Jamaica Falmouth Excursion considering non DCL

[Joel0917]

so looking for those that have done excursions in Falmouth. I'm looking at either DCL DF and Bobsled or looking at a non DCL tour to Blue Hole with lunch.
Thoughts? Feedback on using non DCL?

 

[mareed]

I've done 3 independently booked excursions from Falmouth. Two with Courtney Taylor tours with one being to Blue Hole, and the other with Jaital tours. The non Blue Hole tours were both to Doctor's Cave Beach. I can highly recommend these 2 vendors and these 2 excursions, depending on the makeup of your group! I hardly ever use cruise line excursions and get a much better price and experience usually, but there are a few specific instances where I will use the cruise line, though Jamaica isn't one of them!

 

[seacruise]

Been to Jamaica enough times to say it's one of those places that I would only do a cruise line excursion with my family. Super aggressive vendors and just never really felt overly safe there. Beautiful island though - highly recommend climbing Dunns River Falls if there aren't too many ships in Ocho and Falmouth that day (gets really crowded).

 

[Club Disney Chandler]

so looking for those that have done excursions in Falmouth. I'm looking at either DCL DF and Bobsled or looking at a non DCL tour to Blue Hole with lunch.
Thoughts? Feedback on using non DCL?

We did the Tranopy Adventure, (bobsleds and zip lining) through DCL and loved it, best cruise excursion ever! I've always booked cruise line excursions only except last week for our Mediterranean cruise we did some independent tours and I will start doing more in the future. The only thing I would be concerned about in Falmouth is most of the excursions have to travel to Ocho Rios which is about an hour away from the port. I would also take a look at reviews on Trip Advisor for anything you're interested in booking, anything reputable should be listed with them. Enjoy your cruise and if you're a coffee drinker be sure to pick up some blue mountain coffee at the port, it's good strong stuff!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Whatever you do just be sure it IS an escorted excursion.

We felt VERY uncomfortable once outside the secure Port area--I would not venture out of there on my own!!

 

[cschaaf]

We hired Errol Bowen and went to the Sun Valley Plantation and Blue Hole. We had a fantastic time! Errol was awesome.

Blue Hole is so much fun. It's a little hectic at first - you get a guide and they rush you to the top of the falls. You kind of felt like you were missing things - but don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to see everything on the route back down. Do the jumps more than once if you want - we wish we would have. Recommended for anyone that loves water and some adventure.

Sun Valley was very interesting. It's a tour of a family run plantation. It started with some fresh juice, then a walk around their 'garden' looking at, and learning about, many tropical plants, trees, and fruits. We tasted a few of them while walking around. It ended with a sampler plate of many of the different fruits and a different fresh juice. Recommended for people wanting to learn a bit about the culture, and more about fruits that you'll probably never have a chance to get again.

Errol kept track of the time for us - the Plantation tour was taking longer than expected and Errol helped push things along so that we'd have time to see Blue Hole.

We had planned on going to lunch after BH, but we were exhausted and changed plans. Errol took it in stride and made the change for us.

Along the drive, we saw many vendors. Errol would waive them off if we wanted. None of them seemed over agressive.

 

[usetr99]

I would stick with the cruise excursions. The bobsleds are a lot of fun.

 

[ukintheus]

We did the Blue Hole tour with Courtney Taylor last year and it was the highlight of our trip. Several other people on the DIS had used them with no problems and we didn't have any either. I did a trip report and you can read the portion on our Blue Hole excursion here. It was a fantastic day, if it's something you think your family would enjoy, I would highly recommend Courtney Taylor Tours.

 

[cschaaf]

We did the Blue Hole tour with Courtney Taylor last year and it was the highlight of our trip. Several other people on the DIS had used them with no problems and we didn't have any either. I did a trip report and you can read the portion on our Blue Hole excursion here. It was a fantastic day, if it's something you think your family would enjoy, I would highly recommend Courtney Taylor Tours.

Just read your BH trip report... my camera battery died in exactly the same spot! I think I have 2 pictures of people (out of 5) in our group under the falls, then it died.

 

[LSUfan4444]

We spent the day at Jewel at Runaway Bay and booked with ResortForaDay.com and we loved it.

 

[ukintheus]

Just read your BH trip report... my camera battery died in exactly the same spot! I think I have 2 pictures of people (out of 5) in our group under the falls, then it died.

How wierd! I'd say it was a jinxed spot, but I know mine is because I forgot to charge it the night before.

Note to OP - make sure you charge your camera battery no matter what you decide to do!

 

[cschaaf]

How wierd! I'd say it was a jinxed spot, but I know mine is because I forgot to charge it the night before.

Note to OP - make sure you charge your camera battery no matter what you decide to do!

LOL agreed. Mine was totally my fault, too. Didn't charge it the night before and took tons of pictures at the plantation before we got to BH.

 

[mom4fun]

We hired Errol Bowen and went to the Sun Valley Plantation and Blue Hole. We had a fantastic time! Errol was awesome.

Blue Hole is so much fun. It's a little hectic at first - you get a guide and they rush you to the top of the falls. You kind of felt like you were missing things - but don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to see everything on the route back down. Do the jumps more than once if you want - we wish we would have. Recommended for anyone that loves water and some adventure.

Sun Valley was very interesting. It's a tour of a family run plantation. It started with some fresh juice, then a walk around their 'garden' looking at, and learning about, many tropical plants, trees, and fruits. We tasted a few of them while walking around. It ended with a sampler plate of many of the different fruits and a different fresh juice. Recommended for people wanting to learn a bit about the culture, and more about fruits that you'll probably never have a chance to get again.

Errol kept track of the time for us - the Plantation tour was taking longer than expected and Errol helped push things along so that we'd have time to see Blue Hole.

We had planned on going to lunch after BH, but we were exhausted and changed plans. Errol took it in stride and made the change for us.

Along the drive, we saw many vendors. Errol would waive them off if we wanted. None of them seemed over agressive.

Is it possible for some in your party to just observe the jumping at blue hole?

 

[mareed]

Is it possible for some in your party to just observe the jumping at blue hole?

Yes! One in our group didn't want to do any of the jumps and the guide was great about taking her along from place to place while also getting the "jumpers" where they needed to be. The guides are wonderful about encouraging you to do things, but not pushy if there's something you want to skip.

 

[Bear3412]

Jamaica is a beautiful country not to be missed.

Please don't make assumption about said country from this thread.
Most here are clueless and have never visited said real country.
If so, they would have never speak of those conclusions.

Jamaica is not dangerous. Tourists are dangerous.

The Local Government has performed wonders restricting panhandling outside the fence.
At Falmouth there is little to none.

Our last 4 visits found no problem outside the port fence. In fact we saw none for the last three years.

You know why? Because the Govt is trying to clean up that aspect. They what no hindrance for the tourists.

Also, aren't most folks aboard a vehicle prior to port perimeter departure anyway?
This is likely fwiw.

The last two visits saw no folks outside the fence. Literally, none , out side the fence.
The local govt has done wonderful job cleaning up the port.

All vehicles for hire inside the fence are vetted and licensed. They are all good.
Any car inside the port fence is a good car.!!!!

These drivers are vetted, licensed, harassed, and manipulated, by the local govt.
IOW they are all goooood. These cars are OK to use. Trust me.

Negotiate with them for a private tour situation. You will never regret it, IMO.

You can negotiate with then. For pricing to destination.

All of them will get you back to port within time for departure.

Please consider Dunn River Falls, Mystic Mountain, Martha Brea River, Blue Hole, Zipline at various locales.

It just will be very depressing if you miss Jamaica. Yaa no mannn !!

Please enjoy Jamaica

JMHO

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well--when we took our tour there were swarms of people outside the fenced in area--and lots of police. As we drove around all we got were cold looks and icy stares from any people we drove past.

Most uncomfortable...

 

[JP350Z]

Royalton White Sands is fantastic. Day pass from jamaicacruiseexcursions.com for $88pp adult and $44pp kid all inclusive. Closest resort to port by far. Get a cab at the taxi stand within the fenced off port for $10pp there, negotiate $5pp on the return trip to ship. HUGE pools the ship lacks, swim up bar, huge waterslides, kids activities, nice beach, non motorized watersports, loungers, towels, shade, jerk chicken hut, buffet, etc...... I just returned today and recommend it 100%.

 

[Kimber1963]

My friends were just on the Fantasy (May 28) sailing. They walked outside the gates for just a few minutes in Falmouth and turned around since they were overwhelmed from the vendors not accepting "no thank you" so I'd say it's not as cleaned up as the one poster suggests.

 

[CTdaizy]

We used Liberty Tours on our last trip, libertytoursjamaica.com and would use them again. We had a private driver, we went horseback riding on the beach and in the water, then to Blue Hole, which was A-Maz-Ing! Our driver stayed with us the entire time, we never felt un-safe. We were taken to a local store to get some goods and even to the post office to mail some postcards. My family would agree that this was the best port excursion we have ever had.. and they all want to go back!

 

[godde8ss]

Also wanting to do something non- DCL in Falmouth, and nt just stay at the port! Only thing is, I don't want to leave the 3 year old on board. Looking into martha brae and blue irie. Any suggestions would be great!