Since we came in to port in Jamaica at Montego Bay, we saw no other way to get anywhere other than the taxi vans located outside the cruise ship terminal. We wanted to go to Dunn's River Falls which was over an hour's drive away. And they drive on the "other side of the road" and the steering wheel is on the "other side" of the car....
So, since we are ones to save money wherever we can and the cruise ship excursions are high priced, we got off in the terminal and looked for a cheaper alternative to getting to Ocho Rios. The cost to go to "town" from the port is about $5 per person but then we would still have had to figure out a way to get to OR. The cost for a driver to take you to OR is $160 for 1-4 persons.
We had a call put in to a rental car place at the airport to get a Jeep which costs $96 for the day. As we were debating what to do, one of the ladies who works in the terminal told us of another couple wanting to go to the falls but wanting to split the price of the driver, who would stay with us all day.
So that is what we decided to do. Our driver was "Joe, and he was ready to go." He talked to us a bit about Jamaica and answered all of our questions (except for our new friend's question of "Where is all the marijuana?"!!-which by the way, my husband was "offered" by a guy on the beach [not a guide] as we got ready to enter the falls.)
We made a stop on the way up to the falls for some meat pies and ginger beer. Both were only ok I thought. The falls is like a state park or something like that here in the states. It costs $20 per person to climb the falls. The guides are great and the climb lasts maybe 30 or more minutes. (I think it's a 600 meter climb.)
You have to wear water type shoes (I wore closed toed sandals and my husband wore the five finger shoes.) You can buy or rent shoes there if you don't have any to get wet (water shoes for sale/plastic shoes for rent.) The guides video tape the entire climb which you can buy at the end ($40.) There were also still photos for sale at $8 each. Also, at the end of the climb you are expected to tip your guide. I was happy to since he had taken so many photos of us throughout the climb (so we didn't need the photos or video for sale!)
After our climb, Joe took us over to see the luge where the Jamaican team trained. It costs $70 per person to ride that so we declined. Joe then took us back to Montego Bay for some jerk chicken, shopping, and through the downtown area to see what it was like.
This trip is worth it if you really want to do it. I am not sure if it is better to go with a prearranged excursion group or to go with a driver-for us, we are happy with our decision to split the price of the driver. Unless you are familiar with this type of driving I don't think renting a car is the best option.
2 comments:
That must have been interesting, although I'm not sure I could handle that traffic!
that picture does not even do justice to the traffic. It was bumper to bumper with people streaming around through every open space! and the driving....wow! a bit nerve wracking!
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