First off, I would like to say this is my first post to the Negril Message Board. This is top notch information from people that truly love Negril. I love reading the stories.

My wife and I have been to Jamaica 6 times (we were married in JA in 1999) and we have booked our 7th trip and we are taking our 8 and 11 y/o girls. We found a decent AI deal at the RIU Negril. Our kids have been once before when they were pretty young so we just stayed at the resort. Now that they are older, I was wondering if there's any fun activities off the resort. Does anybody have any suggestions? Keep in mind that we really don't want to travel far.

I was thinking of taking them to Margaretville early in the day. That way they could play on the trampolines and slides. Then we can talk a walk down the 7 mile beach.

Just like any city, there's seedy places you don't want to take your kids. The last time I was in downtown Negril, (without kids) I felt a bit threatened while I was shopping. I wanted to spend my money on the Jamaican locals selling souvenirs and not the shops owned by middle-easterners. When we were shopping, there was a man that insisted on walking us from shop to shop. I'm not really sure what service he was providing besides walking ahead of us and pointing to the next tent. I loved the people selling items and I got to see many people making their wood carvings. However, there was this annoying fella following us around. At the end of our shopping, he wanted money for showing us around. My friend gave him $5 USD and he started to get irate. Out of nowhere (like a super hero) our taxi driver drives up to us really fast slamming on his breaks in the gravel, tells us to get in the car, and then confronts the guy. I don't remember the taxi drivers name but I felt that he was watching us and protecting us. Good stuff! Anyway, I'm just looking into some places to take my kids in Negril. In no way am I suggesting that Negril is not a safe place. I'm from STL and there's been many times Ive felt uneasy with my environment when I have gone to sporting events downtown. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.