First trip report

[Jaherring]

We had a burger at Aubie's. It was delicious! He came over to our table and chatted with us for a while. Nice guy. Hate to hear that he got sick.

[Bob-n-Sandra]

Reach #2, 2012. We decided 10 days just wasn?t long enough, so we booked for 14 days. This time we booked 7 nights at Coco La Palm, 1 nights at Seastar and 6 nights at Xtabi.
Coco La Palm, we got a Jr. Suite with a nice big balcony overlooking the pool. It was a long day of traveling and we may have partied a little bit too much on the way to the hotel because once we got settle in the room, we walked to the beach to catch the sunset. On the way to the beach Sandra started to feel lightheaded, grabbed hold of the wooden Bob Marley statue and slowly dropped to the ground, she was out. I grabbed her feet and raised them up while the kitchen staff come out to help by fanning her until she slowly regained consciousness. It was a bit scary for a minute, but we made it to the beach to see the sunset and she was fine afterwards. We enjoyed our stay the rest of the week at CoCo La Palm.
Seastar, we stayed the night for Saturday night music and buffet, we enjoyed the night, but Sandra was not feeling well, we went back to the room, she went to bed while I sat out on the balcony, staring off into the jungle enjoying the music. We liked Seastar but prefer to be on the cliff to enjoy the view.
On to Xtabi to finish off the trip. Sandra was still not feeling well and was laid up in bed, she was either throwing up or sitting on the toilet for a couple of days. I went to the pharmacy and got her some Imodium which helped for a bit but not for long. On the 3rd day I decided that we needed to go to the doctor down at Sunshine Village. She ended up having E. coli and taking Imodium was not a good move. Lesson learned, see the doctor if you are not feeling well, I think it was about $40 to see the doctor and the medication wasn?t very expensive. She didn?t start feeling better until a few days after we got home and on the return flight, we held up the plane because she had an emergency trip to the bathroom as we were about to take off.
The staff at Xtabi was very helpful during our stay trying to help her feel better. Not a great ending to our trip but at least we had the week on the beach that we were both able to enjoy.

[Bob-n-Sandra]

Reach #3, 2019. It had been 7 long years before we would return. Not because we didn’t want to but because we wanted to bring some friends with us this time. In the meantime, we went to other beach locations, Rivera Maya, Dominican and California. None of them compared to Negril.
So, we got a 2 couples to go with us and the 6 of us decided to split 8 nights split between Charela Inn and Tensing Pen. We all had beach front rooms on the second floor with great views of the beach at Charela. The toilets were a bit weird, perched up on a platform but hey, Jamaican carpentry at its finest. The beach area is huge with plenty of shade. I’m a huge St. Louis Blues fan, have been all my life, if you see me in Negril I most likely am wearing a Blues hat. They were in the playoffs on their way to finally winning their first cup. It was a very emotional time for me, my dad and brother had recently passed away and it brought back memories going to games with them. Got to watch game 7 of the second round, double OT win over the Dallas Stars at the Yard Bar. We had a great time at Charela with way too many stories to tell. Memorable character, “Coral bracelets, not made in Ching, Chang, Chong China” Power strap with his 44 kids…… all girls!
I was talking to someone who had been going to Negril for a long time and he was telling me about White Sands, told me that I should check it out. Hmmm maybe next time.
Tensing Pen, we stayed in the Long House with 3 bedrooms and a big patio to hang out. Highly recommend Tensing Pen, a bit pricy but if we ever get 2 other couple together again, we’ll be back. Discovered Kool Vibes right across the road, great food and the pineapple slaw is delicious. Great trip! Everyone was all in on returning the next year and we were all book but had to cancel because of Covid.