Dunns River and Dolphin Cove Swim

We are headed to Falmouth Jamaica with RC cruise next month and has booked the RC excursion to Dunns River and Dolphin Swim. Has anyone done this excursion? We would love to have impressions and tips. Some of the things I've been reading on CC sounds a little questionable and I want to make sure this is a good experience for our family of 4 (kids are 12 and 14). Thank you!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We did this excursion several years ago and really enjoyed it! It was our first trip to Jamaica and DH wasn't getting off the ship, so I booked this ship's excursion for dd and I. We drove to the falls on an air conditioned bus (drive as abut an hour, but the tour guide entertained us the whole way). We climbed the falls, which was great fun and then drove a short distance to the dolphin swim. There was a walking path with a variety of small animals, that you could do or not do (get your picture taken holding the toucan!) and then we just waited to do the dolphin swim. We also had a delicious lunch and then you were free to browse some shops or hang out on a small beach area.

What have you read that's "questionable"? The only small negative for me was that with the drive, the excursion took most of day. We were one of the last groups to get back on the ship, so there wasn't much time to browse in the port area.

Thanks so much for the reassurance. We have heard that Jamaica is not the safest port and I was a little fearful of driving an hour from the port of that is true. We are booked under a RC excursion so it should be fine. Also was a little concerned about the two stops in one execution...how do they manage that, is there enough time, etc.

Are there lockers at both places? What items did you take with you from the ship? Do you take beach towels? Sorry! We are newbies and have lots of questions. Very excited to hear it was a good experience for you!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

My wife and I did this excursion last year and enjoyed it for the most part.

The dolphin swim was fun, and there was more at the park than we expected. You should definitely bring towels, however they didn't have lockers. We carried our stuff with us until the actual dolphin swim then we just left it in the "staging area". I felt it was pretty safe there.

My one complaint is how disorganized the picture buying process was. We spent a good hour just waiting for our pictures which left us rushed and unable to enjoy other things.

Dunns River was also a blast, again no lockers, but we left our stuff on the bus this time, perfectly safe. It was pretty crowded but an overall great time. The guides were great, and the other people In our group were too.

It was a long drive and our guide did a great job keeping us entertained. There was never a time when I didn't feel safe, you never go into any shadier areas of Jamaica. Even with the long drive and double excursions we still got back to the post with plenty time to browse the port shops.

:D

Yes - bring towels from the ship and water shoes for climbing the falls. We also never felt unsafe, even though it was just my daughter and myself (which was the main reason we chose the ship's tour vs. doing it on our own). Oddly enough when we were leaving the falls, we had to walk through a market and not one vendor even acknowledged us! I was wondering if it was because we were on a tight schedule and maybe they knew our tour guide and she had said to them not to bother us. I found it strange after reading accounts of being harassed to buy things in Jamaica.

We did the falls pretty quickly and the drive to the dolphin swim, from the falls, was short. The dolphin swim itself went quickly but I recall waiting around a bit for everyone in the group to be finished and lunch to be served. That said, there were other things to do at the dolphin swim (other animals to see along a walking trail, a small beach and shops). We did not look at or purchase any pictures, so I can't comment on that.