Shauna (marley9808) & Raul's (ralonzo29) 1st Anniversary in Jamaica *Trip Report*

[marley9808]

Some of this story may be a little overlap since I did post a bit while on the rock, but bare with me.
I will go through each day on this one thread and I will post some pictures from each day, then there will be a link to all of the photos (200) at the end so you can see them all.
This will by no means be a whirlwind exciting page turner like some of the others, but in my opinion, your first trip is always something special and very hard to top.
This trip was my 11th and my husbands 6th....but dont get me wrong....I have loved every trip I have taken to Jamaica.....but my first will always hold a special place in my heart and every time I read a report like Clarity's or Manda's or any other newbie really.....it always takes me back to my first trip....such great memories!

DAY ONE (October 6, 2011):
Raul and I decided to do a couple of things out of the norm for us this trip. The first change was we decided rather than flying from Tampa (and therefore having to stop in either Ft. Lauderdale or Miami for a layover) we would just drive to Orlando to catch the DIRECT flight that Jet Blue offers from Orlando to Mobay. Orlando is only a little over an hour from us but we felt it was worth it since our layovers in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale have consistently been horrific, long, and frustrating. So since we came home last year after our wedding, with our anniversary week alrready booked at Catcha Falling Star, we knew we had to start looking for plane tickets. So we checked Jet Blue and found ourselves an amazingly good deal on r/t direct flight and we booked it. The other thing out of the norm for us that we did this time was that we booked a few days on the other side of the island at the beginning of our trip. I have a good friend who lives in Ochi and though he is a musician and frequently on tour he is usually home in October so we thought we would book a few days so we could visit with him. Well, of course, it turns out he would actually be in the US while we were in Ochi but never fear as there were many things we have been wanting to check out over on that side but didnt want to try and cram them all into a really long day trip from Negril so we figured we would just use those few days to see/do all of the things we have been keeping on our bucket list of to do's while in Jamaica. So we looked around online and found a ridiculously good deal on an AI in Ocho Rios. Now I have only stayed AI once and I didnt care for it. It's just not for me, but I figured that this deal made the room less than a typical hotel room or just about any place I normally stay in Negril we would just go ahead and book it because we didnt plan to be spending much time at the resort anyways.
So it's the morning of Day one.....I have waited for this day for exactly 355 days as that was what my countdown read when we got back from our wedding last year and I immediately logged on to negril.com and started my new countdown.
Soooo....We get up (we or at least I had been packed for at least a week), we load the car, say bye to the doggies and head to Orlando. Got there with plenty of time to spare. So far this was going pretty easy. We checkin, breeze through security and we are at our gate. I say to Raul.....so far I am liking Orlando airport much better than Tampa airport, this seemed way easier. Of course he then says shhhhhh don't jinx us. LOL We board the plane, sit down and relax. Oh I forgot to mention...Jet Blue has no charges for your first checked bag...that was nice. So we are on the plane and they announce, our flying time today is 1 hour and 34 minutes. I think I might have cheered out loud. I squeezed Raul's arm and said..."We are flying Jet Blue from Orlando from now on!"
Then they come around and serve us drinks, snacks and even gave us a free in-flight movie....on the way there it was "Horrible Bosses" but of course, the flight isn't long enough to finish the movie which Raul was disappointed about....but hell, how can you be disappointed about landing in Jamaica? Snap out of it.....but let me just say, as someone who flies regularly.....can you remember the last time an airline gave you ANYTHING for free? Besides a small shot glass of soda or water? I mean really! I kept saying, how much? And they were like it's free! LOL
So almost like clock work 1 hour and 34 minutes later, our happy butts were sitting on the tarmac in sunny Jamaica....sigh....a good sigh....like a sigh of relief. It's hard not to think back on how differently I felt just one year ago...but that's a whole other story....and I am trying to stay positive this time and just hope and pray that this year's story will make up for last years!
We get off the plane and it wasn't too long at all through customs/immigration and right out the door where our driver was waiting for us right in front of us.....and once again I looked at Raul and said "Well that seemed easy" LOL
We get in the car and off to Ochi we head! And the day seems really bright and sunny, not rainy and stormy like everyone said it had been recently, so I get excited about that. On our way to the resort we see a van with fruit........WAIT! STOP THE CAR......was that mangoes they had???? Ya mon I am told.....omg we NEED some! lol so now with 3 different mangoes in hand / well maybe more like lap, we continue on towards our resort. Just a little further down the road...another stop....this time for guineps....now the hubby is happy. So me with my mangoes and he with his guineps, once again we are off!We landed around noon so we made it to the resort before the 3pm check in, so they tell us to head down to lunch and we did. It was a nice property and the views were pretty. We sat at the beach grill area enjoying our mangoes and taking it all in.....My sweet Jamaica, it's so good to see you again!
We check into our room and get into our swimsuits and head straight to the pool...but which one to choose, there are so many here....oh this one with the swim up bar will do! lol.
We had made plans with our driver already to head back (almost all the way back to MoBay) that same night to go to Glistening Waters (in Trelawny). I was told it was best to go on a day that had been sunny and during a new moon. Well the new moon happened at the end of September so our first day would have been the closest day on our trip to the new moon, so around 6 or 7 he came and picked us up and we were off. Of course it started raining and rained the whole drive there. I started to worry, I wonder if this means it will be closed.....and no one really knew if it did or not. We get there and it looks like a ghost town but surprisingly they say it is open so we get out and are told that both boats had just left so we could have dinner and wait for them to come back so we did. When we finished dinner there was one other couple waiting so it was just the 4 of us and the captain out on the boat. So the rain and the moon might not have been the perfect conditions for this phenomenon but I will say, it was still awesome!
He took us out on the boat and almost immediately you could see the water glowing a bright blue in a trail behind the boat. The captain is telling us about what causes it and how there are only 4 places in the world that have this but that Jamaica was the brightest or the only one that has it year around. I can't quote him exactly because I was in a daze just taking it in. He then asks if anyone wants to get in and the other couple (wearing jeans) shook there head no....and I of course said YES...me! So he is giving me instructions and I think I was half-listening as I get in and woah.....what a weird experience. Part of you might have been a little scared because you are in the water at night in the dark....but instead of being scared I was mesmorized. As soon as I got in and started moving the water glowed all around me, it was the coolest thing I have ever seen, unfortunately it is also one of the most difficult things to capture on film, sadly. But whatever, I was in the water and it was glowing! How cool! The water is also really cold on the top layer and really warm on the bottom....which was weird. There was also a lot of sand or silt or something on the bottom layer so it was almost like the water itself was really thick so it took a lot out of you to swim or move around. But it was awesome. I highly recommend it. Very cool.
So we get out, and now we are cold of course. We get back in our car and head back to our resort. But because of the rain and what not we had to run the air so the window didnt fog up and you know what that means......wet person, air....COLD.
So here I am my first night in Jamaica and I am freezing my butt off....what is wrong with this picture? LOL
But even while freezing....I was still smiling.....I love Jamaica!

Tomorrow, day 2

Here are some highlights from day 1 in pictures:
First sight of paradise


Mangoes!


The view from our room


Let's hit the pool....or the bar...or, uh BOTH!


Our first sunset of the trip....not too shabby


Glistening Waters / Luminous Lagoon....the view of the trail of blue behind the boat...this was some of the only pictures we could get of it and that was only after playing with the camera a bit to increase the amount of light....sadly the ones of us swimming did not come out well enough to see...but this will at least give you an idea

[yetta]

Great report so far!! What beautiful pictures too. Been to Ochi once yet haven't been to glistening waters...on mi bucket list. Can't wait to hear more. Loving it!!

[Lionheart]

Thanks for the pics! - Hey, that hotel is in Ochi? What is the name of it?

[Reggae Roy]

More more!!!

[Clarity]

Love the pictures!! The hotel in Ochi looks like a great place to stay (swim up bar!) and what a beatiful VIEW from your room! I'm also curious about the name of the hotel!

I agree that Jet blue is the way to go. If Jetblue offered a flight deal from SF to Montego bay, I would jump on that. It's nice that there is still an airline that still offers snacks and has free entertainment.

That's so awesome that you swam in the glistening waters! I'm also kind of wary about swimming in the water at night, but the experience of floating in glowing water so something I wouldn't want to miss! That must have been amazing!

Looking forward to the next installment and the upcoming pics from Catcha!


P.S. Oh! Tell Raul that all of the "Horrible Bosses" got what they deserved in the end and they all lived happily ever after. The end of the film was kind of silly, so he didn't miss much.

[Vince]

Yea,the report i have been waiting for-The hotel in Ochie is Sunset Jamaica Grande-we stayed there twice.Its an Ai as mentioned.-This is going to be a GREAT report!!!

[negrilaholic]

Those pics are amazing! Not this trip, but definitely the one after I am going to just have to check out Glistening Waters and swim around there, looks like it would be an awesome experience.

[marley9808]

Hey, sorry everyone, busy day at work, this is the first I have been able to log in since I started the report.....I will start day two as soon as I get home (a couple of hours).
But to answer the questions so far....
Yes, as Vince said. The Hotel in Ochi was the Sunset Jamaica Grande. It was a nice property and is in a great location. The pools are nice, even have a big slide. The rooms need some updating for sure and the food was to be expected, but as I said before we booked it only due to the great rate we got (around $100 a night for both of us) so that really couldnt be beat. And we only ate breakfast and maybe one dinner or something as we were out and about the whole of our 3 days there, as you will soon see.

Glistening Waters is actually much closer to Montego Bay than it is to Ocho Rios, so this wouldn't be a really hard trip from Negril at all. It is in Trelawny which is probably only about 15 miles past Mobay towards Ochi. The only set back is that you have to go when it is dark so you would be driving back to Negril at night....but not a big deal really....and believe me, it is sooooooooooooooo worth it. Really cool experience

@Yetta-this place has been on my bucket list since I first heard about it years ago as well. I am so glad we finally got the chance, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I think the boat ride is $20 but only $10 if you buy dinner there as well.


@Clarity, I will tell Raul about the ending, LOL too funny! ....oh and just wait until you see these pics from Catcha, you are going to be so excited....not that you aren't already!

[Vince]

[marley9808]

DAY TWO (October 7, 2011):
Had to set the alarm (Hey, this is vacation, why an alarm?) so we could get up early to get ready for our all day tour to Port Antonio today. I have really been looking forward to this trip and I am excited about heading to Portie and all that we were going to see and do today, so it wasn't too terrible to have to get up at 7:00am LOL. We got up and got ready and headed to breakfast....here is one positive about being up early, there werent too many other people down at breakfast. So popped in got my much needed coffee. We booked a tour through a tour company and the bus was there to pick us up at 8:30. We got on the bus and we were the last stop (Yay)! There were about 6 or 7 other couples on the tour as well and it seemed most of them were from England. We were on our way to Port Antonio. We had a very pleasant tour guide and she showed us a lot of sites along the way. She also had some pretty interesting stories to tell. While heading out of Ocho Rios they stopped to show us the house that was built to look like a boat, pretty cool!
We kept on and passed by James Bond Beach, Firefly and many other famous locations.
Our first stop on the tour was Somerset Falls. It was beautiful. The area reminded me a little of YS Falls in that you could stay there a while. They had a pool and picnic areas, and places to hang out and relax. But we walked up in the forest on a trail that led us to the boat which would take us to see the hidden falls. It was beautiful! The boat rows you into the little cave and behind the falls, breath-taking.
After that, our next stop was the Blue Lagoon. This place was amazing. We got out at the Lagoon and got on another boat that took us on a little tour around the lagoon and by the villas. There are several amazing villas along the Blue Lagoon. They are privately owned but are rented out....some are like 10,000 a night but I think they had one small one that was only $1,000 per night LOL. But these villas are ridiculous. They are so big, right on the water and they come with a full staff. Tom Cruise stayed in one when filming Cocktail. Ziggy Marley has stayed in one, and the list goes on.
After the villas we rode by Monkey Island and the tour guide told us that they had recently filmed scenes from Day and Night with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz there (apparently Tom really likes the Blue Lagoon, since he has filmed two movies here already). We passed by Monkey Island and went over to see Cocktail Beach. The tour guide pointed out some more villas and homes owned by the rich and famous (must be nice) and then we returned to the lagoon to go swimming. Of course we had to do it, especially after some talk about a fountain of youth or something LOL. I jumped in first but then I was able to convince Raul to jump in as well. Much like Glistening Waters, the top layer (about 1-2 inches) of water was ICE COLD but then everything below that layer was like warm bath water, quite a weird sensation to say the least. But the most impressive thing about the Lagoon I would say was the color of the water....it was the most brightest blue color I have ever seen, it was amazing! The guide told us that the lagoon was believed to be bottomless because a local once did a free dive to 180 feet and never touched bottom but then I read somewhere that they said divers have confirmed it to be around 185 feet deep.
After the Blue Lagoon we headed over to Frenchman's Cove and had some lunch. It was gorgeous here as well and the food was yummy! I tried to step in the water but OMG, it was FREEZING! So um, no I will just admire the beauty from here....no need to swim! lol
After that we headed up into the moutains a bit and stopped at the opening of the Rio Grande where you meet the raft captains. I have been wanting to do a bamboo raft ride for a long time, almost as long as I had wanted to see Glistening Waters so I was super excited about this. We stepped inside the office area and got our number. Number 3...thats us. We headed down to the landing and waited for our number to be called. Then we met our captain, his name was Gary and he instructed us to get on the raft...and away we went. I can't even describe this experience. It was just amazing to see how much work goes into this process. The tour is 2 hours long!!! And that entire time your captain is powering you, him and the whole raft down this river using only a long piece of bamboo and his arm and body strength. I got tired just sitting there, I can only imagine what he was feeling. We talked to him along the way and found out he had been doing this for 14 years (even though he didnt look very old to me). He said he spent 7 of those years being an apprentice and basically just carrying the rafts back up the river after the rides. He told us that the average raft lasts about 3-4 months, though the seat area can last up to 2 years. He said each captain has to build their own rafts and they take about a week or so to make. They have to buy the bamboo from the farmer who owns the land and then build there own rafts. He said during busy times he may have 2 tours a day, but usually it is only 1. The whole trip was just amazing and we loved it, and loved talking to Gary. But about only 20-30 minutes in, it started raining....and what can you do when you are sitting on a raft in the middle of a river with 1.5 hours more of tour to go...well lucky for us, Gary's raft was equipped with an umbrella which he gave to us and that was nice, but since we were sitting there we of course got soaked and wet and COLD....again, day two in Jamaica and here I am FREEZING...what is up with this? lol
We made it to the end, in one piece, and maybe with pneumonia, but we had an amazing time. We got back on the bus and headed back to Ocho Rios (about a 2 hour drive). We got back to our hotel around 8pm and had dinner and drinks and that was about all we could manage after such a long day of fun, food, swimming, touring and freezing our butts off!
Tomorrow, Day 3 and our last full day in Ocho Rios before we head to Negril!

The house built like a boat


Somerset Falls, boatride to the hidden falls/cave









The Blue Lagoon




The Villas at the Blue Lagoon




Monkey Island at the Blue Lagoon