Christmas Vacation 2022

Ahhh…THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR 2022! Two weeks in paradise…a much needed vacation. Arrived 12/19 around 10:30 am…Club Mobay whisked us through…1st to Immigration Desk and an hour & half wait for luggage…total BS, as there was only one other plane. Nobody to unload luggage??? Thank goodness our driver waited. He thought that we missed our flight.
Got to Charela, had some lunch and hit the beach. First night was the best sunset of our trip! We ate almost all breakfasts and majority of dinners at Charela. Room service for dinner on our porch was lovely!
Sand gravity took hold for much needed R & R…improved sleep and lower heart rate the entire trip.
We did pry ourselves off the beach for a morning visit to Barney’s Hummingbird Garden & had breakfast at Xtabi afterwards. Ordered fried chicken dinner to go from Denise at Rainbow Arch next to Charela. Happy hour and sunsets with Delroy at Rondel almost every night. Rondel added a beautiful deck to the bar area with outdoor dining. Wednesday, Friday, & Sunday happy hour was PACKED! Great to see the new deck filled with diners too.
Had delicious jerk chicken dinner at Kool Vybz. We drove by a few times later in our trip & it was packed! So happy for Miguel (owner). He is a humble hardworking young man.
Christmas dinner at Kuyaba. We got the last table. Nice to see our favorite waitress, Sadia. She has served us Christmas dinner for many years. We did go back with friends another night and had a lovely time. Sadia was happy to see us again!
Went to Ivan’s one night…very crowded as everyone had to be seated undercover due to rain.
Most days we had patties from Anthony “The Patty Man”, juice and pastries from Layton “The Bread Guy” , pork from Dean, or lunch served on the beach at Charela.
New Year’s Eve dinner at Charela was wonderful…5 course meal - soup, shrimp & crab appetizer, salad, lobster thermidor, citrus sorbet, filet mignon, & crepe Suzette. Dancing with friends in between courses and then off on the beach to watch the bonfires, Chinese lanterns, and fireworks! What a beautiful evening!
The beach was crowded for about a week & seemed to taper off at New Years. So good to see people coming back to celebrate the holidays!
We had a few days of waves due to the storm on the east coast…thankfully no seaweed from ocean churning…water calmed down and no loss of sand. Only had rain 1 afternoon that ran everyone off the beach for a few hours. Another wonderful holiday in the books! And yes…I started the countdown for Christmas 2023 and maybe a birthday trip in between! Book, pack, & GO!

Great report! We are staying at Charela starting next Saturday for the first time ..2 weeks. Former YBird customer until new owner ruined that 30 year experience! Good to hear our favorite beach vendors make their way down that far! Looking forward to all kinds of new experiences in a place we have loved for so long!

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Jer-i … you’re going to love Charela! Awesome hotel, beach, owner & staff! Fresh croissants for breakfast W, F, & Sun. Enjoy!��

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Nice report and nice pictures. Sounds like a great trip , nice and relaxing. Good to hear the business is coming back.

Sounds like a fun trip! The photos are amazing and that pork looks delicious! I have not tried the pork there yet but I will on our next trip. We have looked at staying at Charela Inn, but haven't yet. Sounds like a very nice place and their beach always looks great. Thanks for sharing your trip report and photos! :applause:

Awesome pics, thanks.
Hour and a half for luggage, grrrrr. We go for 2 weeks and never check a bag. Yes, the wife too.

We learned the hard way years ago to pack two weeks into a carry on. Then when Ida hit in August '21 it took two extra weeks before we could get back to New Orleans. The fine folks at LTU were kind enough to do our laundry while we were "stranded" there (lol)! We've also done New Years Eve dinner and dance at LTU with DJ Jerry spinning us into 2020. Great party!

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Originally Posted by Todd

Awesome pics, thanks.
Hour and a half for luggage, grrrrr. We go for 2 weeks and never check a bag. Yes, the wife too.

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My husband could pack a carry on for 2 weeks…me, nope!

Thanks Jambarney!

The beach at Charela is sweet! You can be in the shade under a palm tree or in the sun. Dean’s pork is great mild or hot!

Great photos. We enjoyed our trip over Christmas in Negril as well. I would walk past Charela a few early mornings and that dog was not a fan of me for some reason. Always let out big barks to say, you don’t stay here, so move it along. Lol

Great Pics!

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