Jamaica Inn- Ocho Rios- leaving in 2 days
 

My husband and I are staying here soon. Anyone have recommendations on what to do in this area? We love good, local food...exploring, but not on a tour... Should we rent a car? Scooter? Or just hire a local driver? Any recs are greatly appreciated!!

We leave in a month. The place looks amazing. I would ask the staff when you arrive for recommendations and please post a report. Have a wonderful time. There are some great restaurants in the area. Toscanini and Evita's are really good italian and Scotchies and Miss T are local jamaican places. Oracabessa is a quant little town close by, the resort Goldeneye where we stayed last year has wonderful food and an amazing staff. Someone mentioned doing the White River which you can do with your own guide.

I would use a private driver. Unless you are quite familiar with Jamaica I would not recommend renting a car on your own. And definitely not a scooter!

If you don't like going with the resort's tours, you need to hire a driver. Going off the resort on your own is not a good idea. The locals, especially in Ocho Rios, are very aggressive. When we went to Ocho Rios we hired A-Z Jamaica Planners. http://www.a-zjamaicaplanners.info/ We loved our guide and he did a great job of keeping the aggressors at bay for us. However, going in 2 days might not be enough time to set anything up with them or anyone else for that matter. I talked to Belinda for a couple of weeks setting up everything we wanted to see and do. If you find you don't have enough time, go with the recommendations at your resort, which may mean going with a tour.

Thanks for the info! Anyone else??

You will love Jamaica Inn!! DH and I went there about 7 years ago. We called a cab to go into town one day for shopping. The locals were very aggressive and it made me uncomfortable. We stayed at the resort pretty much after that, but loved it there. The food was great and night time dancing was fun too!! It was only for about 4 nights though. Any longer than that I would have wanted to go off resort more. Dunns River is nearby and there are a lot of tourists there. If you love good local food, there are road side stands (on way to/from airport) that cook up Jerk chicken. - Awesome!