Catamaran Cruises in Jamaica

A catamaran day is one of the easiest ways to see Jamaica’s coast: rum punch, music, a swim stop and, depending on where you are, a sunset at Rick’s Café or a climb up Dunn’s River Falls. Hurricane Melissa hit the western boat operators hardest, and not every company is back, so this list only includes the cruises I could confirm on the operator’s own website or in its own announcement. It’s organized by area. Prices are the operators’ own, they change often, and you should check them before you book.

Montego Bay: Dreamer Catamarans

Dreamer is the long-running Montego Bay sailing company, family owned since 1987, with its office on Kent Avenue in White Sands. Its Sail and Snorkel trip stops to swim and snorkel in the Montego Bay Marine Park, with a stairway at the front of the boat that lowers into the water, then calls at Margaritaville for the waterslide when sea and weather allow. The morning trip is for families and the afternoon trip is adults only. Dreamer lists it at US$100 for adults in the morning and US$110 in the afternoon, US$75 for teens 12 to 15 and US$50 for children under 12.

Dreamer also lists a two-hour sunset cruise with a live musician, an open bar and appetizers (US$115 for adults and teens, US$75 for children), and a longer cruise down the coast to Negril’s Seven Mile Beach and Rick’s Café for the sunset (US$200 for adults and teens, US$150 for children). If the sea is too rough to land at Rick’s jetty, Dreamer says passengers go ashore elsewhere and take a bus to Rick’s. Hotels outside Montego Bay pay an extra transfer charge, and you reserve online with a US$10 deposit per person, then the office confirms.

Status: Dreamer updated its tour pages in May. Two tours, the Dreamer Deluxe and the Negril Sail and Snorkel, are marked temporarily not available. For a trip in the next two days, Dreamer asks you to call (876) 979-0102. The drawback is the party: the afternoon sail and the Negril cruise are lively, so pick the morning family trip if you want a quieter swim.

West of Montego Bay: Chukka’s party catamaran at Sandy Bay

Chukka’s Ocean Outpost at Sandy Bay, in Hanover on the road to Lucea, includes a party catamaran cruise in its Ocean Outpost Pass, listed from US$163.90 with transfers from Montego Bay and Negril. The web-only Best of the West package, from US$129, gives you a choice of the catamaran or a reef snorkel, plus the ocean zip line, a truck safari and rum tasting. The drawback: the party catamaran is 18 and over, so families with children choose the snorkel trip instead. My Chukka Sandy Bay guide covers the rest of the outpost.

Negril: Couples resorts’ sunset sail (guests only)

If you’re staying at Couples Negril or Couples Swept Away, a sunset catamaran cruise with rum punch and swimming off the hull is included in your stay. Couples says it sails up to four times a week and requires a minimum three-night stay; it isn’t offered at the two Ocho Rios Couples resorts. The obvious drawback is that you have to be a guest. See my guides to Couples Negril and Couples Swept Away.

For everyone else in Negril, Dreamer’s cruise from Montego Bay ends at Rick’s Café for the sunset, and Island Routes, below, has said its Negril catamarans are back.

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Negril and Ocho Rios: Island Routes

Island Routes, the Caribbean tour company, announced that its catamaran and powerboat tours in Negril and Ocho Rios would resume from December 6, with some routes temporarily modified for safety. Its website couldn’t be checked for current schedules and prices when I updated this page, so book directly with Island Routes and confirm the trip, the boarding point and what’s included. That uncertainty is the drawback: until I can see current details, I can’t tell you which of its cruises are running on which days.

Ocho Rios: Chukka catamarans from Dunn’s River Falls

Chukka’s Ocho Rios catamarans sail from the beach at the base of Dunn’s River Falls. The simplest is an afternoon sail with an open bar and a DJ, from US$79 per person without transfers. The classic “sail and falls” day adds a reef snorkel stop, the climb up the falls and lunch, from US$139 with transfers from Ocho Rios, Runaway Bay and Falmouth, or US$149 with transfers from Montego Bay. There’s also a pass that adds Chukka’s zip line over the falls, from US$139. For groups, Chukka lists a private three-hour morning charter with snorkel gear and drinks at US$2,200 for up to 30 people.

Chukka’s limits are a minimum age of 6 and a maximum weight of 265 lb on the afternoon sail and 275 lb on the sail and falls day, and you need closed-toe shoes for the falls. The drawback is the crowd: Dunn’s River is busiest when cruise ships are in, and the boats fill up on those days too.

Closed or unconfirmed

• Jamwest catamaran, Negril: Jamwest’s website still lists a sunset catamaran from Jamwest Beach to Rick’s Café, but the site hasn’t been updated since before October 2025 and I couldn’t find an official update. Call Jamwest on 876-475-7588 before you plan around it.
• Cool Runnings Catamarans, Ocho Rios: its website, with cruises from Mahogany Beach, hasn’t been updated in years, and I couldn’t confirm it’s sailing.
• Other Montego Bay charters: the Tourist Board’s February reopenings list showed several Montego Bay boat operators still closed. If an operator isn’t on this page, ask it directly when it last sailed.

Which cruise to pick

My take: in Montego Bay, Dreamer’s morning sail and snorkel is the easy family choice and its sunset cruise is the one for couples. In Ocho Rios, Chukka’s sail and falls day packs the most into one morning, though it’s busy. In Negril, the sunset at Rick’s Café is the point, and the Couples resorts include it if you’re staying there. If snorkeling matters more than the party, my guide to snorkeling and boat trips in Jamaica covers the reefs and marine parks, and for a day out deep-sea fishing, see fishing charters in Jamaica. Several Chukka passes pair a sail with a zip line, and my guide to zip lining in Jamaica compares those. For where to stay on the west end of the north coast, see where to stay in Montego Bay.