First Trip Report - First Time in Treasure Beach

Our journey began with seven days in Negril. Here’s the beginning of my report - the Negril portion - if you’d like to read it - http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...ys-In-Paradise

March 2-7, 2016

Our favorite driver and friend, Michael Heath, picked us up from Blue Cave Castle to take us to Treasure Beach at 4pm. A little later than originally planned, but no problem mon :cool: We made a stop in Black River to pick up more Red Stripe, overproof, mixers and snacks on the way. Two years ago we took a day trip to YS Falls, Black River and Pelican Bar, so we had been to this area before.

After accidentally taking the “scenic route” to Treasure Beach, we arrived at our rental house around 8:30pm. Since it was dark outside and we had never been to this area before, I felt like we were in another world and wondered what it would look like in the light. When we arrived we were immediately surrounded by goats, dogs and cute little children all running around in their yard excited for new guests. The caretaker and her family live in 2 houses in the front of the property and the rental house is perched up on a rock behind them. Sarah, the caretaker, is very friendly and welcoming. She walked us up to the house and we were all in awe, at where we would be staying for the next 5 nights. I’m pretty sure Michael didn’t want to go back home to Sheffield that night ;)

We were very hungry by this time, so we headed to Jack Sprat’s. Of course I had the escoveitch fish and it was delicious! This was our first of three visits to Jack Sprat’s during this trip. Sitting outside along the water is gorgeous there.

Once we returned to our home, it was getting pretty late but we couldn’t go to sleep yet! We were in a new place and the excitement was too much to go to sleep! I mixed a rum punch and gave my husband a Red Stripe and we sat and looked out at the vast moonlit ocean in front of us as we listened to the goats. It felt magical! That’s the best way for me to describe our stay at this house – magical! It’s very open to nature and a bit rustic, but we are OK with that and knew it ahead of time, so no surprise. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but I have to say that this is my favorite place I’ve ever stayed on vacation!

After a good night’s sleep, this is what we woke up to –
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And here are some pictures of the house –

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Shower view -
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Backyard -
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Next door neighbors :) -
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Stay tuned for more if you're interested...

Definitely interested in more! We will be going to stay in TB for the second time in December. What's the name of the guesthouse you are staying at? It has amazing views.

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Originally Posted by Spiff

Definitely interested in more! We will be going to stay in TB for the second time in December. What's the name of the guesthouse you are staying at? It has amazing views.

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Spiff - The house we stayed in is called BARUKAMBA and we rented it through airbnb.com. It's in the Billy's Bay area of TB. Let me know if you have more questions about the place.

That looks like a pretty cool set up.We like to party a lot but we may have to slow down a bit and give Treasure Beach a try at least for 3 or 4 days one trip.Looking forward to more of your reports and pictures!

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Originally Posted by agregory

Spiff - The house we stayed in is called BARUKAMBA and we rented it through airbnb.com. It's in the Billy's Bay area of TB. Let me know if you have more questions about the place.

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I was living across the road at Irie Rest when Muta and Jackie were building the place. Nice location with a good view! I feel that Billy's Bay (second only to Accompong Town) was the best place I have lived in Jamaica. I will be reading with a lot of interest as you finish this report.

Peace and Guidance

looks like a great time in Treasure Beach, me and mine have been on a couple of day trips but have yet to spend a few daze, this trip report is making me think it's time we ventured further and stayed in Treasure Beach area,

great reports (both Negril and TB) thanks alot!!
Peace,
Islander

We love the Treasure Beach area. We almost stayed at Barukamba last year, but opted for our usual guest house there instead. Maybe next time we'll go for it, but we really prefer to be on the water if possible. I like that shower though.

Like all the pictures, but the old bus looks kool! Irie views!!!!!

the stained glass is nothing i've seen before - love it

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Originally Posted by Accompong

I was living across the road at Irie Rest when Muta and Jackie were building the place. Nice location with a good view! I feel that Billy's Bay (second only to Accompong Town) was the best place I have lived in Jamaica. I will be reading with a lot of interest as you finish this report.

Peace and Guidance

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We really enjoyed Billy's Bay! After staying in Negril several times, it's nice to get out away from the "hustle". I'm sure we won't ever give up Negril completely, but we love to explore new places and the Treasure Beach area was a great place to do so. The people are all so friendly, happy and helpful. Plus, the beauty of the area is indescribable! We read an article about the construction of Barukamba. I would imagine that it was interesting to be around as it was built!

Maybe someday we'll venture to Accompong Town. I've read your posts about it and it sounds like we'd enjoy it :) After falling in love with Billy's Bay, which is your second favorite, I put Accompong Town on our must-see list!

I didn’t sleep very soundly the first night because I kept wondering about what everything looked like outside, plus the goats were up most of the night having a party on our stairs. The anticipation of exploring the area kept me awake too. As usual though, husband doesn’t have that problem so he slept like a log. No worries for me though, I’m just so happy to be in such an amazing house in this great country of Jamaica :cool:

In the morning I learned why the goats were up having a party on our stairs all night – we left the gate at the bottom of the stairs open – lol! We didn’t even realize that there was a gate at the bottom when we arrived the previous night, so we never thought to shut it! Apparently, the goats were given more freedom that night than usual so of course they decided to party it up :D It had also rained the night we arrived which isn’t common in TB. It’s very dry and arid there normally. It sounds like the rain also gave the goats a reason to celebrate. Everyone was happy for the needed rain!

This is the view from the main bedroom level of the home –
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Here’s where the goats stayed up, partied all night and left their mess -
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This is the view from the second deck. The bus was cool to see. I wonder if there's a story is behind it?
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The house is perched up above all the surrounding homes. Notice the gate that we left open our first night. If you are considering a stay here, keep in mind that there are 80 steps to reach the main living level of the home. Barukamba, the house of Mutabaruka –
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There is a lot of art and interesting décor and furniture in this home. We really loved the openness of the house! At night, the lizards would hang out behind the mirror in the bathroom waiting for the light above it to be turned on. When the light was on, the moths would come, which meant dinnertime for the lizards. YUM!!! It was really cool to watch!

Here’s some pictures of the beautiful backyard –
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I was finally able to capture several pictures of the Doctor bird –
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This is a bit grainy, but these Doctor birds were mating in the tree right in front of me. Was it rude to watch and take pictures? They were very noisy!
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We decided to rent a scooter for our visit as Billy’s Bay is a little remote from the restaurants in TB. It’s not really that far – maybe 1-2 miles, but we wanted a quicker option for getting around. I am so happy we had a scooter. It gave us more freedom to explore further and it was a lot of fun zipping around on it.

It’s funny because in Jamaica, the OCD, anxious, over-analyzing, need to be in control side of me is gone. I’m not sure what it is about this place, but I’m sure others must agree and maybe that’s why we all keep going back? Not that I’m an uptight, crazy person at home or anything ;) But things such as insects, birds (which normally scare me – lol), dirt and germs, lizards in my bathroom, riding on the back of a scooter with someone else in control, and other normal tension inducing activities don’t bother me at all. We even had a cat that ran through the house during the early morning and I barely flinched! Those who know me would be impressed by that – haha! I really think we should move here!

Getting the scooter was an adventure in itself. We planned to get it at Smurf’s and have breakfast. Actually, we planned to get two scooters because as previously mentioned, I’m averse to not being in control. But once we saw the size of the scooters, I decided to ride on back. They are a heavier than I expected and I'm more wimpy than strong - lol. I was expecting a smaller type, similar to a Spree and I’ve never driven around on a scooter myself either. It was a great decision. Riding on back was super comfortable and I was able to take tons of pictures from there too!

The walk to Smurf’s from our house was the first time we had been out and about in the daylight. We walked the road with the goats and once in a while a car or bike would pass. It was a beautiful walk and coming from Negril, it was great not having anyone trying to sell us anything or ask us for money :cool: Everyone we saw said hello and smiled and we found that the residents were always willing to help and answer questions without expecting anything more than friendliness in return. This is one thing we loved about this part of our trip!

We had a wonderful breakfast, then went into the bar area to rent the scooter. I think we ended up paying $3500Ja/day for it. As we were about to take it we discovered that it was only ½ full of gas. We didn’t know where a gas station was yet, so we asked if they could fill it up. For an extra $500Ja we had them fill the tank. At first, no one in the bar knew where the gas was. They finally found it stored under the bar in a giant Wata bottle. They poured it into the scooter by making a funnel with a small Wata bottle and we were on our way. It was amusing to observe ;)

Today we planned to explore a beach or two and check out the area. The beaches here are gorgeous and not busy at all. Most of the time we found ourselves all alone with the beach to ourselves :) Here’s some pictures from our first day outing –
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We went to Jack Sprat’s for lunch and since it was dark when we were there the previous night, we now got to see the beauty from our table :D
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This is Billy’s Bay beach, which is across the street from our house. I think it was my favorite beach in this area.
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View of our house from the beach -
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Sunset pictures from our house –
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Love the pictures. Brings back many fond memories. Here is a picture I took at what we called "Irie Beach" which is where I think you took your picture from. It is in front of Hikaro Guest House. I took this picture in 2001.
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Another one I took in front of Golden Sands towards the fishing boat area in 1990.
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And then close to the same shot in 2001.
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Pictures from an old, cheap disposable camera so nothing to compare with yours but the vibe was probably about the same.

More pictures please.

Peace and Guidance

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Originally Posted by Accompong

Love the pictures. Brings back many fond memories. Here is a picture I took at what we called "Irie Beach" which is where I think you took your picture from. It is in front of Hikaro Guest House. I took this picture in 2001.
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Another one I took in front of Golden Sands towards the fishing boat area in 1990.
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And then close to the same shot in 2001.
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Pictures from an old, cheap disposable camera so nothing to compare with yours but the vibe was probably about the same.

More pictures please.

Peace and Guidance

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Very cool pictures - thanks for sharing! Such a beautiful place. I can feel the vibe by just looking at them :)

Today we are venturing to Lover’s Leap. First, we are going to Hold a Vibz for breakfast. We both LOVE Jamaican breakfast and could eat them everyday! Today I ordered Ja breakfast and husband ordered a breakfast sandwich. The Ja breakfast was delicious, but the sandwich was the best! We still talk about that breakfast sandwich when we’re at home :D I think we had it 3 times in only 5 days. And they have great juices and smoothies too!

Luckily, I brought a printed map of the TB area and one with the roads heading to Lover’s Leap. We used both of these maps several times and two of the waitresses as Hold a Vibz showed us on the map how to get there. They described landmarks and such since there aren’t many signs along the way. It was another fun adventure heading to Lover’s Leap! I think it took around an hour for us to get there since we stopped a couple times to enjoy the scenery.

It’s nice to be riding on 2 versus 4 wheels on these roads as it’s much easier to avoid potholes -
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Pictures of our journey to Lover's Leap -
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The trip to Lover’s Leap is beautiful and the weather was perfect! We did make one wrong turn, but figured out within a few minutes that we had to turn around. It is located on a 1,700 foot cliff, so the whole ride was uphill with gorgeous views.

These pictures really don’t do it justice. If you are in the TB area for a few days and have a scooter, I would highly recommend this trip. We were only up there for about an hour, so we had plenty of time to explore more TB beaches during the afternoon.

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We were told that this tree only blooms once per year and we just missed it by a week. It must be quite a sight to see it in full bloom. There were three blooms remaining.
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We stopped at a large gas station on our ride back to TB to fill the scooter and buy a snack or two. I love the sea salted banana and plantain chips :D After filling with Texaco gas the scooter went a little faster than it did with the “Wata gas” – lol!

Here’s pictures of our ride back to TB–
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We spent the rest of the afternoon on Billy’s Bay beach and then back to the house for the sunset. :cool:
I really don't know how these views could be any better!

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I love it when the sun drops out of the clouds into the sea.
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More Doctor bird sightings in our backyard. So cool!
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This is the goat hill bordering the house’s property. One afternoon we were in the kitchen and notice three baby goats wandering our backyard. They probably entered through the gaps in the fence. The backdoor leading from the kitchen to the backyard was always opened except for when we slept or when we were away from the house. So when the goats were in our backyard we had to get them out before they entered our house. Husband was impressed when I led them out of the yard without any hesitation. I do think we could live here :D
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As I was writing this trip report today, I googled Hold a Vibz café and read on Trip Advisor than I burned down. Very sad :’( It was our favorite breakfast spot. Even the water glasses are beautiful.
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Today we are heading down to the TB sports park to check out the road into it and if it’s suitable for the scooter. Tonight is the big 6 a-side knockout football match that the whole town will be at and we would love to go! The sports park is a very impressive facility and great for the surrounding community. The road in wasn't too bad, so we are looking forward to the game tonight.
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Ackee tree in front of the house –
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Such wonderful images- great trip report! Thanks for sharing- we'll be in Treasure Bay and Negril in October, I can't wait!

After checking out the sports park we headed out of our driveway to the right, away from TB, along the coast. I am not exaggerating when I say that we didn’t pass another vehicle or cycle on our entire route. It was probably the worst road we’d been on as far as potholes and gravel patches go, but it was no problem mon. I'm not driving - lol :cool: It was a wonderfully secluded and beautiful drive. We checked out a couple beaches along the way. I believe we made it to Fort Charles beach, but didn’t see any signs saying that’s where we ended up.

When I was taking pictures from the back of the scooter, I never even looked at the image on the screen. I pointed the camera wherever my eyes were aimed and hoped for the best. It’s best this way because I was totally able to take it all in, rather than focus on capturing the moment :) It was a delight to look through these pictures on my computer and see how well they turned out, if I do say so myself.

Even the fence posts here are beautiful -
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A few potholes along the way -
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The first beach we came upon -
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More pictures from another beach or two -
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Every beach we walked on was full of treasures. Husband searched each one thoroughly and found some beautiful rocks, shells and coral as I waded in the sea and soaked in the beauty. As we rode around town on the scooter today, one of the locals saw him a couple times and called out “blue boy” to him ;) I’ve been calling him that since.
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It rained a bit on our way back so I didn’t take more pictures on the ride. It was refreshing since it was a pretty hot day. When we returned to the house we enjoyed two cold jelly coconuts that we had picked up earlier from the fruit stand down the road.

Being perched up above the village of Billy’s Bay, we were able to observe some of the community’s day to day life.
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The goats are out and about this afternoon. I was taking a nap as all this went on -
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Tonight we’re heading to the football game. First we’ll have dinner at Kim’s Place. This is the first time we’ve taken the scooter out at night. As we’re riding, I find that it’s difficult to see the road. I’m not driving and I’ve had a few drinks *side note - I discovered over proof and Ting on this trip - mmm! So I’m thinking maybe it’s just dark because there’s no street lights and not many outdoor lights here. Then husband mentions that he can’t see well. And then a man on the side of the road says, “Turn on your lights brother”. We pull over and see that the main headlight isn’t working. Only the white side lights work. We have a nice little LED flashlight with us, so we decide to use it to get to Smurf’s. Maybe it just need s bulb? We talked to someone at Smurf’s and he suggested it would be best for us to go home for the night. No one could help us tonight. We followed his advice and went for dinner at Kim’s, which was on our route home. It was delicious :D Too bad we missed a great football match, which TB won. But of course we still enjoyed the evening in that amazing house.

We awoke to another beautiful morning –
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Today was our last full day and we planned to visit another beach or two and return the scooter at 1:00. Since we had headlight issues that prevented us from going to the football game the previous night, we decided to ask Smurf’s for an extra few hours with the scooters. No problem mon, of course. We also had a carving to pick up from Stanley, the woodcarver at Smurf’s.
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Love this picture. I circled where I lived in 2001 behind the South Pole Bar. Thanks for this picture.
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It brings back a flood of memories. Especially the day after staying 6 months that I went Home.
http://www.negril.com/discus/message...tml?1283862425

Peace and Guidance

Good to see Stanley is still around. We met him a few years ago and he went with us to the baptist church in Billy's Bay for a Sunday morning service.
http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...Treasure-Beach
Regards,
Bob

We spent the morning having breakfast at Hold a Vibz again for our last breakfast sandwich there :D And then we drove around on some back roads we hadn’t travelled on yet. We ended up back on Billy’s Bay beach that afternoon.
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The path to Billy’s Bay beach is on the left -
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We enjoyed our last lunch at Jack Sprat’s. Another gorgeous day!
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Upon closer inspection of this picture, one of the young fisherman has a Wisconsin Badgers hat on. Go Bucky!!!
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These are the baby goats that snuck into our back yard. Up until our visit to TB, I loved goat curry. Now I’m in love with these cute little goats and I’m not sure if I’ll ever bring myself to eat goat again!
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Tonight we are having Sarah, the lovely property caretaker, make dinner for us. This is a service that’s offered and we wish we would have taken advantage of it another night or two. She made curry chicken for us tonight and it was fantastic! Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of her or of our meal. But I did get pictures of her son and niece who came with her. They’re cute little ones and very well behaved. They sang songs for us, played in the backyard and they played with the Green Bay Packers dominoes and playing cards we brought along from home. We took note after they left that they both put the dominoes and cards back into their containers without ever being asked to pick up after themselves. They were only 3 and 4 years old.
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Here’s our last sunset –
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We are off to the airport tomorrow morning at 8:30. Norbert, of Cross Jamaica Tours, drove us to the airport. We had never met him or used their services before. He is a great driver and fun to talk to, although we weren't very talkative on our ride as we were sad to be leaving :( We plan to be back next year!

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Originally Posted by Accompong

Love this picture. I circled where I lived in 2001 behind the South Pole Bar. Thanks for this picture.
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It brings back a flood of memories. Especially the day after staying 6 months that I went Home.
http://www.negril.com/discus/message...tml?1283862425

Peace and Guidance

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I'm happy to bring back wonderful memories for you Accompong. Thanks for sharing your old trip reports. I am enjoying them :)

We went to the market on the corner near Irie Rest a few times for Red Strip, Ting and juice. And we went past Irie Rest to get to the beach. I remember reading about it back when we were looking for a place to stay. It looks like a peaceful place.

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Originally Posted by rjonsun

Good to see Stanley is still around. We met him a few years ago and he went with us to the baptist church in Billy's Bay for a Sunday morning service.
http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...Treasure-Beach
Regards,
Bob

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Thanks for sharing Bob. That's a great story! I can't memorize something that I read, yet alone something that someone reads to me!

Stanley seems like a nice guy and his carvings are great! He was amusing to talk to. He had a small am/fm radio with a wire in place of the antennae that he was always carrying. He kept handing it to my husband to hold as he discussed our carving with me, the boss lady :)

loved both reports! the beach down the hill past Irie Rest is one of my favorites - i hit it at sunrise one morning and it was all gold and black -- loads of things to look at without snorkeling --- i felt like i was in an aquarium

put Little Ochie on your list for your next TB visit . . . :-)

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Originally Posted by Seveen

loved both reports! the beach down the hill past Irie Rest is one of my favorites - i hit it at sunrise one morning and it was all gold and black -- loads of things to look at without snorkeling --- i felt like i was in an aquarium

put Little Ochie on your list for your next TB visit . . . :-)

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Thanks Seveen! Yes, that was our favorite beach :) Definitely want to get to Little Ochi next time!

Great trip report and pictures! We have fallen in love with TB - several years ago we stopped going to Negril all together and now spend 10 days in TB. The bus was new this year - no idea what the story is or why it is there.

That's a really fantastic collection of pix. I have not been to Treasure Beach, but those photos make me want to go so badly.

Our fourth trip to Treasure Beach is booked for October.

We just confirmed a reservation for a 6 nights stay in TB next Feb. Were still doing a few days in Negril but are looking forward to the change of pace that TB seems to offer.

Thanks for TR!

agregory,

Very nice trip report and photos!! The Treasure Beach and South Coast of Jamaica have matured nicely and retain a great Vibe!! I first visited TB in 1981 and those involved with the development and growth have done so gracefully.

Cool pics while M-cycling around!!


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Awesome trip report! :o

Thanks everyone! This was so fun to write and relive the beauty and memories :)

Oh man your killing me here. All my favorite places in T. B. Did you by chance have a conversation with Miss Jer owner of the South Pole? SWEET lady~~ And YES you were at Fort Charles Beach........Black sand and all alone~~Perfect! We also enjoyed the scooters~~

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Originally Posted by Jim-Donna

Oh man your killing me here. All my favorite places in T. B. Did you by chance have a conversation with Miss Jer owner of the South Pole? SWEET lady~~ And YES you were at Fort Charles Beach........Black sand and all alone~~Perfect! We also enjoyed the scooters~~

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Is South Pole a bar in Billy's Bay? If so, we never made it there. Hopefully next time :)