We Have Arrived!

[groove16]

cant wait to hear yur version of the worms...janet hasn't laughed that hard in a long time....don't even know what was so funny...hehehe...

lots of activities on this reach, rina and larry, two4today(jim) and gigi, rob and lisa, eric and stephanie, see all u guys at seastar tonight...have lots of pictures from this pub crawl, from our boardie trip to pelican bar, to ys falls, bourbon beach, legends, catcha, but will do my trip report when we get home....power out at catcha this morning at 4am but back on now....GOOD MORNING FROM THE WEST END CLIFFS....

[garysteph1018]

its really hard to give up and go to bed on that first day is it not???

Yes Rambo it seriously is! Our first reach was in July & I would have been happy to have been stuck in some first day alter universe for the rest of my life!!!!

[rinakim]

The time is 7:00 am, it's time to get up. The time is 7:00 am, it's time to get up. WTF is that rudely telling me to get out of bed?? Appears as though Larry was worried that I wouldn't wake up in time to go out for my dive so he set the alarm clock on the cellphone! Sigh, it's 7:00 am and now I'm up.

A bit slow moving this morning, didn't pace myself all that well last night, but after coffee, juice, and a little fruit and banana bread I'm good to go. Donovan (aka Rambo) showed up with a bag of fruit from the market this morning. A pineapple, a couple of papaya, an enormous mango, some regular bananas and some honey bananas. What a sweetheart!

It's time to go diving! The driver picked me up with 3 others and we made our way (very quickly!) up to the dive shop where I meet Sabine and get fitted with my BCD and weight belt. Back in the car and we are off to Sunset at the Cliffs. Ken greeted me like he has known me forever (probably feels that way with the amount of emails that I sent him while I was doing my PADI e-learning course). After some quick paperwork and a little test to see if I've retained anything from the course it's time to gear up and get in the pool. It will just be Ken and I as the other divers are German speaking and working with Sabine. Pool skills go smoothly and now it's time to see if I can do the same thing in the ocean. I must admit I was a bit nervous, it's hard to trust that all of this equipment will keep you breathing and alive 40 feet under the water. But as it turns out, the hardest part was convincing myself that I would not die jumping off of the 6 foot cliff with all of my gear on. Saw a nice variety of fish, coral, fans, etc. unfortunately on this dive we didn't get to see anything extaordinary, but it was still a beautiful dive. It is so peaceful under the sea. I must say that Ken is a patient, thorough instructor and I am glad about my decision to use Dream Team Divers. Hehe, did that sound like a commercial?

With plans made to meet next week at Catcha Gardens to finish up the pool skills and then a dive off of the Cliffs at Catcha, we are back on the road again with Willie (who at this point has made my books for being the fastest, craziest driver in Negril).

Back at the room I find Larry completely relaxed with a huge grin on his face. He has spent the day chit chatting with people around the hotel, had his grilled snapper for breakfast, and is in his "happy place.". He even got to see Two4 and GG as they were out and about and made it to Coco.

We decided to head up the beach to White Sands and get some of these great 2-for-1 drinks that we keep hearing about. The bar is empty and we order the special of the day (mudslide). I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think that 700j is such a great price for 2 small plastic cups. Oh well, live and learn! Realized we forgot the camera battery so have to head back to Coco instead of just catching a route taxi to Canoe out front of White Sands. But that happened for a reason as we ended up with a driver called Tyrone who was just outside of Idle Awhile. Asked him to take us up to Canoe for $5, he says "even if you told me that you had no money, I would take you there as they are my friends". Awwwwww.

Door side service to Canoe and I am more than ready to try these rum punches I keep hearing about. Rob and Lisa are there setting up and we meet a young couple that are on their honeymoon (his mom is a boardie). I do NOT know how these kids are old enough to be married, they look like babies and make me feel terribly old! Are the rum punches as good as everyone says they are ...... hell yeah! No sign of Two4 and GG or Groove and Janet. Sitting and chilling is very easy at this place. Kirby makes you feel welcome and keeps the drinks flowing. Needed some food in me if I'm going to continue with these drinks so we order a variety of appetizers. Delicious in every way! Groove and Janet appear and the party begins! Rob checks for me to see if The West End Gang are playing at Bourbon Beach tonight, yep, yep they are!! So excited to go and see them as these are the guys that will be playing at our wedding in November.

[Melody]

Thanks for taking the time to do your on-site reports Rina - love 'em!! It's the next best thing to being there!

[rinakim]

It's been a couple of days and things are a little fuzzy, my memory is not serving me well.

Here are the Coles notes version ....... Picked up by Kingsley for our day with Two4, GG, Terry, and Janet. Stopped at a school and visited for a bit. These kids are just too darned cute. YS Falls, water is high and moving fast. Too fast for my liking, I skip the rope swing and swimming in the falls. Opt for a leisurely dip in the pool instead. THUNDER!! Off to the tractor to get back. HUNGRY!! RAIN!! OMG did it rain. Had to sit for about an hour and wait it out, had lunch there. Off to Black River to catch our boat out to Floyd's. Red Stripe, laying about, swimming, dropping the camera in the ocean, oooops! Thank goodness it was the underwater one. RAIN! What to do while waiting out the rain? Subs, way too many subs (I am not typically a partaker in the art of subs). Janet laughing uncontrollably ..... Worms??? I have yet to figure it out, but if someone said "worms" it got her started all over again. I'm not really even sure if anybody knew what was going on.

Time to go, it's starting to get dark and the rain has let up. Everyone (including Floyd) gets in their boat to leave .... Except for us. That's okay Terry and Two4 say, we'll close up for you Floyd! Back to the dock and it's a fast, terrifying drive home. Willie no longer qualifies as the scariest, fastest driver! I wanted to ask Kingsley if we had done something to tick him off, but decided it was best to just remain quiet. Drop off Janet and Terry at Catcha and need a beer NOW! Ahhh, that calmed my nerves a bit. It's been a loooong day, back to Coco and off to bed.

[rinakim]

Moving day, sad to leave Coco but looking forward to getting to Catcha. Pack up slowly and make plans to have dinner at Donovan's home the next day. Hi-Lo for some supplies, check in to the gatehouse. This cottage is cute as a button and the outdoor shower is fabulous. The only problem I am having (sorry Sweetness) is that when I sit out on my patio/balcony I need to be able to see the world go by. Go to check out how the water is before changing into my suit, wait a minute ..... Is that Janet?? Yes, yes it is! We thought they had checked out already but it turns out that they don't leave until tomorrow. Spent some time jumping and snorkeling. Creeped myself out when I put my mask in the water and there was a jelly fish right in front of my face! A couple of red stripes and I'm ready to jump off the higher ledge. I'm not near as brave as Terry though, that man has no fear! Time to relax for a bit before heading off to the Seastar. I just can't get used to this closed in patio, it makes me feel a bit claustrophobic. Open up the gate and visit with Ian for a bit. This man is a smooth operator!

Food at Seastar is M-M-M good. Steven West is awesome, Fernando is awesome, Seastar drummers are awesome, Melinda is awesome! Danced and danced til I could not dance anymore. Dripping with sweat and completely content we head back up the lane for home.

[Seveen]

loving this --

[mamade11]

Rinakim - loving your report!! We will be at Catcha and Coco for our December trip about the same time as you will - would love to have a drink with you guys!! Being at both places this time is making me soooo excited reading it

[TizzyATX]

This is great! Keep it coming please

[CherryNorth49]

Rinakim - loving your report!! We will be at Catcha and Coco for our December trip about the same time as you will - would love to have a drink with you guys!! Being at both places this time is making me soooo excited reading it

Haa! When you started your thread I thought how nice to be hearing about Coco, as we will be there for our trip at the beginning December. Then your report got even better as we are booked into the Gatehouse at Catcha too!

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip in real time. Its making the coutdown just a bit more bareable.