Tour with Marva Shaw

[WeatherGeek]

We were in Ocho Rios this past friday on the Carnival Victory and had previously booked a private excursion with Marva Shaw. We were slated to go river tubing on the White River, to go for a walk in Coyaba Gardens and to eat some jerk chicken at a place Marva picked out for us - we trusted her judgement since she obviously knew more about jerk chicken than we did. We didn't want to make an entire day out of the excursion, as we wanted to make sure we had time to relax at Margaritaville for a couple of hours before we got back on the ship.

 

Marva met us right at the end of the pier and was very easy to find as she had a large sign with her name on it. She got her van and we went off to look at the falls at Dunns River. We didn't want to do the Dunns River excursion, which turned out perfectly since we would have been too tired to do it (we really wore ourselves out in Grand Cayman the day before). We were so tired in fact, that we decided to cancel the Coyaba Gardens part of the tour because we didn't feel like hiking around and opted for a little island tour instead. Marva was very accomodating to our wishes.

 

After we looked at the falls, she took us to the river tubing place. It seemed like a very short ride down the river relative to what we paid ($20/pp...not to Marva, but to the people at the river tubing place), but it was nice and relaxing. There is a place almost at the end where you take a "break," which is pretty much a push to buy a picture that they take of you. The prices were semi-reasonable ($7 for a 4x6....I guess the markup could have been a lot worse), but we passed on them. We got back into the river and I thought the break would have been the halfway point, but it was only about another 5 minutes (we'd been on for about 15-20 minutes before that) and then we were at the end. Marva met us here at the dropoff point.

I should also mention, our guide that took us down the river, Michael, was very friendly and eager to fill us in on the nature of the area. He also thoroughly answered all questions we had.

 

We left the tubing area and went to a shopping center, where we bought various souvenirs. We braved the craft market across the street long enough for DH to get ripped off purchasing a steel drum (he hasn't quite learned the art of bartering yet :D) before we had to get away from the pushy vendors and went back into the safe haven of the touristy shopping center.

 

After this, we took a tour through some of the places where the wealthy lived around Ocho Rios.....some of those houses were amazing and we were up in the mountains just a little bit, so we got some great views of the bays around Ocho Rios. It was very pretty. On the way back to Ocho Rios, Marva stopped at a place on the side of the road where a man was selling wood carvings. The carvings were really neat and artistic, but DH and I aren't really into collecting those kinds of things, so we passed on it. The gentleman selling them was not pushy at all and was very friendly. After we left there, we went to a restaurant called The Ranch and ate jerk chicken and jerk pork. It was fantastic! It was my and DH's first time eating jerk chicken/pork and we're hooked.

 

We then headed back to the port. We wanted to drop our things off at the ship and walk down to Margaritaville. Marva offered to also take us to Margaritaville, but we wanted to go back to the ship first and we were fine with walking to Margaritaville. So we called it a day early, around 1pm, and after a picture with Marva showing 2 very satisfied customers, we parted ways.

I have not said much about Marva up to this point, so let me take this opportunity to say a few kind words. She truly made Jamaica the highlight port of our cruise. She was very personable and filled us in on the nature or history everything as we were passing by. Her knowledge in answering our questions was excellent. Her prices for transportation are very reasonable when you consider that you are getting a private tour with just the two of you (or however many are in your party). We were worn out from Grand Cayman the day before, but Marva really helped liven things up a little.

I highly recommend her to anyone passing through the Ocho Rios area. You can find her at knowjamaica.com.

[consmarci]

Thumbs up for Marva Shaw and her tours. You are guaranteed a great day!

So glad that you had fun! She is a super nice lady!

[familyplanner]

Thanks for the great reviews. We have a large group of 18 using her in a couple of weeks.:p Everyone keeps saying van and I am getting a little nervous since she told me she had a bus:rolleyes: