Last weekend Tracy and I escaped the cold of NYC and headed down to Negril, Jamaica. I'm not sure why but when I think of the Caribbean this place sounds about as exotic as it gets. It was a four hour flight to Montego Bay and then a hour and a half taxi to Negril. We were staying at a small B&B called Aqua Negril which we found on Trip Advisor. When we arrived I think we almost immediately concluded that we had found a small piece of paradise. The place is fully decked and located right on the beach on the best part of Negril. You walk out onto some grass and then you're straight on the beach and the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean. Other highlights of the place included a wicked spa on the upper deck and a beachfront bar that served the best pina colada's I'd ever had.
We spent three blissful days on the sand and generally chilling like you do on a beach holiday. The water was amazingly clear and clean and a security guard made sure nobody disturbed you on the beach. There is a constant stream of tourists and people trying to sell stuff so makes for some interesting people watching. Nothing better than getting freshly cooked lobster for lunch for a lazy eight dollars.
We did go on one adventure up to the cliffs area to check out a BBQ place called 3Dives. Jamaicans are big on their jerk chicken and BBQs and I'm a massive fan. On Saturday I had lobster both for lunch and dinner. Tough. Our only other culinary trip was to try some chicken patties from a place called Sonia's. We were both pretty disappointed with these. Oh I should not forget the awesome breakfasts that Aqua brewed up each morning. Crab cakes to start the day was sensational.
Another highlight occurred on Saturday night. There was a live reggae concert at a venue next to where we were staying. I'm not a huge fan of Reggae but don't mind it every now and then. Tracy and I pulled up a couch out the front of where we were staying and spent a couple of hours listening to the sounds of some guy called Tinga Stewart. It was one of those surreal moments where I thought how random it was to end up in the mothership of reggae listening to it live on the beach.
Negril in general was an interesting place and I'm sure not for everyone. It's loud and the constant wafts of pot are enough to give you almost constant munchies. It's full of overweight, obnoxious tourists and there are people constantly trying to sell you things. If you can put all that aside (totally possible if at Aqua) then the place is a real treat.
Anyway enough banter and some pics from the trip below.
Out the front of Aqua looking at their bar. |
Looking down the beach |
Tough waking up to this each morning |
You can just spot Tracy on the left of this pic. Check out how clear the water is. |
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Nice lady. Shame the mango's were out of season and pretty average. That basket was seriously heavy. |
Tunes on the beach |
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Fresh lobster. Ya mon. |
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Tracy with a chicken patty |
BBQ Lobster. Delicious. |
Seats for the day. |
I finally got to drink a Red Stripe in Jamaica. |
See bottom? You should have seen the pouch on the front. |
Sunset over Negril |
Lunch. |
Carn the Cats. |
Can I breathe out yet? |