Can I walk onto a beach in Ocho Rios

Our port changed from Falmouth to Ocho Rios, YAY! Can you walk to any public/open beach from the ship? The pictures look like you might be able to swim/relax right next to the ship. I don't want to pay $90 per person for a beach break.

TIA!

Yes!

We did this last week using the photos provided in post #5 from the following thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2042855

It cost $3 USD per person to enter the beach. We found it to be clean and relatively quiet. Chair rental was available for $5 per chair but we just used our towels and found a nice tree for partial shade.

The water was very calm so it was easy to get in the water. The bottom after about the first 15 feet was very mushy. I had to swim (or float) before getting to my waist because I didn't like the feel of it.

We were approached about purchasing drinks or getting braids. They were polite and not pushy at all. This was a very different experience from previous Jamaica visits.

The plastic clasp on my bikini top suddenly self destructed and I was not wanting to wear a T-shirt all day. I went and saw the braiding lady and she tied me back together using hair thread and charged me $1 .

After about 4 hours on the beach we left through the center gates and roamed around the streets of Ocho Rios. Nobody tried to sell us anything, no weed, no tours, no trinkets. I was so surprised as we have experienced aggressive vendors in this town before.

Stopped at a bar that had a steel drum player, John Crow's Tavern, and had a Red Stripe each and shared a plate of Jerk Chicken. Good Wifi.

Strolled back to the ship, looking in and out of a few stores.

All in all, a very enjoyable and cheap day. The only negative was the mooshy bottom at the beach.

Hope this helps.:)

Sounds perfect for us, thank you!

Sounds perfect for us, thank you!

Glad to help as I'd had a hard time figuring this out myself.