"Kayaking on the Great River" Top 5 Page for this destination Montego Bay Things to Do Tip by Dabs

We've done so many of the packaged tours from the resort or with a private guide that we had a little trouble finding something that we hadn't done but we did want to do at least one daytrip so we selected a kayaking trip on the Great River. After a 40 minute van ride through the country side, we were dropped at Chukka Tours' outpost on a section of the 57 mile long Great River where they launch several trips-tubing, kayaking and a canopy tour. Although there were quite a few people for the other two trips, we were on our own for the kayak trip, apparently everyone else was in the Jamaica spirit and didn't want to exert themselves too much, we saw the tubers as they were being pulled along the Great River drinking rum punch and they were clearly not even going to break a sweat.

This wasn't the greatest tour we've ever taken but it was enjoyable. One of our guides was a lot more affable than the other, his banter made the trip more enjoyable. We didn't really paddle all that far in our inflatable kayaks, much of the trip was stopping for photo ops, a short trip up to the orange groves to see some of the native flora and sample some of the very sweet oranges and a stop at the rope swing where you can take a dip in the River.

This wasn't a strenous tour at all and the water was not at all dangerous, a few mini rapids but otherwise very little current. If you've never been kayaking before, the guides would give you a briefing on how to do it. The tour pictures make it look much more exciting than it really was, maybe it is at different times of the year when the water levels are different. The only problem I had since I am used to more sturdy fiberglass kayaks was that I ended up turned around backwards a lot.

The guide had a water proof bag for my camera, the rest of our stuff was in a locker back at the base camp. We ended up waiting for the rest of the folks on the canopy tour for almost an hour, there's a gift shop, snacks and a bathroom for while you wait. Plus a herd of scrawny stray cats who are looking for scraps.

Website: http://www.chukkacaribbean.com/jamaica.php