Has anymore taken a tour with Ionie MacBean in Ocho Rios? We are interested in the Dunn RiverFalls excursion. How many people are usually in your group? Are the excursions offered by the cruise ships more crowded or will we be better off with a tour offered by a private company? We are going with NCL Thanksgiving week.

I haven't heard of him (her?).

I can recommend Chef Thompson for a private tour of Dunn's or wherever else you might want to go (in which case it would be however many people in your party unless you wanted to add more, he has a van that holds 10 I think): http://www.sealawncoralbeach.com - click on Chef's Tours (they also run the guesthouse the site is for).

Chef can also take you east (towards their guesthouse which is on a fantastic near-empty beach with great snorkeling and Chef's very friendly British wife to chat with). Just up the hill from their place is Noel Coward's home Firefly...impressive views of the coast from there and the entire area is the anti-Ochi - very few tourists and as a result, no salespeople bugging you.

Another fun thing in the Ochi area that is new this year is tubing down the White River...on an innertube, no rapids really, just floating (and swimming if you like) through rural Jamaica.

The nice thing about hiring a private driver/guide is that you can stay as long as you like at any place you go and can stop where and when you like...but are with someone who knows the area and people and will take care of you and get you back to the boat on time

Have fun!

Liza,
Thanks for your information.It is very helpful. Some people in our group are looking into the Peat Taylor tours. I don't what the availablity might be on any of the tours so it is good to have recommendations in case one is full.
Katybird

What's a Peat Taylor tour?

Katybird, we'll be on NCL SUN sailing on 11/23/03. We booked the Chef Thompson tour for the day in Ocho Rios. It's a private tour and we can decide where to go. We have 2 seats open for the tour. Let us know if you want to join us. The price is $100 for the day for all of us. So we will split the cost.

Liza, Peat Taylor is another tour operator. Several people have posted about him on this site with good reviews.

wt88, Thanks for the invitation but there are 12 in our group. Chef Thompson sounds great. It looks like we will be going with Peat Taylor. We are looking forward to it! Hope you find someone for your extra seats. If not, the price is still better than NCL and I'm sure it will be worth it. HAve a great time!
KAtybird

Have fun both of you!