Call or email for assistance planning your trip: +1 (212) 203-0064 | reservations@moonjamaica.com
Turtle River Falls & Gardens (US$20 adults, US$10 under age 12) is a six-hectare (14-acre) river park with 14 cascades, a walk-in aviary and swimming pool. The optional guided tour lasts an hour and 15 minutes. A snack bar serves drinks. Patrons are permitted to bring their own food.
Couples Sans Souci (from US$ 502 dbl) is a sprawling gem of the well-managed Couples Resorts Jamaican family-owned all-inclusive group located just across the White River east of Ocho Rios and a five-minute drive west of the Couples Tower Isle sister property. The property has two large beaches, the west-facing one reserved for nudists with a large pool and bar on the lawn.
The oldest Spanish Bridge on the island can still be seen at the river’s upper reaches, just above the site where Chukka Caribbean’s River Tubing Safari begins. Several river parks and gardens dot the banks. To get to the White River Valley, turn right at the first stoplight heading east from Ocho Rios along the A3, just after the second gas station.
Forty-minute tours down the lower reaches of the White River on bamboo rafts (2 people, US$55) and rubber inner tubes (1 person, US$25) are on offer from Calypso River Rafting. (Contact Judi Marsh-yasanadi@yahoo.com)
Forty-minute tours down the lower reaches of the White River on bamboo rafts (2 people, US$55) and rubber inner tubes (1 person, US$25) are on offer from Calypso River Rafting. (Contact Judi Marsh-yasanadi@yahoo.com)
A riverside park and chill spot along the White River, Calby’s River Hidden Beauty (9am-5pm daily, US$10, US$5 under age 13) has a rope swing and areas where the limestone riverbed has been formed into smooth slides by gushing water. Tubes, guides, and life jackets are included. A bar and restaurant serve beer, jerk chicken, and pork with rice-and-peas and festival.
One of the best beaches in the vicinity, previously known as Reggae Beach, is Bamboo Beach Club (2 minutes east of White River, St. Mary (8am-6pm Mon.-Thurs., 9am-midnight Fri.-Sun., day pass from US$11). The private enclave caters mostly to cruise ship passengers with admission fees ranging from US$11 for entry and beach chair only to US$39 inclusive of food and drink.
Ocho Rios Bay Beach (US$5), also known as Turtle Beach, dominates the shorefront area in the heart of town. Moon Palace Jamaica Grande has roped off a large piece of the beach on the eastern side of the bay, while Turtle Towers and Fisherman’s Point share the western end with the public beach park and Marina at the end.
James Bond fans may be on the look-out for the beaches that appeared in the 1963 film Dr. No. Pearly Beach and adjacent Laughing Waters served as Crab Cay, the fictitious island that was home to villainous Dr. No, where the first “Bond girl” Ursula Andress famously emerged from the sea to meet 007. Both beaches are privately managed by the St.
