March 2012 - Doctor's Cave review and comments

[CanadaJulie]

Hi all,

 

I know I was scouring the boards when we booked for info on DCB and how to get there ect. Lots of people said "I'll let you know when I get back next week" and then we never heard from them again ! ;)

 

So, I thought I'd throw in my 2cent review of Doctor's Cave Beach, with a family of 5.

 

First thing was transportation: I was worried that we would have problems finding a taxi for 5 - no problems, there are car-type taxis, van-type taxis and bus-type taxis. All were 5$ per person one way. The driver wanted to know what time to pick up each group in our bus but we didn't know when we'd be ready to go so we said we'd just catch a taxi for our return. He was OK with that but gave other groups a meeting time.

 

Price: the price must have increased at DCB because last week (March 7th, 2012), the entry fee was 6$ USD for adults (5$ Jamaican dollars if you happen to have that) and 3$ USD for kids under 10. I was told it was 5$ each so it must have gone up this year (unless you are paying in JAM$)

 

I am not 100% sure about the chairs / umbrella prices but I think they went up as well. We skipped the chairs and went snorkling and later a family was leaving so they gave us their chairs. We passed them on to another family that was there when we were leaving.

 

Beach: the beach is very nice, somewhat crowded. We were not disturbed by any vendors, a few strolled by but a "no thanks" was all they needed to continue on.

 

Snorkling: Good ! I was very surprised ! Obviously, a sandy beach usually equals crappy snorkling but not here ! They have a pier on the far left (another on the right, but we didn't go there) and some cement stuff sunk by the end of the pier that was teaming with fish, coral, sea anemones, feather dusters, all sorts of cool things ! We saw crabs up by the waters edge. Bring some cheerios from the ship (packaged food) to feed the fish.

 

Return transportation: easy peasy ! You walk out of the beach entrance and there are a million JUTA taxis waiting to bring you back - 5$ per person. We again had a bus type but this time it was only the 5 of us.

 

All in all, I was very pleased with the beach and snorkling. We did not buy anything (food, drinks) since we didn't stay too long and had planned to go to Margaritaville then decided to just return to the ship. You should easily walk to Margaritaville. The Pork Pit is a little further down (you pass it on the way in on the right side of the street) and I guess it is safe enough to walk it.

 

Hope that helps the future visitors to Montego Bay and Doctors Cave Beach !

 

Julie

[LA_CA_GAL]

Hi all,

 

First thing was transportation: I was worried that we would have problems finding a taxi for 5 - no problems, there are car-type taxis, van-type taxis and bus-type taxis. All were 5$ per person one way. The driver wanted to know what time to pick up each group in our bus but we didn't know when we'd be ready to go so we said we'd just catch a taxi for our return. He was OK with that but gave other groups a meeting time.

 

Julie

 

Where was your ship docked?

[Ronn452]

Thank you, Julie for the update! We are going in April and your post made it quite simple for us of what to expect price wise and where to enjoy the snorkeling.

 

Captain Ronn

[crazy1here]

Glad to see you enjoyed your stay here :).

 

Yes, the bastards raised the price for doctors cave...grrr.

 

For the person who asked where she docked ....@5$ pp for cab ride, that'd definitely be docked in Mobay.

[CanadaJulie]

Yep ! Docked in Mobay

[IUHoops]

Thank you for your post.....this is exactly what I was looking for. We are going to Mo Bay next week and were planning to go to DCB. I was rethinking after reading some other threads on the board where some posted that they did not feel safe. Based on your post, I feel a little better about it. I don't want DW and DD, DS to feel uncomfortable. Did you feel safe in Jamaica and at DCB in particular? How to you identify a "JUTA" taxi? I have heard that you need to make sure to get a JUTA taxi.

[CanadaJulie]

Juta taxi have a red licence plate and stickers with the year in the window. I'm guessing it's kinda like a permit for the year.

 

Safe at the beach, yes. It was me, my BF and our 3 kids (13,12,9) and I definatley felt safe there. I was offered "Bob Marley" (weed) once which I politely declined.

 

In the gift shops right across the the street from the beach, I felt safe there too. I would have walked to Margaritaville (a block down from the beach).

 

I didn't get a good feeling about the island as a whole - the taxi ride from the pier is far so get drive through the city a bit: the streets are dirty, the monuments are smashed, buildings are run down and graffitied. You drive over a canal at some point littered with garbage, floating in the water. I would not venture far from the tourist areas alone and I would stay with my group. It's too bad - it could be such a pretty place but it's not...

 

Oh, just thought of something. Some guy was in the first taxi bus with us. He was from NCL. No idea where they were docked but his taxi brought him to the wrong ship - to our Carnival ship. They were not docked at the same place as us. He had to pay the first taxi guy, get out then get another taxi back to his ship where ever it was. I don't know why he didn't just make the first taxi bring him back to his ship. So, make sure your taxi is bringing you back to YOUR ship. Maybe ask before getting on the taxi at the pier what exactly this pier is called and make sure you are returned to that.

[IUHoops]

Thanks for the reply. I'll make sure to look for the JUTA plates and stickers and will also make sure we get back to the right pier/ship. While I love his music, I'll be sure to have everyone simply give a "no thank you" if offered any "Bob Marley".

[melc0305]

Thanks for the great info! We will be there next week and this is just the information we needed for a beach day.

[haywardwis]

We were there last week out of Falmouth. We did an excursion that took us to Dr Caves. We were not impressed at all!! It is a nice beach but it was so crowded last week that you couldnt find a spot and there were people everywhere. Our excurion took you snorkeling out off the beach. We saw some fish but nothing exciting. The current was also a challenge.

[Vegas_Grl]

Thanks so much for your review! I love to research the places I'm interested in visiting. We'll be in Montego Bay in September and Doctor's Cave is one of the places I would like to go.

I'm thinking from there we can walk to Pork Pit for lunch and then to MArgaritaville for some cocktails before heading back to the ship.

I plan to use the Hop On - Hop Off for transportation from the ship.

Thanks again for the info!!