What to do in Ocho Rios, Jamica

[Pepperabby]

My husband and I just returned from a 7 day Royal Caribbean cruise (Navigator of the Seas) to the Western Caribbean. IT WAS GREAT.

One stop was Ocho Rios, Jamica. There we hired a private tour person (Marva Shaw) to show us Jamica. It was so much better than going on the buses or vans with other tourist. I felt that she charged us a very reasonable price. If you are interested, she can be reached at www.knowjamica.com

We went to Dunns Falls, which was our first stop since it gets so crowded by the tourist. This is where you climb the falls. This is not for the faint of heart. At times, it was pretty scarry since you are climbing falls that are 900 feet tall. They have guides who get you up the falls, and some of the guides are good and some not so good - like ours. There are very pushy venders outside the falls area to sell you their goods. To avoid the them just leave the park in the same way you came in.

Marva also took us rafting down a river. It was very nice, but the guides were a little pushy about buying pictures and goods they had to sell.

Marva also took us around the countryside to see the "real Jamica." It is truly a poor county. We went by an elementary school and saw children at play. F

Finally, Marva took us to a place called Lobster Dave's. It was a place that I had heard about at Portreviews.com It is nothing fancy - a place where you can get real Jamican food. We had lobster. Several of them. It is next to Margaritaville in the local fish market. I would suggest that you negotiate the price of the meal prior to ordering. I felt that Lobster Dave saw only $$ when we came in - don't get me wrong we would go there again but smarter next time.

Pepperabby

[budg63]

I wish we'd had time to go to Lobster Dave's while in Ocho. We've heard the same thing also, it's a great place to get authentic Jamaican seafood but you really have to settle the price with Dave first or he will go for the motherload.

[wildabouttheworld]

Just returned from Ochos Rios last week while on the Star Princess. We hired Mark Morris as a private tour guide. He had a brand new large van and took our party of 13 to Dunns river where he arranged for a guide. He then took us back to the ship where we had lunch and changed then picked us up again and took us to Island Village. Mark is the best. He was accomodating, very knowledgeable about Jamaica, and allowed us to have a wonderful experience in Ochos Rios.