Norwegian Getaway Cruise 2016 ~ Day 4: Dunn’s River Falls, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Dunn’s River Falls, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Wed. Feb. 10, 2016

Today was Day 4 of the West Caribbean Cruise. Halfway there already! 😦

Woke up early to have breakfast at 7 a.m. with the others. We decided to have an early breakfast so that we could get to the port early. We had arrived in Jamaica today. Yay!! ^_^

First view of Ocho Rios, Jamaica from the cruise

Looking back at our cruise ship

It was a beautiful sunny 25 degree day today and a slight breeze. So nice! Jamaica is well known for their Dunn’s River Falls, a national treasure, so we decided to go on that excursion.

Juta Tours van. I took this photo to get the licence plate

We waited a while for our other friends to join us so that we could get a bigger group to get a better discount. We almost got scammed by the local tour companies for getting a “supposedly” cheap transport to Dunn’s Falls but it turned out to be for another place called Blue Oak. Admission to Dunn’s Falls is $20 so they wanted to offer us $18 per person to go there, but that wasn’t what our destination was. It was quite sketched. My opinion is that if you plan to take these cab companies as a group, negotiate the prices before you step into the cab and that all agreements are firm first. Some of these guys were real con artists by doing a bait and switch….

Entering the Dunn’s River Falls area!

Taking a photo with our $10 water shoes which turned out to be so good and useful

We got to Dunn’s Rivers Falls in about 10 minutes from the gate and bought our $20 admission fee. We bought $10 water shoes that weren’t just for rental. They were really nice quality too and very comfortable. It was well worth the price!! 🙂 My tip is that if you plan on visiting Dunn’s Falls, buy your own pair of water shoes first so you don’t have to buy it there. (Nevertheless, what a nice souvenir from Jamaica that I can now use in the future in water sports!)

Then, we set off. We walked down the stairs to a designated path and to the non-tour side. Looking back, we were thankful that we didn’t go with a tour because we’d have to spend extra and we would be rushed like chickies on a stick.

Walking towards the Dunn’s River Falls!

We walked down to the Banyan Deck and saw the falls. It was so nice!! 🙂

We stripped down our things and started walking and climbing up the rocks. We were walking against the current. It was actually a lot of fun and challenging at the same time. It was a moderate difficulty level since you didn’t need to be skilled at it to scale the rocks but be cautious and careful of every step you took just in case you slipped.

Just look at these falls!

Wheee!

Looking from one of the higher points at Dunn’s River Falls

Selfie group photos!

Wow, where did all these people come from!? 😛

Crazy in Ocho Rios 😛

Can you spot Ray? LOL

😀

Group photos in front of a nice waterfall!

🙂

We made it up to the Congratulations finish sign. We took tons of photos! Good thing I had a waterproof case for my phone to rest in while I was walking up. :3

Congratulations sign at Dunn's River Falls

Yay! We reached the end of the Dunn’s River Falls!

Afterwards, we decided to walk down and explore and go to the beach since we still had an hour and a half to go before our cab arrived at 12:30 p.m.

Beautiful Jamaica

Banyan Deck

View from the walkdown leading down

We realized that as we got to the bottom of the falls, the climb actually started at the beach. (By the way, a lot of people will give you “free” things or put a necklace on you as a walk past. Those things are actually not free so don’t let them put their products on you to scam you into buying it).

Seeing the beach!

People holding hands as they ascended Dunn’s River Falls

Dunn’s River Falls tourist information

There were lockers available too for your rental

There were so many tour groups and while I was glad that we didn’t have to be in the middle of all the commotion and waiting time, a part of me was curious about climbing the falls from the bottom at the beach all the way to the top. Ah, well. Our journey was still incredibly amazing and so fun!

We took a few pictures at the beach and then we headed back up and exited. The cab was late by 30 minutes and we had to call the driver on the phone twice to see where he was too. Ahh..

The beach at Dunn’s River Falls

The water was so clear!

Calm beach

All the girls!

The boys!

Looking back at the beach. Look at that clear water!

We made it back to the harbour and then went in search of some Jamaican jerk chicken while some of the others headed back to the ship for lunch.

Back at the harbour

You can see two cruise ships in the distance

Very colourful and picturesque

Jamaican symbols

Authentic Jerk Chicken in Jamaica

I appreciated that we were able to find a jerk chicken stand to try this Jamaican dish from, but unfortunately there was another scam when we tried to buy the food. What happened was that when we approached the stand for some chicken, the guy at the nearby coconut stand ran over to serve us. We didn’t know any better so we thought the guy was manning the jerk chicken stand too. Unfortunately, one of our friends told us that the guy was scamming us and that the original owner of the jerk chicken stand had left to go get some more produce.

So instead, we waited for the original jerk chicken stand guy to return so we could have our food and pay the rightful owner. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait too long until the guy showed up and we got to have some authentic jerk chicken.

Jerk Chicken in Jamaica. $5 USD

It cost $5 for the chicken thigh and leg with a slice of sweet bread and sauce. I actually really enjoyed this!! The chicken was nicely grilled and had a slight spiciness to it. I really enjoyed it!! ^_^ So glad that I got to try Jerk chicken in Jamaica 😀