We decided to take a day trip down the South Coast of Jamaica from here in Negril and visit the YS Falls Nature Attraction and the surrounding area. We have taken numerous tours down the South Coast of Jamaica from Negril since we bought the van and have seen a number of places we would like to stop in but YS Falls comes highly recommended as one of the nicer waterfalls in Jamaica and we thought it would be nice to see the difference between this and Mayfield Falls.
We took a long drive and stopped a few places so it took almost 2 hours to get there when it should be more like 1 1/2 I would think. It did seem a bit farther than Mayfield but if waterfalls are your thing then it’s well worth the trip. YS Falls has a total of 7 much larger and more majestic looking waterfalls when compared to Mayfield. The height of some of the waterfalls must be over 30 feet or more and the water moves with much more force here than it did at Mayfield. The YS Falls trip was more for the kids and they were very excited about spending time in the river again like we did at Mayfield but YS Falls is a little different. There are only but a few places to actually get off the trail and into the river. There is no riverwalk like at Mayfield and the only time spent will be in the few large pools and swimming holes. I also found that most of these pools were more tailored to adults as the water was turbulent and too deep in many places and the rocks were precarious and no fun to stand on in the two pools we did try out.
There was one pool with the rope swing that seemed the more popular swimming hole but this spot is definitely not cut for young ones as the water moves to swiftly and the drop off from the next waterfall is right there. They actually keep a guide posted to watch no one slips over but he’s got a lot of people to watch and a lot of ground to cover if one does slip. I wasn’t very excited about having the kids in this pool alone and we ended up taking a trip further up to see how those were. Of course the water is pretty cold at all the spring fed rivers but there is a much denser treetop canopy at YS Falls and little to no sunlight in many places. The damp dark feeling is nice but very cold for young ones and they could not handle the water for more than 10 minutes without need for a sun break which was hard to come by.
In the end all of the pools were nice but not exactly what we were looking for. We truly enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the waterfalls are much nicer but for a day swimming in the mineral waters from Negril I think Mayfield is a better choice. The fact you can easily rest in many arts of the river and truly enjoy the rushing waters plus the ability to walk directly up the river to the top is much nicer a day overall. We ended up spending most of our time in the man made pool with water recirculated in from the river. It’s very nice to sit in the calm mineral waters under the lush vegetation but I think we would have much preferred actually being in the river.
YS Falls also offers a unique “Canopy Tour” of the area with zip lines tied high up in the trees. You can ride the zip line from the top of the falls down to the bottom for what must be an exhilarating tide. The cost was a bit more than dad was willing to spend for himself and the kids of course are too young. I would say that YS Falls is much better suited to adults and older kids interested in swinging from the ropes and zip lines available. If you’re looking for a relaxing day in the mineral springs I would suggest you try Mayfield Falls instead.
Click here for more pictures of our YS Falls Adventures
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Tags: Jamaica, Jamaica Adventures, Jamaica Adventures, Pictures of Jamaica, Pictures of Jamaica, Things to do in Jamaica, Things to do in Jamaica
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