Home > Negril > Black River, YS Falls and Appleton Rum Estate Day Trip from Negril
USD $90.00
Black River, YS Falls and Appleton Rum Estate Day Trip from Negril
Negril, Jamaica
While Negril’s beaches are undeniably gorgeous, there’s more natural beauty to be found in Jamaica in addition to white-sand shores — discover the delights of the island’s less-visited St Elizabeth parish on this activity-filled day trip! You’ll take a boat ride down the Black River, looking for native birds, alligators and other wildlife; go for a swim at the bottom of YS Falls; and tour one of the country’s oldest rum distilleries, Appleton Estate, where tastings await. Lunch and hotel transport are included.
PLEASE NOTE: The Appleton Rum Estate is currently undergoing renovations and is closed for all tours. The estate is scheduled to reopen in October 2017.
Your tour starts with hotel pickup in Negril by comfortable coach for the 50-mile (80-km) drive southeast to the parish of St Elizabeth, where the Black River — one of Jamaica’s longest — flows toward the Caribbean Sea.
Upon arrival, hop aboard a pontoon boat with your local guide for your 1-hour journey along the slow-moving river, bordered on both sides by trees, bushes and other vegetation that create a lush, tropical setting. Watch for native birds like herons and egrets, and as you cruise past the mangrove marshes, keep an eye out for the river’s most notorious inhabitants — crocodiles!
After your boat ride, enjoy a traditional Jamaican lunch of chicken, fish or pork before making the 30-minute drive north to YS Falls. When you arrive at the 120-foot (37-meter) waterfall, where water from the YS River pours down seven tiers of cliffs, use the changing rooms to put on your swimsuit, and then you’re free to enjoy the falls however you wish. Take a dip in the cool waters, walk along the river pathway or just relax on the riverbank and enjoy the scene.
Finally, return to your coach for the 25-minute drive to your last destination, Appleton Estate, one of Jamaica’s oldest distilleries, which has been producing high-quality rum for more than 250 years. Tour the property to see Appleton's copper pot stills, which give the rum a distinctive flavor, and get a look at the oak barrels, where some of the premium rums age for up to 30 years. You’ll also learn about Appleton’s prestigious history and fermentation process, during which water naturally filtered by limestone is combined with sugar cane molasses and a special yeast culture, which results in its much-lauded flavor.
Once you’ve discovered how and where Appleton rum is made, enjoy a tasting! Try different types of Jamaican rums and rum liqueurs, and then head back to Negril, where your tour ends with hotel drop-off.
It was a fun trip with a very knowledgeable guide. We were nervous about being picked up because we weren't able to call within 24 hours, but they were there without any problems.
Review by: briankeithross, January 2017
Great tour! The tour guide was awesome!
Review by: 42-499, January 2017
Die Agentur hat vergessen uns abzuholen. Es hat keine Tour stattgefunden. Wir haben mehrfach die Agentur und Viator angerufen und angeschrieben und um die Erstattung des gezahlten Betrages gebeten. Der Kontakt war schwierig, da niemand in der Lage war einen deutschsprachigen Agenten an das Telefon zu holen. Bis heute wurde weder der Betrag erstattet noch hat sich Viator dazu schriftlich geaeussert.
Review by: Katherine W, October 2016
This tour was great! Lots of crocodiles in the black river, the YS falls was neat, although strange - you basically get a guide that takes you around the falls and takes all sorts of pictures of you on your own camera. I wasn't expecting a bikini photoshoot that day but some of the pictures were actually really nice and I'm glad we did it! You couldn't really maneuver the falls without the guides' help/ I think this is better than Dunn's falls because your group gets their own guide, where at Dunn's falls you have to hold hands with a bunch of strangers! Appleton estate was great - a tour of the grounds and factory and then a rum tasting - they basically left us in a room with a bunch of bottles of rum and there was no limit to the number of tastings you could have! The tour also included lunch and all-you-can-drink rum punch at Appleton's, it was delicious! All in all it was a great day and I would do it again!
Review by: Chris B, August 2016
This was a really great tour, but expect it to take up the whole day. We left the hotel at 8:30 am. After about an hour and a half ride, we arrived at the black river. This tour was really fun. The guide was very knowledgeable and did a great job getting the crocs to come out and swim to the boat. He even reached over and fed one and grabbed her leg. see pics
Review by: Shane C, July 2016
Great our, friendly tour guide and bus driver. I left my phone on the bus after being dropped off at our hotel and this was returned to me the next morning when I met the driver at reception. The crocodiles are great to see and the trip up the river is very relaxing. The Y.S Falls are amazing and very different to the Dunn's Fall which we visited the week previous. My girlfriend and I felt that more time at the falls, maybe 90 mins instead of the given 60 would be a good change. Time spent changing before and after getting wet takes time out of this already short time here at such a beautiful place. The Appleton rum tour was shorter than expected but still great to see and sample their large variety of rums after the tour. The price was far less than what our rep quoted is also, we wish we'd tried booking through trip advisor from the start.
Review by: Alicia W, July 2016
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Jim S, June 2016
This was an excellent excursion! It was quite the shuttle ride from Negril, but it was well worth it. I kept thinking that we didn't have enough time at the Black River and the YS Falls, but by the time you return to Negril, you are beat and it has been a full day. Our specific day lasted almost 11 hrs. The pictures and memories will be with us forever. This is a must see excursion if you want to see a wide variety of the culture Jamaica offers. Well done!
Review by: jeffery n, May 2016
Great time on the tours, just a lot of time on the bus
Review by: Anthony E, May 2016
The boat trip was amazing and staff very entertaining. Won and #39;t dry to much as wouldn and #39;t like to spoil it for anyone. Would like to have had more time at YS Falls but it did rain the entire time we was there, think it has its own micro weather system due to the mountains. Rum factory great. Great day.
Review by: Boosky's0416, April 2016
Good tour if you like to take in the local scene. The ride is very long. The scenery along the ride is awesome. The black river tour was interesting but I could have lived without it. _br/_ The falls weren't crowded when we were there. We only got an hour at the falls. But they are even more beautiful in person. _br/_ The included lunch was awesome. _br/_ Be careful at the rum factory. I mention that because there are a lot of opportunities to sample the products. Some people don't know when enough is enough. As i mentioned before, its a long ride back to your hotel.
Review by: Joanna S, February 2016
We really enjoyed this tour, it has a lot of variety and it was great value for money. Our tour guide, Ralph, was brilliant and answered lots of questions about Jamaican culture as we travelled to the first attraction. We really enjoyed the Black River boat tour. The guide was really knowledgable about the animals and plants which inhabit the area. YS falls is beautiful, we could only spend an hour there, which was enough time to check out the waterfall but you could happily spend an afternoon enjoying the different swimming pools. The Appleton Rum tour was really enjoyable and they are very generous with the free drinks which was a great way to end the tour!
Review by: Victor P, January 2016
Black river was cool but we should have gone up the river further. We kept kept looking for crocks at the bottom that didn't come out. We switched Appleton and YS which was good because after appleton you really needed a swim.
Review by: Karalee F, January 2016
We waited for over 2 hrs and they never showed to pick us up for our tour and we couldn't get a hold of a real person that knew anything about our tour, only someone at a call center that wasn't able to help us at all. I will not be using this company again.
Review by: Melissa L, December 2015
This full day tour provided a great variety of experiences. The tour guide at Black River was extremely knowledgeable about the preserve and the animals and the boat ride was a great break from the beach. YS falls is gorgeous and with a picnic lunch you could easily spend half a day lounging and swimming in the falls, the cold pool and the warm pool. The tour guide at Appleton provided a great background into the history and process and their were great gifts to bring home from the shop.
Review by: Linda W, November 2015
fun trip but long ride from and to Negril. great hostess and driver, loved the Appleton tour
Review by: Susan M, September 2015
The one thing I would change about the tour is the black river boat ride. Not that interesting. Add a little more time to the falls.
Review by: Yamila G, June 2015
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Steve B, June 2015
overall it was a fun trip, but we were not provided with a lot of important details about how long it would take to get to our destination, or things we would need when we got there. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and fun and our driver was great at navigating the treacherous roads.
Review by: Cynthia S, May 2015
Great Day. It is long though, bring a snack and water since the Appleton factory is last. There were only four of us booked that day, we had a great driver Scott and a super guideRalph who was very knowledgeable. I would recommend this as long as you can take lots of driving time.
Review by: Connie S, April 2015
Dispite the long bus ride all three places were fun and inviting! We went to YS Falls in the past and were happy that they did not have drought conditions! We loved the Black River tour along with the Appleton Rum Plant!
Review by: Destiny Marie G, March 2015
Amazing service from Ralph our tour guide and as an added bonus we got to hold a baby crocodile at the black river Safari tour! The unlimited rum samples ended the tour with a bang! Definitely worth the trip can't wait to return to Jamaica!
Review by: dawn b, February 2015
Long, long day...most of it on a bus. Appleton tour caps off with all you can drink samples!
Review by: Vincenzo L, February 2015
This tour was amazing!
Review by: Jennifer M, January 2015
It was great to have various flavors of Jamaica! The tour guides were great! The only issues I had was not being able to sit next to my boyfriend during the long drive (other tourists were super friendly though) and not being able to eat breakfast since pick up was scheduled at 8am. Recommend trip!
Review by: Rebecca M, December 2014
It was great. Not a lot of time at YS falls. Otherwiseit was amazing
Review by: Krystal V, October 2014
This tour was great. We got to see the real jamaica. The ride was a bit long but the sightseeing was worth it. The lunch we got was amazing. I enjoyed the experience.
Review by: merty2000, October 2014
Amazing trip, awesome views and everything.
Review by: gaga12348, September 2014
Excellent tour I love only to short in ys falls .guide was awesome
Review by: Jennifer A, August 2014
We enjoyed the tour as we got to see a lot of different things and the different cities/towns within Jamaica. Unfortunately the bus ride was very long which made for a long day.
Review by: Nathan R, June 2014
My wife and I really enjoyed this tour! The guide was super nice! Like most people said, wish there was more time at YS Falls bc it was beautiful but all 3 stops were really fun!
Review by: Wendy B, May 2014
We travelled as a group of 6 to Negril and were all interested in different tours. This tour was well worth the money as it covered everything that we wanted to do._br/_
We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. _br/_
Our only complaint was that we wished we had more time at the YS Falls. We were only there for 50 minutes._br/_
There was a lot that we could do there but not enough time._br/_
Our next trip to Negril we will just spend the day there to enjoy everything that it had to offer.
Review by: Thomas C, May 2014
Excellent tour! Lots of fun. A must do for anyone visiting Jamaica.
Review by: Robert L, April 2014
Great way to seeing Jamaica attractions.
Review by: Stacy S, March 2014
Awesome trip! Loved the falls and the guides were great!
Review by: Marsha C, February 2014
On time, good pace, plenty to photograph, informative and pleasant.
Review by: Ashley Z, February 2014
Great experience!! The best tour we booked and the most for your money!! Tour guide and driver was amazing! Very highly recommended and will definitely take this one again!!
Review by: Michael K, January 2014
We booked our trip through Viator, but didn't get confirmation, even after an email. We had to call and were worried, but they did pick us up. Our trip was a little over 10 hours long, which is not what they quoted us, but we were okay, luckily we were not due back anywhere. The Black River Safari Guide was funny and very knowledgeable about his tour…we loved Little George, the alligator. The YS Falls were absolutely breathtaking…we want to re-visit just the falls. We didn't get but under an hour here, a little disappointed. The Appleton Rum Estate Tour was interesting…we absolutely enjoyed the rum, but our tour guide was rude and even a little nasty to the elder people in our group. When they were talking, she would get extremely upset and call them out…embarrass people. My lunch was disgusting. I had a vegetarian lunch…they gave me a very cold and hard piece of fish. The drink sampling was good. It turned us onto new Appleton Estate rums that we really really enjoyed. Our auto guides were informative, but a little boring. On the way back, we all had drank so much, and needed to go to the bathroom and they didn't stop anywhere…after a couple hours of driving. And, because it was a very bumpy/curvy ride, many of us almost had "potty" accidents. I definitely wouldn't do the tour again, but it was a decent tour.
Review by: Janice J, December 2013
What a great tour! Lots of variety and informative guide. Could have spent more time at YS but would have to cut out something else and it was all too great to miss a thing.
Review by: Amie I, December 2013
The black River and YS Falls were absolutely amazing! The rum tour was very interesting however lunch there made me sick. It was worth going regardless. The tour company was very organized and arrived on time. The tour guide did an excellent job.
Review by: Laurie A. F, December 2013
The safari, YS falls, and Appleton were all great. However be Aware from Negril it's a 3 hour drive. Also everything was a bit rushed, and we only had about 10 minutes for rum tasting. The dinner provided was delicious jerk chicken. We would chose this tour again.
Review by: Laureen B, December 2013
Tour was wonderful. Ladies on the bus were funny and friendly and made the bus ride fun even though we had a small group that was pretty low-key! Drive was about 1.5 hours but well worth it. Crocodiles on Black River were HUGE and this was totally a cool stop. Beautiful mangrove scenery. The YS falls were also beautiful and the guys there help you walk on them and take photos for you for tip - excellent photos! We of course wished we stayed longer at falls than 45 min-hour, but understand we are fitting in 3 tour places. The Appleton Estate was awesome also...beautiful scenery and mountains, and such a smaller factory to produce so much rum - WOW. My only comment was when I tried to call Tourwise Limited via phone number on voucher to confirm hotel pickup location/time, it kept ringing and no VM machine. Then I found their Facebook and website online and also emailed two different email addresses. I was so worried first days of trip that this wasn't legit as they had no way to contact them via email or phone number. So it would've saved me a great deal of worry to have finally had Tourwise Limited email me back, or have a voicemail machine and call me back. This was the only disappointing part. What if I had changed hotels and had no way to contact them? I also wrote VIATOR.COM customer service to ask for another phone number or contact info. You say you get back to us in 12-24 hours or 36 hrs in extreme cases. I NEVER HEARD FROM YOU. So you're customer service failed. Not sure if I will book a tour through your website ever again. So tour, when we got picked up, wa GREAT. But these details were not and that's why the 4 and not a 5.
Review by: jennamarie.mitchell, August 2013
YS Falls was the best part! It was fun to jump off the falls into the water below! :) The Black River was cool also, and it was neat to learn so much about the local wildlife (and get upclose with crocodiles!). Of course the rum factory was a hit! Beware, it stinks but you get used to it after awhile. Also, be ready to spend a lot of time driving. All three places are fairly distant from eachother and it was close to a 3 hour car ride back to our hotel in Negril from Appleton.
Review by: Stacie B, July 2013
Anita was a great guide to our small group. Roger at Black Safari did a very good job and it was a great experience. Our tour in my eyes though small had a more personable tour with extras. I would use the services again anywhere. #TexasTourist
Review by: Jennifer B, July 2012
The trip was awesome...Georgia and the driver Scotty did a fantastic job. Georgia was very knowledgable and made the almost two hour drive fly by.
Review by: Brenda R, April 2012
Except for the being told that we had to wait for a later date to take excursions because not enough at the time and we had a flat tire with our excursion plus it rained on the posponed. The excursion itself was very good. We enjoy using viator for excursions. If is wan't for us to notify of course 24 hours in advance we were wondering if we would of been notified of the delay.
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