Jamaica: Other Water Activities

Stating the obvious, Jamaica is not run like Disneyworld. Events do not start on time and lines do not move along like flowing water. Buses do not leave when indicated and there is considerably more waiting around than one might like. This appears to be the Caribbean lifestyle and, fortunately, once you get used to it, you can every bit as much fun as the Orlando mega-destination. This was our experience with the two tours we chose to take during the time we were not diving or eating.

Jamaican tours, like Disney, seemed focused on gift shops and American currency. In Jamaica though, bars are coupled with gift shops as the obvious place to wait for events to begin.

Rafting on the Martha Brae

The Martha Brae River raft trip was delightful. It features a relaxed 3-mile downstream float on a 30-foot bamboo raft built by the raft captain who guides it with his pole. We felt lucky to have Peter as our raft captain, as he was extremely knowledgeable about local flora and was eager to answer our many questions. The 1-hour-and-fifteen-minute trip was informative as it was charming. It was obviously commercial but not in an offensive way. Even when our raft captain wanted to sell us some of his carvings at the end of the trip, we were more than happy to admire his craft.

**Lone raft captain on the Martha Brae Riv**er

The Martha Brae is a 48-mile river that runs into the Caribbean Sea at Montego Bay. The commercial raft trip features a 3-mile stretch of the river in which, we were informed, there are no Crocodiles, nor any snakes (thanks to an influx of mongoose). We learned that coconuts come in 3 colors, and to my way of thinking, bananas grow upside down. There was plenty of bamboo, but the locals disparage any notion that it was all derived from China.

There were the obligatory gift shops before and after the ride, and even some locals were selling along the river. But it was all pretty low key. At least there was no piped in music. The prevailing sounds were from the river and the birds in the trees, which was quite a relief.

Rafting on the Martha Brae: A Gallery

Click on a photo to enlarge it

Climbing Dunn’s River Falls

The tour to Dunn’s River Falls was as surprising as it was fun. It defied our expectations and taught us, once more, to always read the fine print. It followed a similar pattern described in the initial Jamaica post, starting as a near-disaster and ending as a fun time (with some significant caveats).

Our understanding was that we would board a catamaran and sail to the site of a lovely natural falls where we could walk to the top. The photos of the boat and the falls were lovely, and following our relaxed trip rafting on the Martha Brae, this seemed like a restful, but physical way to spend an afternoon.

The truth was that after waiting a while for the bus to leave our hotel, and then a significant delay (an hour-and-a-half) at the dock, we finally boarded a catamaran with a boom, but no sail. But the motor would not be a distraction since, mounted in the bow were two humongous speakers that were turned up to 11, blaring Reggae music while a young lady on an equally loud microphone played DJ, attempting to whip everyone on board into a partying frenzy. And drinks were being served, in case one missed the bar/gift shop at the dock where we had been waiting earlier.

We stationed ourselves in the bow, hoping that if we positioned ourselves between the aft-facing speakers, we would not lose our hearing. Not 10 minutes out of port, the boat stopped and an announcement was made for “mandatory snorkeling”, which must have been in the “small print”. Forced fun has never been our thing, but most of the revelers donned masks, snorkels and life vests and plunged into the sea. It’s not that we are killjoys, but we had been diving among reefs, 60-feet down for the prior 3 days, and just wanted to go to the falls.

When we finally got to the falls, the guides separated us into groups of 25 (there were approximately 100 people on the boat) to start our trek upward. The falls are 180 feet tall, terraced like a natural stairs, with several pools interspersed among the vertical sections. We were told to form a human chain, holding hands, and to follow our guide single-file and to watch where we put our feet.

Climbing the Dunn’s River Falls: A Video

Click on the image to play video clip

Everyone was required to wear water shoes, which gripped the limestone rocks securely, making the climb less perilous than expected. The guide tried to engage all the climbers in some more forced fun, cajoling us to yell “Yah mon!” at every opportunity and mug for the camera. A swcond guide recorded all this on video (to be sold later).

Surprisingly, the further up the falls we climbed the more fun it became. We were the oldest and most covered up couple on the climb, and it seemed to surprise many of our fellow climbers when we joined right in. By the time we reached the summit, we were having a great time… and we were drenched.

The sail back was more tolerable – no mandatory snorkeling – but Jani could still be seen with her fingers in her ears, protecting what was left of her hearing. (Had we been aware of the option of a bus trip to the falls instead, we would have chosen that instead.)

Overall though, A GREAT DAY!

Tour of Dunn’s River Falls: A Gallery

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