Short trip report and a few afterthoughts...

Been home for a week now and still don't seem rested up. Spent a wonderfull 8 nights in Negril. First 4 nights at Xtabi on the cliffs, second 4 at Couples Negril. We definitely started things right by hiring Kingsley (actually Robert) to drive us from the airport to Xtabi. A stop at a grocery, a couple roadside stands for some fruit and coconut jelly(never heard of that before), and of course...cold Red Stripe. All No Problem! Robert seemed to look after us at the local stops. Stayed in a garden side room at Xtabi. Had AC but the TV did not work. Our second best decision was to not reporting it...we didn't need it anyway. We quickly got to know the staff by name as well as them knowing ours. I put my vote in they have the best Dirty Bananas. Couldn't get to the bar quick enough to try my first one. We enjoyed early breakfasts then to the water for a couple hours or so of snorkelling. Saw a good variety of fish, lots of Lionfish, eels, an octopus (!!!!) and a true highlight of snorkelling was to be able to swim along for quite some time with a large Eagle Ray. We found most places didn't open for breakfast 'til 7:30am. We are early risers so it always seemed we were getting a late start to the day. Oh well, my remedy for that was to have a few Red Stripes on the balcony as the sun came up. Jerk chicken at 3 Dives...curry and Conch soup at Chicken Lavish...Canoe Bar...forget what we had to eat there but had good Dirty Bananas as well especially when there during happy hour. The list goes on... Wonderful food, cold Red Stripe and great people along the way. We love to walk where we go but as most of you know, that can be, well, an experience in itself on the cliff road. Started an afternoon on the beach with lunch at Kuyaba. Enjoyed walking the beach, stopping in anywhere that looked inviting for a beer and/or a bite of food, all with frequent trips back to the water to float and cool off. I could go on but... along comes day 5. Time to move to CN. Caught a ride to a different world. We pull up to the AI CN. Beautiful! People were very polite and attentive. Room wasn't ready yet, which we figured on, so we were already dressed for the pool. No problem! The pool really was great. That was the one thing, and I do say ONE thing, we missed on the cliffs. As we wondered around the grounds I keep saying "toto, we're not in Kansas anymore". I felt a reverse culture shock...where did all these tourist come from? The drunken wedding party around the swim up bar made me feel like I was back at Fort Lauterdale on Spring Break. Oh well, that was only the first day. The rest of the days at the pool were the normal festive mood and not quite as drunk. Water sports was great. Never had to wait to use any of the equipment such as kayaks and Hobiecats. Nice snorkelling on a shallow reef even though we were spoiled with the cliffs. Food was plenty and you could eat about any time you wanted. I'm a bit of a foodie but not picky. Buffet was very average. Other restaurants were again good but very average. I was having a great time at CN but all the while missed where we were. I have been to some VERY nice AL resorts in the carribean. I felt we had moved from rustic on the cliffs to just very average... This was our first trip to Negril and certainly not our last. No offense to CN but will be our last time there. We feel splitting our time between the cliffs and the beach was a great idea. Next time our beach time will NOT be an AI.

Nice report,thanks for sharing!!

Hi Brewticus. Nice report. Were the lion fish big enough to eat, and how deep were they. I'm going to have to spear me some. They are an invasive species that is taking over the reefs in the caribean, eating all the younger reef fish. Attachment 26054 YUMM.

hehe --- you got it!

Yummy indeed!! Lionfish is some really good food. I'm with you, catch these suckers and fry them up for dinner. Truly, a nice mild fish to nyam! :)

Brewticus thanks for sharing!!

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Originally Posted by Brewticus

Next time our beach time will NOT be an AI.

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I feel you on that comment...I've done AI's for 5yrs and my first non-AI in Jan this year and vow to neva go back to an AI again (Unless Im taking my mother) lol...It's a total different vibe IMO...

Great report! We have also stayed at Couples Negril. We did enjoy our stay but will definitely be on the cliffs for our next visit. Couples Negril is very relaxing and we enjoyed the staff and the facilities a lot. We pretty much avoided the buffet and ate in the traditional restaurants and some things were better than others but nothing was as good as meals we had off the resort property. The beach was gorgeous though.

You may enjoy a non -AI on the beach. A quieter much the opposite of CN. Lots of quaint, romantic, wonderful spots like the cliffs, but on the beach