Private Tour: Blue Hole and Fern Gully Rain Forest Adventure from Ocho Rios

The place is nice but the staff rushed us through it. Note that if you cant swim there's no way to access all parts of the Blue hole.

We had a nice and knowledgable driver. Fern Gully was a little drive up the wooded highway...not a walk through a park a bit of a disappointment.. The Blue Hole was awesome but not for older folks. Essentially, you climbed up the river and falls and then worked your way down by jumping off of ledges and rocks into deep blue holes of water. You need to know how to swim! The Blue Hole sent a river guide with us and afterward we learned this guide was not included in the park fee and that he worked on tips only. The biggest negative for our day outing was the frequent stops at roadside vendors and being hounded to purchase and having to tip for every little thing...but maybe that's just the way it is in Jamaica.

At least with the driver we had. The fren gully forest tour was just a ride through. In a car with very dirty windows come on now at least clean the windows. The tour guide was not talkative and some of what he told us when we asked questions I knew to be incorrect. When we got to the Blue hole it was closed due to rain the night before which he should have known I suspect he did. We had to ask to get out and walk around the site and look at the brown hole. In all fairness if not for the rain the night before it looked like it might be a fun place to swim. Then the guide was told by his boss to take us across town to look at a couple of old trees I guess through the filthy windows again. I asked to just go back to the resort since we wanted to go swimming on this day not ride in a car for a couple of hours. I would definitely skip this one.

This tour was amazing. It is untouched beauty and not full of tourists. Make sure you have good water shoes! Our guide Jerome was amazing, he tailored our experience to fit us even taking us into a hidden grotto that you had to crawl backwards into but ended up under a waterfall. He took his time and let us explore, take pictures and swim. Most of the time he was carrying our cameras and waterproof bag and taking our pictures for us. He also gave us a show jumping off the high cliffs and waterfalls. There were many different areas to jump, from various heights, as well as a rope swing and a place to get a beer at the bottom. These guides don't get a paycheck and rely on tips, do them a favor and tip them well, as they deserve it.