The Rabbit Hole at Reach Fall - Manchioneal Adventures - Part 1

Greetings roadies!

Have you ever been to Reach Falls? Located in Manchioneal Portland, Reach Falls and Reach Falls was apparently discovered by runaway slaves from plantations in the neighbouring parish of St Thomas who sought refuge in the hills of the John Crow mountains. Typically, Kingstonians stick to the beaches between the Port Antonio and San San stretch, but Reach Falls is one of those rivers in Portland that's on the east side and close to St. Thomas.  We made our journey via the St. Thomas route. Not much has changed here since our last trip except new COVID-19 sanitary measures (check out downdiroad.com/reachfalls/ for those highlights).

The property is still beautiful and pristinely clean, and the water is still ever so refreshing! One thing to note though is that like the other river's we've visited in Portland this summer, the water levels were low. It seems this was an island-wide thing in the summer, but even more indicative of the effects of global warming that is becoming more and more prevalent. In this adventure, we made it our point of duty to visit a new part of the property we have never been to; the Rabbit Hole. Reach Falls’ upper waterfall system is made up of multiple tunnels and rock cavities and the Rabbit Hole is located on the upper end of the property in a very scenic and remote are not widely visited by patrons. If you ask a lifeguard they will be happy to show you where. This specific cavity is called the ‘Rabbit Hole’ because just like in the cartoon movie Alice in Wonderland; when you jump in it feels like you’ve just entered a whole new world! It's a little intimidating at first especially because looking from the top you don’t know what’s down there, but once you jump you realize that even though some parts are deep, there are many areas you can stand. Inside is super surreal, it’s really like another world. You can make your way right through the cave and exit at another hole at the other end.

All in all, the Rabbit Hole was an amazing experience, and the surrounding water pools were so blue it almost looks like somebody poured food colouring in the water! Entry is only $500 JMD, so make the trip while you can! Our day wasn't done yet, we left Reach Falls and headed to find another mystery; Turtle Bay.