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Wandering at Falmout (without any tour)


Wanderer

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Has anyone here any experience wandering by own at Falmout town?

We are considering exploring the city by just wandering there by ourselves.

I have read from various sources that Falmouth is not considered to one of the best places to explore without any organized tour and many consider it even dangerous.

I would like to hear have anyone from here done it and what are their recommendations? I have read that some vendors might be very pushy and kind of aggressive for selling their products.

We are not going to go any shady side streets or any other areas that obviously are not good for tourists. If we are going to stick at “main streets” and market areas and practice normal safety manners is there any real dangers more than any other cities?

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My husband and I decided to explore on our own. Once we got past the vendors, which are super pushy,  the streets were not very friendly feeling. We walked around a few blocks, but I felt someone following us. I held on very tight to my husband as I was a little scared. We finally made it back to the gated port area. Took a few pictures and went back to the ship. Unless you are doing group excursions, I don't recommend going it alone.

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I personally wouldn't go outside the gate. This is  my least favorite of all the ports. The vendors are shark like. VERY pushy and rude!

 We usually only get off the ship to buy rum at the duty free shop.

Now in saying that..... Since we were there last, they have finished the big Margaritaville. It's supposed to have a big pool and water feature.  

We have never done an excursion outside the pier. I have heard too many horror stories about the crazy drivers. Most excursions require at least an hour drive each way by bus.

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2 hours ago, Suzanne said:

The vendors are shark like. VERY pushy and rude!

That applies to the vendors OUTSIDE the gated area. The shops and vendors inside the gate are very friendly and not pushy at all. We were there this past April and my wife had a lot of fun jewelry shopping, eve got some nice deals. And, yes, Margaritaville is alive and doing very well. :27_sunglasses:

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I am always one to do my own thing and exploring at any stop or country I have been to. However, this is the exception. I did go ousidet the gates, but there wasn't much to enjoy as it didn't feel very relaxing and really pushy non stop and follow you around.

 

I enjoyed inside the gates..lots of little shops and a great bar with pool right there......if I was back there again I would stay in the gated area or maybe do an excursion...but wandering around prob isn't on the list again there.

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On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 11:14 AM, Wanderer said:

Has anyone here any experience wandering by own at Falmout town?

We are considering exploring the city by just wandering there by ourselves.

I have read from various sources that Falmouth is not considered to one of the best places to explore without any organized tour and many consider it even dangerous.

I would like to hear have anyone from here done it and what are their recommendations? I have read that some vendors might be very pushy and kind of aggressive for selling their products.

We are not going to go any shady side streets or any other areas that obviously are not good for tourists. If we are going to stick at “main streets” and market areas and practice normal safety manners is there any real dangers more than any other cities?

this is not a good idea if you can even get out the gates which are there for your safety if you go up to the top deck you can see out into town doesn't look to appealing to me these people are very poor and if you want to see the real country side book the dune buggy tour it takes 1.5 hours to get there and you go through the real Jamaica not the one made for you to sum up I do not suggest you go out on your own supervised only

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Thanks for everybody for your advice.

Some part of me would want to go out from the gated area even more to see what kind of place Falmouth really is. I am though traveling with my family so it probably wouldn't be good idea.

I just booked swim with dolphins excursion instead through cruise planner sale. Have someone here done that before?

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3 hours ago, Wanderer said:

I just booked swim with dolphins excursion instead through cruise planner sale. Have someone here done that before?

I haven't done the one in Falmouth, but I just did one last April in St. Kitts. They all tend to be very similar. You'll get a brief lesson about dolphins while everyone is getting life vests and split into groups. Then your group will be taken to one of several sections where you'll have your interactions with one of the dolphins they have on site. Someone will be there to take pictures, and you'll have the opportunity to select and purchase one or more for printout or digital copy (for far more money than you paid for the excursion booking).

I would highly recommend looking up your specific dolphin excursion on Trip Advisor and reading the reviews there. Not all of these dolphin places are the same, and some of them have a reputation for not treating the animals well or visibly not caring. And that will negatively impact your experience, because how the dolphins are treated will be reflected in how they then interact with you, and will also come across from the staff. And no one enjoys seeing sad dolphins.

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1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

I would highly recommend looking up your specific dolphin excursion on Trip Advisor and reading the reviews there. Not all of these dolphin places are the same, and some of them have a reputation for not treating the animals well or visibly not caring. And that will negatively impact your experience, because how the dolphins are treated will be reflected in how they then interact with you, and will also come across from the staff. And no one enjoys seeing sad dolphins.

That was a thing I was little concerned of. I definitely won't want to go there if they are abusing dolphins.

I would like to hear experiences if someone from this forum has visited dolphin excursion on Jamaica.

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I went to Bamboo Beach at Ocho Ríos. The place is great but is pretty far from Falmouth. On our way to the beach I saw the Dolphin Cove place I think you reserved. I don’t know if the tour is good or not but the place is more than an hour away on a bus tour from the ship. 

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