For those of you who have enjoyed Jamaica and specifically Negril for the past 20 or 30 years you would really have loved it back in the 70's and 80's. I first visited in April 1975. At that time Negril Beach was still a secret destination. Before that time Key West in Florida was the big "Hippie" hangout but Jamaica had abundant and very inexpensive Ganja not to mention Negril as a very inexpensive destination. At that time there was limited electricity and plumbing for the locals. Most everyone had an outhouse at their residence. There were only a handful of Hotels so most visitors stayed with a family or camped out in a tent in a yard. In many beer shops the Red Stripe was warm unless the proprietor had purchased a Block of ice from the ice truck. Electricity was becoming common place in Negril but many homes still were without it. What is now commonly known as Hedonism II had not yet been built. It was called "Negril Beach Village" when built along the lines of the Club Med model. The Negril Beach Club in town was built and up at the north end of Long Bay were two small hotels, Coconut Cove and the Sundowner just a short distance from Rutland Point across from the island. A complex directly in town was in the building process and the hotel was called Villas Negril perched on top of the hill with stunning views of the sea, Negril Beach and the hills to the east. Along the road below the Villas was a Supermarket, Bank, Bakery and a Disco called "Soon Come". At the corner towards the West End Road was the Negril Wharf Club Restaurant on one side of the road and the other was The Wharf Club Store with dry provisions like rice, flour, sugar, canned goods and beer and Rum. The Chinese guy who ran the place exchanged currencies. At that time there were two pay phones in the entire town. One was by the Wharf Club Restaurant and the other was by the Negril Yacht Club which was on the right hand side on the way towards the West End. The phones were used mostly to reconfirm airfare back to the US. Rick's Cafe was relatively new and was at that time a small thatched roof bar. People would occasionally jump or dive from the spot close to the bar on the top of the cliffs but there were no Jamaicans doing it as an attraction. I did it a couple of times and learned the hard way to wear sneakers and grab my crotch in one hand and squeeze my butt cheeks on the way down. It was a pretty hard landing!! Back in those days I could survive on $10 USD per day including everything.... I'm sorry to know that tourism on Negril Beach is in decline although not really surprised. There really doesn't seem to be much attraction today for anyone other than Baby Boomers who are repeat visitors from days past. That should be a major goal of the Jamaican Tourist Board to achieve. Hopefully The Princess Grand isn't what Negril will become!!
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Originally Posted by Todd
