Trip report….March 14th to the 21st.

My best friend called me several months ago to tell me that he was getting married to his long time girlfriend.
He asked me to be the best man, and of course I said, "hell yes!". "That's great" he said. "Now I need you to do me another favor, plan us a destination wedding somewhere hot, like Jamaica".
You see, they live in the "lesser 48" and have never traveled outside of the US, so he was depending on me to get it right.

And so it all began.
Negril was a no-brainer. Everyone I talked to said it was the place to go.
I did the research, narrowed it down to three places, and than let them choose. They chose Beach House Villas. (http://www.negriljamaicavillas.com)
It was a great choice. "Now do me one more favor" he says, "Could you plan the wedding as well"? No problem, mon.

I sent out an e-mail to Diana at BHV to see who she recommended. "Weddings by Isabelle, of course". (http://weddingsbyisabellejamaica.com)
So I contacted Isabelle and got the low down. She sent me info on the packages and such. I forwarded it to my friends and let them do the rest. It took awhile for them to make up their minds, but Isabelle was very patient.
Ok, location scouted, accommodations set, deposits made, wedding planned…now what?

Enter negril.com
If I had a dollar for every hour I spent on this board reading trip reports, gaining information, and getting suggestions, our trip would have been free!
Thank you, everyone, and especially Rob for having this site. The wealth of knowledge here is priceless.

The first order of business; we needed to get 10 people from MoBay to Negril. I sent out e-mails to several providers listed in the transportation section.
Patrick Grandison, Esperanza Tours, was the first to respond. His price was fair and I liked the way he "talked", so we booked. Another great choice. I could have spent the entire vacation riding around with Patrick, doing pick up and drop offs, talking with him about everything under the sun. (esperanza@cwjamaica.com)

Anyway, back to the report…everything was set.
gerryg123 convinced me that Club MoBay arrival service was the way to go. Thanks, Gerry. (http://clubmobay.com)
Four of us arrived on Friday at 12:45 pm. Two more came in 45 min. later, and the rest a half an hour after that.
The Club MoBay rep whisked us through the long lines at Immigration and then right through Customs as well. She took us to the lounge, gave us cold towels, drinks, and food.
I think we sat there for close to 3 hours, just chillin', waiting on everyone else to arrive, sucking down our first, second, third, forth Red Stripes, and a couple of rum punches for good measure.

When we stepped out into the wonderfully humid Jamaican air, Patrick was there patiently waiting for us. He had a big van and a cooler of Red Stripes ready to go. So off we went.
The drive out of MoBay was cool. The traffic was crazy, guys in the middle of the road selling peanuts, news papers, what have you. Lots going on.
The country side was beautiful. Lucia reminded me of a border town in Central America. Then finally…Negril and Beach House Villas!

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Nice start, thank u... Patrick is a class act....

Yay a new trip report. Off to a good start.

Great start...I adore Isabelle, she is truly a gem.

Keep it coming

tap...tap...tap...........great start, I LOVE weddings!

Great start! Keep it coming.

Awesome another TR! Just what the doctor ordered. Nice start so far looking forward to reading more.

Yippee! Can't wait for more :)

Awesome start to your report. Looking forward to this :)

We arrived at BHV about 5:30pm. Everything was ready for us. Diana greeted us at the door along with "momma cat", Bull was ready with a cart for our luggage, and Bujo had the ocean warmed to the perfect temperature.
After all the introductions, paperwork, and figuring out who was sleeping where, we headed back to the villa. The 10 or us had decided to take the entire Beach House complex. Two bedrooms on the ground floor for the Canadians and my wife & I, Two bedrooms on the second floor for the Wisconsin couple and the brides parents, and the third floor Penthouse for the soon to be newlyweds.

The third floor Penthouse has the most incredible views. You can see all the way from Heartbeat Resort on the cliffs to Booby Cay (If your eyes are really good, from Honduras to Havana). It also has a roof top deck, which gives you the opportunity to catch some morning sun long before the beach dwellers. But by 2 in the afternoon I'm sure you could fry ackee and salt fish on the tiles up there. As Michael would say,"it's hot, hot, hot!" Michael is the day time security guard. He was very sensitive to everyones needs, and my wife took great pleasure in making him blush at every opportunity.
The second floor apartment has two king beds and a newly remodeled kitchen with granite counters, stainless appliances, and a gas range. It's a good thing I wasn't on that floor, because if I had had that kitchen to cook in, I would have missed out on some of the best food Negril has to offer. The patio was good sized with a nice view. The first floor really worked perfect for my wife and I. It has a large covered porch with hammocks. Perfect for morning coffee, afternoon naps, and evening cocktails. The kitchen was small, but had the basics for cooking. There is a queen bed in one room and two doubles in the other. We took the room with the doubles. A different bed every night just to keep Rose guessing (Rose was our housekeeper and my new friend. She is kind, patient, and trustworthy). I mean really, how much time do you spend in your room with a beach like that 50ft. from the front door? It also had a pull out couch and three bathrooms. The two most important things were the coffee maker and the refrigerator, nothing else mattered.

So, first things first! Drop the suitcase on the bed, slip on a pair of board shorts, and run for the water. We've been waiting for this for the longest time. The feel of the sand between our toes, the salt water stinging our eyes, and being able to just float, and float, and float. The beach was perfect. The water was perfect. And there were NO JET SKIS! I don't want to start a controversy, but not having jet skis was wonderful (more on that later). After a quick swim, we head to the bar. The Ocean Breeze bar attached to BHV. We introduced ourselves to Lance (Mr. Romance) and ordered some Stripes. Just then Michael yells,"get your camera!". It's our first sunset in Negril. Spectacular!
That evening was spent at the Ocean Breeze with our friends, catching up and hanging out. It had been a long, long day of travel, and the rhythm of the beach was washing away the miles. We were in the groove.

I'm an early raiser at home, and Negril was no different. I would roll into bed around midnight and be up by 5:30 every morning. I loved sitting on the beach as the sun came up, with a cup of Blue Mountain, talking with Bernard the night watchman. He has a collection of old JA money. 1's, 5's, &10's from the days before the currency was debased. Cool stuff. He pumped me for numbers to play on the daily lotto. We talked about his family, life in Negril, and Alaska. I showed him some youtube videos of snow machining and salmon fishing. He showed me photos of his kids.
He came and got me one morning, calling out, "grab your camera and come down to the beach". There was a tall bird on the beach looking for breakfast, and the moon was setting over the water. The pictures just cannot do justice.

Anyway, back to the timeline.
Our first full day was Saturday, the 15th. It started out with no coffee! We forgot to go to the store the night before. And on the beach, nothing gets going until at least 7:30 or 8am. So my friend Steve, the groom to be, sees me coming out of the villa and says,"I met a guy down the beach who has breakfast for us". "Sweet, let's go". So we walk down towards the public beach past Ansell's Thachwalk and meet up with this guy who calls himself Chef Donald. Donald Simmons is his name and he is new to beach vending. He is only out from 6am until 9am. After 9 he has to leave the beach. He has no permit and the long time venders won't let him work their territory after 9am. Anyway, he hooks us up with dumplings, curried chicken, pickled salt fish and greens. Holy ****! What a way to start the day. We grab enough for our selves and our wives then head back to the villa. The food was great. Donald stopped by every morning to check in on us and drop off some goodies. He made us a platter of banana bread and potato pudding one day. He just left it for us with his phone number. I called him and he said,"Whatever you think it's worth, I'll be around in a while". There were seven small paper plates with three pieces each on them. I gave him 2,000 JA. He seamed very happy with that. The morning that we were leaving for home, Donald came by extra early to sit and talk, exchange contact info, and say goodbye.

After breakfast we just hung out on the beach. Toward mid day several of us walked over to the cambio at Bar-B-Barn to exchange some cash, and then popped into the grocery across the street for smokes and coffee (the going rate was 106JA to 1USD). I hadn't walked 100 yards when some guy tried to sell me goat poop and glue. "Hey mon, wanna buy some hash?" Yeah, right. "It's good, mon, really". Whatever. We had just returned to BHV when I heard a voice from the beach call out, "Beef patties, chicken patties, veggie patties!" Hey introduced himself as Nevel. Bujo called him Wheeler. He was The Patty Man. After lunch we had a route taxi take us to the Hi-Lo for more supplies, i.e. fixings for rum punch, beer, eggs, bread, Basa, and lunchmeat. It was fun getting out into the local arena. There is a lot going on down by the round-a-bout. People everywhere. And the Hi-Lo was nice, everyone very friendly and eager to help. My friend and his soon-to-be had to meet with Isabelle that afternoon about wedding plans. They pretty much just hung out by the beach and went over everything, very casual and low key. All the decisions were made and everything was set.

Ok, we were stocked up, the wedding was good to go, and Patrick had dropped by on his way back from MoBay and dropped off a phone for us. We were ready…a quick shower and we're off in the Seastar shuttle for the Saturday night buffet, live reggae show and webcast! (www.seastarinn.com)

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Great report!!!

Great report looking fordward to more

BHV's trip reports are very scarce on here. This is awesome.

love the report

Great report so far! Where can we find Chef Donald? Does he walk the beach like the other vendors do, just earlier?

Chef Donald was on the beach walking past BHV around 6:30am, headed toward bourbon beach. He is tall, skinny, and has a big smile. He carries one of those aluminum boxes you see other venders with.

Nice start ! You did it right Patrick has been my long time driver honest man.BHV nice set-up I have known Buju since the old T-Water days.I'm sure everyone was happy.Nice job.

I want to touch on the jet ski subject.
My wife and I brought snorkeling gear with us. The mask and snorkel fit into our carry-ons, and we packed the fins into a checked bag full of give away stuff. Now, my wife is new to snorkeling and this was her first time in open water. She was a bit nervous, and didn't want to go out on a glass bottomed boat for fear she would get scarred and embarrass herself in front of strangers. So we decided to just swim around the beach area until she felt comfortable, and then head out a little further. I had talked to Captain Raymond about what was out in the immediate area, and he directed me down the beach past Ansell's and out about 150 yards to an old reef. It wasn't as nice as the reef in front of Rhodes Hall, but it was perfect for my wife. She has a fear of shadows in the water. Her imagination can get the best of her, especially in a new environment. So I tied an inflatable tube to a 14 ft. piece of 550 cord and drug it behind us just in case she needed to get out of the water in a hurry. After several passes around the beach, we headed out. We got out to the reef in no time, and there were corrals, fish, and an eel. She was a little freaked out at first, and did jump onto the tube once to calm herself, but all in all she had a great time and got to experience a world she had never seen before. We even saw a puffer fish, lots of big stars, and sea urchins galore. I half contemplated grabbing a few of the urchins to eat, but I wasn't sure about any regulation, seasons, or whether there was a difference between the black, long spiny ones and the white, short spiny ones. Anyway, the point of this story is, had there been jet skis operating along the beach, we never would have had the ability to just swim out and see those things. I would not have felt safe enough. Another thing I noticed was the number of people swimming out along where the grass is. Everyday there were swimmers, long distance swimmer by the look of it, just going from one end of the beach to the other. I've been to other beaches in the Caribbean, and I gotta tell ya, the beach in Negril was the most peaceful beach I have ever seen. Right now it's a swimmers paradise, and I hope it stays that way.

Back on topic.
I had Diana call ahead to Seastar for reservations and a pick up for 10 people at 6pm. She said the shuttle was free one way, and we would have to pay for the return trip. I called Patrick to see if he would be available. "No problem, mon". "Anytime you need me, just call".
So the shuttle picked us up a 6pm sharp and took us past the round-a-bout, up the curvy assed road called One Love Dr. and down the lane to the Seastar Inn. There were other shuttles dropping off guests when we arrived. It was very busy and just turning around was an excursive in patience. Once we were all off the shuttle and through the iron gates, everyone relaxed. We paid, got our wristbands, and were escorted to our table. They put us right in the middle, so my wife and I grabbed the chairs closest to the stage. Another great choice! I saw Rob there setting up and working the webcast. I wanted to introduce myself, but decided not to. I'm a newby, right? maybe next time. So we had some drinks and chatted a bit until the food was served.
Seastar Inn was really cool. We checked out the gift shop, my wife pretended to push me into the pool to get a laugh out of the bartenders, and the size of the hot tub…crazy! I could just imagine how much fun that would be, up and running and full of people.
7pm comes around and the food was served. All of our group got in line right away, except for my wife and I. We decided to hang back and finish our drinks while the line got shorter. But then everybody started coming back to the table with their food and we had to go. The food looked so good! We got in line behind this big guy with white hair and a hearty laugh. His name was Jim and he most defiantly was a regular. We chatted and he gave us a tip, "Save room for the fish, it's the best". Now I gotta tell ya, the pot roast was extra tender, the chicken was cooked to perfection and the salad and greens were excellent, but that fish was to die for. I ate a huge plate of food and still went back for more fish. Fantastic! I highly recommend the Saturday buffet.
Ok, so the brides parents were with us, Her father is 73 and her mother is in her late 60's. We'll call them Roy and Jacky (because that's their names, ha!) Now Roy likes his beer, and Red Stripe was no exception. Jacky liked all the foo-foo drinks, rum punch, hurricane, what have you. Jacky has a tendency to fall asleep at the strangest times. So after dinner the band starts playing, and they are great. We danced, sang, and generally had a blast. But as the evening went on, and the band got louder, I could see that Roy was getting that look on his face. You know the look, the one that says, "Turn that **** down!" And Jacky was all of a sudden falling asleep at the table…like where did that come from? The band was finishing up and the bride to be says maybe we should call it a night, get Roy and Jacky back to the villa. Cool, no problem, mon. So I walk outside and call Patrick. He says he'll be there in 20 minutes. I go back in and spread the word that Patrick is on his way. Well, this beautiful, talented, and sexy female singer takes the stage and starts a "train dance". From out of nowhere, Jacky pops up, grabs my wife and her daughter and proceeds to go for it! Next thing you know, Patrick is there and it was all we could do to get them off of the floor and into the van. But Roy was still happy to leave the loud music behind. We headed back to BHV for a night cap and called it a day. One full day in Negril and it already feels like three.

I'm going to apologize now for not having any pictures from Seastar (sorry), but somethings are just made for the memory banks. An evening at Seastar Inn in one of them.

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Loving this report. For some reason I can't see the pictures in the latest post.

Need Some Sun,

Was the wedding held on St. Paddy's day?

I was at BHV with some friends following a glass bottom boat ride & there was a wedding. The couple had been together for about 15 years.

Our group was from Michigan & we chatted with the wedding party for a bit.

Was that your group?!

Yes! That was us. I remember you guys stopping by. :)

There, I deleted and re-added the photos. Looks like it worked.

Well, why didn't you say you were a boardie!!!!

It was fun for us to be on the fringe of your festivities.
Wishing much love, luck & laughter to the bride & groom.

& very nice of you to take photos of 'my' cat!!! ;)

Whoot whoot

Thank you. I can see them now.

Had to chuckle about your wife startled by shadows in the water and jumping into the tube. You two being from Alaska, what does she do when she goes out into the yard and there is a bear sondering around? :-)

NSS,

Apology accepted! :)

I'm going to apologize now for not having any pictures from Seastar (sorry), but somethings are just made for the memory banks. An evening at Seastar Inn in one of them.

Couldn't Agree more!

VVHT

The moonset you posted was beautifu! I woke up early most mornings & saw it too!

Going to try to post a few photos from the wedding from my phone.....(hope for the best! Expect the worst!)

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Sunday morning coming down…

Having left the party at Seastar fairly early, I was up and at 'em by 6am. I made a pot of coffee and headed out to the beach to bull**** with Bernard. Well guess who was there? Chef Donald of course! and he had brown stew made with chicken and roti (those fabulous dumplings). I grabbed two orders. We sat and talked for a minute or two about his lack of a good woman to keep him company (hint, hint). Then he was off. I brought the food back to the villa for the wife to try. She loved it. Steve showed up around 6:30am and we sat out on the patio until 8am or there about. Michael came on shift at 7 and stopped by to see how we were getting on. He hung out and had coffee with us. Shortly after Steve left, my wife and I headed down to the water for a swim and tan session.
Now, the Canadian couple that were staying with us in the villa liked to sleep in a little (let's call them Sheri and Jamie). They had a morning routine that they brought down with them. Wake up around 8am, coffee and smokes on the patio, several games of candy crush, then breakfast and down to the beach. Sheri is a long time friend of my wife. My wife is also from Canada, but has been living in AK for the better part of 12 years. Sheri typically likes to stay at AI"s while on vacation, but she found BHV's to be very comfortable and relaxing. At first she was worried about whether or not there would be enough loungers and how early she was going to have to get up to secure her spot. But after the first day on the beach, all of her worries were melted away. It didn't seem to matter how busy the beach was, there was always plenty of room. Well, on this particular day, we had all made our way to the beach, claimed our little area and proceeded to enjoy the sun. About noon I had to take a break. It was f'in hot, hot, hot! So I go into the bar area, order a beer, and just hang out. My wife was up on top of the penthouse taking photos, and Sheri and Jamie were out in the water. Sheri had left her beach bag on the lounger along with a towel and flip flops. All of a sudden Sheri started yelling for Michael. You see, a middle age man had swam into the beach, walked right over to he lounger, and was starting to unzip her bag. Michael came running from on side, I came running from the other, and Sheri and Jamie came in from the water. The dude had no where to run. He just pushed the bag back onto the lounger and stood up. I scanned him to see if he had taken anything, but he hadn't. Sheri came and checked the bag and everything was still in there. Michael sent the guy packing with a stern warning, "I don't want to see you on my beach again!". He was most defiantly a tourist / expat, mid 50's, heavy set, shoulder length white thinning hair, and he had a slight limp. The reason I'm telling you all this is because that is the closest any of us came to being robbed. Well, that and the guy trying to sell us goat poo mixed with glue.

I started rounding up our group about 1:30pm Sunday. I had made some plans for all of us and it was time to get ready. Because as you all know, the One Love Bus waits for no one! (bananaznegril@hotmail.com)
I had e-mail Lenbert a few days before we left for JA. He was very prompt in replying. No problem, 10 people at BHV for the 16th. I figured we could roll the bachelor and bachelerette party all into one.
So everyone got ready and we met out by the front gate. The gate keeper at BHV's is a fine woman named Julie. My wife and I hung out with Julie on several occasions during our stay. She showed me how to get almonds from the pods that fell from the trees by the gate. She had a stash of them drying in the sun. Julie has gone through some very hard times, but kept the faith and was all the stronger for it. I admired her will and determination.

So anyway, Lenbert shows up about ten minutes late. No worries, soon come, eh? The bus parks out on the street and we all head for it. No one really knew what to expect, so when the 10 of us boarded that bus, which already had 15 people on it, well, it was crowded to say the least. I could tell Roy and Jacky, as well as Steve and his soon to be wife were all thinking I had gotten them into something they wanted out of. But the bus took off before anyone could change their minds. My wife was just looking at me with a huge grin. She knows me so well. We make it about half a mile and the bus stops for three more people! 28 all together. Crazy, crazy, crazy! And the last three to board were girls in their 20's from NYC. I can only imagine what they were thinking. So off we go, up that curvy assed road again, sweating, elbows to a**holes, standing room only.

Our first stop was at Palm Court. I liked the place. What's not to like, eh? pool tables and cold beer. Lenbert parked the bus and then came over for introductions. I met his girlfriend Tina and we talked for a minute or two. Nice people.
Next stop was Swordfish. Way cool place. The breeze from the ocean was badly needed. Another Stripe for me and the wife. Take a few photos and then we were off again.
Next stop was Home Sweet Home. Another beautiful property. Everyone was standing around looking at the view, talking and getting to know each other. Our group was getting into the swing of things quite nicely. That was when I decided to take a plunge. I ran down to one of the lower platforms and just jumped. Man, that water felt so good. Plus I figured if I was going to do it, I had better do it before many more beers. The owner of HSH came over and wanted me to jump from the highest point. But I didn't want to be the big show off, so I declined. Then up steps this lady named Jess. "I'll do it", she yells. So the owner talks her through how and where to land. The crowd starts chanting, "JESS, JESS, JESS" and off she went. It was too cool. After everyone settled down, the chef, Ricky, who had been recruited to help behind the bar, came and chatted with my wife and I. He was a really nice kid. But Lenbert was waving for everyone to get moving, so we had to go. I really liked HSH. When we go back to JA, I think we'll spend a night or two there.
Next stop was my personal favorite, the No Limit Bar. I loved all of the Bob Marley photo's hanging around. While everyone was out back looking at the birds, the wife and I sat at the bar with…I hope I get this right…Novelette? She had an infectious smile. Anyway, the 3 NYC girls were standing out front and were drawing quite the crowd across the street. I think every man in the area was there to check them out. We decided to go hang out out front as well. That was when this little boy, about 8, came over to sell us a bracelet for his school. He wanted $2. I told him we had enough already, but I would donate a dollar to the cause. He seamed happy with that. But now his older brother was wanting something, too. So we bought $3 dollar bracelet from him. Kids. Ok, time to go.
Next stop was Xtabi. This place was really neat. We had a beer, took in the views, and then headed into the caves. Who would have thought there was a party going on down there!
Last stop on the tour, Negril Escape. The timing was impeccable. we were there maybe 10 minutes before the sun started to set. If you saw the sunset video I posted, that was were it was taken. By now we were one big party. Everyone knew everyone else. We all cheered for the light house diver, which by the way, was this kid who had rode his bike while hanging onto the bus all the way from Xtabi! Reminded me of when we were kids, hanging onto the back of the school bus down icy streets. Skitching…
When the time came to leave, several people decided to stay and take a taxi back to their resorts. So now the bus had room for dancing. And dance we did, all the way back to BHV. At one point I was doing it no handed. Not the smartest move on that curvy assed road.
Lenbert runs a great tour. It is something you don't want to miss. We will do it on the next trip for sure.

We were dropped off at the front gate. Everyone met at the Ocean Breeze for some dinner and drinks. I had the jerk pork with festival. I loved it. My wife had the same. That little restaurant puts out some killer food. If you're passing by that part of the beach, you should stop in and give them a try.

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U surely have the spirit and vibe that belongs on a Negril Vacation.... Thanks for sharing...

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Seeing the no limit bar makes me want to be right there. Glad you had fun on the pub crawl. I go to Alaska in the summer, I have good friends in Talkeetna, it is so funny talk about different cultures, Talkeetna and Negril. Last summer went deep
sea fishing in seward. Il will have to find out where you fish out of, glad you are having a blast.!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by need some sun

You see, a middle age man had swam into the beach, walked right over to he lounger, and was starting to unzip her bag. Michael came running from on side, I came running from the other, and Sheri and Jamie came in from the water. The dude had no where to run. He just pushed the bag back onto the lounger and stood up. I scanned him to see if he had taken anything, but he hadn't. Sheri came and checked the bag and everything was still in there. Michael sent the guy packing with a stern warning, "I don't want to see you on my beach again!". He was most defiantly a tourist / expat, mid 50's, heavy set, shoulder length white thinning hair, and he had a slight limp. The reason I'm telling you all this is because that is the closest any of us came to being robbed.

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Need some sun....do you by chance remember what this man was wearing??

Fantastic so far. Keep 'er commin'!

Thanks for bring us along. Great report and pictures. Much needed :)

Bnewb, my wife was up on the roof top deck taking pictures when the incident occurred. If only she had been a minute earlier, we would have had a perfect shot of him.
This is what we have...the second picture is a blow up of the upper left of the first. He was wearing blue shorts, knee length and carrying a tan? shirt. I think I saw him again on the street side a day of two later.

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Thanks Need some sun...much appreciated. Enjoying your trip report. :)

This is one of the best trip reports ever! Love the photos too. And what another said, nice to read a Beach House Villas report!

Awesome report! It's nice to see that the pub crawl is now stopping at HSH. I would definitely encourage a stay there on your next trip.