Mr and Mrs Sandman go to Port Antonio

Day 1
Things went great yesterday. We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and the priority lineups were very short. The flight from Toronto seemed to go by quickly, I never watched much tv, just a couple episodes of 2 broke girls. One thing worth mentioning though, the landing at mbj was by far the hardest I have ever experienced in a airplane, it wasn't expected so it was more of a shock than scary. But we made it.
I had decided to purchase the Club Mobay arrival package, but my wife had no knowledge of it (that there even was such a thing). We get off the plane and start walking, it wasn't long before we get to where there are 3 beautiful Jamaican ladies holding up little signs. I pointed them out to wife but she didn't clue in right away. Then she saw our names and was a little confused at first, then excited. It turned out the lineups were not very long going thru the airport so we probably only saved half an hour, but we ended up hanging in the lounge to enjoy the free liquor and food (which pretty much meant we blew our time savings lol). The servers in the lounge were so friendly it was hard to leave, we even had a couple take out rum punches to carry with us when we finally left. We negotiated a cab ride and we we off to the Ridgway guest house, really a place walking distance from the airport. They were expecting us and we quickly had a room, a/c in full effect. After a quick cleanup we had our walking shoes (sandals) on and we were off. We left the hotel about 3 pm in the direction of the hip strip. It was a very fun afternoon being able to check out mobay like that, I have spent very little time there in the past. Had a feast of jerk chicken and pork at the pork pit. Wasn't cheap but it was very good, ended up ordering a second round of pork. We were down on one of the beaches when a local came up and started talking to us. He explained how we should walk in a certain direction that will take us to the area where most tourists would never go. Well of course we checked it out and it was a eye opener. I don't know what the area is called but one main street was Market street, and a market it was. For 2 hours we never saw another person with white skin, we wandered thru the masses of people enjoying the sights and smells. In one spot there was a huge Christmas tree, had to be 40 feet tall, lit up beautifully. Unfortunately I decided to leave both my phone and camera in the room as I hadn't planned to taking any pictures, big mistake. Well after dark we decided to start making our way back to the hotel. Naturally we stopped for drinks along the way, including Margaritaville. Had a few very delicious daiquiris (and $$$). A couple more stops as we stopped, one place called Fishbones, they had a sign that looked very similar to a tattoo I have so I wanted to stop there.
We walked by Glorianna hotel, a place we had originally booked then cancelled after reading some very negative reviews. Man, that was a good decision. There is a small barber shop attached and there were a large group of locals hanging nearby, music screaming from one of the vehicles. It was one of the few times in the day I was asked the usual questions (weed, coke??) So this mornings we are enjoying coffee on our private deck. Going to go get some breakfast then hopefully our car rental guy shows at 11 as arranged. Then we are off to Port Antonio. Stay tuned....

Please be aware I cut and pasted this from another site so the days are a bit off (we arrived in Mobay Jan 21) Today is Dec 26. And I am sorry for no pictures, I am having a problem downloading them from my sd card to this netbook. Working on it....

Day 2 started great enjoying coffee on the deck of our room at the Ridgeway guest house. After enjoying the brew we needed to feed, but there wasn't anything real close to the hotel. We wandered down to the road trying to decide where to go. There was a security guard manning the gate at a school next door, and right about the time we asked him about a place to eat, a fellow rode up on a bicycle. Apparently this guy could bring us breakfast, only take about 15 minutes. That sounded good as we were expecting our car rental guy to pick us up in the next 90 minutes or so. We gave him our order and decided to wait on a railing adjacent to the road, watching the traffic roll by. I know its hard to believe, but an hour later theres no sign of our food. Then Sonia from the hotel walks up and tells us our car is going to be here in a few minutes. So we go quickly finish packing and the car rental guy is there just as we finish. I asked Sonia if she had eaten and she replied no. So I gave her the money for our food order and told her enjoy when it finally arrived. We get in the van along with our luggage and drive about 10 minutes down the highway to the rental site. All is good till he asks me for my drivers license. No problem, just need to dig it out of my suitcase, where its in my wallet, along with my 2 debit cards and credit cards. The minutes went by as I searched and searched again, soon I was in panic mode - where the f***k is my wallet??? It absolutely was not in either of my suitcases. Did I leave it in the room? Did it even make it back to the hotel the night before? I couldn't recall putting it the safe the night before or taking it out of my pocket. I felt like I was going to puke walking into the rental office to tell the guy I can't find my wallet. All we could do is go back to the hotel and hope it was there somewhere. The drive seemed to take forever then we finally pulled into the lot. Sonia was in the yard hanging laundry. I told her I might have left my wallet in the room, she replied she had just been in the room, emptied the trash, but never saw it. My heart sank even further but she opened the room so we could have a look. First thing I do is go to the safe, the door wide open. I can see its empty but when I put my hand in and sweep the edge I come out with my wallet in hand. It was standing on edge so you couldn't see it against the side. You think I was relieved?? I gave Sonia a huge hug I was so happy. I asked her if the food had arrived yet, answer was no. I doubt he ever showed. Thankfully that was the lowlight of the day. We got back to the rental place, finished filling out forms and we were on our way. We drove approx. 1 minute to Scotchies, where we enjoyed some delicious jerk pork along with rice and peas.
The drive to Port Antonio went very good.Including stopping for fuel as well as a scotiabank atm and store for drinks, it took 3 1/2 hours from MoBay, and we never got over 90k/hr. It would have been nice to make a few scenery stops but we wanted to get there before dark. Although I had an idea where our hotel was, we didn't exactly drive right up to it. After a couple wrong guesses we approached an older couple walking towards us on the street. I said to my wife, "those people look godly, lets ask them if they know where it is". Well they knew but the directions were pretty vague. After a couple tries at directions, the old guy says they will get in the car and show us. So next thing we have a sweet old couple in the back seat. While driving my wife asks them if there will be a Christmas mass? She said yes, and asked my wife if she was catholic. "Yes, I am"....Well YOUR church is over there, up the hill. I laughed as I thought it was quite amusing (I don't go to church). Soon we were at our hotel. I wanted to give the couple a ride home but they insisted they would walk. That was our first interaction with locals at PA. We checked in, had a shower and decided to do a bit of a walk and find a beer and food.
Will continue tomorrow, time to relax.....

Merry Christmas from not so sunny today Port Antonio. This morning we were up early, ate breakfast and loaded up the car heading south east, no exact destination in mind. We just wanted to see a new beach, and shortly after passing the turnoff to Frenchmans, we blew by the blue lagoon turnoff, but then saw san san beach. Wasn't sure if we could drive thru the narrow entrance but there was a guy there holding a rake waving us in. Entry fee - 500j each. First thing we noticed was the lack of people, we were the only ones there. It looked OK, but the nicest part of the sandy beach still needed to be raked, he just finished the area close to where we parked. The "caretaker" showed us where there were showers plus where you could get drinks. He also introduced us to the boat tour guy. We basically settled in a nice spot where we could lean up on a grassy ledge, but within about 10 minutes it started to rain, hard enough to chase us into the car. This ended up being a repeating problem for the next hour at least. On one of the dry spells the boat tour dude offered me the opportunity to buy him some rum, he was even willing to ride his bike to go get it lol. A few other people had showed up and left and eventually we decided to leave as well. It looked like it would rain for a while, plus the water didn't look all that inviting, lots of weedy debris. It was an OK place but I don't know if we will return there, wasn't really feeling it there, although if it was sunny and a few more people around it would have been a lot better.
So we left and continued down the road eventually driving by boston jerk centre and boston beach. The sky had cleared a bit and the beach looked inviting so we found a place to turn around and drove back to the entrance to the beach. One of the cook shop guys was first to "greet" us. I learned first there is no entrance fee, and that food and drink is very available right there. We decided to stay awhile, so we grabbed our towels, cooler and some reading material. Before we made it to the beach we were approached by a guy selling an assortment of necklaces. Although that's the last thing either of us needed my wife bought one from him for 5US and we made our way to the sand. This place was a bit busier, probably 15 people there, mostly locals. Theres a trail on one side of the cove that leads to a stairway and platform where if you have bigger balls than me you could jump into the sea. We walked to the platform and took some pics. It was a good place to watch a couple young Jamaicans surfing. Then back to the beach, laid out our towels and chilled. We ended there for a few hours and we would have stayed longer except we had put our name down for the xmas dinner being served at our hotel at 3pm. We had a few vendors come up to offer their wares. One fellow, Ja Tiger, was selling his own cd's. He was carrying a Caribbean travel magazine that had almost a full page picture of him. He had a small cd player with him and he wanted me to listen to some of his music. It was decent, even pretty good. He wanted 1000j but settled for 500, autograph included. We had a good chat with a lifeguard, Joseph. Real nice guy and if we go back (we will) I'm going to let him give me some surf lessons. The waves were pretty big further out from the beach and by time we were getting close to leaving there were quite a few guys surfing, it was a treat to watch. I went into the water for a bit myself, it was Negril 7 mile beach temp, warmer than frenchmans for sure. It actually mostly cleared up once we got to Boston, no more rain (until tonight) Oh ya, we also got some jerk pork and breadfruit from the cook stand. The pork was good but had lots of fat on it, breadfruit isn't my favorite but their tasty and spicy sauce really helped. We never stopped at the official jerk centre but will in the next while. Ja Tiger told us of a live concert right by there on Friday. We might go, hard to say for sure. When I go to such an event I like to smoke and drink a bit, and that means driving impaired, and that is something that will not happen. I don't want to risk getting hurt from something I did wrong, and besides, we have seen a lot of police check stops, although so far we have not been stopped. Today coming back there was a white guy pulled over right at the mockingbird hill entrance, looked like he was getting a sobriety test. Speaking of mockingbird, on the way back we drove up to the restaurant, we are thinking about trying it out after reading all the reviews. Their prices are pretty steep, so we are thinking about it. Don't mind paying the price for good food, but I am wary of places that have serving sizes inversely proportional to the price. Anyone here been there? How is it?
So we came back to hotel, showered. I even put on some slightly dressy PANTS for xmas supper. It was nothing special, only 3 tables with people, we had a choice of fish or goat. So we had escovitch fish with a few fixings, and free sparkling champagne woohhooo. The food at our hotel is decent, but the service has been very good.
After supper we drove to a nearby store and stocked up on rum, beer, snack, ice. Got back to hotel, rolled up, mixed a couple cocomania drinks, and made our made to our private rooftop lounge, where I "was" writing this. Around the time my wife was face timing her family on the cell it started to rain. So back down to the room. Gonna finish our rummies then make a short walk to one of the close bars and have a couple beers. You can hear the reggae clearly from our open window, I want to go find the source.

Enjoying your report thus far. Glad you guys made it safely to PA. Thanks for the info on Ridgeway Guest House, have thought of staying there a few times. Have not eaten at Mockingbird, but can recommend Woody's for great burgers and rum punch, Geejam and Trident. Geejam has live music on Friday and Trident on Saturday.

I have been following your report on the other board. Thanks for sharing! Since reading Vi' s report and now yours, I must visit Port Antonio. Seems very laid back and quiet.

i'm also following you on the yellow board. great reading so far.

12/26/2013, 7:52 pm


When I quit writing last night I mentioned we were going to find the source of the loud music. It was a small bar right on the corner of the street our hotel sits on. We walked in, ordered a couple beers and had a seat. There was an older couple sitting at the bar, and one other guy sitting in an old velvet easy chair. He was probably in his 50's and kind of singing along with the music. It seemed we really didn't fit in but I was determined to sit a while and listen to the music. Well 5 minutes later Mr easy chair gets up and walks up to me. He was there to point out our hotel key had fallen out of my pocket (he just picked up the key and said this fell from your pocket). That was all I needed. We started talking and next thing the 3 of us are sharing a spot, wife and Andy in the 2 easy chairs, me on a stool. We started a good conversation and when his drink was empty, I offered to by him one, he never asked. I learned Andy was a semi regular at this bar, which was owned by the bartender, Tony. Andy drank something I had never heard of, rum mixed with milk and a bit of water. He said it was very smooth. We sat with him for well over an hour. We learned he lived his entire life around PA. He won a scholarship that entitled him to go to high school, and worked for 22 years as a night auditor until he was told he was retiring. He worked at various hotels after that, I don't think he works anymore. I think his favorite hobby now is betting on horse racing, he told us he was going somewhere tomorrow to watch the races and do some betting. It was easily our best bar experience so far, even Tony the owner was extra friendly to us on the way out. I hope our next time there he remembers us.
Thursday morning was the same routine. Up at 8 and downstairs for breakfast. We decided to go for a walk downtown, it was pretty dead, nothing like Christmas eve. Most places were closed for Boxing day so really nothing to see. So it was decided lets go back to the beach and relax. It was pretty cloudy but we hoped for the best. Back to the hotel, quick stop at the store for supplies and away we went. We decided to go back to Frenchmans cove. It was busier than our first time there but what I really noticed is how much calmer it was, not flat was just small waves coming in, my swim toys were calling me. We got a couple loungers and set up for the day. The sun was shining hard and except for a very quick shower, the clouds mostly stayed away. I spent a good hour snorkeling along the cliffs beyond the roped off area, saw quite a few small fish but with the fresh water river feeding into the cove the water is a bit brackish, so the clarity isn't very good.
I really like this beach, the workers there are very good, and there are no hassles whatsoever. We will be back, but we still need to get to Reach Falls, Winnifred beach, Long beach, rio grande rafting etc. I forgot to mention our new friend Andy (who we ran into this morning in Port Antonio while he was on his way to watch the races) told us to see a King Saba at the blue lagoon. He told us they are lifelong friends and to make sure we ask for him and tell him we are friends of Andys. I guess we will see how that turns out. We might go there tomorrow if its nice out.
On the way home we stopped in at Woody's Low bridge restaurant. Had a really good burger and fries. Burger was small but had lots of layers and tasted great. When we left there was a guy that you could see had some mental challenges sitting right next to the drivers door of our car. He had a knife in his hand, chipping away at a small tree branch. He never said a word, perhaps he can't talk, but he put his hand out and kept it there till we drove away. I kind of felt bad but I really don't hand out money to anyone. If we go back there and he's around I will probably give him at least a good meals worth of money.
We were up on our rooftop lounge for a bit until once again the rain chased us down. Right now its pouring (wife said gushing). If it slows down we are going to go for a couple beers at our new bar, and go see if a certain cook stand is open. Theres a guy that has a couple huge pots of soup on the go but our timing hasn't worked out yet. I love soup in Jamaica. Thanks for reading, I hope everyone (or most) enjoy it. And by the way, I am still looking for advice on how to arrange the rio grande raft trip.

Albert in Port Antonio at (876) 460-1313.He is a licensed captain and he's less expensive than the tour groups
He can also be contacted through Ivanhoe's Guesthouse at 9 Queen St. Port Antonio (876)- 993-3043.
He is a very pleasant and knowledgeable man and can take you rafting on the Rio Grande river and hiking in the John Crow and Blue Mountains. Tell him "Weaver" recommended you..

I have used him and recommended him many times but Weaver has known ,used and recommended for years ..Whenever I am in Port Antonio, I always stay at Ivanhoes..

Dec 27 - Friday
Yesterday was a bit of a bust, but we did see a new area on foot. It had rained pretty much all night (again), but in the morning it continued off and on, sometimes hard. After breakfast it was clear we weren't going to any beach destinations soon, so we unpacked our rain jackets and suited up for another walk, first stop the Dekal bistro for coffees to go. I wish they had sweeton condensed milk but lived with milk, at least its nice and strong. We did another walk into the marina, looking to find the beach that apparently is there from what I have read. We never found it although much of the area is gated and locked. After cutting thru the hole in the fench we continued touring, stopping into a couple stores, one selling all kinds of clothing, another full of houseware items. Then we stumbled into the large "covered" market. I am surprised we never saw it before, it takes up a lot of space near the shell and Texaco gas stations.There you could buy all kinds of things, some vendors sold touristy stuff, but it was mostly household stuff as well as lots of veggie sellers. All we bought was a couple Styrofoam cups of beef soup. I never loved it, wife thought it was pretty good. Then we walked up onto titchfield, did the biggest loop I think walking by Ivanhoes at one point. It looks like a decent place to stay but parking only on the street, which would concern me a bit. All that walking got my tummy calling so we decided to try yosch cafe for a pizza and calzone. We ordered then waited. Then we waited some more. After that we waited. Was probably an hour that we sat there. Finally they were ready and we decided to walk back to hotel to feed. Almost as soon as we left the building it started to drizzle. We had walked about a blocks distance along the built up cement "sidewalk" when we came upon a Jamaican guy walking in our direction, and it came instantly clear he was going to take a leak. He steps off the cement, starts to piss, then in mid pee steps back on the walk and starts walking, pissing as he goes. Thankfully we were still far enough away we could abandon the walk and jump down to the street to avoid his deluge. Gross. So we kept walking and it started to rain harder, me getting more depressed by the second thinking about eating wet pizza. Finally got to hotel and into room. Well the calzone was dry still and only a tiny section of pie was wasted. We sat there and watched TV while it poured outside the window It never stopped raining and we never stopped eating for the next while. It was a complete pigslob fest and I enjoyed all of it. But after eating we sat there and vegged watching one episode of law and order after another. Pretty soon its dark, we had wasted the rest of the day, although with the off and on rain there wasn't much to do. At one point we came up to the roof (where we are now) to hang out. I don't think I even got my spliff lit and it started to rain again, so back to the room. We showered, watched more tv and decided to go back to our new bar. I think it never rained anymore, of course Andy was there, enjoying some crayfish soup, which we also tried. Yummy. We had the usual, 3 beers for me, 2 for Rosie. Talked for a while, met a fairly young lady who was from PA but lived and worked in the Caymen Islands now. She was very nice but the music was too loud to catch her whole story. After we left it was back to the same cookshop we got supper from the previous night. This time Rosie got the small, me the large. It comes to 550J - I gave him 1000 and told him to keep all of it, it was a lot of food and I have paid much more for less in Ja many times. Then a rare thing happened - the chef insists I try his soup for free, and he fills a Styrofoam cup 3/4 full. It was delicious. Tonight will probably make it a 3-peat of his place. One other thing I forgot to mention. As we walked by the fishermans area earlier in the day while going to the convenience store a couple guys were weighing a large mahi mahi, biggest I have ever seen in person. I don't know what it weighed but it must have been 4 feet long. Being a fisherman, that was treat for me.
Day 8 to follow.....enjoying a rain free (so far) session on the roof

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Finally. That picture is from our first day, having coffee on our deck at Ridgeway. More to come..
The first set here is from the drive to PA from Montego Bay.

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Loved the palm tree forest.

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Frenchmans Cove, first beach day.....
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Enjoying your report and pictures very much. Thanks for taking the time to share!
PS. My wife Laura is Saskatchewan born and raised.
She says make the best of those rainy days because you know what it would be back home... :)

Enjoying your trip report and photos!

This is next to the old train station, I believe the railway was damaged during a hurricane in the 80's and never rebuilt. The platform that spins 360deg is called a roundhouse (at least that is what it would be where I live)...
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Awesome pics!

Nice report sandman. I have reggae playing in the background and I read your wonderful narratives. You and Mrs. Sandman look so happy and content. Portland will do that to you. Glad to hear you two are enjoying yourselves and, obviously, each other. I like how you are keeping busy regardless of the weather. The rain may slow things a little, but won’t ever pin me down. I would like to see pictures of the roof top at Tim Bamboo. It was under construction last time I was there.

I go to that market for my vegetable & fruit supply, then wander inside to mainly browse. Amazing all that is sold in there. Said I will splurge on a couple pair of shoes next time I’m in PA. Nice variety of sandals and heels.

Sounds like ALL the beaches are treating you and the Mrs. very well. Hope you make it to Long Bay beach and check out the bar down there. Forgot to mention the cook shop “on” Boston Beach has good food and ice cold red stripes. Very reasonable and the folks who run it are truly kind.

The local bar you found sounds cozy…just what you were looking for? Nothing like a place you can walk into, order and drink and feel at home. Tell me where this place is please. When leaving Tim Bamboo, do you head to the main road or the opposite direction, around the bend?

aww the photos of the road and sights.....simply lovely....please keep it coming, i'm hanging on to your every word.

12/29/2013, 7:45 pm


Day 8 started like most, get up and listen to it raining outside. I won't lie, the amount of rain is starting to put a damper (pun) on our plans. Its not my favorite thing to be constantly searching for shelter. Anyways....After breakfast we drove up to Ivanhoe's guest house where we were able to reach Albert, one of the rio grande raft guides that a couple people here recommended to me. We agreed on a time the following morning, then after a stop for take out coffee at Dekals and another for snacks and refreshments we were heading down along the coast again. Although I was kind of planning on driving to Long Beach to have a look, we came upon the turn off to Winifred beach, and by the way, there is a sign but it is easy to miss. I pulled off the highway, and since it hadn't rained for at least 15 minutes we decided to follow the road and check out the beach. As long as you drive very slow the road isn't too bad, might be sketchy getting out up the hill if it happened to pour just before you wanted to leave, I thought as we crawled down the last steep section. When we pulled in you could see there were a few people around, but not a bit crowded. First vendor to talk to us was renting lounge chairs. He wanted 500J each, and I am sure I could have gotten them for less I got us each one. I figured since there was no entrance fee, plus his car was pretty beat, I would just give him the 1000.
We set up, wasn't really a sunny spot since clouds filled the sky. It was still very warm though and it wasn't long before I donned my snorkel gear and headed into the sea. It was invitingly warm, and the reef not too far offshore keeps the waves pretty small. I headed out, and you could see as the water got deeper there were quite a few sea urchins, but nothing near shore to worry about. The reef isn't much but I saw a wide variety of fish, none too scary. Biggest one was perhaps some kind of trumpet fish. It was around 18 inches long and the diameter of a Canadian loonie. There was a very cool flat fish (like a halibut, but only about 12 inches long). He was cruising along slowly about a foot off the bottom but as I got close he settled on top of a rock a bit larger than he was. His colors matched the sea bottom perfect. The only thing that gave him away were his googley eyes sticking out.
After drying off my wife decided to go out too. We had earlier figured we wouldn't abandon our stuff to go that far offshore together, too much stuff we didn't want to lose. So she swam off and I took a short stroll down the beach just to check out the scene. Looks like a really good place to hang out and spend the day. Had one guy approach me, and it wasn't long before I figured out we met have at Boston beach a few days earlier. He explained he was carrying some pretty heavy stuff so I agreed to let him roll me a big chonger. Shortly after that wife is back and just as we think about lying down again the sky open us, and I mean hard. We huddle under a big tree but that only helped for a couple minutes. We hadn't planned on eating yet but the small cookshop right close had a couple dry spots just calling us. So we ordered some food and ate, hoping it would let up. Finally it did and we went back to our loungers and water logged towels. That was the second last downpour. On the next one we had a better plan, just go into the sea and enjoy, which it seemed everyone else on the beach did. Took some good pics of that, will post later.
We never got hassled by vendors at all, its a great place and might go back, see how it goes. When we left we were in a group of vehicles and there were a couple times I thought I would have to back up for another try but our little rental car pulled its way through. Back to the hotel for a shower, couple beers at our bar, then cheap good supper at TJ's.
We got told of a big party up the street thenext night (tonight), but can't hear anything yet.
PS, I forgot to mention, Natural Mystic One, nice name lol, the guy that had the heavy stuff, did have heavy stuff. Best I have sampled in PA.

Winnifred beach....

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Great trip report, fantastic pics, thanks for sharing! You two look very very happy ;)

You both are such a lovely couple and I can see that you are having a wonderful time! I've been following your report, too, on the other board but now I get to see pictures. They are all so beautiful and I love your happy smiles! Happy New Year to you both and many blessings~

1/1/2014, 3:48 pm


The morning started a little different than most, the sun was shining brightly as we walked downtown from the hotel to get our morning take out coffees.. We had planned on making the longish drive to Reach Falls but I considered talking my wife into heading to the beach instead, it looked like a beautiful sunny day ahead. But in the end we hit the highway and headed south down the coast, the furthest we have driven out of Port Antonio since our arrival. As we passed the Boston jerk centre we made plans to stop on the way back. There is a guy there, Mikey, that makes jerk chicken sausage, and let me tell you, it is deeeelicious. I haven't seen it like that anywhere before, no casing just meat, spices and onions (we asked). After passing Boston and approaching Long Bay the highway hugs the cliffs for some great viewing of the sea, you can see the huge beach well before you get there. The waves roared in and it doesn't look very swimmer friendly, but the beach is really nice. We stopped and walked for a bit, despite the bright day there was really nobody there. On another day we might have dug in but we were so close to Reach now we got in the car and kept going, soon coming to the turn that takes you up to the higher elevation where the falls are. From our hotel to where we parked was 37kms, not far in distance but at the speed I drive, about an hour including the one stop. Just as you get to the final entrance to the falls there's a couple guys standing there ready to assist us. One guy (Byron) tells us the official place is closed today (Monday) but he can take us in the "back" way, and assured us it would be well worth it. I had read about people going in like this and that it was actually the best experience. Byron wanted 2000J for the 2 of us, but we settled on 1500. He showed me where to park and we were on our way. It had rained overnight and the trail leading to the starting point was really slippery, but Byron took his time and it was obvious from the start he knew what he was doing, and he wanted to make it an enjoyable tour. When we reached the water he showed us the safest spot to get in (if we wanted to get in). Well that's why we came, and as much as it hurt, I stripped to my swim shorts and waddled in. It was pretty chilly at first, I hate cold water, but after a minute it was fine. I think it was the first or second pool where there was a small undercut where a set of falls came down. You could duck thru and stand up to see the water rushing in front. Pretty neat. We continued making our way up, Byron leading the way in places we weren't actualy swimming. He stayed out of the pools, carrying our clothing and camera (when I wasn't carrying it). It was like he had suction cups on his bare feet watching him walking with precision in exactly the right spots, and making sure we were good to go. It really wasn't slippery in our sandals but some places the current is really strong making it a little challenging to keep your balance. He showed us a couple safe places where we could do some mini cliff jumps. Eventually we got to the main falls, there was a security guard there I guess to keep people out but as soon as he saw Byron he conveniently disappeared. At the main falls there is a cave you can enter by plowing your way thru the water in one spot. It was a little scary but once inside you could see it was a large space. I still have to download the pictures but I think I have plenty of good ones. We were never ever rushed, spent lots of time wading in the cool clear water. The way out was another short climb up a trail but it was in better shape plus its easier to go up than down. On the walk back to the car we learned Byron lived just down the road with his family. He made an excellent guide and I told him I would mention his name on the internet, which he was thankful for, he also gave us his phone number to post. I learned one thing, if you are going to go to Reach falls, you want to go when they are closed (Monday,tuesday). The experience from the tour we got is better than YS and Dunns hands down. I think if you go when they are open all you get is the main pool, which is pretty nice itself but there is so much more to Reach than that.
When we reached the car I offered Byron a beer which he accepted. I joked with him, apoligizing because they were ice cold. I also gave him 2000J for the guiding even though we agreed on 1500, he was worth it Just as we were taking down his phone number a small van pulled up. Well Byron sprung into action and was at the passenger front window like a cat. The vanload was a little apprehensive, we could see from where we were, but then Byron pointed to us and I gave the big thumbs up. They still seemed unconvinced so I walked up and told the van full Byron would take care of them and give them a great tour. Eventually they had it figured that he was legit and we weren't a couple of whitey scammers lol. We said our good byes just as an older lady came walking up to us. She had a stack of coconuts and wanted to give us a chopped one for the water inside. I don't like coconut water but Rosie accepted. The lady just had to walk up the trail to get her machete. She comes back and chops one open. Even though she offered it for free we gave her 100J, which she really didn't want, but we insisted. We learned Byron was her nephew, and a minute later 2 young boys came down the road with a large load of 5 gallon water pails that they had jus filled. They were he grandchildren. It was funny when one of the kids says, I beg yeh for some coconut, but Grams shut him down fast. Every person we talked to there was extremely polite and friendly, this a a place I would send anyone looking for a true Jamaican experience.
On the drive back we stopped at the jerk centre as planned. We purchased food from 3 different spots. A plate of pork from David, it was really good, absolutely no fat , a lb of chicken sausage from Mikey, plus some festival from another place, can't remember the name. We quickly demolished the pork, and stopped at a pull out close to Monkey island to stand outside and enjoy the delicious sausage. Yesterday we ended making the drive back to Boston just to buy a pound and a half of chicken sausage, its that good.
The day ended like most, relaxing on our rooftop lounge enoying cocomania, and a nice spliff of the local vegetation. Did I say we liked the chicken sausage?? Oh ya, we bought a bottle of the boston jerk seasoning. Not cheap, 800J for a small bottle. But its good, and they didn't have any plans on negotiating on the price. Will probably buy another bottle when we go back there.
I forgot to mention, I typed the above report whilst lying on the beach at frenchmans cove, baking myself in todays sun. They have free wifi here and it works good. I like it here, beach is a good size with great service to match. Waves are really big today, no snorkeling for sure.
And one more thing. At Boston we also bought abig bottle of beet root juice. I didn't even want the free sample but after forcing it down I realized it is quite tasty.

Sounds like you had a great day! I've never had jerk chicken sausage but it sounds good. :)

I swear I'm gonna go to PA one day. Great report, thanks for taking the time to share your experience and your awesome pics

Great report! And I am with you on the jerk sausage! That in itself is worth the trip to Port Antonio! We stayed at Boston Beach a few years ago, in part to try what we always heard was the best jerk on the island. The chicken was good, but plenty of places in Negril were comparable. For pork, I think Red Dragon was better than anywhere in Boston Beach. But the sausage, oh the sausage! So damn good. We had both chicken and pork sausage, and both were among the most delicious meals of my life. Getting hungry, and jealous, just thinking about it!

I first want to say I almost quit writing after reading about the murder of that Ontario woman, makes me sick reading those stories time after time.
Our Blue Lagoon day turned out to be a perfect day, although it never had much to do with the lagoon. Upon our arrival in the parking lot we were approached by a few guys, we were looking for a certain individual which we found, although I won't mention his name or recommend him as he wasn't much more than a money collector. I told him we hoped to rent a kayak and go out on our own. He replied that there were no kayaks to rent there, only boat rides or bamboo rafts. I asked him how much and he quotes me 80US for rafting. I laughed and told him I'm not paying that much for a ride of any kind. So then we could be taken out on a boat for 60. Once again, that's more than I will spend. Eventually we settled on 40, all the while not really being sure what that will get us. So we walk up the rest of the way past a few vendors (who ignored us), and the first thing I see at the "dock" is a blue kayak, and a guy sitting there with an oar. I was a little pissed but decided I never felt like putting on a scene. Rasta talks to another guy (who actually owns and operates the boat we will use), we jump in with our stuff. At least its just wife and I, and the captain was actually pretty good, he putted along slowly and seemed to have a pretty good knowledge of all the buildings and villas along the shore towards San San beach, and beyond. After about cruising around we were dropped at Monkey Island with an agreement to pick us up in about 90 minutes. There's not much room there as its just a tiny spot of dry sand, but close to shore its very shallow so you can plop yourself in and relax, which we did. After getting overheated in the glaring sun we donned our snorkel gear and headed out towards the reef off san san beach. The first part was a little scary, its very shallow and the sea floor is littered with urchins. I found myself sucking in a few times trying not to drag my gut over the spiny balls of pain. As the water got deeper is was nicer. The water at the reef is really deep in some spots, a guy could scuba there. Saw lots of fish, nothing too exciting though. Eventually we made our way back, once again making doing the spiny urchin gauntlet. After we packed up our snorkel gear another boat pulled up, 2 men, 2 women, whities, and a Jamaican. Didn't take long before we were all sitting around in a little group and we were long lost best friends. The 2 couples lived in Washington DC. They were staying at a villa near PA and the Jamaican was their chef for their week at the villa (and tour guide). We had actually seen them at Reach Falls the day before (I recognised the Jamaican easily with his blond Mohawk) but never talked to them. We had a great time yapping away, and we made plans to meet up later that night at Anna Banana, where there was a band playing (new years). Around the time we ran out of drinks our boat returned (different one, but rasta was in it looking for us). We did another slow putt putt back to the lagoon, did a long loop around it. We were offered the chance to jump in but I passed, it was a bit cold and I had just dried off. We paid our 40, no tip for the first time this trip, and walked back to the car, where another guy proudly came up to me to let me know how he guarded my car and that I could pay him. Well he got 100J, didn't ask if that was enough LOL.
As for the blue lagoon, its nice but I wouldn't go back, there's really nothing to see. The old bar and restaurant is falling down, wrecked from a hurricane. Sounds like it is supposed to be restored but we all know how that goes in Jamaica. The highlight was meeting our new friends, Adrien, Bryan,(Americans), Regina, Heinz (Austrians living in US), and Timothy, the chef who apparently cooked for Tom Cruise (could be BS, who knows).
That evening we met up with all of them at Anna Bananas and shared some fun together. Adrian and Regina were plenty inebriated and had no problem taking over the drums at one point. By 200 AM I was getting pretty tired and be made our way home to hotel. There was a huge party going on in the town square but I had had enough fun for the day. Getting up at 9 the next morning was a lot less fun.