A fun activity in Ocho Rios – climbing Dunn River Falls!

by Tim and Anne Larison

One activity we like to recommend to clients on cruises when visiting Ocho Rios, Jamaica is to take a climb up Dunn River Falls. This is a unique excursion – there’s nothing on a Western Caribbean cruise quite like it.

Most cruise lines will have an excursion you can book to the Falls. We have done both a cruise line excursion and private excursion to the Falls. We liked the private excursion – we got an early start and arrived at the Falls before much of the cruise crowds.

As you can see from the above picture the area around the Falls is very lush and beautiful. Even if you aren’t much of a “water” person you can still enjoy this area to take pictures and watch other brave souls attempt the climb up the Falls!

In our family Anne climbed the Falls, and wrote this about the experience:

I was able to experience the Dunn River Falls on a cruise line excursion. I highly recommend this activity for young and old alike. Unlike when we went to the Falls with our private tour guide, this visit to the Falls with the cruise line excursion was very crowded. This is both a positive and a negative. There were several hundred people, hand in hand, climbing the falls in two very long slow lines. It was good if you wanted to take your time with the experience and not so good if you wanted to get it over in a short amount of time.

The water is cold but not uncomfortable. The climb is challenging but not difficult. There were small children but I did see a few small ones who
were not enjoying it as much as the older kids and adults. Everyone holds
hands and helps those in front of and behind them, so you are never left behind — it is a real community effort. The fun thing is the guides do their best to make it a memorable experience.

Take the time to slide down the mini slide when available (you will go completely underwater for 2 seconds). The guides are also video taping your group the whole time if you would like a souvenir of this awesome experience. They do recommend water shoes, which you can rent. A man near me was wearing crocs, which came off and he had to wait a long time while his shoe was passed back up hand to hand from the bottom of the falls! I recommend water shoes, even sneakers or tennis shoes may be slippery.

Whatever you decide to wear on your feet, don’t miss this exciting experience in Jamaica!