiring a cab to show you the area!

 

Good luck and enjoy!

Jill

[criuisingurl079]

I've been to Ocho Rios a few times, we normally set up a day pass at a local resort, and always have a great day. We've been to the Couples Ocho Rios, and also the The jamaican Grand which is right at the port. We e-mailed them before our trip, and they had a car waiting, and a day pass at the front desk. Always an adventure in Jamaica Mon!

 

When we went to the Couples all their water activities were included in the day pass, and they have a lot going on, we had breakfast overlooking the water, took a glass bottom boat tour, sunbathed on the private island, and grabbed lunch at the beach restaurant, and then did some shopping in the resort area. The staff was wonderful and the beach was amazing!

:cool: