White Water Rafting excursion

[snorkelman]

I am bumping this thread again, because in October 2012 my wife and I will again be in Jamaica and are considering doing this rafting again.

 

I started this thread and enjoyed my experience a few years ago, but it was poorly run, and after reading the subsequent posts recall that there was also a mix up with the locals not having proof of the deposit being made. At the time I assumed it was because of teh recent hurricane that damaged things.

 

Anyway, has anyone taken this rafting trip in the last year? I'd like to read any recent experiences.

[Elliot R]

I'm a whitewater fan, having done 17 trips, on 4 different rivers. I'm real happy to have found this thread, as I'll be in Falmouth in the HAL NA in early January.

 

If you like, I'll do a bit of chatting with whitewater friends to find out what I can about the Bueno. Meanwhile, if anyone knows if there are excursion operators from Falmouth doing this trip, please post the info.

 

Much thanks.

[tlc1980]

Hi. I just went on this excursion and it was enjoyable. This was the first time we ever went whitewater rafting. I think the water level was too low. The guide had to work to get us through most of the rapids. We got stuck a lot. He said June, July, and August is the rainy season, so the water level would be higher then.

 

We were a bit worried when we arrived at the port. We were on the Carnival Magic and docked in Montego Bay. They didn't have a booth and we couldn't find a representative. The information booth employee called Jackie and we met her where the buses were. She didn't have a nametag or anything. She put us in an older personal car with a driver. We drove probably 30 minutes through the backwoods. The roads were horrible. When we got there, I gave an employee money for the trip and he said he'd give me the change after we were done. We left our belongings in the personal car. I didn't feel safe keeping my stuff in there, but nothing was missing when we got back.

 

Another employee outfitted us with lifejackets and helmets. He was smoking weed right before we got there. I could smell it on his breath. The equipment had seen better days. My lifejacket was missing a buckle and the raft was literally falling apart. They stitched it together. I could see the water through holes on the bottom on the raft. When the guide was getting us unstuck from rocks, the safety line was pulled loose from the boat. Our guide was nice though.

 

When we were finished, they had a little table setup with jewelry and 2 bags of weed. Nice! When we were driving back to the port, 3 guys were walking on the side of the road with machetes. It was a bit scary until we passed them. Overall, the trip was okay. The water level was too low, I think. They aren't the most professional excursion company either. I probably wouldn't go through them again. They were a little too sketchy for me.

[dennismc]

How was the weed? :)

[supermom123]

I was looking at the white water rafting tour or the river boarding adventure through jaital dot com. Both are on the Rio Bueno. Has anyone used this company? We port in Montego Bay. Does anyone know how long the ride is to the Rio Bueno from Montego Bay?

[tlc1980]

Haha. :)

 

I think it took us 30 minutes to go from Montego Bay to the start of the excursion.

[smeetac]

I took this as my excursion when I sailed January 2009. The water was sooooo low. We had to keep scootching over the rocks because it was so low. The driver we had was friendly and good. It was definitely an experience that I can say that I did, but I probably wouldn't do it again just based on not enough water. I like adventure and rapids, but this water wasn't high enough at all. I do definitely agree though that if there was water, I would want the guides to be fully experienced which doesn't sound like what happened for Houstoncruiser.

[amersnerd]

Hey everyone,

Any recent updates on water levels for the white water rafting tours for Summer/Fall 2012? Thanks to everyone for the great reviews of the tours, although many of the reviews are dated & I'm sure there have been changes over the years.

 

Any updates are much appreciated! Looking to book end of September 2012 with my mom in her 50s.

[snorkelman]

^^ Any feedback yet? I will be on a cruise the first week in October and am still considering this, but the description above sounds pretty much like what I experienced a couple years ago with a pooly run operation. It really is sad because if they got their act together they coul dmake a ton of money if the cruise ships used them. I guess this is why the cruise ships don't offer an exursion through Caliche.

 

I am pondering my options. Is Caliche the only real choice for white water rafting? I will be in the port of Falmouth, if that matters, as last time I did this, we were in Ocho Rios.

[snorkelman]

Given the poor reviews for Caliche and my past experience of their operation being run poorly, I have decided to use a different outfit for white water rafting when I am in Falmouth in 2 weeks.

 

I will be using this outfit. Anyone have any feedback on them?

 

http://www.jamaica-tour.com/falmouth-trelawny-tours-excursions.htm

[amersnerd]

Okay-my boat is still at port in Jamaica-we JUST got back from our tour and it was ***AMAZING*** This was probably the most fun tour I've ever taken on a cruise.

 

 

We were met by Jacqueline (Jackie), the manager for Caliche, at the cruise terminal. She arranged our transportation & rode with us to the drop in site. Driver was a JTS tour rep separate from Caliche (more on them later, see the end).

 

 

When we arrived, we met O'Neil our tour guide. He suited us up in life vests & helmets. The equipment was a little worn, but it was fully functional. All belts locked, all floatation was in tact. The boat was a little beat up, but you're RAFTING (I remember a bad review about the equipment on TripAdvisor). It was acceptable, not brand new. We did pump air into it a few times while in the quiet water but it did not detract from the tour.

 

 

The guide went over our safety requirements, made sure we understood what was required of us & we hit the water. It had recently rained, so the rapids were up a bit and the water was muddy (usually crystal clear). The rapids were fast, but not insane. I fell out of the boat once due to perfect timing of a rock hitting one side of the boat & a rapid knocking me out, but he quickly recovered me and I did not feel unsafe for a moment. YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO SWIM TO DO THIS TOUR SAFELY.

 

 

O'Neil said the course was about 10 miles, not sure it was quite that far but was a very long excursion-you definitely get your money's worth! We stopped at the halfway point to jump off the "cliff" about 25 feet up? It looks much scarier from the top than the bottom. We spent about a half hour there having fun & our guide didn't mind a bit. He was fun throughout the trip, made it like a fun party for us.

 

 

At the end, we pulled the raft up & there was one small table of goods where you could purchase a souvenir-the guy was not pushy at all (I think he was actually a part of Caliche, too). The tour was very worth the money we spent & we would definitely book with Caliche again. My mom can't stop smiling & she says this is also the best tour she's taken!

 

 

Our conditions:

-Water: higher than normal with recent rains

-Water temperature: not as cold as we were expecting, 78-80 F

-Weather: sunny

-Rapids: closer to class IV, but nothing that a first timer couldn't do as long as you follow the safety guidelines

 

I will post some pics shortly.

 

Personal side note: bring a waterproof container with you to carry your valuables. My mom had $40.00 possibly stolen from her purse by the taxi driver. We cannot confirm he took it, but it was missing when we returned from our rafting adventure.

[snorkelman]

Personal side note: bring a waterproof container with you to carry your valuables. My mom had $40.00 possibly stolen from her purse by the taxi driver. We cannot confirm he took it, but it was missing when we returned from our rafting adventure.

 

A side note? That is a pretty darn big deal. You called this person a taxi driver, but didn't Caliche provide the transportation for you? When I went a couple years ago, Caliche met us at the pier, drove us to the boats and drove us back to the pier. I would not refer to that arrangement as a taxi driver. Perhaps you had some different arrangement with transportation. This detail certainly is an issue if that driver is connected in any way to Caliche.

 

Question, did you tip the raft guide? If so, how much?

[amersnerd]

We notified Shore Adventures (we paid through them for the Caliche tour) about the theft & they responded with notification & that they would also notify Caliche. We gave them the driver's name. Most people would say, "Well you WERE in Jamaica-why would you leave valuables?" which I mostly agree. I feel responsible for leaving the items there-it was stupid.

 

Yes, we tipped the raft guide. He was great to us, gave him $20 but probably should have given more. He deserved it.

[Payd]

We just returned from our fabulous Magic Christmas cruise that included a stop in Montego Bay.

 

We also went with the Caliche WhiteWater rafting excursion.

 

I would NOT recommend this excursion!!!

 

We entered the cruise terminal in Montego Bay and proceeded directly to the information stand as instructed via e-mail - when we confirmed with Caliche (including an e-mail sent that morning). The information stand knew nothing and sent us outside to another info area. They also knew nothing. A very kind taxi dispatcher offered to help us.

 

It took two phone calls and one argument between Caliche and the dispatcher. Three times the dispatcher said "this great family is waiting for you - who is going to help them?" He said it once and each other time he was more aggravated.

 

Finally the dispatcher was given the name and number of our driver - who wasn't quite at the terminal yet (he was late). He stayed with us until our driver arrived. We tipped him, but as the day went on, we wished we had given him more.

 

We finally headed to the rafting site...rough roads as expected, with a wonderful driver who gave some commentary along the way, and another family of 4. We arrived at the rafting start site about 45 minutes later. When the door of the taxi van opened the waft of marijuana was unbelievable - and we were outside:eek:

 

They continued smoking and said we had to wait for the waivers to arrive. 40 minutes the other people (no waivers) arrived from the Conquest.

 

We did a safety briefing and off to the rafts.

 

Suffice to say in December this was a float trip along with a fair bit of dragging through the rocks. We asked at confirmation what to expect, and the trip we got was far from it.

 

Incredibly dissapointed with so many aspects of the excursion.

 

Please consider another activity for the day.

 

Check my history - I don't "slag" tour operators. This should NOT NOT NOT be on your list of excursions!!!!!!!!

 

All the best to all of you in 2013!:)

 

Payd