Is Ocho Rios safe for young daughters?

[mj-brat]

I have posted this under family cruising but someone advised me to post here. We will be cruising in August on the Rhapsody with our two young daughters 3 and 6 and boy cousin 15 yrs. old. Does anyone know how safe it is for our young children in Ocho Rios? Has anyone ever had any trouble there? I heard it is pretty scarry. Is this true? What excursions do you recommend? Thanks in advance for your responds!!:)

[airbusdrvr]

My advise is to stay with an organized excursion ,either a ship excursion or with a reputable tour guide . No way would I try Dunns River falls or the White River rafting with a 3 yo and highly doubtful with a 6yo . I would get the hair braiding done in Labadee or Cozumel if they want it done. BTW hair braiding can be somewhat painful to young children and have seen several kids cry during braiding .

[TheWog]

We will be going with our 10 yo son in January 08 and he will be doing the falls and river tubing. I would do the tubing with the 6 yo, not sure about the 3 yo. Keep the kids with you and they will be fine. Go with a ship tour or private operator and you will be fine. The falls you could go to and the 3 yo could stay with one of you and climb the stairs while the rest climb the falls. I think the 15 yo would really enjoy this. There is then a water slide at Margaritaville the kids can use to end your day before returning to the ship. Venture out, but be careful and be aware of where the kids are and your surroundings. Have fun!

[janniebabe]

My advise is to stay with an organized excursion ,either a ship excursion or with a reputable tour guide . No way would I try Dunns River falls or the White River rafting with a 3 yo and highly doubtful with a 6yo . I would get the hair braiding done in Labadee or Cozumel if they want it done. BTW hair braiding can be somewhat painful to young children and have seen several kids cry during braiding .

 

Good idea to stay with organized tours, lots of drug traffic in Jamaica according to a family member who just got back from there. Also, have the hair braiding done BEFORE you leave by a trusted hairdresser, less time spent on shore getting this done (can take hours depending on how many braids you get done!) and avoids the chance of crawly things on their combs if you know what I mean. Just remember to use sunscreen on the head - bad place to sunburn!

[drfeelgood]

I may be a little over protective, but in my opinion 8 years of age would be the minimum for Dunns River Falls.

My daughters got their hair braided in Labadee. From personal observations I would not recommend the hair braiders in Ocho Rios. My 6 year old daughter did have a few tears from her eyes during the braiding process because the braider must pull the hair tight while braiding. See thread link below about hair braiding.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=323949

[mj-brat]

Thanks for all the great information. Do you all know if it is better to do the dolphin encounter in Cozumel or Ocho Rios? Do you know if there is special sunscreen for head (dumb question- I know but the top of my head always get sunburned):confused:

[twinkletoes4445]

Stay with a organized group while in Ocho Rios and you will be fine. Our ship docked right next to the Island Village complex (where Margaritaville is located). It's a great place to spend some time. They have a restaurant, pool, slide, and a beach area. There are also shops inside the open-air mall-type area. It's a short walk across the parking lot to your ship. But I've read where some of the ships are docking a little farther away. I'm not sure how far it is, but I wouldn't walk any great distance by myself.

 

As for the dolphin swim, I'd probably do the one in Cozumel (if it's operational) over the one in Ocho. My kids did the dolphin swim (we booked with Sheri ad Cozumel Insider) and they had a wonderful time. Just make sure and take a copy of your CC statement. When we arrived, they said we hadn't paid...and wanted to collect for the four again. I whipped out my statement and showed them, and nothing more was said. An oversight or an attempt to get more money out of us...who knows, but the experience was amazing. And buy the video...it is absolutely amazing (they may even have DVD's by now-they only offered video when we were there). They also took photographs of the kids, and they were a very good quality. I think they wanted $250 or so for all 16 pictures (they took four of each kid), but I bought them all and I think I paid around $150 or $175, but they were very much worth the money.

 

I don't really know anything about the dolphin swim in Ocho. Every now and then you read a thread about someone having done it, but more times you read threads about people looking for people who have the dolphins in Ocho.

[tasbm1]

The 6yo could do the Falls with ALOT of help. My son was that age the first time he climbed it. At times, I pulled from above while my husband pushed from behind. He said his arm hurt by the end of the climb from me pulling on it!:p There are places with a bit of current that may scare a child if you are not holding on very tightly. By 8yo, he still needed some help but was doing quite well on his own. Even adults need help at some points.

 

River rafting would be OK for both. Some tours do set a minimum age requirement. The guides will "stick like glue" to the younger children to make sure that they do not drift off to the side of the river or fall out of the tubes. During the short rapids, some tubes did flip over, but the guides were holding on to the younger kids to make sure that they would be OK. Us older ones were on our own to get back in the tubes. We just made sure that we gave them a little extra tip at the end for taking such good care of our son.

 

As for touring Ocho, take a tour. There are "gated" shopping areas that are very safe that the tours will take you to.

[drfeelgood]

I know when everyone is on vacation you want to do as much as you can ........... BUT in my opinion doing more risky adventures with small children is just not worth the risk/reward. Sure I know folks will come back with "Oh my 5 year old climbed the falls and had a blast". Maybe so. But I can tell you that you do not want to get hurt yourself or especially a child seriously hurt in Jamaica or on many other of the Caribbean islands. A compound fracture can be a life threatening event. Thats why we always get a travel insurance policy with very good medical evacuation coverage, by that I mean at least $100,000, but $500,000 is better. You need enough coverage to charter an air ambulance private jet(s) to get yourself and family back to a major hospital in the U.S. ASAP if you are seriously hurt. And it happens more than you think !

[Nebr.cruiser]

I wouldn't personally have children that young climb the falls. Sure, they may be ok, but injuries happen there every day, some serious. I have personally seen more than one person return to the ship with bad cuts and bruises. Our guide told us it's broken bones happen almost every day. At the best you will have to spend a lot of time helping young kids up the falls.

 

We did the river tubing with kids 3, 4, 5 & 5 and they all had a blast, even the just turned 3-year-old. At Dunn's Falls the kids played at the beach. However, we had the advantage of a large family group, so we (grandparents, who had climbed the falls before) stayed with the little kids while the others climbed.