Bill's and Jackie's First Jamaica Trip

Irie Mon!

Jackie and I went to Jamaica for the first time in February, 2004. We'd found a good deal through USAirways Vacations to Negril and were excited to be headed to Jamaica together. We spent the night in Boston and flew from there. It's frustrating not being able to fly out of Burlington all the time when we travel, since it usually costs much more than flying out of a larger city. We could also get a direct flight from Boston, which means less stress and opportunities for lost luggage or other airline mishaps when making a connection. Since we had a direct flight and it left Boston on time, getting to Montego Bay seemed remarkably easy. Getting to Negril turned out to be the difficult part.

We were met in the airport by someone with a USAirways Vacation sign, who then turned us over to a person arranging the transportation to the resort in Negril. We followed him outside to where all the vans and shuttles were waiting and idling. He went off to find our ride and disappeared for a while. He'd come back and tell us there was no problem, and then disappear for a while. We waited. And waited. And waited. And then waited some more. He finally got us into a car, and we left the airport. Then the driver stopped, chatted over his radio, and turned around and took us back into the airport. It seems he wasn't authorized to transport us and wouldn't be paid for it. Back in the parking lot, we waited some more. For what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation, I now had steam coming out of my ears. Eventually, the correct transportation was found, but not until after we'd wasted an hour standing around.

We met with the USAirways representative the next morning who apologized profusely for the transportation fiasco. To make it up to us, she offered us some free tours. We took her up on her offer.

The resort

We were finally delivered to our resort, Point Village (see TripAdvisor page for Point Village Resort) in Negril. The resort is a mix of hotel rooms and condominiums and is spread out over a large area. Our room was near the most northern point of the property, near the gift shop. It's a clean, well-groomed resort. We had a ground-floor ocean view room, but we were far enough away from the water that we couldn't hear the surf, unless the waves were really pounding the shoreline. Check out the view from our room in the photo to the right and you can just make out the ocean past the palm trees.

This really is a nice resort. Starting along the northern edge of the property is the gift shop and massage hut (right near the water) and then the area called the rock pools. This is where a formation of rocks creates natural pools where the tide comes and goes. It's an interesting place to relax, except it's closed when the waves are high. We had a couple days during our week when we would wake in the morning and hear a continuous loud crashing sound from our room. What we heard were large waves crashing through the rock pools area.

Progressing south along the property are the two of the waterfront bar/restaurants (Sundrenched Bar and Grill and Paradise Garden Cafe) and the main beach. South of there is the Watersports shop, where you can get snorkel gear, kayaks, sunfish or windsurfing equipment, and sign up for glass bottom boat tours. Past the Watersports shop is a line of trees and a little cove. The beach at the cove is the nude beach. That's where we spent the week.

The Beach

We've made day trips to nude beaches before, but this was the first time we spent all our beach time on vacation at a nude beach. This is a nice beach, and it was fairly busy. Most of the people on the beach were in their 30s or 40s and it was large enough that you didn't feel crowded. If you wanted shade, you'd have to pull your beach chairs back near the trees. It could have used a few more beach chairs, especially unbroken beach chairs. Many of them had broken slats, and none of them had any cushions. That was just a small inconvenience, though. There's also a small drink shack there, so you didn't have to wander back to other bars to get a drink. It only served beer and rum punch. It was staffed by a security guard who also guarded the opening to the resorts south of Point Village along the beach.

Not only is this a good beach, but the cove is great for watching sea life. Just watching the small crabs pop in and out of the beach is fun. The cove is lined by two rock walls at each end, and the water in the cove is shallow. It doesn't get chest deep at high tide until you get to the edge of the cove. Most of the sea floor there is sandy, but there are a few places with vegetation. I usually avoided walking through those because I would have been unable to see any sea urchins there. We could see some along the rock walls. The water is incredibly clear (see the photo to the left of the starfish and minnows), which makes it easy to see the sea urchins and other creatures. You didn't need to snorkel in the cove, since it was shallow enough, and you could look right down and watch the sea life. Schools of minnows swirled about, many different types of fishes hugged the rock walls, larger crabs popped in and out of the rocks, and you could find starfish, small conch shells, sand dollars, and other shells in the cove.

We had a great time on the beach. We enjoyed each other's company, met some interesting people, and had a lot to watch, both sea life and human. The resort next door was an eye opener.

The Neighbors

The resort just south of the nude beach is Hedonism II. I'd heard of the Hedonism resorts before we went to Jamaica, and knew they featured a lot of public nudity and allegedly some public sex. Looking over from our nude beach of 15-20 people to theirs with what seemed to be 100 or more nude people seemed like two different worlds. I'd say the people on our nude beach just liked to be nude, and the people on their beach wanted to be nude, and to be seen being nude. Then when you look over and see a couple having sex in a beach lounge, well, let's just say it was a first for me. It was highly entertaining, though. No, I didn't take any photos of them.

Who knows, maybe we'll even go there some day.

Hedonism II and the nude beach at Point Village are at the far northern end of Negril's famous seven-mile beach. Walking down the beach through the other resorts is a nice walk. It's cool to see the other resorts and see what they have, and there's one public area of beach where the locals have set up their own stalls. Anyone, especially anyone with kids, who wants to walk along the beach should be aware that not only do they have to walk through Point Village's nude beach, but they have to walk right through sex-and-nudism central at Hedonism II. If that's going to offend anyone, they should stick to the main beach at Point Village.

There are gates, more like open areas in a fence, between each resort. During the day, security guards log each pedestrian moving between resorts. In the evening, the guards will stop you from passing between resorts.

Ganja

For those who wish to obtain some of this, it's apparently fairly easy. I got a half dozen offers for some myself. Small boats would approach the edge of the resort and talk to the people in the water. "Psst, hey buddy, you need any party supplies?" was a typical comment. Walking along the beach near the vendor stalls, a local stopped me, claiming to be a farmer, and offered me some "buds." One guy on the beach said his taxi driver sold him some. I don't know if everyone gets asked as often as I did, or if I just look like a guy who needs his supply constantly replenished.

Eating and drinking

We really like going all-inclusive, even if we plan to have some meals away from the resort. It removes any stress or doubt about choosing any meals or drinks. The beach is hot during the day, and if you spend 6 hours on the beach and only have one drink an hour, you've put away 6 drinks. We got most of drinks from the shed on the nude beach, but we also made trips to the Sundrenched Bar and Grill if we wanted a snack or needed to use the restrooms near there. That was our exercise for the week - walking from our room on the north side of the resort to the nude beach on the south end of the resort, and then the trips back from drinks or lunch.

At the center of the resort is the main restaurant, the Village Connection Restaurant, and it has a buffet offering for each meal. We found the food there to be uninspiring. There was too much American food and not enough Jamaican or Caribbean cuisine. There was nothing special about the food, and the service for the most part was disappointing. Trying to get someone on the wait staff to clear a table so we could sit, or to bring us drinks, was often a frustrating exercise. This was a problem throughout the resort. Most of the staff was aloof and we felt like we were intruding on them by asking for something or expecting some service from them.

Most nights the Sundrenched Bar and Grill offered a Jamaican a la carte menu, and that was really good, especially the jerk chicken or pork. The service was no friendlier there. The Paradise Garden Cafe offers a special dinner one night a week, and there's a surcharge for it. We passed on it that evening.

Tours

We ventured off the resort a few times. Once was for a combination tour which included a Black River cruise, a stop at the YS falls, and a visit to the Appleton rum factory. The Black River cruise was fun. The water is clear, but the river bottom is peat, so the river looks black. It's popular with crocodiles, and one even swims up to the boat and eats out of the captain's hand. Looking at the mangrove trees and razor grass at the river's edge, and you realize the only way in and out of the river for the most part is through the river mouth.

YS falls is a seven-falls waterfall not far from the Black River. It's an interesting place to explore, including the river, the falls, and the flora in the area. It's a bit crowded with all the people there, though.

The Appleton rum factory was a good time, too. About all I knew about rum before the tour was that it's made from sugar cane and it's good to drink. They explained the whole process from the burning of the cane through fermentation to the aging of the rums in barrels. They were proud to claim that their process had no waste since every byproduct was recycled or reused in some way. Of course, there's the opportunity to buy their rum when the tour is finished. Hey, it's good stuff.

We also spent a night going down to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in Negril. We've been in other Margaritavilles and this was similar. The food was good, but the entertainment here was a bit lacking. They were going to do a karaoke night, but it turns out they had no volunteers. We were able to get out on the beach in an area of Negril we hadn't been to before and see a few other resorts.

There were other activities we never got to do, although we had thought about it (glass bottom boat cruise, watching the Sunset from Rick's). We enjoy being on the beach together so much that it's hard to get our butts out of the beach chair and go somewhere. We never have regrets about not doing these things, since the beach is so enjoyable for us. We spent most of our time on the beach doing nothing more than chatting, reading, exploring the cove, and watching the entertainment at Hedonism II from time to time.

Going home

The week at Point Village was an enjoyable one. We were a bit put off by the food and unfriendly staff. Would we return there again? Perhaps. It was a good beach, but there are plenty of good beaches in Negril. We like being on the west side of an island. It makes for great sunsets over the water.

Going home was uneventful. It's rare that we get a trip where there isn't some sort of snafu with the airlines on the way down or the way back. There's another Margaritaville in the airport in Montego Bay which is a nice place to kill time before boarding the plane.

It was evening when we arrived in Boston and then we had to face the 5-hour drive home. It did give us a chance to reflect and replay the highlights of the week. It was a good vacation, and we did like Jamaica.