Back from 12 days in beautiful Negril ...
We stayed 1 week at Firefly and 5 days at Samsara.
Weather - mostly sunny, hot and humid. Have not been to Jamaica in late April before so found that the humidity got high and then broke into big rain. But only happened twice... other days beautiful with calm sea.
Restaurants we visited - Marley by the Sea, Best in the West, Canoe, Treehouse, Kuyaba, Alfred's, Ciao Jamaica, Rock House, Ivan's, Teddy's at Blue Cave Castle, Pablo's (for breakfast).
Happy to give a report on any of these, if anyone is interested. I think Ivan's stands out for us as best overall experience - really good food and service, and beautiful views. I love a place with history so learning that it was named for the hurricane, and how much work was required to refurbish was all part of the enjoyment of the place.
We are not bar-hoppers but we did check out LTU pub (near Citronella Cottages) as we were checking out future accomodations in the area. We also enjoyed a few drinks at Firefly and Sun Beach.
Overall impressions... twas our 5th time to Jamaica (first in 2007) and our 4th time to Negril.
The beach is as lovely as ever. We were happy to see the Patty Man was still going strong (for 27 years apparently)... still pretty reasonable lunch in my opinion - $1.50 for chicken patties. Curtiss the fruit lady was still overcharging for mangoes :) Don't get me wrong - I love and support her but $4 for a mango seemed a bit steep. Firefly is going to struggle, in my opinion. They offered a commodity that not too many others offered, and with that no longer an option, $200 a night seems a bit steep for a 3 star room (quaint as it is). There are too many other places on the beach to compete with.
We shuttled over to Carib apartments for an afternoon but the beach there is so inferior, that we didn't go more than once.
It was our first time on the cliffs and we really enjoyed it there. It's quieter, and as we approach the magical age of 60, we are happier in a quieter place. We met a really nice couple from Ontario that we spent a lot of time with - just kind of hit it off, and although they were all-inclusive, they did step out for dinner with us a time or two. REALLY enjoyed leaping off the cliffs over and over but my pedicure took a beating - shucks!
Activities included a lot of relaxing and reading, some snorkeling, a trip to YS falls, some geocaching and mostly enjoying the weather after our worst winter in 115 years.
Mostly a lurker on the board, we weren't sure about coming out to the events... we did attend Canoe night and chatted to a few people, including Mike from Ontario, and Maclaren from South of Chicago. Staying at Firefly meant we were in the throes of the main event. Nice to meet Rob and Lisa (who knew she is from my hometown?!) and also Mo and a few others.
We found prices were up on almost everything from our last visit in 2012. That's life I guess. We were also sad to see that access to Bloody Bay is completely blocked to local residents. Unless you are staying at a resort on the bay, there is fencing with razor-wire everywhere. And of course, lots of new condo development going on at that end.
There's my not-so-wee report.... goobye Jamaica until we meet again....
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