MattMatts-Momma
311 Miles from the Wilderness Lodge!!
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2006
We were on the May 24th Western sailing on the Fantasy, which I think was the second trip the ship made to Falmouth, Jamaica. I know I read a lot of posts where people said they were just going to stay on the ship in Jamaica because of safety concerns.
We decided to do an excursion with Courtney Taylor Tours to the Blue Hole/Secret Falls. I read a ton of reviews on Tripadvisor on the Blue Hole/Secret Falls and also on Courtney Taylor Tours. All of the reviews were excellent, so I felt comfortable booking an excursion with them.
The port in Falmouth is beautiful and the vendors we encountered were not the least bit aggressive, a simple no thank you was all it took, they didn't hassle you. They have your typical souvenir shops and also a "craft" market that had some interesting items. They also had a little stand that sold Jamaican Beef Patties, they were delicious!
When we arrived we asked someone who worked within the port where we should go meet for a Courtney Taylor excursion. The lady gave us directions to the meeting spot and once there, we were promptly greeted by our tour guide the "legendary" Samantha. She is also the young lady I arranged the tour with online and via email. All of my emails were promptly answered by her. We were grouped with a couple of other families from the Fantasy. This gave us a small discount on the transportation fee to the Falls, which was nice.
She was going to be our guide to the Blue Hole/Secret Falls for the day. The shuttle bus accommodated approximately 22 people and had ice cold A/C. The ride to the Falls was about one hour and twenty minutes. It is just past Dunns River Falls. During the trip there, Samantha did an excellent job providing information and some history of Jamaica. She really did an excellent job with the 9 kids we had in our group. She even sang some Bob Marley songs and had the bus join in with her. We were all very pleased with her as the guide.
The ride to the Falls was very scenic trip through the mountains. Jamaica really is beautiful.
Once at the Falls, we were greeted by our guides there. I don't remember the names of the guys we had. Also, there was a girl who took everyone's camera in the group and took pictures for them as they climbed the Falls or jumped into the Blue Hole. The shuttle bus driver stayed behind in the shuttle and watched everyone's bags. We were one of the first groups to arrive, so we had the place to ourselves. The place was beautiful, a tropical rainforest. There is one restroom there, had a sink and toilet, very basic.
The guides also did a really good job with helping the kids and adults climb the Falls. There were various height jumps you could do into the Blue Hole. The first jump everyone did had to be at least 10 feet down. You don't have to jump if you don't want to. I will say that the water was very chilly to me, but no one else seemed to mind. I think our group spent close to two hours there.
I want to add this piece of important information, the price to go to Blue Hole only covers your admission to the property. The guides that are there to assist you, work only for tips, they do not receive pay. So tip the guides and the girl who takes the pictures for you. The amount is up to you. We also tipped Samantha and the shuttle driver.
After we left they brought us to a place called Scotchies, where we could have gotten lunch. I think this place also has great reviews. We opted not to stop and get something to eat (long story....)
Next, we stopped at a private beach, it was on the way back to the ship, but I am not sure where exactly. The wasn't an admission charge to us, but they did have a bar where you could get a drink and probably some food. It was a nice place and again we weren't bothered by anyone while we were there.
We arrived back to the port with at least two hours to spare and had enough time to browse through the shops, craft market and eat a couple of the Jamaican beef patties.
All in all, we had a great day and a wonderful time and would not hesitate to use Courtney Taylor Tours again. I am going to try and figure out how to post some pictures.
We decided to do an excursion with Courtney Taylor Tours to the Blue Hole/Secret Falls. I read a ton of reviews on Tripadvisor on the Blue Hole/Secret Falls and also on Courtney Taylor Tours. All of the reviews were excellent, so I felt comfortable booking an excursion with them.
The port in Falmouth is beautiful and the vendors we encountered were not the least bit aggressive, a simple no thank you was all it took, they didn't hassle you. They have your typical souvenir shops and also a "craft" market that had some interesting items. They also had a little stand that sold Jamaican Beef Patties, they were delicious!
When we arrived we asked someone who worked within the port where we should go meet for a Courtney Taylor excursion. The lady gave us directions to the meeting spot and once there, we were promptly greeted by our tour guide the "legendary" Samantha. She is also the young lady I arranged the tour with online and via email. All of my emails were promptly answered by her. We were grouped with a couple of other families from the Fantasy. This gave us a small discount on the transportation fee to the Falls, which was nice.
She was going to be our guide to the Blue Hole/Secret Falls for the day. The shuttle bus accommodated approximately 22 people and had ice cold A/C. The ride to the Falls was about one hour and twenty minutes. It is just past Dunns River Falls. During the trip there, Samantha did an excellent job providing information and some history of Jamaica. She really did an excellent job with the 9 kids we had in our group. She even sang some Bob Marley songs and had the bus join in with her. We were all very pleased with her as the guide.
The ride to the Falls was very scenic trip through the mountains. Jamaica really is beautiful.
Once at the Falls, we were greeted by our guides there. I don't remember the names of the guys we had. Also, there was a girl who took everyone's camera in the group and took pictures for them as they climbed the Falls or jumped into the Blue Hole. The shuttle bus driver stayed behind in the shuttle and watched everyone's bags. We were one of the first groups to arrive, so we had the place to ourselves. The place was beautiful, a tropical rainforest. There is one restroom there, had a sink and toilet, very basic.
The guides also did a really good job with helping the kids and adults climb the Falls. There were various height jumps you could do into the Blue Hole. The first jump everyone did had to be at least 10 feet down. You don't have to jump if you don't want to. I will say that the water was very chilly to me, but no one else seemed to mind. I think our group spent close to two hours there.
I want to add this piece of important information, the price to go to Blue Hole only covers your admission to the property. The guides that are there to assist you, work only for tips, they do not receive pay. So tip the guides and the girl who takes the pictures for you. The amount is up to you. We also tipped Samantha and the shuttle driver.
After we left they brought us to a place called Scotchies, where we could have gotten lunch. I think this place also has great reviews. We opted not to stop and get something to eat (long story....)
Next, we stopped at a private beach, it was on the way back to the ship, but I am not sure where exactly. The wasn't an admission charge to us, but they did have a bar where you could get a drink and probably some food. It was a nice place and again we weren't bothered by anyone while we were there.
We arrived back to the port with at least two hours to spare and had enough time to browse through the shops, craft market and eat a couple of the Jamaican beef patties.
All in all, we had a great day and a wonderful time and would not hesitate to use Courtney Taylor Tours again. I am going to try and figure out how to post some pictures.
