First trip To Negril - Not the last one!
Due to the awesome nature of many reports on this forum this feels a little inadequate! I have no writing talent of any kind but I will let you in on a few of the highlights of our trip to SATP in Negril last week.
My wife and I have travelled to many locations and now have a “list” of wants for a vacation property. This includes things like being on the beach, no kids, a la carte dining, being close to the airport..... So when my wife asked where I wanted to go for our 25th anniversary I did a little research and came up with SATP in Negril. She asked if met most of our “wants” and I told her that it was across the road from the beach, it allowed kids, a la carte was twice per week and it could take two hours to get to from the airport but, we would go to Jamaica for the first time to experience the vibe! After much back and forth she agreed to trust me on this one. This is on top of her wanting to go to Europe instead of heading south for this vacation.
I know that Negril has some great little hotels and properties that are non A/I but for what we pay on a package deal from Toronto it still works out cheaper than a fly and stay. We also then have the advantage of being able to get out on our own when we want.
Day 1 – We flew with Westjet and the service was great. We had a small delay due to headwinds. Customs took about 45 minutes, after being admonished sternly by the customs officer for not filling out the address of our hotel – welcome to Jamaica. Our luggage was waiting on the floor by the carousel and we walked out the door. Wrong door, we were in the bus section. I went back into the building and a few guys asked if needed a taxi and I told them I was looking for Alfred. They sent me in the right direction and I went back for my wife. We then hooked up with Alfred and he introduced us to his driver Michael. The sky then opened up and we were in a torrential downpour. Michael went for the car and returned shortly and we were on our way. This was one of the best decisions of the holiday as our package included transfers but we have been stung too many times waiting for “Bob and Dianne” to have one more beer before they get on the bus and then have to stop 5 times to use the washroom because they have had too much to drink.
Thanks to those that have said that the drive is not to be missed. It was a very nice experience and the driver was very informative. It was nice to have a six pack of cold Red Stripe to keep us company. It rained periodically on the way to Negril and we enjoyed seeing Lucea and the country side. Michael offered his services if Alfred was not available and said we were welcome to come and visit him to see where he lived. On a future visit we will take him up on this offer.
We arrived at SATP in no time and checked in with no problem. One of the maintenance staff escorted us to the room as there were no bell boys available. We opened the suitcase, pulled out bathing suits and hit the beach. No comment needed here. We were soon hooked up with drinks and then ordered some jerk chicken from Opal at the beach restaurant. It was very good and she makes her own sauce. We spent a few hours on the beach before heading back to get ready for dinner.
We had a couple of martinis at the bar before heading over to eat. Dinner was very good with fish and roast turkey topping the list. Afterwards we had coffees and then wandered over to the bar. The Maple Leaf game was on the TV! We had a few more cocktails, watched the band and went to bed happy. At least I did, the noise from the surroundings is quite something when you are not used to it. Mt wife asked if I knew about this and I told her of course I did. She asked me when I had not told her and I said that I was smarter than that because you would not have wanted to come here if you knew in advance. By the second night it was like white noise and we both slept very well.
Day 2 – Up at 7.00 because we can sleep at home or on the beach. We hit breakfast and then went to the beach for a couple of hours. Back to the room for a quick clean up, and then off with Randy from John Wayne Tours to go to church. This is something my wife likes to do and it gave us a chance to meet some local people at the same time. We were early for Mass but were welcomed at the door and took a seat. It was a really nice experience, everyone greeted everyone before the service and there was some great singing. All of this on top of the smell of ganja wafting through the Church and the guy in front of us had obviously “heightened” his church experience before hand. One of the visitors had a little girl that was about a year and half old and it was cool to see her interact with one of the local children that was around the same age. Everyone at the back of the church got some extra value for their dollar watching these two become new friends. At the end of the Mass we found one of the lectors and gave her some pencils, notebooks and school supplies that we had brought down.
After that we walked across the street to Coco La Palm. I figured that since I had been watching their web cam endlessly the least I could do was have lunch there. The grounds are very pretty and the rooms looked very nice from the outside. It is quite a tranquil setting. We changed in the washroom and then had a nice lunch at the beach bar. The staff was very nice and the food was good. After going for a swim and chilling for a bit we headed back to the resort.
