Appleton Rum & YS Falls from Negril but NOT to Balck River Safari...?

I wonder if anyone on this board could give me some of your thoughts...

My husband and I (both in late 30's) are going back to CN this MAY for 2 weeks (CAN'T WAIT!!) and as it's our 2nd time in Negril, we are thinking of doing one full day excursion.
After doing some research, we are almost set that we'd like to visit YS falls (incl. tubing) and Appleton Rum factory.

However having read some posts here (and also tripadvisor) it looks like that the most of the pre-arranged tours from Negril almost always combine these two places with Black River Safari because of its proximity.

Is there a tour that only goes to YS Fall (including tubing) and Appleton rum factory without Black River Safari?
We are not so keen on the idea of having to include Black River Safari as we're not so bothered about seeing birds or alligators (we've been on Safari in Kenya and saw lots of gigantic crocodiles in Masai Mara in their natural habitat and I'm not sure if any other ''wild life'' can beat that experience) .... Or is this boat trip through the mangrove definitely worth it?

Our main purpose of this excursion for us will be '' Tubing down the YS FALL'' so we'd rather spend longer there than having to move onto the next sight so shortly afterwards if possible....

I know we could also hire a taxi driver for a day just for ourselves and only visit the places we want to go to but we'd rather go with fellow passengers on the shared transport as it looks more fun to go with other people when tubing down the YS fall!!

This is our 4th time in Jamaica and we've previously done the excursions to Dunn's River (twice) and Bob Marley Mausoleum (absolutely loved it with great scenery!) when we stayed in Ocho Rios.

Any thoughts/info on this would be greatly appreciated - many thanks from London :-)

We usually hire a driver for the day as you are never rushed at any one place. You may want to see if there is a response on this site to a posting for people interested in sharing a ride with you on a specific date and then book acording to the total number of people. Doing Appleton and YS Falls will fill your day pretty well. Not only tubing at YS Falls but a zip line (extra charge approx $42 per person) as well. There is also a tasting session at the end of your Appleton Estate Tour that lasts as long as you want it to. Another reason to be on your own schedule and not someone else's. Adding the Black River would have been way too much for one day with all the traveling time. We do usually ask the driver to stop at Rick's on the way back for a quick look at the cliff divers.

We did the full tour and loved it, but the safari was definitely nothing compared to our bijou airboat tour in Louisiana. I think they offer another option to do the Pelican Bar,but I don't know if that is in place of the safari or the rum tour. You can call the 800#, ask them to connect you to the resort (which will be the front desk), and have the front desk connect you to the Tour Desk. They're very helpful.

many of the tour operators that you will find recommended will save a date for you and then you can either go on travel boards to see if anyone wants to share with you, or you can let that person know that you are willing to share your trip w/someone else if they want to do the same thing. If it's "your" date, then you can have final say in how many people, what exactly you do that day, etc.

When in May will you be in Negril, we are also going to be there in May for 2 weeks and also were looking to do the exact same thing & for the same reasons. We are in our early 30's & would like to enjoy that trip with others but not be rushed... and I have not had the time to get into details yet on these excusions... jinglegrl@gmail.com

I liked the black river my wife was not keen on going but she also enjoyed it its cool and theguides even feed them by hand nice trip

As long as you are down in that direction, one other thing you might consider adding is a visit to the Pelican Bar. We stopped there for lunch after we visited the Appleton rum factory. Fresh fish on a bed of rice. If you plan on eating there, you will want to arrange the food ahead of time.

This is our first time at CN and Jamaica. We are definitely intrested in doing that excursion! I cant find any information specific to that on the CN website. We will be at CN May 21-27. Hope to hear back!

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Originally Posted by rckbert

We usually hire a driver for the day as you are never rushed at any one place. You may want to see if there is a response on this site to a posting for people interested in sharing a ride with you on a specific date and then book acording to the total number of people. Doing Appleton and YS Falls will fill your day pretty well. Not only tubing at YS Falls but a zip line (extra charge approx $42 per person) as well. There is also a tasting session at the end of your Appleton Estate Tour that lasts as long as you want it to. Another reason to be on your own schedule and not someone else's. Adding the Black River would have been way too much for one day with all the traveling time. We do usually ask the driver to stop at Rick's on the way back for a quick look at the cliff divers.

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rckbert, how much does it usually cost you to hire a driver for the day? Thanks!

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Originally Posted by chris & danielle

This is our first time at CN and Jamaica. We are definitely intrested in doing that excursion! I cant find any information specific to that on the CN website. We will be at CN May 21-27. Hope to hear back!

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Excursions through the tour desk are not on the Couples website. You can call the 800#, ask for CN front desk, and then ask the front desk for the tour desk. They get you through quickly and you can ask them for info on the excursion.

chris & danielle.....dont worry you can set up that excursion in just minutes at the tour desk, its a breeze. !!

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Originally Posted by Bebella

rckbert, how much does it usually cost you to hire a driver for the day? Thanks!

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I am not rckbert but.....

Email me at mandolin dot jeff at gmail dot com as I think this type of discussion might violate the rules this forum (discussion of outside vendors). We hire a driver every trip to do our excursions, and we think this is the best and only way to go. There are a lot of options, and we do have our favorites. I can give you contact info and share our experiences. :). The tour desk can also set any of this up for you if you wish. They are really easy to work with.

Hi everyone,

Apologies for my late reply - got caught up with work and haven't had chance to view this board properly :-(

Thank you all for your input - now we're sort of interested in Pelican Bar too so we don't know which sights to pick - dilemma!

Still haven't had much luck to find the group tour mentioned so we might have to now resort to either call CN direct or just wait till our arrival...