Day Seven

Today we went on an excursion to Blue Hole, located in the hills of Ocho Rios at Island Gully Falls. Blue Hole consists of a few waterfalls and pools of fresh water reaching over 25 feet deep.  On the drive there we learned that in Jamaica, instead of slowing down for a tight corner you can just honk the horn repeatedly to let people know you are coming. We found that to be pretty funny. The road was along a gully with a steep drop and no guardrails, very different from Canada. Once we arrived at Blue Hole we met our guide for the tour, ‘Captain Morgan’. We were surprised to see that there was more than one swimming hole and waterfall since all we saw online was the one area.

BlueHole seemed to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable than Dunn’s River Falls. Workers did not clean the rocks so they were still covered in algae and clay, making them more slippery in spots. There were also no steps carved into the rocks for us to walk, other than a few ropes to hold onto while walking, it was a natural setting. There are also far less visitors to BlueHole as there are to Dunn’s River Falls, making it less destructive and invasive to the natural environment.

After the hour and a half journey through Blue Hole we walked back to the parking lot where our bus driver would be waiting for us. We got to experience “Island Time” again for hopefully the last time. After multiple phone calls our driver showed up an hour and a half later and returned us safely to our Hotel.

We are sad that our trip has come to an end but are happy to be heading home to have some Canadian food.

Jessica Tabbert