I know you understand what is happening in the world, thus your question. A smart but very eccentric man once said that the only guaranteed things in life are death and taxes. Both those kinda suck, so let's not worry about guarantees.

You want "Negril is our get-away haven, and we dream about being on the beach, with venders bringing us the most wonderful food, walking the beach, stopping for a drink and listening to music wherever we feel like."

All of this is available today! I see Norman the Patty Man on the beach beach everyday, along with walk-a-by fruit, juice, hats, woven ware vendors. They need to earn a living and are more than happy to provide you with what you need.

Live music is a bit harder to find at the moment. Drifters is still jamming and Roots Bamboo starts earlier. But every bar will have music playing. Please respect the curfew hours, currently 10pm. By February I expect it to be much later.

Any beach establishment is an outdoor place of business which makes the wearing of masks not very effective in any form of prevention of Covid, or a cold for that matter.

But, if you go shopping in HiLo or any indoor business, not wearing a mask is disrespectful, unhealthy and simply not a smart thing to do.

There are less than a handful of indoor air conditioned bars and restaurants in Negril, so avoiding them is incredibly easy should the masking thing be that important to you.

I am so used to it that I chin mask virtually everywhere while eating or drinking, and I have caught myself wearing a mask in my car, with me the only one in it. Talk about a waste of effort....

Since even Pfizer is now recommending 4 shots (money grab?), it would seem masks in tight, sealed, indoor, air conditioned places seem to be our best protection.

Because of the pandemic, Negril nor any place on the planet cannot be exactly the same as pre-pandemic times.

But if you would be satisfied with a 90%+ experience of your expectations, you will be more than satisfied.

And remember that on a good day Negril has about 40% of pre pandemic level of tourism, you will experience a Negril that only people who visited in the pre-90's time ever saw.

You have the chance to experience Negril the way that can only be read in history books.

No matter your decision, we all hope to see you in future, whenever that may be.