Trip report 6/12-6/27/2013 Jakes, Sea Splash, Blue Cave Castle

I'm not much of a writer or the best at spelling but I'm going to give this a shot. I should have done this 2 months ago but I'll try and remember everything

My wife and I were married June 8th of 2013. We had a weekend long wedding at a campground we go to a lot, they have a hall and we got the whole campground and there's a log cabin church down the road we used. We left there on Monday and we took of for Milwaukee Tuesday to fly out Wednesday early in the am.


I was doing lots and lots of looking on line and talking to a friend of the wife who is a TA. The TA wanted us to book with them at a AI and that just aint the type of people we are so we asked for smaller places that are non AI...she did suggest Jakes for us...but the rest was AI again....she wasn't hearing what we were saying so I booked almost all the trip thru negrilonestop.com.

We wanted to go more then one week since we were paying that much on tickets ($1,300 for 2 out of Milwaukee) and not sure when we will be able to come back. We ended up booking 15 nights split between 3 places (was 5/6/4 but ended up split 5 days each). We went with TB and had to get Jakes honeymoon suite, the next stop was Seaspash on Negrils beach, and then the last part of the trip at Blue Cave Castle on Negrils cliffs.

We stayed at each place 5 nights, we were going for 6 on the beach but sea splash messed that up....more about that place later.

The trip from Milwaukee to Montego Bay wasn't that bad, we had a little layover in Atlanta and that place wasn't that crazy. We got to Jamaica around 2 pm I think and we had Winston for a driver, he's a great guy and a very safe driver will use him again. We made a stop for beer and soda and it was my first real interaction out side the airport,lol, I think everyone could tell it was my first time being there. we made the 2-3 hour drive to TB and got some jerk on the way....I love the fact ya can drink beer in the car.


JAKES

we got to Jakes around 4-5pm and got checked in, we got octopussy #1. The first night we didn't do much. went to jacksprat and got a pizza for dinner and watched the sunset. while there a little dog came up and sat under our table and acted like we were his owners....at this time we were missing out 2 basset hounds so it was nice to have a vacation pup....the next morning we wake up early and go out on the deck to hang out...not 20 minutes later theres that dog again jumps up and hangs out with us,even took a nap in the shade. he ended up hanging out with us all morning, I figured he needed a name so Frank it is.

Frank ended up being by our side the whole 5 days. the last night I was drinking some rum (beer only kinda guy) and I was thinking about having to leave the dog and I started to dry...my wife thought oh boy here we go,lol...the next morning she was giving me **** about no more booze for me cause she don't wanna hear me cry....I tell her it wasn't the rum and then the dog runs up about 10 min before check out time...I started all over again....I wanted to take him home so bad. he had no collar and was super skinny with a few scabs on him and was always running free so I figured him for a stray...called jakes when I got home and they checked and it turns out he is a pet and they don't want to give him up....I had two animal recuse down there that were ready to help get him and ship him to us....anyways back to the trip :)

We LOVED jakes...it was very $$$ but for a honeymoon it was perfect! My wife wines everytime she gets out of the shower she wants her outdoor shower back. The food was crazy $$$ at the place right by the pool it was like $30 for breakfast...all we got was a drink $3 and sandwich each, little egg mcmuffin looking thing $9....jacksprat wasn't that bad in prices but we went out to some of the local places close by and ate. I think the weirdest thing I ate was cow foot,yuck...they let me try some first I went with the curry goat,that was good.

The one day we went looking for breakfast and this guy is like "you lost,you looking for something"....I knew what he was up to and say no, at the same time my wife just had a sub and wasn't thinking and says "yes were looking for food" here we go......so this guy followed us all over the place talking and pointing out stuff...we get about a mile from jakes at this littke store with a restaurant off the side of it....the guy sits there watchs us eat and walks us back to jakes...when we get there he wants money,lol...thanks Molly....I gave him like $3 and said thanks.

other then that guy and another guy that was on the beach we had a great time at jakes....it was so quite and nice...we are from Upper Michigan so it was almost like home...very country feel to it.

we didn't do much while there just kinda hung out in the room or within walking distance of jakes, figured this one cost as much just for the 5 nights as the next 10 are going to cost might as well hang out and enjoy it.

Winston picked us up for our trip to Negril. We were wanting to do a stop at YS falls but they were closed that day, we booked a trip with him to go there another day.


SEASPLASH


We got into Negril and we wanted to be back at Jakes as soon as we got on that main road,people everywhere! Didn't take long to get to seasplash and we unloaded and got checked in. We got room #6 the one bedroom suite. we wanted to have a kitchen to help save some food cost (more on my thoughts on this subject later). The room has one of the "better" views but for the most it's pool and trees but ya can here the beach and water, just cant see it unless ya count thru some trees.

I have heard the place was getting run into the ground or something along them lines and that a new owner is working on fixing everything so I hate to talk bad about the place but..... That place was the worst for us out of our whole trip....we were counting down the days till we were able to get the hell out of there. First of all we figure we will try the restaurant down stairs...no redstrip,no rum,ordered 2 things off the menu and they are out of it...the waitress is starting to get mad cause i'm taking long to order....there was no other person around so not sure what the hurry was...we both end up getting a chicken sandwich...it shows up with half what we ordered and was not very good...I didn't even finish mine.

next thing was the life guard, he started of being a nice guy setting out chairs when he seen us walking up and shooting the **** with us,very nice dude....till we wouldn't book a trip with him...by the end of the week he was giving us a nasty look cause we wouldn't do a snorkel tour thru him.

The only other thing I would say is this place is not safe if you are bringing little kids...or if you are a electrician don't go there also, you will have a heart attack when you see the bare wires running everywhere.

we didn't like the whole beach vibe...getting people hitting ya up left and right...we tried walking the beach at like 5-6am but it didn't help....after a few days we were getting the hang out it...I think they just got on my last nerve...i'm not a rude person but sometimes in Jamaica ya gotta be and it was hard at first for me.

we did walk up and down the road a little ways....had fun but the taxi people are nuts...honk,honk,honk.....the one guy we said no and he stops and looks at us waves his hands I yell I said NO...he yells , c'mon mon have some common courtesy,lol that made my day.

the one walk down the beach a guy came up and tied a string on my hand and said give me money...I took it off and gave it back laughing...he gave me looks the rest of the week also,lol....also have to watch out for the guys who try and give you a hand shake with a bag in their hand....place is nuts....I don't think we will be going back to 7mile anytime soon, just not our cup of tea.

so the room was very big and nice but the place could use some work. We go down stairs and ask about something on our 2-3 day and the lady says oh you were told about the move the last day right? what move first we heard....she says a time share is coming in the last day we are here and they need our room so we have to move....we said sounds good just comp us that last day then cause we are getting the hell up out of this place....she wasn't sure if they would do that she says!!!! we get a call later in the day saying it's all good to go....best news I heard all week.

we did do the YS falls I think the 2-3 day we were here and that was so cool...it took a while to drive there but its worth getting to see the amazing country side in Jamaica. we left about 830am and got there right at open...I thought wow figured it would be more people....there was us and a group of 4 and that's it....on the way back it was trailer after trailer of people so if ya go try and get there asap and ya have it to yourself for the most part. we did the little tour and the guy took pictures for us..didn't cost anything but I gave him $5 cause the battery died and we had to do it again,lol...we also did the rope swing that was fun. then we hung out in the pools and had a sub before we left.

after the ys falls tours we booked a sub field tour. That was cool to see but it was so hot on top of that hill. Not the biggest I have seen but it's cool to see how they do it over there.

Blue Cave Castle

we came a day early but the room we booked was taken that day so we went with I think #10...It was a nice room just no view or anything special. The next 2 days were spent in #8, this room had a nice view with a little sliding door and balcony. only thing was lots of stairs and I thought the were steep compared to something back home, we didn't have any troubles with them. The last 2 nights we spent up top in the penthouse suite....now them are some stairs,lol.

The cliffs was nice, ya could still get out and do stuff if ya wanted or if ya wanna just hang out ya can and not be bugged by someone wanting to sell ya something. The only thing about the cliffs is the walking on the road...frickin crazy,lol...after a while ya get use to that just like everyother weird/crazy thing they do over there.

we ate at 3dives,loved it. we also ate at teddys that's right in BCC, very good pizza. we also ate at pushcart, unless you got $$$ don't go wish we didn't.

The castle is a very kick butt place and if we ever come back to Jamaica I think it will be the castle. we met a dude there who said he comes about 5-6 times a year and stays only at BCC...been doing it for like 30 years he said! He seen us snorkeling and he told us about a glass bottom boat tour out to the reef and said it's a must do so we booked it and he came with....let me tell that is a must do....we seen so much cool stuff....we booked with awesome Vincent....great guy and great crew.

one other thing we did on our very last day was went to get some teds tea....that was great I just wish I would have bought 2....I was having so much fun on the top of the castle star watching :)




after 15 days in Jamaica and with the wedding we had been going for 3 weeks straight we had to head home....to tell ya the truth I think we were starting to get sick of being there and just want to see our dogs. After being home for 2 days home we were ready to be back in Jamaica though :)

My Mom is from Germany so we are trying to get over there to see family and Oma but we do hope to get back down there soon. talking about doing a family trip with both sides of our's for a 5 year anniversary trip 2018.

We wish we could figure out a way to make it once a year but this trip was $$$. tickets were $1,300 rooms $3,000 (half was for jakes) and around $2,000 spending/food money

This is our first time doing a trip like this so we were green as it gets. One thing we learned is food can eat up money quick....I've been wanting to build a mobile kitchen for doing road trips and staying in motels or whatever...so I'm getting a double hotplate and some basic cooking pans and putting them in a suite case....the rest of the room I'm going to pack food and if it's a long haul like this trip was I would bring a duffle bag so I only have to pay one way. I did not know food was going to be that much there.

This little mobile kitchen will also help to keep us out of fastfood places on road trips. we live off $75 a week on food so I can't see paying that much for a day of meals.

If we would have been able to eat in more we would have been able to do a lot more other fun things so that kinda sucked.....we had $2,700 but had to pay some bills and stuff so it was a little over $2k when we left....we came home with $23 ,a wooden carving,2 cartoons of cigs, a bottle of rum and all we did was ys falls and the field tour....we still had a blast





I'll have to work on getting some pictures up from the trip and I might have left out some parts so I might be adding more later

I guess that's it for now, hope it didn't rattle on and on :) first time to Jamaica and first time doing a trip report

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Thank you for the report, Love me a good TR

great report.

Great report, liked the vibe you set forth at Jakes. Looks like a great place. Chillin' on the cliffs is the best!

Thanks for a fun report - I hope you can get the pics to work, I'd love to see them!

Excellent report,thanks for sharing!!

You did awesome for a newbie no doubt,my wife and I were married at jakes 15 years ago,place is sweet and wasn't so expensive then,stayed at sea splash many times and except for the last time when construction was going on always loved it.theres plenty of places that have kitchenettes so I wouldn't bother with trying to pack a hot plate,plenty of cheap eats also ,keep it up it'll get better n better peace

Hello, first of all let me apologize sincerely for the horrible experience that you had at Seasplash. We have been doing a lot of work on the hotel to bring it back as it was closed for a while which created many problems. I was away from the hotel when you were here, and was made aware of you being unhappy about the room change when I phoned the front desk. It is always inconvenient to make a room change, but we try to make the move as easy as possible. I cannot begin to tell you how badly I feel about the bar, the restaurant and the beach situation. I have checked with the manager who was here in my absence and he advises that there was one morning when we had no red stripe, and I can only assume that it was that day that you ordered. It is inexcusable, however it happened and I am sorry. I know that there is a problem in Negril with the harassment on the beach. It is not exclusive to Seasplash, it is an area problem, and it needs to be controlled at all levels. Every hotel needs to play their part and we try through our lifeguard and security staff to patrol the beach and keep it virtually free of trouble, but it is a difficult task, and it creates unhappy guests. I will follow up on the comment on our own lifeguard ,and wish I knew for sure which one of the two it was, althougj I think I have an idea. We get very few complaints about the restaurant food and service, and I will certainly get to the bottom of your complaint as we try very hard to ensure that all our guests leave here happy, and look forward to coming back. I would like you to reconsider Seasplash at a future date, and I would be happy to give you 3 nights free as a gesture. I am sure that when we have completed the renovations you will be more than comfortable here. Please accept my apologies once again, and please know that I appreciate that you took the time to write, as bad it was, as it is the basis on which we can improve.
regards,
Diana Marley
General Manager

Great Trip Report.
Couple of things:
The second time you use negrilonestop they give you a 5% discount on your booking. While they don't have Blue Cave as a client, they do have a great hotel in Treasure beach called Treasure Beach Hotel for $71.50 (with your discount and includes all taxes) which was clean with A|C, TV, 2 pools, a great view of the ocean and good swimming right out front. 15 days there would be less than $1100.
We have been going to the Castel for a few years and tend to book the cheaper rooms. In June you may need A|C, but you wouldn't in November or December. Rates rise dramatically all over the Island about December 20th. Prices go down significantly about May 15th.
We tend to get cheaper rooms as long it is in a area we like. We eat out every meal but only eat 2 meals per day. Also, we eat most of our meals at places Jamaicans eat (think 3 Dives, Jenny's, Choice's) and not tourist places like Rock House or most places on the beach.
Negril beach can be a hassle if you are looking for something more laid back. We are headed to Treasure Beach for a week in November (this is our "beach time") and then back to Blue Cave for 2 weeks.
Another way to save money is just use route taxi's. We will actually route taxi back and forth from negril to treasure beach, saving about $100 each way. We travel very light, as exessive baggage will cost more in a route taxi.
So, a trip can be done much cheaper if you plan well.
Regards,
Bob

nice report! and yes there are ways to do jamaica less expensive - set an alert for airline tickets and only book when they are cheap - go then --- and there are loads of guesthouses in Treasure Beach with kitchenettes some $50 or so. Also "yard food" is usually less expensive but might take a minute for you to acquire a taste for it :-)

Very nice and informative report. And fun too. Thanks for posting.

Good report
Don't let the negative things keep you away