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If what you are looking for is to relax and enjoy the wonders of Mother Nature, don’t doubt on visiting Ocho Rios. This enchanting town located on the northeastern shore of Jamaica, is commonly referred to as Ochi, and it offers a number of unique attractions including shopping, restaurants, nightlife and a wide variety of Ocho Rios vacation rentals. The town is a very popular destination for cruise ships and it is well known for its scuba diving opportunities and other water sports. Once a fishing village, Ocho Rios is today one of the fastest growing towns of the Caribbean with a population of about 96,000 people.

Things to do in Ocho Rios
Although the town is many times overlooked by tourists who only spend here a couple of hours, there are many things to do. Besides the popular water sports as scuba diving, Ocho Rios is home to the famous Dunn’s River Falls. These waterfalls which span some 180 meters have been the site for movies and are one of the most famous attractions in the Caribbean. Visitors like to climb them and very often do so with the help of a guide. The fall’s climate is excellent due to the green vegetation which covers the side of the falls, helping shade the area from the sun.

Other popular site is the Ferm Gully. This lush gore has a tremendous depth which zig-zags for about four miles from the coast up to the central mountain area. The idea of visiting this site is to appreciate the profusion of tropical ferns and the foliage found in tropical rain forests.

The Shaw Park Gardens and Waterfalls are other option. Located on hilltop that overlooks the waters of the Caribbean Sea, these gardens offer an approximate of twenty-five miles of tropical beauty. There is a waterfall that cascades down a rocky course and the gardens offer hundreds of species of plants, flowers and trees. There is a natural spring pool where visitors like to relax and a specialized area for picnics. The entrance fee to the gardens is about $10 USD and group rates are also available.

Ocho Rios Market and People
If you are looking to get a souvenir Ocho Rio offers a huge arts and crafts market where you will find typical things like wooden fish and parrots, Jamaican caps and t-shirts. A disadvantage of this market is that it is very difficult to bargain. Sellers know tourists have plenty of money to spend.

Although I have to admit that I am tired of reality shows and contests that make participants live through hell in a ferocious competition for money, I would also say that The Biggest Loser Season 7 from NBC has been a true inspiration and a reality contest that I feel like recommending. While I have never been overweighed myself (I think thanks to my digestive system more than anything else), I do feel empathy for people that struggle with weight, especially in a society like ours with so many double standards and contradictions. We are constantly bombarded with images of happy people, skinny, beautiful with perfect skin, perfect hair, perfect everything and on the other hand there is always the Big Mac, the Big Coke, and the famous Starbucks Venti (I still don’t understand why can’t they use regular size names).  How can a normal mortal keep a normal weight with so many “Tall,” “Grande,” and “Venti” options?

This is why I have liked the Helen Phillips and the Biggest Loser story. I truly admire Helen Phillips and all the participants particularly the finalists. Yes, I still think that this kind of shows are no more than marketing tools and another of our “perfect world” representations where there is always a happy ending, but this show, in my opinion, it’s a little different.  While other reality contests seem to be a disloyal and unfair competition of what they call talent; in the Biggest Loser participants are truly battling with themselves and there is nothing they can do or say to make the other look bad, at the end the scale decides.

This week we saw the 3-hour season finale of Biggest Loser; revealing that 48-year old Helen had lost the largest percent of weight (55%) therefore winning the challenge and a very likable $250,000 grand prize. Season 7 was unique compared to previous seasons because it had the heaviest, the oldest, the sickest and the youngest contestants throughout the history of the show. Season 8 of this show will start in September and casting for season 9 is now open. For now, as a travel enthusiast I believe that Helen Phillips should book a luxurious Caribbean vacation rental and enjoy her triumph in a paradisiacal beach while listening to the sound of waves. She has gone through great lengths to win the challenge. She deserves it!