I just returned from a week-long vacaton in Negril, Jamaica. I was at Riu Negril, on an all-inclusive package for a week. It was time and money well spent.
The beach in the resort was fabulous. It was the bay part of the island, where the waves were calm. We went snorkeling off the beach and had a great time. My wife, brother and I spotted a wide sting ray and a reasonably large starfish, among other things. Of the seven days, I guess we spent a good part of five days on the beach.
The food at the resort was reasonably good. Since it was an all-inclusive package, all food and drinks were covered in the package price. I lost count of pina coladas (virgin, of course) that I had during the week. There was a lot of meat, but they also had a decent number of veggie options for the likes of my wife and I. When we went out, we were surprised to find a very good Indian restaurant in Ocho Rios.
We ventured out only twice, given the safety concerns. One of the trips was to Ocho Rios/Dunn's River Falls. The river cascades down the rocks by about 1000 ft. They have a guided tour through the river, up the rocks, against the cascading water. It was a thrilling experience to go up the river in that fashion. I had initially wanted to take my son with me as the climb looked relatively easy, but am happy that I did not. It was quite a risky climb afterall. In fact, if it was in the US, I do not think such a climb would be allowed for public. I guess you'd have to sign a number of legal disclaimers and own up all the risk before embarking on such a climb :-)
We also went to Rick's Cafe, which was touted to be one of the top ten spots in the world to view sunsets. I wasn't too impressed by the sunset, but was very impressed by the location of the restaurant. Our taxi driver on both the trips - Ransford O'Neil Samuels, became a good friend of ours (especially my son).
Overall, I liked the place and wouldn't mind going back there. It was a very refreshing trip. I will post some of the pictures soon.
Our return journey was highly inconvenient and uncomfortable, thanks mainly to United Airlines and the Montego Bay airport. But we made it back alright. Now I have a week and a half of local travel and hectic work, followed by more travel - this time to India for four days.
The beach in the resort was fabulous. It was the bay part of the island, where the waves were calm. We went snorkeling off the beach and had a great time. My wife, brother and I spotted a wide sting ray and a reasonably large starfish, among other things. Of the seven days, I guess we spent a good part of five days on the beach.
The food at the resort was reasonably good. Since it was an all-inclusive package, all food and drinks were covered in the package price. I lost count of pina coladas (virgin, of course) that I had during the week. There was a lot of meat, but they also had a decent number of veggie options for the likes of my wife and I. When we went out, we were surprised to find a very good Indian restaurant in Ocho Rios.
We ventured out only twice, given the safety concerns. One of the trips was to Ocho Rios/Dunn's River Falls. The river cascades down the rocks by about 1000 ft. They have a guided tour through the river, up the rocks, against the cascading water. It was a thrilling experience to go up the river in that fashion. I had initially wanted to take my son with me as the climb looked relatively easy, but am happy that I did not. It was quite a risky climb afterall. In fact, if it was in the US, I do not think such a climb would be allowed for public. I guess you'd have to sign a number of legal disclaimers and own up all the risk before embarking on such a climb :-)
We also went to Rick's Cafe, which was touted to be one of the top ten spots in the world to view sunsets. I wasn't too impressed by the sunset, but was very impressed by the location of the restaurant. Our taxi driver on both the trips - Ransford O'Neil Samuels, became a good friend of ours (especially my son).
Overall, I liked the place and wouldn't mind going back there. It was a very refreshing trip. I will post some of the pictures soon.
Our return journey was highly inconvenient and uncomfortable, thanks mainly to United Airlines and the Montego Bay airport. But we made it back alright. Now I have a week and a half of local travel and hectic work, followed by more travel - this time to India for four days.
