We took the Dunns River Cruise on the Cool Jazz catamaran from Beaches Grande Sport, Ocho Rios and enjoyed the Red Stripe Beer, rum punch, fruit punch, and water as we headed out to Dunns River Falls. The cruise included snorkeling, and they provided the gear and basic lessons for those who had never snorkeled before. At $55 per person (including $10 for park admission), it was a bargain and the highlight of our vacation.
Once we docked at Dunns River Falls, the crew hooked us up with a guide -- there were only six of us to be taken up the Falls. We held hands (the guide insisted on boy-girl-boy-girl) to help each other up on difficult climbs but did not feel forced to hold hands if we didn't want to. We also stopped in sections of the Falls for our guide to take pictures of us with our waterproof cameras. It was a long climb (estimate an hour), but our guide sped us past some other lines (almost to the point that we were out of breath). Once we got to the top of the first falls, we had to duck under a bridge and we thought we were done. Little did we know that there was ANOTHER one to climb!
We had been warned that we would get soaked, and we did! Boy, was it refreshing! Be sure to bring your water shoes (you can get them cheap and in your size at Walmart), waterproof camera, and something to put your money in (fanny pack that you won't mind if it gets soaked) so you can tip your guide.
Although Dunns River Falls has become such a heavy tourist attraction (there were MANY people there), I would still HIGHLY recommend doing it.
Our boat trip back was entertaining -- they taught us some reggae dance moves so we would enter our port dancing. Some people also climbed onto the mesh area of the catamaran and got quite soaked after a couple of dips in the waves.
One of the crew members video taped the whole thing (the climb and the boat ride) and was selling copies for $30.
Great excursion and would do it again if given the opportunity.