Out of everything we did in Jamaica, the Martha Brae Bamboo River Rafting was hands down my favorite. It’s so unique to Jamaica and we learned so much about the native fruits and plants that grow there. It was such a peaceful and romantic ride that didn’t take up the entire day to do.

ALL ABORD! These guys have this down to an art form. They are so skilled at maneuvering the rafts and work together so well. It was a breeze getting onto a raft and only took about 2 minutes to board.

Back in January there was a massive flood that destroyed all the rafts and most of the bamboo that grows native on the river. They were out of commission for about three weeks and you can still see the ruins of some broken bamboo. Luckily, bamboo grows an average of 2 inches per day! 

How to Book

I booked this excursion through Island Routes and I’d highly recommend it. Island Routes had a kiosk at the hotel where they booked various excursions for you so this one was very simple to book and the shuttle was included in the price. It’s a little pricy at $80 a person but this one ended up being our favorite so it was well worth it.

Timing

One thing that made this excursion great was that it didn’t take the full day! It took about 2 hours in total, 30 minute drives then 30 minutes on the raft itself.

Tipping

One of our biggest debates while in Jamaica was how to tip. Since the resort was all inclusive it took us a day or so to figure out that you tip a dollar or two (USD) for each meal.  But for the excursions, we noticed some people tipped while others did not. It got a little confusing because you have the shuttle service to the event and then multiple people working the event to where it’s difficult to decide who to tip. For this excursion, the shuttle ride was included in the package so we tipped $2, but we were the only ones who tipped. For the captain of our raft, the tipping process was really cool. Essentially, towards the end of 40 minute ride, your captain will show you some things that he personally carved, by hand, which I thought was super cool. I love buying souvenirs that are unique and that I cannot buy anywhere else so this was perfect. We ended up purchasing something for $30 and just used that our tip. As far as what the other couples did, it seemed to be an even split between tipping in cash and purchasing something.