Bamboo rafting on Martha Brae river - what have we done to ourselves?

[tunafish]

Just came back visiting Falmouth in Jamaica and here are the thought that keeps bugging me since. We love Jamaica, I like nature, love cascading fresh cool water from the mountains. We always do self organized touring for the day and visited blue hole and bamboo rafting during our last trip.
While trip down the river was ok, looking back at the amount of money it cost really puzzled me. It costs $90 for a "raft". We came at the end of the day, so we did not have to wait anywhere, most of the vendors were on the bank was gone so we did not stop along the way. I tried to love every minute of it, but couldn't help thinking it is a true classic tourist rip off. We were on the water 30 minutes top, maybe 40. When I asked my driver why everyone says it is 1:15 he stated usually there is a wait to the raft and people stop to get a drink prior to boarding (apparently it is included, we were pressed with time so we skipped the bar).
We had a 67yo "captain" of the raft that was talking only when talked to and when my daughter was asking question. I know that some guys are chatty, so it is just our luck. What kept bugging me that this trip costs more than a gondola ride in Venice. Beautiful boat that is work of art, you may get a song and you see VENICE canals. Italy is much richer country, people wages are higher, yet the trip is cheaper. You can not think of more touristy rip-off attraction as a gondola ride... yet it is a cheaper ride than a bamboo raft where you sit on a dirty plastic cushion with multiple nails and chicken wire sticking out of your sitting platform while your feet submerged in the water.
Of the note, when I tried to negotiate a taxi for the day in the port, the guy had zero hesitation asking $350 for 9-4 transportation that went down to $250-300 after some haggle. I know they look at us as walking wallets, but there is our fault in it when I see constant posts about people asking who else should they tip? By the way we ended up with a taxi for $130 a day for a trip to Ocho Rios from Falmouth to Blue hole and then rafting on Martha Brae on the way back.
Buck thirty is still a lot of money but factoring it is about 50 miles from Falmouth to Ocho Rios one way I was willing to pay that.
Police office salary in Jamaica about $900-1000 a month for your reference 
 

[MochiiOwl]

Thank you for posting this. I was contemplating whether I should book the excursion to Dunn’s River Falls from Falmouth with the ship or just get a taxi when we get there. It seems like my intuition was right about the possibility of getting price gauged for the taxi. Looks like we’ll be booking with the ship. 

[travmagic]

Very sad to hear this! I have been to Jamaica 15 times, twice by cruise.

I have always wanted to do the Martha Brae rafting trip. You are really making me doubt this excursion.

[jgmpuma]

Our first trip on the Martha was pretty nice. Very relaxing, informative guide, $1 Red Stripes from vendors along the way. The second was much worse. Long lines, dud guide, $3 Red Stripes (no sale), and expensive taxi. There are better and less expensive ways to spend your day.

[Ofmyheart]

Thx for posting. I have been considering this but when you put it in perspective of the Venice gondolas (we have done) maybe I will think of another option.

[Marie51]

When we did the Martha Brae rafting tour the guy pulled over to the side to do a drug deal. I’m sure that’s what happened.

[jiimmy2k]

On 10/10/2022 at 6:04 PM, tunafish said:

Just came back visiting Falmouth in Jamaica and here are the thought that keeps bugging me since. We love Jamaica, I like nature, love cascading fresh cool water from the mountains. We always do self organized touring for the day and visited blue hole and bamboo rafting during our last trip.
While trip down the river was ok, looking back at the amount of money it cost really puzzled me. It costs $90 for a "raft". We came at the end of the day, so we did not have to wait anywhere, most of the vendors were on the bank was gone so we did not stop along the way. I tried to love every minute of it, but couldn't help thinking it is a true classic tourist rip off. We were on the water 30 minutes top, maybe 40. When I asked my driver why everyone says it is 1:15 he stated usually there is a wait to the raft and people stop to get a drink prior to boarding (apparently it is included, we were pressed with time so we skipped the bar).
We had a 67yo "captain" of the raft that was talking only when talked to and when my daughter was asking question. I know that some guys are chatty, so it is just our luck. What kept bugging me that this trip costs more than a gondola ride in Venice. Beautiful boat that is work of art, you may get a song and you see VENICE canals. Italy is much richer country, people wages are higher, yet the trip is cheaper. You can not think of more touristy rip-off attraction as a gondola ride... yet it is a cheaper ride than a bamboo raft where you sit on a dirty plastic cushion with multiple nails and chicken wire sticking out of your sitting platform while your feet submerged in the water.
Of the note, when I tried to negotiate a taxi for the day in the port, the guy had zero hesitation asking $350 for 9-4 transportation that went down to $250-300 after some haggle. I know they look at us as walking wallets, but there is our fault in it when I see constant posts about people asking who else should they tip? By the way we ended up with a taxi for $130 a day for a trip to Ocho Rios from Falmouth to Blue hole and then rafting on Martha Brae on the way back.
Buck thirty is still a lot of money but factoring it is about 50 miles from Falmouth to Ocho Rios one way I was willing to pay that.
Police office salary in Jamaica about $900-1000 a month for your reference 
 

While it’s hard to pencil out a company overheads because we are not employed to that company, there is some factors that is obviously common. Example how many raft trips one captain gets per day which would be  base on the total number of captains employed. The cost to move the rafts up back to the top of the river etc. There is so many factors that only the heads would have knowledge of. 
The costs in jamaica are possibly high base on how often jobs are available. Cost of living possibly high also etc. In summary the best thing to do is not to devalue their jobs and businesses but try to negotiate or find something more affordable.