You sleep in Montego Bay. The best days happen an hour up the coast.
Which Dunn’s River trip beats the ships to the gate, what an hour on a bamboo raft costs, and whether the Blue Hole is worth the drive from Negril.
What everyone books first
Dunn’s River, a bamboo raft, a lagoon that lights up, and one sunset in Negril.
The four bookings a first Jamaican week is built around. What each one costs, and how far you actually travel to reach it.
01The morning climbBlue Hole, Secret Falls, and Dunn’s River Falls Combo Day-TripSix hundred feet of limestone steps at Dunn’s River, then rope swings and ladders at the Blue Hole. Take the first departure out of Montego Bay.
02The slow hourJamaica Martha Brae Bamboo Rafting with Bus TransportationA thirty-foot bamboo raft punted down the Martha Brae by a captain standing at the bow. An hour of river and nothing else on the schedule.
03After darkLuminous Lagoon Night Tour from Montego BayWarm water in Falmouth harbour that lights up around your arms when you swim. It only works on a dark night, so check the moon first.
04The turn for sunsetNegril Catamaran Cruise Sunset Ricks Cafe Adults Only All HotelsA catamaran along the Negril cliffs that times its turn for sunset at Rick’s Café. Everyone on the west end is aiming at the same hour; this is the version with a deck.
Jamaica’s best days out are all on fresh water.
Falls you climb in a chain, a river you get punted down, a spring under the trees that turns turquoise. Four kinds of river day, what it costs to get on each one, and which coast it leaves from.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Dunn’s River Falls and Blue Hole Private Tour from Ocho Rios
Dunn’s River FallsThe limestone staircase, climbed hand-in-hand behind a guide.
The Blue HoleRope swings, ladders and jumps into a spring above Ocho Rios.
Bamboo raftingAn hour punted down the Martha Brae or the Great River.
River tubingA slow float through a river gorge with a helmet and a guide.
766 days out on this island happen on fresh water. Every waterfall trip →
Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril: three coasts, one island, very different days.
Almost every Jamaican excursion is sold from a resort town and driven somewhere else. Start with where you sleep, then look at how far each day really travels.
Jamaica’s most-booked days out.
Every Jamaican tour we have reviewed →The tours more travellers take than anything else on the island, and what earns each of them the slot.
4
Jamaica Dunn’s River Falls Party Cruise with Snorkeling
from $133
5
Blue Hole, Secret Falls, and Dunn’s River Falls Combo Day-Trip
from $125
6
Rastafari Cultural ATV Community Experience from Negril
from $164
7
Triple Action pack Combo (Blue Hole, Horse back riding and river tubing)
from $141
8
Jamaica Martha Brae Bamboo Rafting with Bus Transportation
from $134
9
Bamboo Rafting and horseback
from $142
10
Private Authentic Down-to-Earth Half Day Tour in Montego Bay
from $55
11
Reggae Catamaran and Snorkeling Open Bar Cruise Montego Bay
from $125
The reef starts a few hundred metres off the north coast.
Which is why a snorkel stop is built into almost every Jamaican boat day. The sunset sailings out of Negril are a different animal: the cliffs, a cliff diver, an open bar and a very loud deck.
What a day out in Jamaica actually costs.
Every day out on the site, grouped by price, per person. Airport runs and lounge passes are left out of this: they are the price of arriving, not the price of the day.
Rafting on the Great River, an entry ticket to the Blue Hole, a shopping run along the Hip Strip, the bar crawl through Negril.
The standards: Dunn’s River and the Blue Hole in one morning, a catamaran with snorkelling, the Luminous Lagoon after dark.
A driver for the whole day, the ATV-and-horseback combos, and the long run west to YS Falls and Appleton.
Three things that only happen in Jamaica.
Beaches and boat trips exist all over the Caribbean. A bay that glows, a waterfall you climb like a staircase, and a thirty-foot raft with a captain standing on the bow do not.
The Luminous Lagoon
Oyster Bay at Falmouth is one of a handful of places on earth where the water lights up when you move through it. Fresh water off the Martha Brae meets warm shallow salt water and feeds a dinoflagellate that glows blue when it is disturbed. Boats go out after nightfall and everyone swims. A bright moon washes the whole effect out, so the date matters more than the operator.
- 1Luminous Lagoon Night Tour from Montego Bay★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 419 reviews
- 2Mesmerizing Luminous Lagoon (Glistening Waters) Night Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 98 reviews
- 3Explore Montego Bay to Luminous LagoonGlistening Water Night Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 78 reviews
Dunn’s River Falls
The falls drop six hundred feet over terraced limestone straight into the sea, and the whole point is that you climb them. Groups go up hand-in-hand behind a guide who knows which ledges hold. It takes about an hour, you will be soaked, and shoes that grip are not optional. The ships dock a few minutes away, so the first departure of the morning is worth the alarm.
- 1Jamaica Dunn’s River Falls Party Cruise with Snorkeling★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 997 reviews
- 2Blue Hole, Secret Falls, and Dunn’s River Falls Combo Day-Trip★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 973 reviews
- 3Blue Hole and Dunn’s River Falls Private Tour from Montego Bay★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 420 reviews
The Bamboo Raft
Two people sit on a bench lashed to thirty feet of bamboo while a captain stands at the bow and poles you downriver for about an hour. Rafting for pleasure started on the Rio Grande in Portland, where Errol Flynn is said to have raced the banana rafts for fun, and the Martha Brae runs the same idea past Trelawny cane country. There is nothing to do on board, which is the attraction.
- 1Jamaica Martha Brae Bamboo Rafting with Bus Transportation★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 559 reviews
- 2Bamboo Rafting and horseback★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 556 reviews
- 3Jamaica Bamboo Rafting Experience with Lime Stone Massage★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 549 reviews
Four Jamaican bookings that will not wait.
Most of this island can be arranged at the hotel desk the night before. These four run on the moon, the cruise schedule and a road that takes three hours in each direction.
- 01Luminous Lagoon Night Tour from Montego BayThe glow only reads on a dark night. Book away from the full moon, not into it.
- 02Montego Bay to Dunn’s River Falls Half-Day TripShips dock at Ocho Rios and Falmouth and the falls fill up by mid-morning. The early departures go first.
- 03YS Falls, Black River Safari, Appleton Rum Tour OR Pelican Bar (Choose Up to 3)Appleton and the Black River are three hours from the north-coast hotels, so this only runs as one long fixed-departure day.
- 04Kingston Blue Mountains Tour with Coffee TastingThe coffee estates are on the Kingston side of the island, and the road up is not one you drive yourself.
Ocho Rios and Falmouth take the cruise calls. Plan around them.
On a call day a few thousand people come ashore at the Falmouth pier or the Ocho Rios pier and head for the same three attractions. None of that is a reason to skip them. It is a reason to take the first departure of the morning, or to spend that particular day west of Montego Bay instead.
By where you are based
Negril to Ocho Rios: nearly everything worth booking is strung along one highway.
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