Beaches, Sunshine, and Rum!

The busy season for a travel agent begins after Christmas and runs through Easter. Once I survived the craziness of the AAA Carolinas busy months, it was time for a vacation! I grabbed my best friend from Clemson and we packed our bags for the islands!

Tiffany and I stayed at Beaches Negril in Jamaica for our first 4 nights on the island. We were greeted in the Montego Bay by the wonderful Sandals and Beaches staff and transferred to our resort by mini-bus where we were greeted by staff at the entrance and moved to the concierge lounge. Little did we know until we arrived that we had been upgraded to a Concierge Beachfront Suite!

Beaches Negril was absolute paradise! We spent our days sunbathing on the white sand stretch of 7 Mile Beach, snorkeling the crystal clear waters, listening to the Ring Man try and sell us phone cable jewelry, sitting under the pool bar cover during the brief afternoon rain showers, walking down to Margaritaville Negril, napping in the resort hammocks, and watching the cliff divers and fire red sunsets at Rick's Café.

 

On day 4, we transferred by private mini-bus to Beaches Ocho Rios on the Northeast side of Jamaica. Ocho Rios is completely different from Negril and the West side of the island. The West side has long stretches of white sand beaches while the Northeast side is more mountainous and has shorter stretches of beach with rougher waters. Again, we were upgraded to a Concierge Beachfront Suite and I'll tell you, I never thought much about the benefits of concierge versus a regular luxury room but it was really nice to have a number to call to arrange our dinner reservations and have priority reservations for any excursions.

 

With four days in Ocho Rios, we toured a nearby resort, Couples San Souci, and went on a catamaran excursion to Dunn's River Falls and climbed the freezing cold waterfalls before touring Sandal's Grande Riviera Resort, and then we spent a day relaxing on the beach and playing in the awesome waterpark by the pool.

 

By the end of 7 days in Jamaica, 4 books, Caribbean cocktails, countless cat-naps on the beach, strolls on white sand beaches, and endless girl talk, Tiffany and I had truly adapted to "island time" and had an incredible sun soaked relaxing vacation on the friendly beautiful island of Jamaica!