r/Jamaica • u/Traditional-Bowler84 • 6d ago
Travel Five days in Jamaica
Saint James, Trelawny, and (mostly) Saint Ann Parishes. Five days wasn't anywhere close to enough, and I hope we can return and venture out more one day.
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u/OkStart6462 6d ago
Where was pic #9 taken? Is that Irie Beach?
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u/Traditional-Bowler84 6d ago
Island Gully Falls, southeast of Ocho Rios. This photo specifically is downstream of the falls. Photo 10 is the same place, upstream of the falls.
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u/RawGrit4Ever 6d ago
What kind of camera do you shoot with?
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u/Traditional-Bowler84 6d ago
It's just my smartphone camera, believe it or not. Samsung Galaxy S23, which has some decent zoom features. The newer phones have cameras that are really nice.
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u/Correct_Afternoon_12 6d ago
How did you like Columbus heights in ochi
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u/Traditional-Bowler84 6d ago
Hmm, I just looked that place up, I think you're referring to the hotel? We stayed in Bahia Principe in Runaway Bay, which we loved. If your question comes from my photos of Ocho Rios from the mountains, I had asked our guide if there was a good spot we could get a view of the mountains, and he took us to Oceans on the Ridge which was an amazing spot - I bought our guide a Red Stripe for his trouble! Lol
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u/Sad-Fee7480 6d ago
We are thinking of visiting this summer. So many hotels to choose from, lots with terrible ratings. You say you loved Bahia hotel, were the all inclusive restaurants and daily activities good? Also, we are a bit nervous of the travel advisory from Canada & US, did you feel safe? Hope you don’t mind me asking, we really would love to visit but don’t know anyone who’s been
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u/Traditional-Bowler84 5d ago
Absolutely!
This was my first time traveling internationally, except for a quick day trip to Toronto, Canada, which I barely count, lol, so I had the same questions and concerns.
When planning this trip, I was doing a lot of research about Jamaica traval and I was a bit nervous too. My wife, who's from the Caribbean (not Jamaica, but elsewhere) who has traveled more internationally said I was being a bit paranoid, which, in hindsight I was, but a lot of stuff you see online makes you second guess.
The first thing I can say is, if you go, absolutely stay at an all-inclusive resort. We have a few Jamaican friends, all born in Jamaica but live elsewhere now, and they say the same thing. Even when they go to visit family who live in Jamaica, they stay in a resort. I asked them about Bahia and they all said it's a good resort.
Bahia itself, I would 100% stay in again. A little about it:
The place is split between the "Grand" side and the "Luxury" side. So you have Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica, and Bahia Principe Luxury. The Grand side is family (kids allowed), the Luxury side is adults only (kids not allowed). We stayed on the Luxury side, which was quiet and I'm glad we did, just because we like quiet. The place is divided down the middle between Grand and Luxury by an imaginary barrier. If you stay on the Grand side, you have to stay on the Grand side. If you stay on the Luxury side, you can freely walk around both sides and access the amenities of both sides. They give you color-coded bracelets that designate which side you're on and they ABSOLUTELY check your wrist band if you're walking around. By that I mean,
"Hello sir, I see you're on the Luxury side but your bracelet is for the Grand side only. Please understand that only Luxury guests can use both sides, thank you."
All of our staff interactions were super friendly and cordial, some very casual and relaxed. Also, the Luxury side was built about 10 or 15 years more recent, so it definitely looks and feels newer. The place is clean and not run down at all, but it's not in pristine condition. It is a bit worn and it has been used. I saw people online complaining about that but I didn't have an issue with it at all.
My one even marginally negative interaction at the hotel. The very first full day we were there, I woke up early, before the place really opened up for the day, and walked around the resort by myself, which I usually do this on any vacation we go on. I went down to the beach, and a guy was there by himself, and kind of waved me over a bit, which I did not approach, and he did not approach me (meaning we didn't walk towards each other and kept our distances). I was maybe 30 feet from him or so, and the interaction goes like this,
Him: "Are you looking for something?"
Me: "Nope, not at all."
"You're all good?"
"I'm all good."
"Ok, have a good day."
"You too."
Then he left. I assume he wanted to sell me weed, which is openly used and sold in Jamaica of course. The whole interaction was odd, to me at least, but hardly an issue. I continued to walk around by myself in the morning the other days and I had no issues.
Some of the restaurants are better than others, some of the food really good, some of it just meh. We were in Jamaica and I wanted to eat Jamaican food, which the resort has and was very good, and we got a lot of Jamaican food outside the resort, but breaking up the Jamaican food with other types was a good palette cleanser for me, you just had to kind of figure out what was good and what was just ok. The service, however, was fantastic no matter which restaurant.
Now, if you leave the resort, which we did everyday and I highly recommend, absolutely, 100%, book the excursions through the hotel itself. It's super easy, and you can do it before you get to Jamaica or the day before the excursion (can't do same-day.) When you do it this way, you come to the front of the hotel at the appointment time, and a taxi cab or taxi van, depending on how many other people booked that excursion for that time, shows up and takes you straight to the excursion. They give you some safety information and maybe how to avoid scammers (which they're aren't many but we encountered a few that were easy to parry away from us). The driver actually stays with you/around you at the excursion. Not like, immediately next to you always in your bubble, but they stay nearby. It's for safety and because the same driver who takes you to the excursion also takes you back to the resort, so they want to make sure they get you back there.
We coincidentally had the same driver 3 days in a row, and he was super cool. He would ask us if we wanted to do or see anything along the way to/from the excursion, like get food, see something specific, etc., and he would take us. Experience definitely varies on driver and on group size with excursions.
People will say, don't leave the hotel by yourself, which I agree with because it eliminates the stress and substantially reduces the risk. We always left the resort with a local guide.
Last thing about the resort. All the food and drinks are completely included in the room fee. So you can eat and drink as much as you want. I always tipped, which wasn't expected but definitely appreciated.
I could go on a bit more but I think this has gotten long enough, lol. Hope that answers your questions.
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u/Sad-Fee7480 5d ago
Amazing, this is really helpful, thank you so much for all the information. We would have our 15 year old son with us so if we chose Bahia would have to stay on the other side
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u/KriosDaNarwal Don Gargamel 4d ago
Country for sale. So many native jamaicans lack even basic access to these beaches and amenities
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u/RastaNastaMarley 4d ago
Was that Dunn river fall, MIs St. Ann Mobay Nine Mile man
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u/Traditional-Bowler84 4d ago
Picture 1 is west of Mobay, as we were flying in, picture 2 is as we were landing at Mobay, and picture 19 is flying out of Mobay.
4 is Dunn's River Falls, and 14, 15, 16, 17 are all Nine Mile.
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u/bllkbrucewayne 4d ago
Where’s photo 9/19 located ?
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u/Traditional-Bowler84 4d ago
9 and 10 are both Island Gully Falls, southeast of Ocho Rios. 19 is the view from the airplane flying out of Montego Bay.
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u/polar775 6d ago
looks like 5 days well spent.
Big up, come back soon!