Jamaica River Tubing – Again, Again! Let’s Do It Again…
One thing that makes Jamaica different from many other Caribbean islands, is the number of decent sized rivers they have. While some other islands have similar weather and terrain, in terms of rainfall and a mountainous interior, they’re much smaller and don’t have the room for long winding rivers. The Spanish explorers were right to call Jamaica the ‘land of wood and water’ – The lush forested island has all the right ingredients for plenty of natural waterways… and that means plenty of opportunity to have adrenaline pumping fun while Jamaica river tubing.
Sometimes I look for a Caribbean island tour that’s a little “off the beaten track” and I’m always looking to support the island’s local population. Well, we found a great ‘rootsy’ outing with Yardy River Adventure Tours. These folks are not a large commercial operation, however they know how to give you a real Jamaican experience. Friendly and un-pretentious, the folks from Yardy River Adventure Tours showed our small party of three a great time – even arranging transportation for the long drive from Montego Bay down to their facility in Savanna la Mar.
While the first part of the drive, through Montego Bay and a long section of road that was undergoing major re-construction was nothing to talk about, the last part of the drive was really enjoyable. I especially liked driving through the cane fields and seeing the rural communities so far away from the tourist areas of Jamaica’s north/west coast.
This was a local tour, in a remote area, managed by local residents of the area. The low-lands where we did our river tubing was absolutely beautiful. The over-all property was very natural and rustic, with lovely tropical thatched-leave covered buildings next to the river. On the day and time we had our tour, we were the only tourists there, so it was nice and quiet – The sun was shining and we felt warm and cozy. This amazing environment provided a great backdrop for the Jamaica river tubing adventure we were about to experience.
While some Jamaica river tours offer rafting and kayaking, we wanted to get real close close to the action and “tube” down a wild river. Two guides joined us, one on a tube in the water with us, the other walking along the shore-line just ahead of us, ready to jump in if needed. This way we felt safe and that we were in good hands. Ya Mon!
OK, here we go – Our private river tubing experience was underway… We sat comfortably on the tube, with only your hands, feet and bum getting a little wet. Having come down from the mountains and being mostly in the shade, we were expecting the water to be on the cold side, however we were pleasantly surprised that after the initial transition of getting into the water, it was “all good”.
The Yardy River, which I believe is part of the same waterway as the Roaring and White Rivers in the area, carves a snake-like path through the well canopied landscape. The river has fairly high banks and moves fairly fast, although there were a few nice relaxing slow areas as well. There were several bends and turns in the river, as well as some fast stretches with small rapids. Perfect for Jamaica river tubing! Sometimes our tube would want to ram into the river bank, although our hard-working guide in the water did his best to prevent that from happening. He would frantically try to stay ahead of us, pushing us into the middle of the river, sometimes running through the water, other times diving and swimming below us, whatever it took to keep us moving together as a group. Once we realized the challenge, we did our best to keep together and in the middle of the river by ourselves – A little paddling with our hands and pushing off the river bank with our feet whenever required. No Problem Mon
What a Rush!
We were moving fairly quickly downstream, yet at one point we managed to link-up the tubes and float together for a short stretch. The depth of the river was constantly changing from several feet in stretches to only a few inches over some rocks in a couple of shallow spots. We lifted our butts out of the water a couple of times in shallow water to avoid snagging on big rocks… What an awesome ride! My adrenaline was really flowing and I felt like a kid… When we were pulled out the water, I was thinking – Again – Again, Let’s do it again!
Right before the river cascaded over a small waterfall and headed towards some serious rapids, our guides helped us out of the river. That said, our wondrous tour wasn’t over yet. We walked around the waterfall drop and waded back into the river, this time without our tubes.
We were guided to a natural whirlpool at the bottom of the falls. We sat there a while, then also ventured into an area where the current was quite strong, hanging on to a rope for dear life. There was also a rock seat under one of the waterfalls, so you could comfortably dunk your head under the water – Soooo refreshing!
We really enjoyed our Jamaica river tubing experience with Yardy River Adventure Tours. Our over-all time in the water was probably around 45 minutes, with actual tubing time around 30 minutes, although it didn’t seem that long – I guess its true what they say… “time flies when you’re having fun”. Sometimes it’s good to be left wanting more – I’ll be back!
The natural landscape is constantly changing. We were told that after a heavy rainfall, the river is deeper and much faster… This would result in fewer snags on rocks, although the trip would probably be over much quicker…
In summary, this was not your typical tourist event. While it was a long drive from the resort, the river tubing tour was definitely worth it! Perhaps a bit dis-organized at the beginning, the day turned out to be one of the highlights of our vacation. We spent the day with some nice friendly folks and had a ton of fun.
Want to see more? Check out our Jamaica River Tubing Fun video on YouTube!
ACT Staff
If our Jamaica river rafting adventure above sounds good to you and you’re planning a trip to Jamaica, you can contact the folks at Yardy River Adventure Tours by visiting their facebook page or website (just click on a link below):
- Yardy River Adventures facebook page
- YardyAdventures website
For an overview of the land of wood and water, take a look at our Jamaica Vacations page
If you’re looking for more active things to do while vacationing on the island, click on our Jamaica Adventures blog for more great ideas!
For great Tourist Attractions on the island, check out our Things to Do in Jamaica blog
