First Trip Report - Long Overdue

So after reading a bunch of trip reports, I decided it was time for me to go back and do mine before I forget about them all together. It has been a long time since this first trip (5 years) but I realize now it's selfish not to share with you guys my experiences. So here goes, be gentle...

Day 1

Took an Apple Vacations/USA 3000 flight from Chicago. Everyone on the plane was headed to an all inclusive, mostly in MoBay. We told a few people we were going to stay at a castle on the cliffs in Negril and got some strange looks to say to least. We landed in MoBay, and let the craziness ensue. Crazy long line for customs, but it moved quickly enough. Grabbed our bags and headed outside for our first view of Jamaica. People were everywhere, yelling about taxis. “Yo man , where you going?” they all yelled at once. After a few seconds, I saw Petey, our driver, holding the tiniest Blue Cave Castle sign you could imagine. Introductions all around, then we hop in Petey’s little hatchback for ride to Negril.

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Talking to Petey on the road, his first (maybe second) question is “You smoke brotha?” I look at him with a mischievous smile and say “Yah mon, but she don’t,” waving back at my girlfriend holding on for dear life in the backseat. He seems confused by this, “She don’t but don’t mind if you do?” he asks. “Yah mon,” I respond. He still seems a little skeptical, but accepts it. “Okay we stop at my friends up da road and smoke,” he tells me as we fly through a curve on the coast road.

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After driving on the coast road for a long while, asking questions about Jamaica and life and answering his questions about Chicago and life up there, we stop at a little shack on the side of the road. I’m a little confused why we are stopping here and turn to ask Petey what’s going on, but he’s already hopping out of the car and headed towards the shack. “Okay, let’s go,” I say to my lady, and we’re out and headed up to the counter.

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I cannot remember Petey’s friends name, but he says hello and we order some beers from him as Petey rolls up a little something for us to enjoy. To this day I haven’t seen anything like that first view. I talk with Petey’s friend for a little bit, and complement the beautiful view from his kitchen. He cracks a little smile and responds with “Yah mon.”

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The picture from his place is to this day one of my favorite photos I’ve ever taken. You can see the metal roof and
the cooking pots, and realize that that’s about all this humble man has, and then you see the gorgeous view he has to look at every day. And he is at peace with the world. That’s when it hit me; how truly special Jamaica is.

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Day 1 (cont'd)

We get to the north end of Seven Mile beach and Petey starts pointing out to us all the resorts we are driving past. My lady sees a sign for Hedonism II and asks him about it. He cracks a little smile and makes a comment about the crazy naked people. We get down to the roundabout and start heading up into the cliffs.

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If my lady was scared before, that first drive up the cliffs really got her nervous. Those blind curves, combined with driving on the left were intense. Needless to say, we arrived in one piece at the castle, ready for anything.

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Now I somehow stumbled across Blue Cave Castle on the internet, so I’d seen tons of pictures and knew exactly what to expect. Seeing it in person however, is another story. The sheer size of it, in comparison to everything else in Negril, is amazing. Standing at the edge of the seawall looking down I knew two things. I had found paradise, and I was getting laid tonight.

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We reserved the upper tower room at the Castle, and it was everything it claimed on their website. Directly over the ocean with the most relaxing sound of the water hitting the rocks. After throwing our bags in the room, Petey gave us a quick tour of the grounds including the old pirates cave.

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After our tour, we were hungry and asked Petey where we should go. He took us to one of his favorite spots, Chicken Lavish. He introduced us to the owner, a good friend of his. I can’t remember his name, but he was a very nice guy. My girl had to get a picture with him, after telling him how delicious the food was. She still talks about Chicken Lavish to this day!

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After our lunch, Petey dropped us back off at the castle. We chilled out for a while, watching our first Negril sunset. I must have been in shock (or just a little too zoned) as I didn’t take on photo of that sunset. Right after the sunset, we decided to head down to Xtabi for dinner. In retrospect, it was stupid to go there after dark, with all the gorgeous views. Regardless, the food was delicious and it was super romantic.

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After dinner and many drinks, we made our way back to the castle to “go to sleep.” Some damn good “sleep” was had that night.

HAHAHAHA...YEssss! This is going to be good.

Umm, those two things you were so sure of....well I KNOW the first one is spot on and I'd be shocked if the second didn't come true. LMAO I'm so jealous ya'll stayed in the castle. I was one of the little people over there at Samsara looking across at ya'll with envy. Was planning on snorkeling over there to check out the caves but never did get around to it. Blue Cave Castle looks really cool and I hope to stay there one day.

Gotta say I loved the first stop ya'll made...perfect way to kick off your trip. You nailed it.... The simplicity, the serenity, the beauty. SO special.

Can't wait to read more...thanks for posting. Better late than never right? Even 5 years. LOL

nice so far..more,more:)

Day 2

We woke up pretty early (at least for vacation) but excited. We took a walk down the road to what we heard was the best breakfast spot in Negril. We strolled into the front yard of a house, and sat down at a table in the garden. For anyone who has never been there, it is a very cool experience. To this day, if I mention Just Natural, my girl’s eyes light up.

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We were greeted by the sweetest woman in all of Jamaica, Momma Theresa. We knew what we wanted before she said a word. Two Jamaican breakfasts and some fresh juice. Now I, like many before me, thought the ackee was eggs. In between laughing at my cluelessness, Theresa explained all about Ackee, Saltfish and Johnny Cakes. After our fantastic meal, we said goodbye, and headed back down the road.

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We got back to the Castle and were both so stuffed we had to lay down and relax. We hung out for a while, then got changed and took a taxi down to Rick’s Cafe. I remember pulling into the entrance of Ricks and thinking, if this is one of the top 10 bars in the world, are the other 9 all in Negril?

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Admittedly, the cliff divers were cool. I’ve been jumping off high dives and cliffs my whole life, so it wasn’t a huge deal for me. I jumped off the high spot a few times. Every time my lady tried taking a picture, she pushed the shutter too late and all we ever got was a picture of the splash.

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A diver came up to me asking for a tip. I asked him what for? He said, “I just dove off the cliff, you didn’t see me?” I said no, so was I. He laughed and said look I’ll dive off that tree if you give me a tip. So I said do it and game him some cash. He climbed up and did a little show up there before jumping off and down into the water below. He came back up and asked what I thought. I said “you said you would dive, and you only jumped.” He looked at me surprised, and we both cracked up laughing at the same time. I told him the next time I gave him money it would be for me to jump out of that tree. He just looked at and me and said, “you crazy mon, just crazy,” as he walked away.

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After watching the sunset at Rick’s, we were ready to leave, but didn’t want to go back to the castle quite yet. We ended up taking a taxi down to Margaritaville on the beach for some more drinks. It was pretty dead inside, maybe two other tables. It was nice to get all caught up on what I had missed in the sports world. After a few more cocktails we headed back to the castle to turn in for the night.

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Day 3

After heading back to Just Natural for our second Jamaican Breakfast, we came back to the castle to chill.

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After I was done with my chill session, we decided to do some swimming and snorkeling. The cave is pretty awesome to swim into, though I should have had some kind of shoes on to walk around in there. The stuff to see when you are snorkeling is amazing. I remember trying to figure out why I would go on a snorkeling tour when I could just jump in right at the castle and see all sorts of marine life.

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After we were tired out from playing in the water we decided to walk down to 3 Dives for the jerk chicken I had heard all about. Walking up, I was a little surprised that it wasn’t a big building with a patio like everywhere else. No worries though, headed up ordered some Jerk Chicaken and some beers. After walking around looking at all the spots to jump off I went and asked how I get back up. I was told to use the ladder at Xtabi, so I said what the hell and took the plunge.

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“Why go stand in line at Rick’s when I can jump right here,” I told my lady when I got back up. She gave me the same look as the cliff diver at ricks and said, “your crazy mon.” After some deliciously hot jerk, we watched the sun set over the cliffs of Negril, both realizing this would be our last evening in Jamaica.

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It was a sad realization, but we both had to get back, as we had a long drive back to the college we were both attending at the time. Sitting at 3 Dives we both made a vow we would never again only come to Negril for anything less than a full week.
The rest of the evening was a blur as I tried desperately to smoke everything I had left. It was a valiant effort, but in the end it was a battle I lost. Falling asleep with the sound of the waves hitting the rocks 70 feet below us I had the most relaxing rest possible.

Day 4

The next morning was a blur as well. We barely had time to enjoy Blue Cave’s delicious coffee before rushing out, thanking everyone we saw on the way. The drive to MoBay was awfully quiet as we were both sad we had to leave paradise and head back to Chicago.

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Arriving at the airport, we had some extra time to mess around, so we looked in all the shops, bought some CDs, and sat in the Jamaican bobsled. Sitting at the gate waiting to board the plane, we both started trying to plan when we could come back. I would be graduating in two months, and had to worry about finding a job or going to grad school. She had another year left in school and was just as curious about those things as I was. But for those three perfect days in paradise, we had no worries.

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Respect,
Finny

good report, GREAT details! god I can so relate to everything you did and everywhere you went ..... You must be a good swimmer, i have enough trouble finding the Xtabi ladder when I jump right in front of it!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Finny

...Now I somehow stumbled across Blue Cave Castle on the internet, so I’d seen tons of pictures and knew exactly what to expect. Seeing it in person however, is another story. The sheer size of it, in comparison to everything else in Negril, is amazing. Standing at the edge of the seawall looking down I knew two things. I had found paradise, and I was getting laid tonight...

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lol - Love it!

My friend stayed at Blue Cave Castle and I went to visit him there. The sweeping views and the towering castle.. so stunning. I like how there was a staircase leading down to the underwater cave. The rooms we decorated so cool too!

Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences! I so enjoyed this trip report! It was a great read with such beautiful pictures. I wanted it to keep going on and on.. I was bummed when I hit day 4 and you were heading to the airport already! nooo!

I can relate to that feeling of just arriving and getting into the vibe and feeling that relaxation wash over you... then it's over just too soon. It's always like that for us too!. You have the right perspective, it's all about the experience and the memories. It sounds like you both had an amazing time!

Ya'll sound like fun peeps. Enjoyed the report so much!!!

Tizzy - Thanks. It was actually really cool to back through the memories as I wrote it and chose the pictures. Blue Cave is one of the coolest places I've ever been, and the vibe there is indescribable. It's like its the Negril of Negril. If that makes sense. If I had a million bucks, I would buy it for sure. We are definitely some fun peeps. We'll have to meet up on the next overlapping trip.

Rambo - Thanks brada. No more Air Jamaica direct flights from O'Hare :( What's your preferred way to get there?

gerryg - Thanks. Your report was pretty awesome. I would have loved to try Negril as a single guy.

Clarity - You think you were bummed reading it when it got to day 4? We were so bummed living it. ;) Never again for less than a week.

This board has been invaluable every time I've planned a trip to Negril. I've posted questions every single time I think. It seems like every time I come back I have to re-register tho! Oh well, on to the next report: Beaches Sandy Bay in 2007. TOTALLY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE. But cool in it's own way...

Respect,
Finny

Loved your report Finny and great pix too. So glad you guys had a great time. There is just something about a Jamaican Breakfast and Jus Natural is a great place.

Negril has such an amazing vibe. I have a feeling you will find a way to make a return trip sooner than later. Next time take a least a week. Don't think anyone can go to Negril just once.

Thank you for the report and great pix. I like that Wildcat shirt too.

Respect,
Col. Andy & "Wildcat" Pam

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Finny

Day 3
The rest of the evening was a blur as I tried desperately to smoke everything I had left. It was a valiant effort, but in the end it was a battle I lost. Falling asleep with the sound of the waves hitting the rocks 70 feet below us I had the most relaxing rest possible.

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Now that's funny! Guess I'm picturing a scene from a Cheech and Chong movie with the Castle room filled with smoke. ;)
I really enjoyed your trip report and loved all the pictures. Hey 3 days is better than no days but even after a week it was way hard to leave. Thanks for the post.