Dunn's River Fall with kids, how safe is it?

[Florida_cruisers]

I saw this posted on the Jamaica board with not too many responses from people with little ones. If you have ever done this tour, how safe do you think it is for a 4 year old boy?

[NanciRDH]

Dunns River falls is a tough climb, sometimes slippery too. When we did it a few years ago the entire group herd hands, and sometimes the person in front had to help pull up the one behind them. We did this on a cruise without the kids, and haven't considered doing this excursion because it was such a workout. Now that the oldest ones are 12 & 17 we might try it, but I wouldn't even consider bringing my 4yo.

[Keith1010]

As Nanci mentioned it can be a challenge. One could easily fall particularly at that age. If you do it it's important that you hold the child at all times. If it was me, and when our children were that age, I would not do it. The worst thing that can happen is for an accident to happen and even worse when you are so far away from home on vacation. There might be some who say it will be fine, but as I said this is something that I would pass on.

 

Keith

[karen_cpa]

Personally, I would not take a 4 year old. Years ago when we were in there a woman took a tumble down the falls. It was pretty bad and a lot of us were shook up over it.

 

I would be surprised if they allowed 4 year olds. I don't think a 4 year old has the dexterity or strength they would need to succesfully climb. Plus, you are now limiting your own movements, if you have to carry the 4 year old up the falls.

[ckekjhaze]

I tend to be on the adventurous side with my kids, but i'd have to say no. on our trip to the falls women ahead of us fell backwards into our group and we all fell and got really scraped up.

 

another story that impacted me (I believe i read somewhere on cruise critic) a woman accompanied her injured boyfriend to the hospital because he gashed his head open at the falls, and the hospital refused to treat without cash. she was only wearing a bathing suit and they expected her to leave him at the hospital and go back to the ship and bring back cash or they wouldn't stitch him.

 

too many things could go wrong and it's too far away from competent medical help

 

jmo

[reallyitsmema]

I agree with the others, it is too challenging for a 4 yr old to make that climb. Some of the steps you have to take are too high for a little 4 yr old. We did this climb last year with my 18 yr old DS and had a great time but some areas were scary to me. Our group stopped to let another group pass us and I was standing in an area of fairly swift water while they passed. I had the hand of the guide and my DS but I still felt like my feet were going to be pulled out from under me.

 

My brother took his family a few years ago and carried his 5 yr old up the whole way. His son is a monkey who started walking at 7 1/2 months old but between the cold water, current and height of steps you have to take, it was just too much. They also had an 8 yr old who found it difficult. They said they wouldn't do it again until they were both much older.

 

We had a great time but I would have been a wreck if I had to worry about a small child. I was enough of a mess worrying about the height so it was nice to have my DS watching out for me for a change.:D

[chipmaster]

I saw this posted on the Jamaica board with not too many responses from people with little ones. If you have ever done this tour, how safe do you think it is for a 4 year old boy?

 

I've done this with my boys when they were 8 and 10 no worries. My daughter at the time was 4, almost 5. If she wasn't sick I would probably have taken her, but every child is different. I agree with the other posters its steep, slippery and packed with people so at times its not really "safe" for people of any age, but that is what makes it fun. No questions its slippery and footing can be dicey. No risk of drowning but cna easily slip and skin yourself or worst. There are multiple places to enter and exit if it gets too hard for your little one. A disclaimer, my daughter is a bit more adventurous and comfortable doing these thrilling things then most. YMMV

[Cuizer2]

I did it with a seven and nine year old. That said, four seems a little young.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[#1TravelMom]

Normally, I agree with the majority - but last year my 3 1/2 year old had a blast climbing the falls. She is part monkey - we think. I would NOT take a young child with a ship tour, but I felt perfectly confident with our guide from Peat Taylor's tour. We arrived well before the ship tour and the utter CHAOS and masses of people. We took our time and played along the way. She still talks about how much fun she had. At no point did I feel the least bit worried. We did not hurry at all and the guide seemed to know every stone by heart. We had a spectacular day. Compare the number of people climbing in my photos to the photos above :eek:! I can't imagine that even being fun.

[slkmbz]

While I loved it - I wouldn't even risk it again for myself.

 

Of course, there had been heavy rains and it was lightly raining that day - but they didn't warn us and I hadn't checked the weather.

[chipmaster]

WOW.. those pictures look no fun at all.. that is way too crowded :eek:

[lowestar]

We climbed the falls in January 2008 with my then 5 (just turned) and 8 year old daughters. We did not go on a ship's tour, so while we were in a group, we did not experience the chaos seen in some of the pics!

 

I would highly recommend water shoes. It is slippery in spots.

 

My eight year old was in her glory on this trip. She is a good swimmer, and has no fear. She was doing it all.

 

My 5 year old is timid in the water, so it wasn't as fun for her. She had a death grip with her hands. We had to carry her in some spots because there was no way her legs were long enough. It can be a bit scary and tough going in spots.

 

I don't regret doing it with her because it was a neat experience, but if I had known what it was really like, I would have opted to have her watch! That said, if your 4 year old likes the water, and is a bit more of a monkey, I'd go for it! My eight year old loved this port because of the climb and the river tubing!! My 5 year old didn't mind the river tubing because she sat in my lap!

 

Have fun!!

[boating girl]

I would not take a four year old. It wasn't crowded when we climbed but I got knocked down twice by guys who slipped. A little one might get really hurt.

[crusinmama06]

Photos like Cuizer 2 posted was the reason we decided against it for my 5 and 9 year old. I heard too many horror stories about adults being injured, I didn't want to risk it for the kids.

 

Travel Moms' look alot less chaotic.

 

So if we were ever to do it, I would go in a private tour. But I would still wait till my kids were older. My youngest (5) has no fear. She has no concept of danger. And would never be cautious enough to do a tour like that because I could see her jumping off those rocks into the pools. ;)

[reallyitsmema]

We actually did do the excursion through RCCL but we knew we needed to go on the first excursion of the day to avoid crowds. We did the excursion that takes a boat directly from the pier to the falls, total time of excursion was 2 - 2 1/2 hrs if I remember correctly. We did not have the crowds that you see in those pictures. yes, there were a bunch of groups on the falls but probably less than half what you see in those pictures. When we were done, there were lots of groups behind us. We were back at the ship around lunch time.

[Florida_cruisers]

ok, I think I decided that since our son cannot swim we are better off skipping this excursion until he gets older.

 

I am having such a hard time deciding on what to do on our Western Caribbean cruise with him since he is still so little. The Mayan ruins might be too far and I heard the Ferry ride back is quite rough, he is too little to do the stingray or dolphin excursions, or the scuba. Ummm.. this is a tough one, aside from the beach I don't know what else to do.

 

I thought that a Caribbean cruise would be easier and more enjoyable than Europe but I think I am wrong. I had no problems picking an excursion in Europe with him.

[Cuizer2]

WOW.. those pictures look no fun at all.. that is way too crowded :eek:

 

Compare the number of people climbing in my photos to the photos above :eek:! I can't imagine that even being fun.

 

Yes, we took a ship tour. Yes it was crowded. Yes, while at the bottom looking up at all of those people I began to wonder what I had gotten us into. But the guide was wonderful and we had a great time. There were two large ships in port that day (in June), the Freedom OTS and the Caribbean Princess.

[chipmaster]

ok, I think I decided that since our son cannot swim we are better off skipping this excursion until he gets older.

 

I am having such a hard time deciding on what to do on our Western Caribbean cruise with him since he is still so little. The Mayan ruins might be too far and I heard the Ferry ride back is quite rough, he is too little to do the stingray or dolphin excursions, or the scuba. Ummm.. this is a tough one, aside from the beach I don't know what else to do.

 

I thought that a Caribbean cruise would be easier and more enjoyable than Europe but I think I am wrong. I had no problems picking an excursion in Europe with him.

 

I think for younger children a day at the beach, playing at the pool can fill their day! When our kids were young we did this many a vacation, and rewarding. From that point of view, Caribbean is perfect as in every port you can find a beach many requiring no tour or other expensive transportation. You could always splurge for a dolphin touch which requires no swimming.

 

European cruise require expenisve airfare and according to our ship comedian its all about climbing rock, buying junk and looking at ruins :D All my kids got a laugh out of it ( 7, 11, 13 at the time ). I would not consider a European tour more age appropriate for a young child versus Caribbean.

 

Good luck planning

[MNmomof4]

I did Dunn' River in January and a private tour with Phil Lafayette(which was awesome) but I dont think I would take a 4 yr old just yet. We arrived before the hoards of people and it want crowded but I dont think I would risk it.

 

My kids are happy with any kind of water so for our january cruise with 5 ports I think we will do mainly beach excursions and stay on the ship one day to play in the pool while its les crowded

[jagwebb]

I know this thread is about climbing the falls but for those that have been - - aren't there stairs you can take up as well?? We will have two 3 year olds with us and we definitely think they are too young to actually climb but were thinking about us mom's taking them up the stairs because their daddy's want to climb. Is this doable?? Recommended?? Or should we find something else?

[reallyitsmema]

Yes, there are stairs to the side of the falls that allow you to see in some areas. There are actually a few places that someone could come off the falls if they weren't able to make the whole climb. You will not be able to see the guys the whole time from the stairs though. If you look at the photos posted in this thread, I can only see the stairs in one photo, the 5th photo that shows people sitting in one of the pools of water.

 

I would check to see if you have to pay to enter the area as an observer. If you have to pay an entry fee, then I don't think it would be worth it.

[jerseygirl79]

DH and I climbed the falls May 08 while vacationing in Ochos Rios. While it was a great experience, I wouldn't do it again. The climb was difficult at points...slippery and some steps very awkward and step. In retrospect I think it's dangerous....if one person ahead of you falls or has a misstep it could be a very long, hard fall down.

 

Also, there were points where I wanted to "get off", but I wasn't near the right location.

 

I wouldn't consider taking children until they were about 12.

[redsoxgrlt]

I wouldn't take a child. I've been, and stuggled myself in a few spots. If you fall, you could accidentally take your child down with you, or you wouldn't be much help to your child if you fell. Someone could fall on your child, etc. While I was on my excursion, I actually had to help a 6 or 7 year old boy a few times because there was a mother with 3 kids and couldn't grab them all when they started to slip. You won't have a very good experience if you are trying to make sure your chid doesn't get hurt the whole time. I spent most of my time looking out for those kids, and they weren't even mine, and I didn't really get to enjoy the experience.

[boating girl]

ok, I think I decided that since our son cannot swim we are better off skipping this excursion until he gets older.

 

I am having such a hard time deciding on what to do on our Western Caribbean cruise with him since he is still so little. The Mayan ruins might be too far and I heard the Ferry ride back is quite rough, he is too little to do the stingray or dolphin excursions, or the scuba. Ummm.. this is a tough one, aside from the beach I don't know what else to do.

 

I thought that a Caribbean cruise would be easier and more enjoyable than Europe but I think I am wrong. I had no problems picking an excursion in Europe with him.

 

There are plenty of things for a child to do in the Caribbean. Not all excursions are going to be appropriate for some ages but that is going to happen regardless of your itinerary. There are usually museums, shopping, aquariums, butterfly world, tours and many other things to choose from. Hope you find fun things to do because the Caribbean is a beautiful place to vacation.

[VeronicaP]

I felt the need to chime in as one of the few people when seem to have actually taken a young child up Dunn's River Falls. We climbed the Falls in August '08 after my DD turned 5 in June.

 

The biggest issue we encountered was the new water shoes that gave my DD blisters. :p If you do go - break in the water shoes first!

 

I found the guides were great and very attentive since we had a young child. Another thing that helped was during a few steep climbs, I would climb first and my DH could lift my DD up to me.

 

It was a great adventure and we are all glad we went.