Roaring River
Roaring River
3.5
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3.5
117 reviews
Excellent
42
Very good
23
Average
17
Poor
10
Terrible
25
Info J
5 contributions
May 2023 • Friends
Roaring River is a very special place. Jamaica Transport Tours was who we chose to ride with, private transportation with just my family. Roaring River is in a little village, also where the Rastasafari excursion is where you go on dune buggies for 3 hours all around enjoying the beauty and stopping at different swimming holes, welcome drink, water, riding for 3 hours and a meal at the end of the excursion . Our tour operator was fantastic, didn't rush us, showed us a lot of culture along the way, stopped when we wanted to eat or grab a cold drink -- it was fabulous. info@jamaicatransporttours.com is how you can reach them, and I would suggest a trip to Roaring River!!!
Written May 25, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Barefoot Wade
9 contributions
Feb 2023 • Couples
This was such an amazing and spiritual experience! Now, you might be a bit skeptical as you are driving there and perhaps even when you arrive, but I assure you this a must see experience and we were very safe. You will be given a guide for your tour. We had an older gentleman named Lightning. He was an incredible human being and gave us such a passionate and informative tour. The tour guides do work for tips so make sure you take care of them, as they are not pushy for compensation…unlike a lot of places that we visited. There is a cave that is part of the tour and it has a lot of historical significance as well as being truly magical. You will literally feel re-born as you exit. The best people we encountered on our trip came from this place as well as the blue hole. Our trip would not of been the same without these two experiences and the people who we met there. There was barely anything about this place online so we felt compelled to say something.
Written February 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Likkle Talawah
Kigali, Rwanda4 contributions
Mar 2022
The caves are not well kept - full of trash, and the walls have been ruined by people putting their initials everywhere. Nothing impressive compared to caves in other countries or places...additionally the water inside where you can swim has trash in it. They've cemented up the entire place, so it's not really natural any more. There are guys that sit outside the place and hustle and pressure you for a tour, when really there is not much of anything to see. Not to mention the tour guide talked and talked the entire time...not peaceful at all. If you want to go to the river, pass the entrance to the cave office area, and then on your left you can go right down to the river for free. No point in paying to go in. We let one of the guys show us around and he wanted 3K JMD!
Written March 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sunmagic
Leeds, UK35,861 contributions
Sept 2012 • Couples
We have recently visited Roaring River in Petersfield, Jamaica and were certainly impressed. It is off the beaten track, and probably not as famous as some of Jamaica’s better known tourist attractions but we are glad we made the time to visit.
We were told about Roaring River by a local driver we hired from outside the Clubhotel RIU Negril, called Devon. I would recommend the use of Devon, as he was most friendly and knowledgeable. He arranged to pick us up from outside the RIU at 09:00 – he is well known in the area and this is his main pitch where he plies his trade. Drive time from the hotel to Roaring River was around an hour and a half through downtown Negril, along the A2 and through Savanna-la-Marr , with a couple of stops to buy ice cold Red Stripe and to be able to snap a few pictures.
We arrived at Roaring River around 10:30 – 10:45 which is located in a quiet valley in the Dolphin Mountains. We were the first visitors that day, and wouldn’t be too surprised if we were the only visitors. As after we had paid the entrance fee of $1000 JMD each, we were led up a small path by our guide to the entrance to the caves where the gate was locked and we had to wait a couple of minutes for security to open the gate for us!
The entrance is located on the side of the hill up a short path overlooking the river which gives the village its name; where the river bursts through a dam making an incredible roaring sound which is exaggerated due to the steep hillside it faces – a quite impressive flow of water!
Once inside the caves, it takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to the light, but there are some impressive caves and rock formations to see. The river also flows through some of the caves where you can take a dip. In one rock pool you can swim in the water where it is so refreshing, and our guide told us that Scuba Divers had tried to chart how deep the water was and had got 250 meters deep and still not got to the bottom! Another pool you can go in is where the river is channelled between two rocks and you can feel the force of the water pushing its way through.
Our guide also told us that in days gone by, the caves were used as an escape route for the slaves who worked on the plantation, and one of the tunnels leads for around 5 miles to the coast.
After spending a good hour or so in the caves we came back out and our guide showed us around the local area showing us all the local flora. We were also shown a couple of local ‘plantations’ which were off the beaten path. There were some impressive views of the local Dolphin Mountains too.
After that our guide left us to have a little free time swimming in the river alongside the Roaring River water filtration plant – where our guide told us all the drinking water for the Negril and Savanna-La-Marr area was treated. There was an old stone bridge where you could jump into the river and the current took you through to a small pool for swimming in.
Devon our driver waited around for us whilst we had our tour and after took us across the Dolphin Mountains to go to Mayfield Falls. I would definitely recommend the use of a driver like Devon to visit some tourist attractions, as you get a much more personal touch when there are only a couple of you instead of a large tour group.
We were told about Roaring River by a local driver we hired from outside the Clubhotel RIU Negril, called Devon. I would recommend the use of Devon, as he was most friendly and knowledgeable. He arranged to pick us up from outside the RIU at 09:00 – he is well known in the area and this is his main pitch where he plies his trade. Drive time from the hotel to Roaring River was around an hour and a half through downtown Negril, along the A2 and through Savanna-la-Marr , with a couple of stops to buy ice cold Red Stripe and to be able to snap a few pictures.
We arrived at Roaring River around 10:30 – 10:45 which is located in a quiet valley in the Dolphin Mountains. We were the first visitors that day, and wouldn’t be too surprised if we were the only visitors. As after we had paid the entrance fee of $1000 JMD each, we were led up a small path by our guide to the entrance to the caves where the gate was locked and we had to wait a couple of minutes for security to open the gate for us!
The entrance is located on the side of the hill up a short path overlooking the river which gives the village its name; where the river bursts through a dam making an incredible roaring sound which is exaggerated due to the steep hillside it faces – a quite impressive flow of water!
Once inside the caves, it takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to the light, but there are some impressive caves and rock formations to see. The river also flows through some of the caves where you can take a dip. In one rock pool you can swim in the water where it is so refreshing, and our guide told us that Scuba Divers had tried to chart how deep the water was and had got 250 meters deep and still not got to the bottom! Another pool you can go in is where the river is channelled between two rocks and you can feel the force of the water pushing its way through.
Our guide also told us that in days gone by, the caves were used as an escape route for the slaves who worked on the plantation, and one of the tunnels leads for around 5 miles to the coast.
After spending a good hour or so in the caves we came back out and our guide showed us around the local area showing us all the local flora. We were also shown a couple of local ‘plantations’ which were off the beaten path. There were some impressive views of the local Dolphin Mountains too.
After that our guide left us to have a little free time swimming in the river alongside the Roaring River water filtration plant – where our guide told us all the drinking water for the Negril and Savanna-La-Marr area was treated. There was an old stone bridge where you could jump into the river and the current took you through to a small pool for swimming in.
Devon our driver waited around for us whilst we had our tour and after took us across the Dolphin Mountains to go to Mayfield Falls. I would definitely recommend the use of a driver like Devon to visit some tourist attractions, as you get a much more personal touch when there are only a couple of you instead of a large tour group.
Written October 8, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chris C
Bishops Stortford, UK353 contributions
Apr 2015 • Couples
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. As a serious TA user and contributor, I am disappointed to say I did not read about this spot until it was too late. In my defence, I had no intention of going here, nor had I heard of it or had it recommended to me. It is scams like this that give tourism a bad name.
We hired a car and were touring Negril and then onto Mayfield. We pulled over to check our bearings and were approached by a man (leroy) coming out of what we thought was his shop. He was very friendly and explained that there was a better place, a place where all of the locals go. He kindly offered to take us down the road to the sign for it as it was difficult to find.
Bottom line, he took us all the way, introduced us to some lady who took 2,000 Jamaican Dollars per person entry and then handed us over to our guide. This was not a real guide, this was a local with limited knowledge of the cave system.
There is so much wrong with this place. It is not a roaring river, the herb and flower garden is standard Jamaican country side and a few tubs of marihuana growing, and the expectancy if a 5,000 Jamaican dollar tip is quite unbelievable.
I feel so strongly about the positive reviews of this very poor attraction, I will be requesting TA audit them.
We hired a car and were touring Negril and then onto Mayfield. We pulled over to check our bearings and were approached by a man (leroy) coming out of what we thought was his shop. He was very friendly and explained that there was a better place, a place where all of the locals go. He kindly offered to take us down the road to the sign for it as it was difficult to find.
Bottom line, he took us all the way, introduced us to some lady who took 2,000 Jamaican Dollars per person entry and then handed us over to our guide. This was not a real guide, this was a local with limited knowledge of the cave system.
There is so much wrong with this place. It is not a roaring river, the herb and flower garden is standard Jamaican country side and a few tubs of marihuana growing, and the expectancy if a 5,000 Jamaican dollar tip is quite unbelievable.
I feel so strongly about the positive reviews of this very poor attraction, I will be requesting TA audit them.
Written April 27, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jsaskins
Jackson, TN1 contribution
Oct 2016 • Family
The Blue Hole/Roaring River....DO NOT GO!!! Unless you are from the city and have never seen plants and water, this is a waste of your time and money. The $20 per person was a little steep, but after the effort we made to get there, we checked it out. Our guide Adrian Vassell was knowledgeable, but after the tour he and three others took me into a shack and attempted to shake me down for another $80. There is some good scenery, but overall, this place a a rip-off.
Written October 9, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
chiro6
New Smyrna Beach, FL37 contributions
Dec 2014 • Couples
This is sad because most people will not CHOOSE to go here but will be going to another place like Mayfield falls and then get dragged her by a "nice guy on a motorcycle" like everyone else. Tripadvisor needs to add Blue Hole Mineral Springs in Brighton Westmoreland. There is no listing and the scammers are stealing people from there too so I wanted to post on other attractions where people need to see this. I need to post it somewhere where it will be useful to people.
Same story as the ones below. I can't believe we fell for it in hindsight. I feel like we got off good after reading these reviews though. We paide $20/person and tipped only $5 because it felt totally scammed. We also tipped our motorcycle guide $10 for gas. Cheesy presentation of formations. This one is a mermaid... or an Indian... or Africa or a turtle or depends on what your smoking. I knew way more about caves than this guy. The cave was dead because they had touched all the parts of it and there was no more dripping. He told us there pool was bottomless because some divers with tanks from Alaska dived down 25 feet and then turned around. Does that sound ridiculous to anyone else but me? He also attributed his healing of his broken arm to the mineral water. He said he gives good massages for $20. I told him I was a chiropractor and he didn't know what that was but that he could crack my neck too. Sign me up for that!
So many lies from the beginning. I don't mind tipping people, but I like to tip honest people and these are NOT honest people.
Please Trip advisor create a listing for Blue Hole Mineral Spring so we can warn people that are going there to avoid this same SCAM.
Same story as the ones below. I can't believe we fell for it in hindsight. I feel like we got off good after reading these reviews though. We paide $20/person and tipped only $5 because it felt totally scammed. We also tipped our motorcycle guide $10 for gas. Cheesy presentation of formations. This one is a mermaid... or an Indian... or Africa or a turtle or depends on what your smoking. I knew way more about caves than this guy. The cave was dead because they had touched all the parts of it and there was no more dripping. He told us there pool was bottomless because some divers with tanks from Alaska dived down 25 feet and then turned around. Does that sound ridiculous to anyone else but me? He also attributed his healing of his broken arm to the mineral water. He said he gives good massages for $20. I told him I was a chiropractor and he didn't know what that was but that he could crack my neck too. Sign me up for that!
So many lies from the beginning. I don't mind tipping people, but I like to tip honest people and these are NOT honest people.
Please Trip advisor create a listing for Blue Hole Mineral Spring so we can warn people that are going there to avoid this same SCAM.
Written December 14, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
slbillard
Portland, OR149 contributions
Mar 2017 • Couples
Dont ever follow the motorcycles, that's all I can say. We were headed to the black River when a motorcycle pulled in front of our car and said the road was closed because of protests and it was too dangerous. He then led us to a place where he claimed was Roaring Rivers Water Park. He stopped us just after the gate and demanded $40 each for the tour. We stupidly fell for it, but then our "guide" took us way out into the bush and demanded $40 each to take us back to our car. For a moment I was so worried we would be robbed;luckily he accepted $20 and we got back and left. We recommend all travelers avoid this place, do not believe anyone unless it is a police officer telling you a road is closed.
Written April 13, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tess B
Philadelphia, PA7 contributions
Mar 2015 • Couples
This was the worst experience of my entire time in Jamaica. The people here are just trying to scam you out of as much $ as they can get. We rented a scooter and drove ourselves, a motorcycle guy' who I thought was just being nice ran into us along the way and said he could show us the way since he was heading there anyway. Upon arrival we had to pay $20 entrance fee each and then they were pushing drinks on us for $5 each for a juice and a beer. We were given a tour guide who showed us around the place, some stuff was cool some stuff was just whatever, he showed us a marijuana crop where he probably expected us to buy some but we didnt need any. He told us everyone leaves a tip for the guy who grows it...which seemed a bit silly but we told him we would leave $5 after having some sugar cane. The tour guide then took us inside the cave and let us go in water, he pointed out things he saw in the rocks which maybe if you were high would have been a cooler experience. At the end the guide asked us for a tip so we offered to give him $10- 5 each. He seemed very upset by this amount and we had a very awkward interaction, no one had change for our 20 so we ended up having to break it by giving part of it to the 'nice motorcycle guy' who said he would show us the way back but of course he disappeared immediately afterwards. I would not go back here. These people do not know how to run a business, they just want you to give them all your money and this wasnt worth the bad taste that was left in my mouth.
Written March 17, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steve D
1 contribution
SCAM ALERT!
Like many people, a "helpful" local brought us here.
Lost in Sav-la-Mar, an acrobatic motorcycle driver started following us until a dead end to offer us help with directions. We wanted to get to Bluefields, but eh, "ever heard of Roaring river? It's amazing". In for some adventure, we followed him to this place.
First of all, 15$ per person is way too much to guess shapes in the rock walls of a cave. After a brief tour of the cave, beautiful nonetheless, the guide took us to the village to make us smell plants and taste fruits. Interesting for sure, but not yet worth the price.
It was getting late, so they offered shelter.
"We got a guest house and you give what you you think it's worth"
After a long ride and a stressful withdrawal at an ATM in Sav-La-Mar, we got back to Roaring River with our guide.
Then the fun began.
Our guide asked for a tip because "you got to thank your guide", right? J$500 was insulting to him. He was expecting way, way more for all his efforts. At least 20 US$, he said. A heated argument followed.
2000 J$ later, he added:
"...I meant per person, man."
He got nothing more so we left each other pretty pissed. Not a good way to start the night in tightly knitted community.
The "guest house" was actually someone's bedroom equipped with a no-water shower, a non-flushing toilet which flushes with the non existing water and a no light bulb light for the room. After a painful night we gave 30 for the room. Argument followed, indeed.
They wanted 80. Pay what you want, right?
We ended paying 40, which was already too much.
We left quickly with a promess to never come back. Do the same.
Like many people, a "helpful" local brought us here.
Lost in Sav-la-Mar, an acrobatic motorcycle driver started following us until a dead end to offer us help with directions. We wanted to get to Bluefields, but eh, "ever heard of Roaring river? It's amazing". In for some adventure, we followed him to this place.
First of all, 15$ per person is way too much to guess shapes in the rock walls of a cave. After a brief tour of the cave, beautiful nonetheless, the guide took us to the village to make us smell plants and taste fruits. Interesting for sure, but not yet worth the price.
It was getting late, so they offered shelter.
"We got a guest house and you give what you you think it's worth"
After a long ride and a stressful withdrawal at an ATM in Sav-La-Mar, we got back to Roaring River with our guide.
Then the fun began.
Our guide asked for a tip because "you got to thank your guide", right? J$500 was insulting to him. He was expecting way, way more for all his efforts. At least 20 US$, he said. A heated argument followed.
2000 J$ later, he added:
"...I meant per person, man."
He got nothing more so we left each other pretty pissed. Not a good way to start the night in tightly knitted community.
The "guest house" was actually someone's bedroom equipped with a no-water shower, a non-flushing toilet which flushes with the non existing water and a no light bulb light for the room. After a painful night we gave 30 for the room. Argument followed, indeed.
They wanted 80. Pay what you want, right?
We ended paying 40, which was already too much.
We left quickly with a promess to never come back. Do the same.
Written July 16, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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