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Falmouth Tour Review- Martha Brae River Rafting


Christie

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I have mentioned this shore excursion a couple of times on Periscope, so I wanted to give a quick write up on it. 

 

About a 15 minute ride from the Falmouth cruise terminal is the Martha Brae river, on which locals provide a guided rafting adventure.  This isn't your typical white water rafting- instead, you get to sit back, relax, and let the guide do all the work.  Think the Venice, Italy gondolas.. but Jamaican style.

 

Royal Caribbean offers this as an official excursion, or you may take a taxi from the terminal.  We personally hired a tour guide who brought us here as part of our day long adventure, although next time we will start with this in the morning and enjoy the cruise terminal shops in the afternoon.  Royal Carribean has this tour currently priced at $79 per adult which includes transportation.  If you were to arrive on your own, the cost is $60 per raft which can hold two adults and a child.  We decided to leave our 13 month old on the ship and were glad we did.  We did see another couple with their baby in a baby carrier attached to dad, which would work as well.

 

When you arrive at the starting point, there are gardents that you may peruse.  They grow herbs and plants that are used for medicinal purposes.  There are also restrooms here, and I would suggest going before getting on the raft- it's an hour and a half before you'll get the opportunity to go again!  The walk down to the river is a little bit uneven, but doable for most people.  They load you up on your raft, and you're on your way. 

 

The actual rafting was quiet and peaceful.  The river doesn't run very fast, so you don't get wet.  The guides are nice and enjoy talking with you about Jamaican culture.  They actually build their own rafts, which are about 30 feet long and can weigh up to 800 pounds when wet.  Our guide, Franklin, owns two rafts.  We talked with him some and enjoyed the peaceful quiet as well.  At the end, the guides try to sell you some carved gourds, which you can decide to purchase.  We did, and it looks nice on our book shelf.  There are also stands on the side of the river that your guide can stop at if you are interested in shopping local crafts. 

 

I'm glad we brought: water, cameras, and hats for those who needed it.  Wish we would have brought bug spray. 

 

Here are some pictures:

 

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Hi,

I am also planning on doing the Martha Brae river tour. You said you paid a specific guide to take you there as part of a bigger tour.
Could I take a cab to the river tour and pay $60 when I got there, without a guide being involved?
Do you have an idea of how much a cab costs  from the cruiseport to the river?
A "welcome drink" is mentioned on RCCL's excursion, and I've seen it included as part of bigger tours. Did you see them for sale per drink for people just wanting to pay the $60 for the raft?

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Yes, you can take a cab. I remember seeing it on the taxi board but I truthfully don't remember. It can't be too much since it's not that far away.

 

Our guide went into the building to purchase our tickets for us, so I'm not sure about the welcome drink. There were things to buy at the initial starting point though.

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