Dunns River Falls or Blue Hole

[crpbmp2011]

This is our first time to stop at this port. We will be at Falmouth and we are trying to decide which one would be better to go to or if it is possible to go to both in one day?

What is the best way of getting to either one?

[digitalknoll]

I did the Irie Blue hole with a group of 7 last October. I found out about it on CC. I had heard about Dunns and planned to go there until i did some YouTube research. I was instantly turned off. Just watching the hoards of people walking single file, hand in hand up the falls was all i needed to see. Not to mention the fact that you are brought by a guide that has tons of canned sayings that he has everyone in the group repeat over and over again. no thanks. Check youtube for me it was a no brainer. Dunns is a tourist trap and the Hole is the opposite. It's gonna be about an hour and 30 drive from Falmouth but sooo worth it. I think we saw 8 people there besides our group.

 

DK

[#1TravelMom]

Either is lots of fun. I think for a first-time visitor - Dunns River Falls is the must see place. It is sooo fun and amazing if you see it the right way. We have done it 3 times - once with a cruise excursion, once with a non-ship group tour and once with Noel Steve Smith(noelsmith66@yahoo.com). The ship tour was horrible. I wouldn't care if this was free, we wouldn't do it again. It is nothing but wall-to-wall people being herded up the falls with no time to even stop and enjoy the beauty.

 

The second trip was not a lot better. Though we went in a van, we were joined by 8 other people - even though we thought we had reserved a "private" tour with a very popular guide on CC. At the falls, we were handed off to a guided who rushed us up the falls, stopping for just a few photos. It was also extremely crowded. Beware of some of the popular tour guides. You will be grouped with other families and will have an itinerary to follow for the day.

 

A few months ago, we visited Falmouth with family members who had never been there. They were dead set on doing the falls - no talking them out of it. We reserved Steve Smith for the day. First he took us to the river tubing sight. We just loved the relaxing float with just a few rapids - enough to keep it interesting. We stopped along the way for photos. Then we headed to the falls. We arrived literally just as all the mega buses were leaving. We decided we were not going to climb with a guide. This was an awesome decision. The 6 of us climbed at our leisure - often the kids would slide down and climb up a different route. We stopped for tons of photos and hung out an played under some of the falls and in the deeper pools. I can't tell you how much fun we had. There were maybe 10 people around when we were on the falls. It was a PERFECT day. This is definitely the way to see Dunn's Falls!

Edited May 1, 2014 by #1TravelMom
Having issues trying to post photo

[#1TravelMom]

See - no crowds. A GREAT day at the Falls is definitely possible!

 

 

 

 

[#1TravelMom]

 

 

These photos were taken between 2:15pm and 3:30pm. We stop:ped at Scotchies for yummy jerk chicken and ribs and got back to port at 5:20pm.

[crpbmp2011]

Thank you so much for the replies!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cruisinsteph]

We did both from Falmouth last month and highly recommend you do both, but be prepared to be on the road quite a bit.

 

I hired a driver for the day with Marvyn's Paradise Tours, they were fantastic.

 

We went to blue hole and dunn's river falls, capped it off with some local jerk chicken and red stripe, and made it back to the boat with an hour to spare. We didn't feel rushed at all throughout the day, and it was a private tour, just the 2 of us.

 

It cost, all in, taxi, door fee's at both spots, food, 220$ US + tips, if your the tipping kind :)

[sundayb]

I agree with the above posters- skip the crowded ship tours to Dunn's Falls and go to Secret Falls with a private company. I have done both with the ship and private, and private wins hands down. :) We used this company:

http://www.libertytoursjamaica.com after reading many reviews on trip advisor and recommendations on CC. We were very pleased with our tour , the scenery and beauty of Secret Falls. We saw no more than 25 people there. No waiting, just enjoyed exploring the hidden caves, waterfalls, turquoise water, rope swing and hiking. There is also a youtubevideo on Libertytoursjamaica's website.