Trip Report - Bringing family and friends to Jamaica!

[Kiknback]

We had been planning for a year for this trip. We travel fairly regularly, many times to Jamaica, and decided that this was the trip to finally bring along friends and family. This timing was great... November has always been a great time for us, not too crowded, prices haven't gone up for the season. Oh, and my wife happened to be turning 40. Her actual birthday was on the 10th, but 11/11/11 had a nice ring to it. The plan was set.

At one point, it was looking absolutely crazy... everyone and their mother said they were coming. Gradually, people dropped off. People kept procrastinating on buying tickets, and when prices rose, many backed people backed out late. In the end, though, a decent group. About 16 people were coming, including both of our sets of parents, with the majority of the group having never been to Jamaica. But a nice, manageably sized group. I wrote up a guide for all of the newbies - http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...ighlight=guide - so that people would have an idea about having to get around and I wouldn't have to spend my vacation playing "Julie Your Cruise Director" all week. That worked out very well, with most people having a good idea about what to expect.

My wife and I have more vacation time than most, so it was perfect for us. We would spend 16 days in Negril, our longest trip. Most of the rest of the group spent around six days. This would allow us to arrive and get settled in to full vacation mode for a few days before all the craziness started. Maybe more importantly, a few days to relax after everyone went home.

Finally the day had arrived, and we were off to Negril. An easy direct flight from DC and we arrived in Negril around noon, met Clives, and were on the beach by about 2:00. Spent the first few days before everyone arrived primarily relaxing. Made a few party plans, ran a few errands, but mostly just chill out, enjoy the beach, and re-connect with old friends as well as making new ones. Stopped by our normal hang outs. Disappointed to hear that Kevin, Neil, and Leroy all were no longer at Sun Beach. Oh well, Miss Sofia treated us well in their place. Paul and Tony are always wonderful at White Sands. But an early night on our first day.

The next day, Saturday, started per Jamaica usual, with a stumble to the beach. We have talked about staying on the cliffs before, but the lure of the beach always keeps us there. We end up going to the cliffs for something almost every day, but the beach in the morning just calls me. After a relaxing day on the beach, it was officially drinking time. I had always been curious about The Caves. At over $500 a night, there is no way I am ever staying there. However, I had heard that they allow us lowlifes to check out the bar once a week, on Saturday's 4-7 PM. We took the route taxi there. Got strange reactions when we told them our destination. "You're going Where? And you wont hire a real taxi?" No, we are the cheap *******s just going for a quick visit. Anyway, we make it there, and really, not that impressed. It was nice, but I guess I was expecting a little more. Reminded me of Xtabi, but for 20 times the price.

We have our token Caves drink, and time to move on. Our next destination is C&D Bar, also known as 10 Square Feet of Texas. Absolutely one of my favorite places in Negril. Connie/Dawn (1 person, seems like everyone in Jamaica has 2 names) is one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Great place to spend some time, enjoy her company, and have a drink or two. The cheapest rum punch in town (200J) also helps. We had a few drinks, and then called Seastar for a pickup. In a few minutes, the bus arrived, and we were off to see Luciano over at Seastar's reopening. Great venue, great music, wonderful time.

The next few days blend together, chilling at the beach, fruity drinks at little beach bars, just paradise. On Monday we finally manage to still be awake at 10:00, so we hit Roots Bamboo. We picked a bad night, it seems. It was a free party, but just a dj, and no live music, which was very disappointing. The free part, while seemingly a good thing, made things much worse. I have never been hassled like that ever in Negril. Hooker central, and they were very persistent, even while standing next to my wife. I would be groped and propositioned every time I went to the bathroom. At Alfred's later in the week, with a cover charge, there was none of that. I don't expect I will go back to any more "free" nights.

[Kiknback]

Everyone is staying at White Sands. We absolutely love this place. The price is low, the rooms are clean, and the location really cannot be beat. They have always treated us well. No TV, which is a good thing, but AC and a fridge, which is all I possibly need in Jamaica. We paid a few extra dollars for the deluxe room, which puts us closer to the beach and a larger room. Nice, but not sure if necessary, the standard rooms have always been fine. For the newbies, we rent the Villa that sits on the property. We had seen it from the outside, but had never been in it before. It is absolutely beautiful! 4 bedroom, 4 bath, full kitchen, private pool, and yes, a TV. We had both sets of parents, two aunts and a Goddaughter staying here.

The morning of everyone's arrival, we make the first major shopping trip to the Hi-Lo to get supplies for everyone. Drinks and snacks are all in the Villa when they arrived early afternoon. After settling in, they get their first view of the beach, and instantly realize the lure of this place. After a relaxing afternoon on the beach, we decide that after all the traveling to make it an easy night. We order out to Caio Jamaice for pizza and pasta, which was excellent, chill out a bit in the villa, and head to bed reasonably early.

The next day, Wednesday, meant one thing to us. Drunk Bus!!!!! I had been hearing about the One Love Shuttle for a few months, and couldn't wait to try it. What a great idea. Free pick up, drop off, and get to experience these little places you rarely visit. Of the newbies, an Aunt and Goddaughter decide to join us, while the parents decided to pass. We make reservations for them to go to Catcha that night for dinner, told them that we might see them later, and off we went! It was really a great way to meet some nice people and go to places that we would not have gone to. We had been to 10 square feet and Mi Yard previously, but most of the rest were new to me, and several I would definitely go back to. No Limit, and Pee Wee's accross the street makes a nice hangout, and the last bar, I always forget the name, might have the best sunset view in Negril. In the end, we were dropped back off at White Sands, and continued the party there, and had one at Sun Beach as well. Nine Bars in the day, not bad.

The next morning, Xtabi for brunch. The seas were a bit rough for swimming and snokling, so that was a bit disapointing, but the food made it worth it. Relaxing day on the beach for everyone. Dinner, for my wife's actual birthday, was at the Rockhouse, which was very good. Typical relaxing day in Jamaica. Life is good.

We were now to the big day, 11/11/11. We had originally talked about Sun Beach or a few other places, but in the end, it worked out great having it at White Sands. Since we had reserved the Villa, the chef was included! We would buy groceries, and he would prepare it for everyone. (With a nice tip, of course.) We discussed it with the chef and came up with the menu. Jerk and curry chicken, fish, along with callaloo and potato salad and rice and peas. We estimated a meal for about 25 people, which would feed the staff as well. A trip to the Hi-Lo to pick up 7 chickens, all the sides, and the other ingredients. Had a local go to the fish market for us to get us something freshly caught. Once we had the groceries, White Sands took over and we had nothing to do but relax and have fun. Horrace, the chef, was wonderful. The villa just smelled fantastic all day as he prepared the feast. The staff also helped with decorations and general help for the party. The original plan was to start around sunset. However, another guest happened to be getting married on the beach at the same time, so they kindly asked us if we could delay it a bit. No problem, mon! It was actually a nice way of starting out. I mean, its a party, so no real start time.... it starts when people show up! People still showed up around sunset, had drinks, and got to see a lovely wedding on the beach.

The party itself was wonderful. Family and friends, old and new, locals and tourists. The food was fantastic. It had looked like we had an insane amount of food, but it turned out about perfect, we finished everything. Great to have both sets of parents there to help celebrate. Wife's sister showed up unexpected, so that was a very nice surprise. As the evening moved on, our band showed up. We had seen a local beach band that we really liked a few days ago, so we made arrangements for them to come back and play a short set for us. "The Melody Brothers" was what they called themselves. A nice three piece mento band, they were just fantastic. I think its safe to say that everyone enjoyed the music.

So as the party is starting to wind down, time for the grand finale. A good friend of my wife's has a family tradition: On major birthday's, the birthday boy/girl gets a cream pie in the face. Well, I heard this, and thought it was a fantastic idea! 10 years ago was when I first tried the idea. I had planned a surprise party for her 30th, and when the time came, cream pie in her face. Luckily, followed by laughs. I wasn't sure if she would be expecting it again (she wasn't), but I certainly planned to get her somehow. I wasn't really sure how I would pull it off in Jamaica, but when I saw the cans of whipped cream at the ValueMaster on our first day here I knew I was set. I emailed a friend who was arriving a few days later, and explained that I needed her to bring me a pre-made pie crust. She said no problem, and the plan was set. When the time had come, the party was going strong. The band was playing, everyone was having fun. I casually slipped away to the bar, gathered the pie crust and whipped cream, and proceded to make my pie. Pie in hand, I sneaked slowly behind my wife, who was being distracted nicely at the time. I actually had time to hang out for a while before I struck, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Let me tell you, this is a wonderful feeling of power, to be armed with a cream pie with a victim clearly in your cross hairs. I finally struck, a perfect shot, even avoiding her freshly braided hair. And again, she showed how good of sport she is by laughing hysterically while absolutely covered in whipped cream and crust. After a quick clean up in the room, and the evening wrapped up nicely, everyone having a great time.

[Kiknback]

Saturday is now here, and with all of the Negril newbies in town, we just have to do Rick's Cafe. Like it or not, it is the biggest draw in town. When we brought a smaller group last year, we had went early, lunchtime, and really had enjoyed it. Well before the crowds, it was nice to be able to hang out and try the smaller jumps before the crowds got here. This time, however, we spent the day at the beach, came late afternoon, and had the full Rick's sunset experience. Really, it was better than expected, and a lot of fun. We still got there relatively early, so that whoever wanted could try out the jumps before it got too crowded. We also set up in a great spot, near the back by the pool. Not the best view of the divers, but absolutely no hassles at all and a fantastic sunset view. After sunset, join the mass exodus out of Rick's to get cleaned up for the night out.

The plan had been to hit Seastar that evening for the buffet and show. $18 for a tasty all-you-can-eat buffet, including transport there AND back, as well as five hours of excellent entertainment is the best deal in town, if you ask me. However, the group's reaction to the word "buffet" was not quite enthusiastic, so the majority of the group passed on this. My wife and I, and a small group of friends went and enjoyed a great show, while the rest stayed close to the hotel that night. I was a little irritated to learn, when we went to Seastar the following week, that they offer a non-buffet entry for 500J, or about $6. I had never heard about this or seen this advertised anywhere before, but we definately would have had a bigger group there if we knew this was an option. Still, our small group enjoyed ourselves, and the larger group enjoyed their meal at Coco La Palm, so it all worked out.

Sunday was now here, the day we had planned to go out and for everyone to see the country a bit. The original plan was to do YS Falls and the Pelican Bar. We had been previously, loved it, and were ready to go again with the group. However, some people were not so sure about the distance, about 2 1/2 hours each way. Also, while I absolutely LOVED Pelican bar, not so sure everyone is really up for hanging around on essentially a pile of driftwood for a few hours. Because of this, we made the decision that instead of this scheduled trip, we would go to Mayfield Falls instead. This turned out to be a really bad idea. In retrospect, they would have loved YS Falls. Mayfield? Not so much.

The main decision point to go to Mayfield was the distance. I had heard it was close to an hour drive. In reality, about two hours, making the shorter driving time negligible. The big issue was that I had not done my research on Mayfield Falls. Out of our group of 9 people, 4 of the group were over 70, and definitely not the most mobile group. For this group, Mayfield Falls was definitely not a good choice. I had heard about some "walking the falls" but expected some sort of viewing area so that those who were not interested could simply enjoy the view. Well, not so much. Pretty much everyone was climbing, which was simply not going to happen. We all did make it into the river, an accomplishment in itself. However, it was pretty clear at the start that not everyone was going to make it up, particularly my mother-in-law with one knee replacement already and the other in desparate need. After the first set of falls, three decided they were done, while the rest moved on.

Although the idea to go there was a bad one, we really did manage to have a good time there, and would definitely recommend Mayfield Falls, just not for senior citizens or people with mobility issues. The guides were fantastic. When we decided that the three were definitely not going to make it, one of the two guides stayed with them and gave them a tour of the property. When we expressed worry about leaving Mom, the other guide reassured us that she was in good hands. "Have you seen that boy's feet? (They were HUGE) That boy is the Son of Sampson! He will keep them safe." Absolutely true on both parts. He took them on a tour of the property, which was at times very hilly and tough to walk. No problem, several times he simply put her on his back and carried her along! A nice little tour, and we met up with them at the end of our river walk. For those of us who continued up the falls, a very fun time. If you are unfamiliar, you actually walk up the falls. It takes about an hour and a half to make it to the end, and is a nice, different afternoon. The final falls, "The Washing Machine," was where you stand underneath several falls all meeting up. The name is appropriate, and a really fun and unique experience. The people who made it to the end (including my Mom! Yeah!) all seemed to enjoy themselves. Even the people who didn't make it, while certainly not something they would choose to do, seemed to enjoy the day. Everyone survived relatively unscathed, and we certainly gave the seniors a memorable experience.

Having been to both YS Falls and Mayfield Falls, as well as Dunns River near Ocho Rios, there are definitely pros and cons on all of them, so hard to pick a favorite. I would say YS is certainly the most beautiful, as well as the most accessible, with stairways and easy access for people with lower mobility. There are a few places to swim, a rope swing, and some places to explore. However, Mayfield is much more of an active experience rather than simply a beautiful view. A similar experience to Dunns River, where you walk up the actual Falls. Dunns River may also be a bit more beautiful than Mayfield, but that is more than offset by an almost complete lack of crowds. I think there was one other couple at Mayfield while we were there, compared to the cruise ship insanity at Dunns River.

We arrive back in Negril late afternoon. The majority of the guests, the entire Villa crowd, is leaving tomorrow, so we order some Pizza, take out some chicken from Best in the West, and have a final dinner in the Villa before everyone packs for the trip home. After a long day, it is an early evening to bed.

[Kiknback]

The final morning for the big crowd, everyone is up and at the beach for a last swim. It was just so nice to see everyone out and in the water enjoying themselves. My in-laws have a beach house in Ocean City, MD. We visit every summer. In 15 years, I can count the times my mother-in-law actually dragged herself away from housework to go enjoy the beach on one hand. I have never once seen either one ever actually make it into the water. It was fantastic to see them actually enjoy a vacation, have no responsibilities, and swim in the calm, warm waters. This made the trip worth it in itself, but combined with all of the other fun times, a great trip. Even my dad, who is not a beach person and generally just stayed in the Villa, seemed happy to have made the trip.

We say our goodbyes, and load up everyone in the van to the airport. We have them take a quick detour to take my wife and I to Red Dragon for lunch, giving us one more opportunity to horrify our parents. "you're going HERE??? How the hell did you find THIS place???" Anyway, they drop us off and , after one last chorus of "Happy Birthday" to my wife, made their way to the airport and home safely by evening. Having completed our mission to get the the parents to Jamaica and back safely, we were ready for a beer, and there is no place in Negril I'd rather have a beer at than Red Dragon. They claim to have the coldest Red Stripes in town, and I believe them. Every beer I have ever had there has been covered in icicles. Not to mention the pork. Oh, the pork. This is the food I had been dreaming of for the past year. Well, until earlier in the week. I think we made it here for lunch 3 times during the trip. But, oh, Red Dragon pork is probably my favorite food in the world. In fact, I have decided that if I am somehow ever on death row, this would be my last meal. First I would eat the delicious pork. Then, when the time comes, I would eat one of the scotch-bonnet peppers. At that point, I would be begging to die. Perfect!

So after a few Red Stripes, it was back for a little beach time. The family was back home, but we still had a group of friends with us. For dinner, several of us had heard good things about Sweet Spice, so we decided to taxi there for dinner. Nice, friendly place, everyone enjoyed the food. A little strange in that they did not serve any alcohol. However, a local is right outside with a cooler of Red Stripes, and they are fine with you going outside to get drinks and bringing them back. Worked out just fine. We enjoyed it, I would go back. After dinner, back to White Sands to see Tony at the bar. When the crowd was good and lubricated, the metalhead of the group persuaded Tony to let him take over the music, and next thing you know, the sounds of Social Distortion were rocking the beach. When the dancing started to "Ring of Fire"and people started getting on the bar, it was one of those unique memorable experiences. Another fun night in Negril.

Tuesday is another "standard" day in Negril: Day spent relaxing on the beach, evening spent bar hopping. Two more were leaving the following day, so we had to take them out to some of our favorite places. First stop, the Police Station. Yes, the actual Negril Police Station. They have a bar there. One of those places you go to just to say you were there. And nice to visit there on good terms. We get a drink, take some pictures, chat with the bartender a bit, and on our way. Next, a stop to visit Connie/Dawn at 10 Square Feet. Always a good time there. In addition, with our friends having only tried Best in the West chicken (which I believe is over-rated), I had to let them sample my favorite Jerk in Negril, which I had only recently discovered. Tayon is Connie/Dawn's brother, and he has a restaurant on the other side of Jenny's. Best Jerk Chicken in Negril. We got a quarter each to go and relaxed outside of C&D, eating good food, listening to good music. One more stop, we head to Red Dragon to finish the mini bar crawl. I had never been outside of lunchtime, but still a fun place. We stayed for a round or so, and headed back to White Sands. We get back, and the bar is already closed. Alfred's it is! Several of the group head to bed, so in the end it is just three of us. Me and two hot blondes. Life is good. Anyways, had a great time as I usually do at Alfred's. The goal for most nights is to make it out here, but rarely does it actually happen. But its always fun when we do. We have a great time, close out the bar, and our friend got to meet a nice Norwegian guy. Too bad it was her last night or we may have had a love connection.

[Kiknback]

Wednesday, and more of our friends head back home. Hurting a bit from the late night the previous night. A few Advil, and things get better. Which is a good thing, since it is Wednesday, and you know what that means: Drunk Bus!!!!!!!! Yeah, definitely had to do that one again. Just a great time, meeting new people, seeing new places. The bus is getting crowded, not sure what is going to happen in high season. Completely full the first week, and several people sitting on laps the second. But absolutely worth it. The driver mentioned possibly expanding to more days, which seems like a great idea to me. A bigger bus might just overwhelm some places, but this is a Negril must-do.

Had an interesting experience the next day with a route taxi. I have definitely come to appreciate the route taxi. Great way of getting around for a little more than a buck. However, it is often a little more, um, interesting than I would like. I'm still not sure what to make of this one. Heading back to the beach from the roundabout, I get into the passenger's seat of a route taxi. The driver had apparently just bought some patties, which he was to deliver to a friend. In the backseat was a young child, about 5 years old. The child starts reaching to grab the patty's, and the driver says no. The next thing I know, this kid is leaning between the two front seats, and starts beating this poor driver! Just punching him, repeatedly, right in the face. Hard! He's only about 5 years old, but you can tell the sound of a punch connecting. This HAD to hurt! All the driver would do would say "You are a rude boy. I am going to call the police on you." Meanwhile, we're driving down the road and the driver is getting the crap beaten out of him by this child. I didn't know what the hell to do! If I was the driver, I would've throttled the kid. But if the driver won't do anything, should I? Is it my place to do anything? In the end, I just kinda sat there like an idiot as my driver got beat up. After a bit, he pulled over and dropped off his patties, presumably to the child's dad. He picked up the patties from the driver and briefly calmed the kid down. We continued on our way, and as I was being dropped off at White Sands the punches were starting again. Saw the driver later in the trip, and he says that the kid does that often. And yes, it hurt. I don't get it. But you never know what you will get with a route taxi.

Thursday night, more of the same. Stay local and head to Sun Beach. See Andrew, a crazy friend that always seems to be at the same bar seat there, and always willing to gamble for a beer. A fun competition, reminiscent of the old paper football games we played as a kid. Line up on opposite sides of the bar with a full red stripe. The goal is to slide the beer to the opposite side and leave it balancing on the edge. Winner gets the beer, loser buys. I think we ended up about even for the trip, but we had several grudge matches. I wish that every time I order a beer it could be that much fun. We saw another couple that we had met on the drunk bus, and suggest moving on to white sands to continue the party. Unfortunately, they had closed, so across the street to Best in the West for a few more. Thursday night is The Jungle, which has never interested me in the least. When Best in the West starts winding down, we decide to revive a tradition from previous trips. The late night drunken swim! Its been a while, but it is always SO nice to go for a late night swim. I was a bit more paranoid this trip, since I had seen Stingrays on the beach all week. Shuffled my feet on the way out to avoid any creatures, it was wonderful in the water. Have to remember to do this more often.

Two days left, and all of our friends have gone home. Time to start saying our goodbyes to all our Negril friends. People like Norman the Patty guy, who we had the pleasure to get to know this trip. We saw him on our Mayfield Falls trip, where on his day off he worked as a taxi driver for a young couple visiting the falls. Even though he was there for another group, he was wonderful helping out my family heading to the falls. Great to talk with him there and on his rounds every afternoon on the beach. Had to visit with Paul the Shell guy, who I had met earlier on the trip. He sets up at the very end of the beach, past Cosmos. I had stopped to rest there while walking the beach one day, and had a wonderful time just chatting with a really nice and honest guy. Lunch at Red Dragon to say goodbye to Gordo and the crew there. That evening we do our "goodbye to the beach" bar crawl, hitting a few of the places close to us on the beach. Say goodbye to our friend Tee, a local we had met several trips before. A beautiful person inside and out. We had planned to make it to Alfred's that night, but by 10:00 I simply could not keep my eyes open.

Saturday, last day in Negril. Soak up as much beach time as possible. That evening starts with a visit to Connie/Dawn at 10 square feet. We are going to Seastar later, with the buffet, but on my last night I need one more taste of my favorite Jerk chicken, Tayon's. Delicious as always. By the time we arrived at Seastar, it was after 9:00, so they gave us the option of passing on the buffet and only paying 500J cover. Perfect! And again, not sure why they don't publicize this option at all. Seastar is wonderful as always, great band, great time. For our last night, however, I am looking to go out with a bang. Earlier in the trip we saw a flyer for an event that night at "Glitter" night club, in Little London, about halfway to Sav la Mar. On our final night in Jamaica, they were having a pool party, with prizes given away. Among the prizes were 5000J for the "stiffest breast" and $100US for "Fattest Pu**y." Anyway, I was curious, at least as far as how the judging works - strictly scientific, of course. I figured the party would be getting going at right about the same time as Seastar starts to wrap up, and a great story for the end of the trip. I managed to move my wife's opinion from "absolutely not" to "maybe, if another couple is going." Unfortunately, low season, I was unable to find anyone else willing to go with us. In addition, we had not planned transportation in advance, and when I discussed the possibility of going there with a few drivers outside of Seastar, no one seemed remotely worthy of putting my trust in to get us there and back safely. Oh well. Again, thank you to my wonderful wife for being a good sport and actually considering it, but probably a good thing we didn't go. We head back close to home, stopping at the 24 hour place next to xxx for a few more drinks. It's definitely late at this point, so we pick up a quarter chicken from a roadside grill and head on home to bed.

A final morning swim, and then off to the airport and back to the real world. Another wonderful Jamaican trip. Great to see friends, new and old. The plan to invite friends and family was definitely a good one, and most likely will become a tradition. Can't wait until we make it back.


Holy Mackeral!

[BCBud]

GREAT trip report! Thx for posting.

[Marko]

awesome report and pics!

when we went to Seastar the following week, that they offer a non-buffet entry for 500J, or about $6. I had never heard about this or seen this advertised anywhere before, but we definately would have had a bigger group there if we knew this was an option.

SeaStar Inn has actually had that $500J's non-buffet entry in place for over 2 years.........
though very few people actually opt for that as the buffet is pretty wonderful.........
and maybe that $500J's entry is something they should advertise more.......
of course that $500J's isn't the price when someone like Luciano is headlining.......

Cool Runnings, Marko

[booger]

nice report! thanks for sharing.

[Orchid]

Thanks, a nice read as I begin my day at work! The pie shots are too funny, she wasnt expecting it!

[Seveen]

thanks for sharing!