Rio Grande Bamboo Rafting

Original Rafting · Portland

Rating: 4.7 / 5

The Rio Grande flows from the Blue and John Crow Mountains down to the Caribbean near Port Antonio, and was the birthplace of Jamaican bamboo rafting as a tourist activity — the credit usually going to Hollywood actor Errol Flynn, who raced bananas on the river with friends from his Portland estate in the 1940s. Trips today start at Berrydale, with licensed captains poling two-passenger bamboo rafts on a roughly three-hour journey down to Rafters' Rest at St. Margaret's Bay. The scenery — sheer rainforest, pools and little riverside stalls — is the most beautiful rafting trip on the island.