Dunn's River Falls is a waterfall on the north coast of Jamaica, near Ocho Rios, that drops 55 metres over a run of limestone terraces and pools and spills straight across a beach into the Caribbean, and the thing to do is climb it, from the sea to the top, through the falling water. The falls are travertine, built by the river itself: the spring water is so rich in dissolved limestone that algae and plants pull it out and cement it into new rock, step by step, so the staircase is still growing and the steps are rounded and slick. The climb is done as a chain. Guides link visitors hand in hand and lead them straight up the falling water over the stone steps, with the river pouring around your legs, pausing in the shallow pools between the steeper stretches and sliding down the smooth rock chutes before climbing on; it takes about an hour, and everyone comes out soaked and laughing.
At the foot of the climb the fresh water spreads across a sandy beach and runs into the sea, a trait that sets Dunn's River apart from almost every other waterfall on Earth and the reason the place was famous before anyone climbed it: the beach below was a battlefield in 1657, when the English defeated a Spanish force trying to retake the island, and the Spanish name for this coast, las chorreras, the waterfalls, is probably why the town next door is called Ocho Rios, which has no eight rivers. The falls are the most visited attraction in Jamaica, and the cruise ships in Ocho Rios send their passengers here by the busload, so the chains go up the rock in a line; the early morning, before the ships come in, is when the falls are quiet and the water is yours. Water shoes are hired at the gate, and the climb can be left at any point by wooden stairs beside the falls. Dunn's River is a waterfall you go up rather than look at, and it ends on a beach.