SLIPPING & SPRAWLING ALONG THE DUNNS RIVER FALLS
At the risk of sounding like a typical blogger, I do actually strongly urge you to visit Dunn's River Falls if you're heading over to Jamaica or considering booking a holiday in JA any time soon. It's a simple MUST.
We stayed in the Grand Bahia Principe Hotel in Runaway Bay (which you can read about here) and it probably took us about 30-45mins via coach to get there. The staff at our hotel were very helpful in preparing us for the day trip and gave us all of the necessary tips and advice needed to ensure we made the most out of our day.
Some things to note if you are planning on visiting the falls:
Wear suitable shoes. By this I don't mean flip flops or trainers. There are actually specific shoes designed for these kinds of water activities which can be bought either in the UK (or which ever country you live in) or in Jamaica either at your hotel or at the local street markets and shopping malls. These water shoes have special rubber grips and have a non-slip design for use in and out of water.
Bring a packed lunch. Of course, there are places on site grab a quick snack or drink, but the prices slightly dearer and the selection is not that wide. You are better off bringing some sandwhich and nibbles or if you are lucky enough, your hotel reps may provide you with a cheeky lunch box ;)
Wear your swimsuit. What does one wear when climbing a Jamaica waterfall? Nothing baby! LOL, Just kidding, the best clothing to wear when climbing the falls is a swim suit or shorts and a vest top. Something that is light and can get wet. You won't necessarily have to swim in the falls if you don't want to but you will definitely get very, VERY wet. If not soaked! But it's all in good fun :)
Bring an underwater camera. The staff at the falls will film your whole experience but the video will include everyone else who climbed the falls during your time slot which could be up to 30-40 people! You are however, allowed to bring your own camera to take photos, the staff are also happy to take a couple of snaps for you so you don't have to worry about trying to tackle selfies and waterfall climbing at the same time.
Bring a little spare change. Once you arrive at the falls and get your wristband or stamp, you will be asked to place all loose items in the lockers provided - which are not free. Also, as mentioned earlier, there are places to grab a quick refreshment and also plenty of little stalls and markets all on the entry and exit paths, selling hand crafted goods, jewellery, bags, clothing, artwork and much more!
A towel to dry of afterwards. Pretty self-explainatory really.
Once we arrived at the falls and had put all of our things in the lockers, our tour guides introduced themselves and explained a bit about what we would be doing for the day. The beginning of the trek actually starts way down at the bottom of a small, white, sandy beach which empties into the Caribbean Ocean - beautiful views. There were between 25 and 30 people in our group (half of which were my friends and family, the other half were pretty much all couples) and we each had to link hands and begin to make our way to the top of the water fall.
Dunn's River Falls is approximately 180ft long and is formed of multiple naturally shaped sloping steps. The top of many of the rocks are black - which can actually be very dangerous - the 'black stones' are extremely slippery even for the most careful of people and I actually experienced this first hand when I took a small but very real tumble across about 5 rocks and ended up on sprawled flat on my stomach...ouch. Mainly for this reason, please make sure if you are visiting the falls, you hold small children tightly by the hand and lift them over steep/slippery parts where possible. Half way into the trek, there is a small dip in the rocks which forms a natural slide, at the bottom is about 4 ft of water. Our guides actually filmed us one by one, sliding into the water, although, most people were probably not prepared for the 4 ft deep drop. Their reactions where hilarious as they slid under and jumped back out in shock. Luckily, the trees and shrubs surrounding the falls creates a lovely shade for the climbers and the water is pretty cold too, despite the 30 degree weather when we visited! Very refreshing indeed.
Once we reached the top we were invited to take a minute to dry of and have a drink in the sheltered seating area. After this, we took a little stroll down towards the exit where all of the beautiful works of art lay tempting us in the sun. Honestly, if my suitcase was big enough, I'm pretty sure I would have bought one of each item! There are quite a lot of goods to tempt you on you way out - including paintings, sculptures, food, drinks and much more.
This is definately a great family day out, couples trip or even a trip for the solo travellers. So much to learn and so exciting doing it (as you can see from the photos)!
