DUNN'S RIVER FALLS

If there's one tourist attraction in Jamaica that you shouldn't miss, it's Dunn's River Falls! You'll hear about it long before you enter the Ocho Rios area and you'll see it on every tourist brochure and postcard. No matter what you do, you can't escape it, it would be a crime of lèse-Jamaïque, so you might as well make up your mind, you must visit Dunn's River Falls.

As soon as you arrive, even before entering the property, the tone is set: signposting, huge parking lots for buses, welcome banners in all languages, multiple ticket booths, queues, turnstiles, swarms of tourists crowded around the banners of the guides, rubber sandal rental stands that prove to be very useful for climbing in the bed of the waterfalls, concrete tracks and stairs... It is a real amusement park, don't expect wild falls. As for the natural charm of the landscape, it is better to forget it, but it is still beautiful and pleasant to bask in it.

Visit. The concrete path winds along the tumultuous falls that drop some 180 meters to the sea where the river ends its course. The impressive falls are set in a lush green setting, alternating turbulent cascades and natural pools. However, some passages seem to have been tamed and consolidated by the hand of man. The principle of the attraction consists in integrating yourself in a quasi-permanent human chain and to go up the falls laboriously, in line, hand in hand in the middle of the tumultuous waves, with organized photo stops. The ascent lasts about 30 minutes, but the effort is not negligible. The help of a guide is advised because some passages are quite perilous and the current is very strong in some places. The pictures of the soaked tourists taken by photographers will be proposed on the way out. The less adventurous will be able to choose the dry and emotionless option, that is to say to go down and go up along the waterfalls by the stairs. At the bottom of the falls, the beach is pleasant and deserves a swim stop. The exit of the site will be done, without possible detour, by the immense market of craft industry, obviously very expensive, where the salesmen spend their day sitting in front of their stand to call the tourists.

On the spot. A bar-restaurant and its few shaded tables serves simple dishes directly on the sand. There is now a picnic area, a children's playground and a pizza kiosk within the park.

Tips. Because of the crowds, it is better to go on a weekday morning than on a Sunday afternoon. Avoid cruise ship days, and arrive early in the morning for a more intimate time with Mother Nature. Don't forget to bring: bathing suits and towels, sunscreen, tennis shoes or water shoes, waterproof phone bag and a change of clothes.

Tip: Little Dunn's River will be your free stop of wonder! The Dunn's River falls end in the sea, and it's really worth the trip. Hot and cold currents and natural massages under the waterfalls will complete your freshness break. A small beach very appreciated by the locals since they have free access to it.