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Ocho Rios

Ocho Rios Jamaica Information and History

When people speak of Ocho Rios, they are also including Runaway Bay and Discovery Bay, bordering to the west of the island. During Columbus second voyage to the new world in 1494 he sailed into Discovery Bay, hence the name.

In the last twenty five years Ocho Rios has grown from a small fishing village to a world class tourist destination.

Translated in Spanish the name Ocho Rios, means "eight rivers". However there are not eight rivers in town. The confusion began in 1657, the English fought off a Spanish expeditionary force on a raid from nearby Cuba. The battle took place near Dunn's River Falls. The Spanish called the site las chorreros, meaning river rapids. The English misunderstood the Spanish reference. Therefore, the English interpretation became Ocho Rios, which sounded close enough.

Historically, Ocho Rios had never acquired any prominent role to either the English or the Spanish. It was, however, utilised by pirates who along with Port Royal, regarded it as a perfect base of operations.

In the 1940's, Ocho Rios took on an industrial character when Reynolds Jamaica Mines, built a deep water-pier west of town. An overhead conveyor belt carried the ore 6.3 miles from the Reynolds open-cast mines at Lynford, in the hills south of the town.

The bay of Ocho Rios is a beautiful place marred only by the bauxite loading facility, which now stands idle since the company pulled out of Jamaica in the 1980s.

Ocho Rios extends four miles between Dunn's River Falls, two miles to the west of the town centre and the White River, two miles to the east. Almost all the development outside the centre is to the east. A good place to get your bearings is Shaw Park Gardens, which offers a bird's eye view over Ocho Rios.

In the last twenty five years, "Ochie" has grown from a small fishing village to a world class tourist destination.

Shopping rivals any in the Caribbean. The natural beauty of places like Eden Falls, Fern Gully and Shaw Park Botanical Gardens attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. World famous Dunn's River Falls is but one of the many attractions found in and around Ocho Rios, But without a doubt the best known. Some say it is impossible to get a bad picture of the 600 foot falls. Hundreds of people climb the falls each day with the help of experienced guides. Others choose to splash around in the ice cold crystal clear pools of the falls or swim in the ocean at the base of the falls.

Ocho Rios Map

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