Dunn's River Falls is a famous

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

near Ocho Rios,

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and a major

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

tourist attraction that receives thousands of visitors each year.

Appearance

At about high and long, the waterfalls are terraced like giant natural stairs though some incorporate man-made improvements. Several small lagoons are interspersed among the vertical sections of the falls. The falls empty into the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

at the western end of a white-sand beach.

Tourism

Climbing the waterfalls is a popular tourist activity and is often, but not exclusively, performed with the help of tour guides from the park. It takes about 1-1.5 hours to climb with short breaks for photographs and video recordings taken by the guides. There are also stairs alongside of the falls for those who do not want to get wet or are unable to manage the rocky, uneven terrain of the actual waterfall. The falls are bordered by lush, green vegetation that shades the area from the sun and keeps the area, and climbers, cool. The climb can be relatively hard so is often undertaken as a hand-holding human chain led by a guide to make it easier.

History

Dunns River Falls plaque Photo D Ramey Logan

The falls were the location where the Battle of Las Chorreras took place in 1657, when the British defeated a Spanish expeditionary force from Cuba. A plaque placed at the bottom of the falls by the

Jamaican Historical Society The Jamaican Historical Society is a local history society in Jamaica. The society publishes a journal, the ''Jamaican Historical Review'', as well as a ''Bulletin''. History The Jamaican Historical Society (occasionally also referred to as the ...

commemorates the event (see photo).

Geology

Dunn's River, a short stream dropping only from its source to the sea, is fed by spring water rich with calcium carbonate and deposits

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...

forming a sequence of

tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. ...

terraces. Such waterfalls are described by geologists as "a living phenomenon" because they are continuously rebuilt by the sediments in spring water. Dunn's River Falls is one of the very few travertine waterfalls in the world that empties directly into the sea.

References

{{Geography of Jamaica Waterfalls of Jamaica Geography of Saint Ann Parish Tourist attractions in Saint Ann Parish