Planning First Trip to Treasure Beach

[bigbamboo]

ARE taxis Ã* la Port Antonio or Ã* la Negril?

We rented a scooter while we were there. We drove around quite a bit and there weren't a lot of taxis that I saw. In Portland we took route taxis to Boston Bay, PA, etc. and they were fairly frequent. In TB we didn't see a whole lot.

Where is the "town centre" - most hotel booking sites tell you the hotel is x.x km. from the town centre - where exactly would that be so we can get our bearings vis-Ã*-vis the distance from our hotel to other activities - beaches, restos, bars, other (suggestions???) - ..

For us "town centre" would have been Frenchmans Reef. Park there have a drink at the bar then walk the beach. Eggy's is a good time on that beach. It's a small bar to the left, if your facing the water, from Frenchmans. You may however be asked to help push a boat in for a fisherman.

Is it a 6 mile beach?

It is not anything like Negril. A couple of smaller beaches that may extend a couple of miles. When we were there in Jan. there were very few people. That's kind of how me and the Mrs.'s like it. Higglers were minimal and NOWHERE near the level of pressure as Negril. Not a judgement, just an observation.

Would you recommend a villa for 2 couples, or hotel rooms (4 nights max)?

Depends on your preference. You want a bar, restaraunt, chilling with fellow travelers you'd probably want a hotel. If you want a home base, more room,full kitchen and usually a cook and landskeeper/security a villa is definately the route.

We did a villa for 8 days for the two of us. It was perfect. Our House lady was amazing. Her sister grew the Ackee we had (delicious). Her fruit person got us the best mangoes, coconuts, pineapple etc. She had a lot of local connections and St. Elizebeth is the "Breadbasket" of Jamaica and there was a ton of fresh fruits and veggies.

What villa and why (approx cost and when you last stayed there)

We stayed at Villa Arcadia. Reasons:
Clean.
Safe.
Remote.
Pool.
Private Beach 5 minute walk. And by private I mean we never saw anyone there. Ever.

We paid approx 170 us per night plus extra for House lady and Groundskeeper. We were there in Jan.

What hotel and why? (approx cost and when you last stayed there)

Never stayed in a hotel there.

Is 3-4 nights adequate to get a feel for the place (we sure wished we had spent longer in PA, mais c'est la vie, eh?) (reading the posts, one of our esteemed number mentioned that frankly, after 9 days, he was getting a bit bored .... can you expand?) We don't need to be entertained 24/7 - just want to know what to expect.

Again, it depends on what your looking for. For us a vacation is swimming and snorkeling together, day trips, a couple of nice dinners. Light Bar time and cocktails in the evening together. If that's your thing then it will be perfect for you. If you prefer a night scene and larger groups of people you may want to stick to 4 days. We were there 8 days and could have stayed there forever. Having a scooter was a definite plus because there are so many cool little places to check out.

Are there any jerk barrel guys on the street in TB?

I really didn't see any. It wasn't until we rode to Lovers Leap one day that we saw one on the way.

Are there plenty of little convenience stores about?

There are a couple but not alot.

There is mention of the Scotia Bank ATM near Jake's - is that functional? (we'll check that closer to our trip ,,, but ...?)

Check out the pic I sent in the other thread concerning Cambio's

Your general over-all impression and any suggestions on what to do, where to go, what to see, what we need to know about locals,"don't expect" surprises you may have had ..... etc.

Overall, and I know people say this all the time, but this place is special. The people. The food. The vibe. It was all good. I went to Negril for the first time in the late 80's and the way the locals described "Old Negril" is exactly how Treasure Beach felt to me. Let me know if you have any interest ands I'll post some more pics.