Now as far as Sunshine was concerned, our vacation planning was pretty much done. I know better. Having narrowed our search down to a single country, I now needed to figure out where on the island we were going and where we would be staying.
The direct flight with Westjet was too good to pass up and we have had good luck with their vacation packages in the past, so I cut the field to the properties and areas they were promoting.

We land in Montego Bay, so I started there. It's a city, which isn't really a plus for me. Most of the resorts looked a bit crowded in and not that far from the airport. I grew up on airbases, so I am pretty good at ignoring aircraft, but I would prefer not to have to. Not that I think hip excludes me completely, but the idea of a place called the Hip Strip didn't appeal. I would rather things be a little more chill, so I crossed Montego Bay off the list.

Runaway Bay? It kind of looks like you are nowhere. There doesn't seem to be anything to walk to, no Jamaica to really see.

What about Ocho Rios? There are lots of attractions and activities around there, which is a plus. It is a big cruise ship port; that is a real minus. It isn't a natural beach; well I can get over that. Not ideal, but interesting.

What's this Negril place? It's a beach, 7-miles-ish of natural sand. Protected by a reef so the surf is gentle. Called the 'Capital of Casual.' Sunshine could have majored in casual in college. Not much to do but no one seems to mind.

So how to decide? Despite my ability to make things really complicated, sometimes the decision is simple.

Sunshine and I have only once before vacationed in what you would might call a beach destination. It had been a miserable, cold rainy summer and with a harsh winter likely on the way, 13 days before our scheduled camping trip to Minnesota, we said screw it and booked a vacation to Maui. It was at the height of the recession in 2009 and we scored a great deal. We had a fantastic condo right on the water, with floor to ceiling glass facing right into the sunset. Our activities everyday were planned around being back to enjoy the sunset. It was soothing, special and to me worth repeating.


The view from the crazy pad we scored in Maui.

Alright, so where in Jamaica are the best sunsets? Interesting, Runaway Bay and Ochi all seem to face north-ish. Montego Bay might do ok, but almost none of Jamaica actually faces west, but Negril does.

Decision made.