May 22, 2024
Must Do! - Most iconic views and amazing customer service completely understanding and accommodating. They have everything you need as you walk in.
Review provided by Viator
Feb 4, 2024
Awesome horseback ride, trail and ocean. - Great ride. Our guide, Cecile, was very friendly and took lots of pictures for us. My sister-in-law, an experienced rider, even had a gallop up the hill. Beautiful pool and clean restrooms. Enjoyed the short excursion.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 13, 2024
Had a great time!! - We had a great time horseback riding at Sandy Bay. Our guide, Teddy, was the best! He got great pictures of us and was very knowledgeable about lots of things on the island and of course horses! He made our ride very fun and interesting!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 15, 2023
Chukka Horseback ride and swim - We had a great time today. Our guide was Franki and he took great care of us. This is a nice excursion from the Carnival cruise. It’s a short drive from Montego Bay. They also have good jerk chicken which we took back in the bus with us. My only complaint is that I wished we had a little more time to enjoy the place.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 31, 2023
Happy customer! (White horse) - I had the best experience and the staff was amazing! They went above and beyond to fulfill my very detailed request as I had requested a white horse for a photo session just days before and I’m absolutely happy with the results. I felt safe, engaged and most importantly I had fun. I will definitely visit again. Thank you Chukka!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sep 3, 2023
Awesome horseback riding Excursion in Jamaica - Horseback riding was awesome and the guides was so knowledgeable and made us feel comfortable. Especially Dwayne, he made sure I had the right horse for me because he could see I was a little nervous because I had never rode a horse before. The horse ride on the trail is about 45 minutes, nice and slow you can get us to the horse. The horse ride through the water was amazing and you do have to really hold the water is very high, it’s not very long, but the water felt good after the trail ride in the heat. My family really enjoyed this excursion.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aug 27, 2023
Come prepared -- and worth the wait - Once our group was finally called to ride our horses, it was a great experience. Our guide DWAYNE was fantastic. He made us comfortable and we had a wonderful ride through the jungle and enjoyed seeing cattle and goats in the fields. Dwayne taught us about Akee fruit that was growing abundantly in trees we encountered on our ride. He cautioned that the fruit is toxic before it opens, but delicious when ready and also a national fruit of Jamaica. The horses appeared to be well taken care of and all of the guides were expert riders and a joy to watch. The final part of our ride in the ocean was brief but magical.
A few tips for travelers -- when they advise you to bring water shoes, it's not a suggestion. I hoped to ride barefoot but was forced to buy water shoes in the gift shop. They cost $20 and will be nice to have, but I regretted leaving my own water shoes in the hotel. The drive out there was 45 minutes and it was nice to see the countryside, but be prepared to wait a LONG time to begin your ride. And travel light -- unless you want to rent a locker for $10. But please don't fault the wonderful staff for the long wait. It's clearly by design -- the management's strategy to have captive tourists spend. Save money by bringing water from the hotel and redirect that cash to tip hard working staff.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jun 8, 2024
Don't waste your time or money here. - We booked this excursion through Destination Tours at our hotel. The package we chose was doing the Mini "Speed" boat and then the horseback riding.
Once we checked in and got our bands, we were told we can't bring anything with us on the mini boat so we had to get a locker. They did not tell you where to go to get a locker so I went to the information desk. There were two people sitting there, both on their phones looking like they didn't want to be bothered. I asked where to get a locker and they told me at the gift shop. I went to the gift shop and encountered another person who looked like she also did not want to be bothered. When I asked for a locker and asked how much, she said 20 dollars. My friend happened to be right there and he said he was told it should only be 10 dollars. When I asked again how much she then said 10 dollars. So she tried to rip me off.
We waited 1 1/2 hours for our first excursion and while waiting, listening to the DJs music was awful and she was encouraging all these women to twerk, which isn't my thing. The speed boat is falsely advertised, at least the guide told us right away it's not a speed boat. We went about 9-10 mph.
The horseback ride was definitely not through the mountains. We rodr around in a circle several times while waiting for everyone else to get on their horse. When we finally left the horse corral, we took a quick ride down a road, then to a other road that we had to share with the ATVs, then we were right back to where we started. It wasn't through the mountains and it was maybe about 5 minutes. You then switch horses and ride into the water for about 3 minutes. I actually felt really bad for the horses. Everyone you encountered wanted a tip. We tipped the guides we did the excursions with, but otherwise, I felt like why should I be tipping everyone else. The best part about the place was the guy with all the wood carvings. I bought something from him and wanted to use my card, so I had to go back to the gift shop. The same lady that tried to rip me off was on her phone, didn't even get off her phone, she was really rude. Once we finished our excursions, then it was an hour wait for a ride back. I was ready to get out of there. Don't waste your time or money here. Even though it's a longer drive, the excursions and shops in Ocho Rios are much better.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jan 21, 2024
Not my favorite - The terrible experience wasn’t the excursions fault it was more of our hotels fault we told them we didn’t want to be gone all day and they said we would be gone from 12 to 5. We were gone from 12 to 7. The excursion probably lasted an hour and we were stuck an hour from our hotel so we couldn’t call a taxi or get back anytime soon. They didn’t tell us to get lunch so we were starving. The excursion is also advertised as being in the water you’re probably in the water for 30 seconds be prepared for every single person you come in contact with to ask for a tip, the bus driver on the way there the bus driver on the way back the Cook if you get food in your private excursion, there’s even somebody there on stilts. He’s going to ask you for a tip just because he’s wearing an outfit.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 25, 2023
Horrible rip-off - Absolute rip-off! Don't think you're just paying $99 for the horseback riding. You're forced to take a locker for $10, even if you don't want/need it. Plus, you're required to wear closed-toe shoes, so people ended up buying water shoes (for $20!!!) and you end up being able to take off your shoes for the water portion. Everyone gets weighed before they go in (so everyone on the scale), which is good for the horse's welfare. Unfortunately, my horse was dragged into the water, causing it to hardly breathe and its mouth was open all the time. It looked awful in the photos (thank goodness I didn't have to buy one (!!!) for $20). It's time for me to distance myself from the use of animals for touristic purposes. And I think it's time Chukka does something about this touristic rip-off, since everyone complains about the same thing, which will surely impact future tourism, I am afraid. The guides also asked for tips, so basically, everything possible was done to get money. Briefing in advance (that you have to wear a face mask) was super outdated.
Review provided by Tripadvisor