lowestar Posted December 26, 2007 #1 Share Posted December 26, 2007 Hi, We are on the Coral Princess in late January. One of our stops is Ocho Rios. I was thinking of taking the kids to Dun's River Falls. Has anyone done this with young kids? My kids will be 5 and 8 by the time we go. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts! Tara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abitaturbodog Posted December 27, 2007 #2 Share Posted December 27, 2007 We were there less than a week ago...it was wonderful! My boys 10 and 11 had a great time at the falls. I saw many children around the ages of your youngest.. It was "no problem, mon" for them to climb the falls. One thing I learned here on CC was that Dunns River Falls is a park. Once you pay the admission fee of $15 ($ 12 for kids) you can spend all the time you want at the falls. Most people just take a guided tour up to the top and then hop back into a cab back to the ship, but you can climb the falls over again and play at the beach. We took a cab to the falls and spent a couple hours there, snorkeling and re-climbing the falls on our own. It was a great day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#1TravelMom Posted December 27, 2007 #3 Share Posted December 27, 2007 Our little girl was almost 3 years old a few months ago when we climbed the falls. We swear she is part monkey. She had a great time. We had done it before and felt confident she could do it. We never felt that she was in any danger. We all had a great time. I would definately suggest doing the tour indepedent of the ship. The private drivers arrive much earlier when there are no crowds. It makes a huge difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowestar Posted December 27, 2007 Author #4 Share Posted December 27, 2007 I was planning just to take one of the ship's tours, but maybe I should consider taking a cab and staying longer. How much would a cab cost? Is it per person, or per cab? What is the beach like? Tara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebeccalouise Posted December 27, 2007 #5 Share Posted December 27, 2007 We didn't do the falls. My son was 8 at the time and the taxi driver warned against doing the falls with a child- he said that it was too dangerous. So we went to the Falls and walked down the steps instead and had a nice day there. The beach at the bottom of the falls was disappointing though- don't go specifically for the beach. It was murky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusinmama06 Posted December 27, 2007 #6 Share Posted December 27, 2007 We didn't do the falls. My son was 8 at the time and the taxi driver warned against doing the falls with a child- he said that it was too dangerous. I've heard that too. In certain conditions it is too dangerous for the younger kids. The pools can be deep. And it is very slippery. I decided not to let my kids do it when we were there in April. Mine are 3 and 7 though. I would have allowed it if my youngest was older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#1TravelMom Posted December 27, 2007 #7 Share Posted December 27, 2007 We went with Peat Taylor. He picks you up at the pier and goes directly to the Falls. Because we arrive when it was practically empty, we could take our time. A guide will direct you up the falls. When it is not crowded it is easy to avoid the deep, fast moving water. While climbing the rocks, I don't think we were wet more than a few inches above the ankles. The only time we were in deep water was when we stepped off the rocks and took a photo. I think it may be more dangerous and slippy when you tour with the ship or later in the morning when it is crowded. They have hundreds of people to guide to the top of the falls, so they take any route possible-over slippery rocks, through deep pools, etc. We wore water shoes and none of us slipped at all. We are very protective of our children and if we felt at any point it was dangerous, we would have exited. There are steps to climb out of the falls along the way - if you decide not to proceed. Our 3 year old loved it and still asks to look at her "rock climbing" photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bojncin Posted December 28, 2007 #8 Share Posted December 28, 2007 We climbed the falls a few years ago, DS was 5 at the time. We did it through a private tour. I don't remeber the cost. During the climb the guide did pick him up. Carried him like a football, he loved it. I don't know if it was necessarily that he couldn't but wanted to keep pace. There was a group catching up to us. They know the falls very well and probably lead us up the best places. It was fun, then, now ?.... I never felt he or we were in danger. I would let a five year old climb the falls, based on their ablity, my DS was fearless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abitaturbodog Posted December 29, 2007 #9 Share Posted December 29, 2007 A taxi to the falls cost us $4 per person each way. We had to pre-pay for the return trip and I did worry that the driver would "stiff" us, but he didn't. He was waiting for us right on time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katyjeka Posted December 29, 2007 #10 Share Posted December 29, 2007 We took our 3 girls(oldest was 9) and had a great day. My dh walked the falls with the oldest and I took the youngest 2 to the beach area. The above post is correct, the beach was not the nicest we saw, but our girls loved playing with the little local kids that happened to be there, it is one of their favorite memories. Janice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlestars Posted December 31, 2007 #11 Share Posted December 31, 2007 We did our tour of Jamaica with 2 kids (ages 4 and 7) - booked through Mark Morris. ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! He came in his Air Conditioned Van (complete with seatbelts) and took us to the Falls first off (so we would miss the Cruiseship tours later!). He got us a private guide so we went up with him (again avoiding the 'masses'!) If it was going to be deeper - he would tell us before we got there. Here is a photo so you can see how deep it was for my 7 year old. Both my kids swim though so that is something to bear in mind. If your kids don't swim it could be different for you. Mark directed us in and out so we didn't have to go to the gift shop etc and our entrance price was included in his price for the day... He took us to the White River for tubing next - again - not dangerous - just lots of fun. The kids loved it. My 4 year old sat in a tube with my hubby - my 7 year old was anchored to me and my parents-in-law had a blast too!! He was well-educated and took us on a guided tour of the Island he loves so much, he took us shopping and for some Jamaican Jerk Chicken. A fabulous day and highly recommended :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfrenaye Posted January 1, 2008 #12 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I agree--the falls are fine for an able bodied 5 yr old. There are some deep pools though so be sure to keep an eye out for them. Maybe one adult go ahead? Also there are points in the climb where you can bail out if needed. Bring your own water shoes--the ones they rent there are never a good fit and they are just groady! The beach is nothing there at all, so I suggest you grab a cab back if you came that way. We have taken the catamaran cruise to the falls which is a great party time. Picks you up at the pier and my kids all had a great time on it. Yes there were some adults getting a little bombed at 9am but hey--it's Jamaica Mon! It was a half day deal and still gave time to get into town to shop if you like. Note on the falls, there is a market at the top and the merchants are ruthless. Polite no-thank yous will do, but you will be approached by seemingly every single one. And they know the butons to push--like putting a doll in my daughter's hand just after I said no thanks. Now I have to deal with HER.....and of course I bought the darned thing and probably would have at ANY price! Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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