Can I just take a cab to Dunn's River Falls?

I am totally new at this cruise thing. We are going in January and wondering if I can just get to places like DRF or the Mexican Ruins by a cab, or is it better to schedule the tours/excursions? I would also like to do Stingray City. I have to book this right? Thanks for any help!

[Donna]

Hi mh,
Yes, you can take a cab to the falls, but for a first time, I'd suggest just going with a ship tour, best to stay in groups in Jamaica, some of the locals can be agressive. As for the ruins, I think they are a bit too far away and the cost of the cab may be expensive, also some tour would be good.

Lots of cruisers use independent tour operators to get to Sting Ray City, there are a few good ones out there, you can e-mail me at donnanye@cruisemates.com and I' can give you a link or two. Just be sure to get to sting ray city, its a great excursion.

[anne]

We took a cab to Dunns River Falls, it was much cheaper than what the cruise line was charging. There is cab area outside of the terminal with safe cabs, we went in a van with 5 other people who wanted to go there also, paid the admission price to the park, rented water shoes (theirs are gross you might want to bring your own) if you are going to hike up the falls, and hiked up, If you are in decent shape you don't need a guide.

Agreed wit Anne. Depends on which pier you'll dock, Dunn's River Fall is only 1 mile from the James Bond pier and 3 miles from the downtown pier. It's much cheaper to take a taxi then the ship tour. The Dunn's River Fall park was nice & clean. You are not limited by the time that the ship tour give you if you go on your own. The park admission is $10. Renting the water shoes is $4, buying new ones are $15 inside the park. There are lockers $5 rental to keep your stuffs. Felt safe in the park.

[audra]

We are going in Jan too, on the Coral Princess. You?

[LisaK]

as the others have said you can easily grab a cab to Dunns River Falls just make sure you use the bonded"safe" cabs- they are tagged and easy to spot. When going to the ruins in Mexico it would be better to take a ships tour as it is a fairly long ride out there and it requires taking a ferry. Book your tour to Sting Ray City/Sandbar on your own, many many great tour operators - Captain Marvin, Captain Bryan, Nativeway Sports just to name a few- these tours are very popular and they fill up fast, book as soon as you can.

I just got back from our cruise, we went to Dunn's River Falls and we were glad that we went with the group. On the way out of the park the locals did nothing less than attack us to buy things and it is better to be in groups. The parking lot part was insane and there were several people offering us illegal substances, again it was best to be with a group. Another perk of having a group was that the tour guide really helped chase off the people giving us all a hard time. Jamacia was just not what i thought it would be. Pretty, yes. Safe, probably not. They need to get a handle on the begging problem. Poverty everywhere.

Yes, I agree with the other Donna about the cab drivers in Jamaica. We saw one that felt like our driver had taken his fare, and our driver pulled a machetti knife on the other driver when we got back to the terminal. Yikes!