Ocho Rios

About Ocho Rios

Ocho Rios is a town in Jamaica. GeoNames lists a population of 26,503. Local time follows the America/Jamaica time zone. [1]

The nearest larger airport is Norman Manley International Airport (KIN), about 62 km away. [1]

A local airport provides charter plane access from the larger airports in Montego Bay and Kingston (Jamaica). Montego Bay is home to the biggest airport in Jamaica and this is where most of the visitors will enter island. There are many companies that offers private transfers to Ocho Rios from the Montego Bay. The two resort towns are 67 miles apart which is done in about 90 minutes' drive. Montego Bay Helicopters can be hired to transport from Kingston, Negril, etc. to get into Ocho Rios. The Bell 206 Jet Ranger can take 4 passengers. In some cases you may need additional short distance ground taxi if your resort does not provide a landing area e.g helipad, golf course. (Wikivoyage) [1]

Ian Fleming International Airport serves the north coast including Ocho Rios and caters to private jets, charters and select international flights. [1]

Jamaica has cruise ship ports in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Port Antonio, Falmouth and Kingston. [1]

The six resort areas named by the tourist board are Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril, Port Antonio and the Central and South Coast. [1]

Portland is about two and a half hours from both Ocho Rios and Kingston, and holds waterfalls such as Reach Falls and Somerset Falls. [1]

Puerto Seco Beach in Discovery Bay, with a floating water park, is about halfway between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay. [1]

The tourist board recommends an all-inclusive family resort as a base, says such resorts put entertainment, food and things to do on the property, and says Montego Bay and Ocho Rios have plenty of them. [1]

Text marked Wikivoyage is from https://en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5413078, licensed CC-BY-SA-4.0; changes: trimmed to the opening paragraphs. CC BY-SA 4.0

Ocho Rios: what to know

People climb Dunn's River in a human chain, on their own or with help from the guides, pausing for a dip in one of the pools or to sit in the naturally carved nooks. The falls continuously renew themselves from deposits of travertine rock, formed from calcium carbonate in the river flowing over them. Dolphin Cove, a stone's throw from Dunn's River, lets you swim with dolphins. Laughing Waters, a little further on, appeared in the first Bond film, and Konoko Falls is five to ten minutes from the port. Round out the day with something quieter. Fern Gully follows an old river bed, and Shaw Park Gardens go back to the seventeenth century. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

At Prospect Estate, Yaaman Adventure Park runs ziplines, dune buggies and ATV tours. Back at the great house, the ground floor has twenty-eight loopholes against pirates, and a mahogany tree out front marks Winston Churchill's three-week stay in 1952. After the adventure, Island Village is an open-air shopping centre with a boardwalk and water features. [1][2]

For dinner, Plantation Smokehouse serves curry goat, oxtail and escoveitch fish, while Evita's, near the town centre, is popular for its pasta and a wide view over the town. [1][2]

Most visitors are better off with a driver or a booked tour from Ocho Rios, so agree the price, the waiting time and whether entry is included before you leave. If you go by public transport, in November 2026 the published route fares include Nine Miles to Alexandria at $190.00 and Alexandria to Browns Town at $210.00. Agree the fare before you get in. [1]

Spanish settlers hid in the Green Grotto Caves and smugglers used them as a den. In caves, leave nothing but footprints and take nothing but photographs. The name Runaway Bay comes from the last Spanish governor's escape to Cuba from this shore. [1][2][3]

Columbus landed in 1494 on his second voyage, at a spot reckoned to be Discovery Bay. On his fourth, in 1503, worm-eaten ships stranded him at Saint Ann's Bay for a whole year. Saint Ann's Bay, the parish capital, was named Santa Gloria by Columbus, and Sevilla Nueva, the Spanish settlement established in 1509 and called Seville as of November 2026, lies approximately one mile to the west. Seville Heritage Park is on the historic Seville Estate. Its great house displays artefacts that show the lives of the Tainos, Africans and Europeans, and guided tours are offered at the park. [1][2][3][4]

Oracabessa, a farming town, likely takes its name from the Spanish for golden head. Here, twenty minutes from Ocho Rios, Ian Fleming bought fifteen acres over a small cove in 1946 and wrote all 13 Bond novels at GoldenEye, and the original land and forty neighbouring acres are a hotel as of November 2026. Pack a Bond novel for the beach. In the bay, the Oracabessa Bay Fish Sanctuary protects reefs, mangroves and James Bond Beach, and runs guided snorkelling, diving and boat tours. [1][2][3]

Port Maria, the parish capital, was the second town the Spanish built, and its parish church and old courthouse survive from its busy port days. Rio Nuevo, also in Saint Mary, is where the British and the Spanish fought their last battle for Jamaica. Castleton Botanical Garden, dating from 1862, lies on both sides of the Kingston road, and you can cool off with a swim in the Wag Water River. [1][2][3]

Ocho Rios is a cruise port, and Ian Fleming International at Boscobel, fifteen kilometres away, takes private jets, charters and some international flights. Stay in town to walk to dinner and the markets, or along the Saint Mary coast for quiet. [1][2][3]

Highlights

• Dunn's River Falls pours its waters into the Caribbean Sea, and you can enjoy both the beach and the falls in one visit. [1]
• Near Ocho Rios, the Blue Hole, also known as Island Gully Falls, is a natural sinkhole filled with turquoise waters. [1][2]
• Join a guided tour at the Green Grotto in Runaway Bay, the best known of Saint Ann's sixty or so caves, and you pass through its chambers and underground lakes. [1][2]
• Bob Marley was born at Rhoden Hall, in Nine Mile in the Saint Ann hills, in February 1945, and his mausoleum is there at his childhood home. [1][2]
• A few miles east of GoldenEye, Noel Coward built Firefly on the spot Henry Morgan had used as a lookout, and he wrote many of his plays there, died there and is buried there. [1][2]

Facts

• Climbing the falls is done by joining a human chain, which is worth knowing before deciding whether to climb them. [1]
• The falls can be climbed alone or with the guides on site. [1]
• On the climb at Dunn's River there are pools to dip in and natural nooks under the water. [1]
• Dunn's River Falls is a travertine waterfall that renews itself from calcium carbonate carried by the river, and the operator describes it as the only climbable falls of its kind in the Caribbean. [1]
• Dolphin Cove, close to Dunn's River, offers swimming with dolphins. [1]
• Laughing Waters, near Dunn's River, featured in the first Bond film, and Konoko Falls is five to ten minutes from the Ocho Rios port. [1]
• Fern Gully lies in the remains of an old river bed. [1]
• Shaw Park Gardens at Ocho Rios are seventeenth-century gardens of tropical flowers. [1]
• Yaaman Adventure Park at Prospect Estate runs ziplines and dune buggy and ATV tours. [1]
• Prospect Great House has twenty-eight loopholes against pirates, and a mahogany tree marks Churchill's three-week stay in 1952. [1]
• Island Village at Ocho Rios is an open-air shopping centre with a boardwalk. [1]
• Pier One in Montego Bay and Plantation Smokehouse in Ocho Rios serve curry goat, oxtail and escoveitch fish with live music. [1]

Source: guidebook:jamaica@e9d2829. Checked Sun Nov 08.