Mr. X does Negril (2010) with No Reservations

[Mr. X]

Mr. X Does Negril (2010) with No Reservations

Chapter 3 – Why Negril?

I am often accused of being a Negril “snob” by friends and family. Negril has all the things for the most part that the rest of Jamaica has. Negril is a tourist town. Yes I know but I am a tourist so …

Location
Easy to get to from airport (now). Good roads. 90 minutes from airport. Anywhere I go it takes time to get from airport to where you are going so less than 2 hours is no problem. Closest big city in US to airport is Las Vegas. Last trip I waited an hour and half to get my bags. Add 15 minute ride to hotel and an hour to check in. It is not going to happen again. Cause my ass won’t go. Even if you were staying in MoBay it would take you half hour to get there. If you are riding a bus with lots of people going same place as you I am guessing you going to be waiting in line upon check in.

The ride to Negril can be part of the fun of vacation. I enjoy the ride from the airport. Scenic. Beautiful. Most tourists who land in Jamaica go the opposite direction in big buses towards Ocho Rios. I see that as a positive for me. Use to be a lot harder to get to Negril. Bad roads. Long waits. Now it’s a piece of cake. Inexpensive to get from airport to Negril. Basically same cost for me to get to airport in Atlanta from my home.

Food
So many great places to eat and many within walking distance from almost anywhere you are staying. Because it is a tourist area there are tons of places to eat. Most are small mom and pop type places instead of mass produced food places. Local people got to eat as well. They cannot pay tourist prices yet they want good food. Plenty of these places around as well. Can get excellent food at both tourist and local places.

Weather
Is the weather the same all over Jamaica since it is a small tropical island? It is actually a pretty big island but not near the weather diversity of say the US of A. In general it is mostly the same weather on the island. In mountain areas like Mandeville it is going to be cooler. What is really different is when during the day it clouds up in the rainy season. Other side of island it clouds up at lunch time. In Negril during the fall it clouds up and rains in the late afternoon. This is perfect for me. I am up early and have had a full day by this time. It cools the hottest part of the day down. If it rains it’s only for a short time. Maybe 10 minutes of actual rain. If I were to take a “nap” this would be the ideal time. Additionally due to the clouds (I guess) the sky has beautiful dramatic colors during sunsets.

Music
Like the rest of Jamaica, Negril has music playing everywhere. Because it is a tourist town it attracts many musical acts including big names. Concerts are usually held in the high season when the most tourists are on the island. Rest of year there is always live music somewhere.

Easy to Get Around
It is actually a pretty small town/area. Broken into a few parts. Only one main road is Norman Manley/Highway #1/Beach Road/One Love Drive/Cliffs Road/Interstate #1/Autobaun. Once you get lay of land it’s easy. I am telling you this because I can get lost in a parking lot.

Beach
Best beach in Jamaica by far. 7 miles is a lot of beach. No high-rises. No tall buildings. Can’t be that many people without high-rise hotels. Beaches are mostly cleaned. Not stuff in the water. You can go away from the 7 mile area and find beaches in their more natural state. When swimming and hanging out I prefer a clean beach with nothing to step on. Clean beautiful sand. Not mud or gook. Some parts are more crowded but off season there are lots and lots of beach with hardly anybody around.

Soft white sand. What does that mean? Gentle on my feet. It’s actually pretty sand. Most places keep the beach clean and well maintained. (Stayed in Ocho Rios when I was younger. The beach was ok but the minute you went in water in was not sandy but like packed mud. Not gross like squishy mud but not nice.)

Gentle Water – Some parts of East Coast we actually get waves and can surf. It is fun to jump in the big waves. But not relaxing at all. A calm sea with little waves is actually way more relaxing and don’t have to constantly be on guard that a big wave is going to crash on top of you. For the most part on the beaches of Negril just a tiny little baby wave that breaks at water’s edge. Very calm and relaxing.

Warm Water - I love the fact that i can get in the ocean at 7am and not feel cold when i get in or out of the water.

Crystal Clear Water – So what? I grew up on the East Coast of USA where ocean water is green. Cannot see 1 inch under water usually. Since I was kid in the 70’s every time I get chest deep in any non-clear water music starts playing in my head. Same music. Always the same music. Dun Dun … Dun Dun … Dun Dun (Jaws). My ass is not going in the deep water and not thrilled about chest deep. Anything that I touch on the bottom or anywhere else that does not feel like sand makes me jumpy. Lakes I don’t hear the Jaws music but I think about snakes and alligators sneaking up on me.

In crystal clear water like a swimming pool I am much more relaxed. I am not saying sharks cannot get me but at least I can see them and decide whether to swim for it or try to poke the shark in the eye or whatever. Does Negril have jellyfish? Of course sometimes but the difference between murky Atlantic Ocean and clear Caribbean Sea is I can see jellyfish so I know to float/swim around them. I can see the bottom so when I walk in the water not going to step on anything. For the most part on the beach is just soft sand in the water. If there is a rock the size of a pebble I can see it and not step on it. Maybe nothing to you but this is a big deal to me. Yes I guess technically that would make me a tenderfoot.


These things alone would be enough to set it Negril apart from the rest of the Jamaica. (Tourist visiting on vacation for a short time not living there) But Negril has even more.

Sunsets
The Western part of the island is where Negril is located in Jamaica. This means the sun sets over water. Living on the East Coast of the US we don’t get sunsets. Sun goes behind the hills or trees or houses or buildings and that’s it. Not that way in Negril. Most nights a giant orange fireball disappears into the vast horizon of beautiful calm water. To me it is magically. I am a guy not the kind of thing I would normally care about but to me the sunsets are stunningly beautiful. Once in lifetime beauty. We often go in the fall and something about the weather causes the sky to have colors you would not believe. Huge Expansive Sky, beautiful captivating.

Cliffs
Negril has an added bonus. It is not for everyone. Unique to Negril that is not in the rest of Jamaica. The cliffs. Hard to explain to people and frankly most photos don’t even come close to the actual beauty. The cliffs are the deep end (adult swim) of the water. To stand on a 25 foot sheer cliff and look down into 25 foot deep water and be able to see small fish 40 to 50 feet below in crystal clear water is amazing. On the cliffs I feel as if I am on the end of the earth looking out into an endless horizon. The cliffs curve in and out so in many places you feel as you are the Westernmost person in all of Jamaica. Last person in entire country of Jamaica to see the sun go down. May or may not be true but you feel like it. Downsize is it makes you feel pretty insignificant in the Cosmos.

Even the sound of the water crashing against the rocks is relaxing to me. Because you are on a cliff nobody is walking between you and the water. All the property is private so it is like being in individual embassies. Additionally since you are elevated above the water it makes the sunsets more dramatic and last longer. Near sunset the colors are amazing. Boats are driving by, people are waving. It is like a small town. You are sitting on your front porch (cliffs) and everybody is driving by (boats) and waving. Yet you can move a few feet and be totally private if you desire. Castles. Caves. Cliff Jumping. Sign me up.