White River Tubing in Ocho Rios scary/dangerous?

[cruz_luvr1]

I'm going on the Freedom of the Seas on 2/16 Western Caribbean cruise, and we are stopping in Ocho Rios. I already booked a tour with Phil Lafayette after reading a lot of rave reviews. I'm just a little nervous about the river tubing - I want to do it because everyone says how much fun it is, but I am a big chicken when it comes to scary things. Just how fast, rocky, etc. is it?

[redtop101]

My wife and I did the tubing with Phil a couple of years ago. Believe me, my wife is a big chicken when it comes to "adventurous" activities. She absolutely loved this relaxing, cool drift down the river - the best part of the cruise as far as she was concerned. Not dangerous at all - there are guides to steer you away from the river bank if you get to close and the river is not that deep. If you are a little more adventurous try jumping off the cliff bank into the river half way through the tubing. No pressure to do it but great fun anyway.

[TexEm]

We took a river tubing tour with Trevor Hudlin summer 07 while on the Caribbean Princess. There were 20 plus of us ranging from 8 to mid50s or so, and all of us had a great time! It wasn't scary at all--most of the time was spent floating lazily along, but there were some areas with faster currents. The worst part was when one of our group's tube sprang a leak, but he just stood up in the water. Don't know if that's how shallow it is all along, but it didn't look deep. BTW, the tubes had bottoms to them (unlike some river tubing I've done in Texas). Our guides were very protective of us (I think we had 3 or 4 guides that time). There was a place about midway where you get off and drinks are available, as well as the area where you can jump off and have your picture taken--and purchase the picture (along with pictures taken along the way). Go and enjoy your trip!

 

Mary

[divemedic]

We just went on Feb 11th. Piece of cake and that was after a night of rain. No problem....don't miss it.

 

Divemedic:D

[petersonwith3]

We just went on Feb 11th. Piece of cake and that was after a night of rain. No problem....don't miss it.

 

Divemedic:D

 

Which company did you go with?

[divemedic]

Which company did you go with?

 

 

We went with http://www.ochoriostour.com/river-tubing-beach-horseback.htm This is the tour we did. Didn't want to be with large numbers at Dunn's River Falls but we will next time. They were excellent. On time, professional and looked out for you and your gear (ie: passports, purses, etc.). Our guide was Alfonso (read testimonials). Would go back to them definitely. I believe most tour companies all use the same people (always at the river) for the excursions ie: white river tubing. Anyway I would recommend them in a heartbeat for any tour. They guarantee to get you back on time for your ship and they take you for some shopping after. Great deals and I'm sure they must get a kickback of some kind. Also free beer and pop drinks while shopping. Any other questions ...just ask.:D

[Creepella]

What is the temperature of the water like? My inner lizard is very picky.

[divemedic]

What is the temperature of the water like? My inner lizard is very picky.

 

Its cool high 70's low 80's maybe but you really don't notice it. Its a non issue...don't miss it because of this. None of us made any reference to being cold that day.

[jzf]

I am going next week and would like to book a tubing tour.

Who is Phil Lafayette and how do I find him?

[Chell-y-Bell]

I am going next week and would like to book a tubing tour.

Who is Phil Lafayette and how do I find him?

 

You can do a yahoo search for him and his site will pop right up.

 

Marva Shaw is also very good, from what I've heard. I just booked with her yesterday. :)

Same thing for finding her.

Type in their names and up they come.

[cruising grandma]

Peat Taylor also does Ocho Rios tours........to the fern grtto, Dunn River Falls, tubing, shopping, whatever you wish to do....he will even take passengers back to the ship and let the others go river tubing, if some in your group chose not to tube. He also, took us back and allowed time for us to clean up, have lunch and came back to take us shopping. My Mom even went river tubing, and she was in her late early 80's at the time. The guides take very good care of everyone. They were calling Mom "grandma". They used nice airconditioned minibuses, and have a driver and a tour guide.

[Aquarian]

It's a wonderful tour. As one of the posters said, the tube has a bottom in it. The guide assured us that there are NO snakes in Jamaica. They imported mongooses years ago to get rid of the snakes. Also, make sure you wear water shoes. The hardest thing about this is getting out of the innertube at the end of the river, especially if you are over 50. We had a good laugh over this. Go and have fun. You will see all kinds of beautiful flowers and plants and exotic birds. We had the best fun on this excursion. Our tubes had pockets for bottles and we all had a Red Stripe while we floated down the river. Also, it might make you feel better to know that they tie the tubes together in a row of pairs so that you don't float away from the group. Make sure you wear plenty of sunscreen.