Dunn's River Falls in JamaicaWritten by Clint Leung
One of ports of call for our Royal Caribbean cruiseship was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Probably most famous site in region is Dunn's River Falls and we chose to tour it on our own rather than through one of cruiseship tours. Once we disembarked from cruiseship, there were cabs and shuttlebuses available at pier. Cabs to Dunn's River Falls were $22 US for a return trip. Cabs allowed 1-3 people per vehicle. We were also told at pier that small shuttlebuses also go to Falls at $5.50 US per person. These were also based on return trips. The only problem with shuttlebuses was that we had to wait until they filled up shuttle before leaving for Falls so since we were first on bus, we had to wait about 15 minutes for it to fill up. The driver then asks you when you want to be picked up at Falls for return trip. Our driver suggested 2 hours to see Falls so we agreed on this time duration.Once at Falls, a woman then came onboard shuttle to sell tickets for admission to site at $10 US per adult person which was same rate at park's ticket booth. Once inside Dunn's facility, there were rentals for special rubber shoes as well as lockers. We carried a small backpack so we didn't require paying for a locker. We also brought along our scuba diving booties so we didn't have to rent those rubber shoes on site either. The cruiseship shop was also selling these rubber shoes in advance. Shoes of some type are highly recommended as rocks on Falls can be slippery and some of bottoms of water pools are a bit rocky. If you have old sneakers you don't mind getting wet, they will be suitable for climb up falls as well. Our scuba diving booties turned out to be sufficient. The entrance to site is at top of falls so we took some stairs that were adjacent to falls to bottom where beach and entrance to climb were. There are official guides dressed in blue polo shirts and shorts who will take groups up falls. Normally, they will ask to carry all cameras for you so they can take photos of you as you climb. Of course, they expect to be well tipped for their services. Also,
| | Timesharing Without Owning A TimeshareWritten by Dana Sanders
If you’re dreaming of a unique vacation experience, but don’t have a budget to cover outrageous hotel expenses, or to even purchase a timeshare yourself, there are ways to take advantage of great deals offered by timeshare owners without actually becoming one yourself.With timeshare locations found all over globe from snow-capped Rocky Mountains to tropical beaches of Bahamas, only thing limiting a destination is a person’s own imagination. But, how does one afford these great vacation destinations without taking out a second mortgage? It’s simple, shop around for timeshare opportunities online where you can look at what various resorts that handle timeshare condos have to offer and even get hooked up directly with a timeshare owner. A timeshare owner just might have a slot open in a location you want, but not have time to take advantage of it him or herself. Timeshare locations around world basically work by having multiple owners for a single condo or unit within a resort destination. Each owner is given a set number of days or weeks to use that location for their own personal vacations. These owners can sometimes “trade” their time with an owner in another location, effectively increasing their ability to vacation around world, but sometimes owners simply are looking for a return on their investment. When a timeshare owner is either unable to take advantage of their time slot, or simply prefers to “rent” out or “auction” off their time at their resort, non-timeshare owners can get involved in action for a fraction of ownership costs. This provides an advantage to timeshare owner in that his or her slot can now earn them money on their timeshare investment as a rental or auction can cover their money invested, or even exceed it in some cases. For those looking to enjoy amenities of a timeshare without actually becoming an owner, these situations are boons. Owners will often set a flat-rate fee for a rental or put up their time slot and destination as an auction on an Internet site or other location.
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