We visited Dunn’s River Falls in Ocho Rios during peak pandemic times. The airports had all but stopped all flights in and out, tourism was down, and locals didn’t want to travel.
Late-night curfews existed in most parts. Luckily, hotels were still operating. We were in Kingston, and as Kelly had some time off work, we decided that if we were going to bunker down somewhere, it might as well be the beach for a few days.
Where we stayed
We chose to stay at Jamaica Inn in Ocho Rios. You can read about our stay here. We know this hotel well, through corporate stays or just relaxing. It’s a place we know we can relax and enjoy the beach and spend quality time together.
One of the places we wanted to see was Dunn’s River Falls in Ocho Rios, about 10 mins away in a car from Jamaica Inn. We enquired at reception, and they told us we could go by boat if we wished.
Excitement got the better, especially now that we were going by boat.
The next day, and without fail, a boat arrived, and we set off.
I made a video about this trip below:
As you can see in the video above, not only was the hotel low on guests, but we arrived at Dunn’s River Falls, and there was no one else around. There was staff on-site manning ticket booths and a few stalls, but no one to serve to.
Our Walk
We started from the beach and tried to navigate our way up the rocks. A guide appeared and asked if we wanted help and to be shown the best route. We quickly took him up on the offer, where he directed us up the easy way.
Our experience was epic. We didn’t have to wait for people to go up specific paths. If we wanted to take a picture, we could without other people being in the shot. No forming some sort of chain where everyone was holding hands. I know what you are thinking, but I leave group sessions for work environments.
We got to see and experience Dunn’s River Falls our way. We had been in Jamaica a while by now and have seen many places suffer from a lack of visitors. Yet we did feel a bit special to have it all to ourselves.
For example, we didn’t have to queue to get this picture.
When the flights start opening up and visitors start returning, Dunn’s River Falls will return to being like the multitude of pictures you see when searching on google. This will be a good thing for the staff and local economy. Yet, we won’t forget that we got to walk the whole park alone, and there were no witnesses when I slipped on a rock and nearly knocked myself out.
Things to note:
By the time anyone reads this, the park hopefully will be busy again. I recommend everyone to do it, it’s good fun, and it’s an excellent excuse to cool down in the heat, but I would also recommend you wear some water shoes. Our guide commented on ours as he said he had seen people wearing trainers where not only are they heavy, some sometimes not as grippy as people think they are.
Also, you are going to get wet, so enjoy it. There are lockers, but I opted to have my keys, phone and money in a waterproof bag. My GoPro has survived worse, so I wasn’t worried about that.
We had a blast, and for us, at least we had a boat ride back to the steps of our cottage at Jamaica Inn, which was the icing on the cake.
Visit their website to learn more. Dunn’s River Falls