REVIEW | DOWN & DIRTY QUAD BIKING IN OCHIO RIOS, JA

Jaz James
Apr 18, 2016
4 min read

One activity I absolutely loved during my trip to Jamaica was quad biking.

Anyone who knows me will know that I am very competitive in all sports/recreational activities that I do (yes, even quad biking). I know this isn't a very competitive activity but I 'felt the heat' none-the-less ;)

We visited Sandy Bay Ranch in Montego Bay in the morning and started off the day doing practice runs and laps in a small pig-pen-like area, after having a quick health and safety info session. Our guides told us everything we needed to know about the breaks, accelerator, how to steer, how to signal if you are stuck or if there was something wrong with your vehicle, etc.

After a quick 10 or so laps around the 'pig pen', the weather suddenly began to get CRAZY hot. We (myself, my sister, Rashad, two other friends, the photographer and our two guides) made our way onto the main road and across to the actual track. Few would say it was not a good idea to book a quad biking trip on one of the hottest days of the year in thick, humid, sticky, 34 degree Jamaican heat, but those "few" we correct (to an extent)! Not that I regret my biking experience in JA at all, but the heat was almost too much to bear. Especially with powerful gusts of hot wind choking you whilst you are trying to steer, listen, keep your helmet up and generally, stay on the bike! To add to the furnace, because there was such a heavy, torrential downpour of rain the day before, there were massive and I mean MASSIVE pools of steaming muddy water (another reason why I called it the pig-pen). These puddles actually did make the experience so much better to be honest.. half of us were trying to avoid the puddles by all means necessary just to stay clean, whereas, the other half were deliberately trying to drive through them to make huge muddy waves! As you probably guessed, I was one of the 'half' who were a little more mischievous and ended up having a whale of a time driving through the puddles and splashing everywhere until my legs started to get burnt! Because the mud puddles were so hot from the sun, the water would splash up against my bike and catch my arms, legs and even my face at one point. After this, I became one of the 'half' who were trying to avoid the puddles..by all means necessary! Leg and face burning aside, it was actually very fun driving through the puddles but one thing I will say - be sure to wear clothing you don't give a crap about - in the nicest way possible :) The best clothing to wear is probably a vest or t-shirt, comfy shoes and shorts. Luckily for me, I had purchased special shoes for climbing the Dunn's River Falls a couple of days before so I was able to wear those and not spoil any of the shoes I had bought with me but until this day, I still have mud stains on those shoes, as well as my shorts and vest top. Oh the memories..

Along the route, our guides would ask us to pull over here and there whilst he explained a little about the area, the history, the people, the animals, etc. At one point we came across cows grazing in the sun, one of which decided to follow my quad down the path a little and then stop right in front of it blocking the way between me and the rest of the crew! Everyone who knows me well knows that I am not the biggest animal lover, especially big, smelly farm animals, so rather than try to swerve around him like everyone else, I ended up cowardly hunched on the quad, sitting and waiting for him to walk away - but he stayed, as did I, whilst almost shitting my pants! Eventually, I made some very questionable noises and he ended up slowly walking away.

After my little run-in with the cows, we headed up to an area surrounded by trees and a beautiful sea view. Here we could try our hand at cliff diving if any of us were brave enough (which we weren't) but it was nice to have been given the option! We stopped here for refreshments and a quick photo-op before heading back to the starting point. Throughout the day, there was a photographer handy, following us around and snapping all the madness. His images were available to purchase in packages or as single shots after the session was over. We did bring our own cameras though so politely declined.

After the session, there was a little shack close to the photo processing booths where we were able to purchase light snacks (crisps, etc) and drinks before heading back to the minibus to make our way home. I'll happily point out that the shower I had that evening was by far, the BEST shower of my life!