Jamaica— the land of reggae, jerk, and red stripe. I enjoyed every second I spent in Jamaica, an island rich in culture, joy, and love. The Jamaican vibes are real and you feel them within seconds of your first interaction with the locals. My boyfriend, and I, spent 5 beautiful days in Negril, Jamaica. It was a great way to wrap up our summer and take a vacation together before school started back up for me.
Getting There
Jamaica opened up to tourist in July. Everyone traveling to Jamaica needs a travel authorization. You can apply for one here [https://travelauth.visitjamaica.com]. When I traveled to Jamaica, you did not need a COVID test unless you’re a resident of New York, Florida, Arizona, or Texas. Things changed shortly after our departure and now anyone traveling to Jamaica from the U.S. must submit a negative COVID test along with their travel authorization. For more information, see here.
Also, please arrive at the airport your departing from in the states at least 3 hours early, now that they have to check authorizations things take longer.
Getting Through Customs in Montego Bay
This was a long process. We landed in Montego Bay at 11am and waited an hour in line just to make it through the COVID screening where they ask you a series of questions and then tell you if you are mandated to quarantine or not which lasted about 15 minutes each person. It took us an hour ½ to make it out of the airport. If you want to cut this process in half, I suggest getting the MoBay pass that lets you skip the COVID screening line.
Outside of airport, we were met by our amazing driver, Dwayne, whom we had for the entirety of our trip. If it’s your first time traveling to Jamaica and you want to get outside of the resorts and hangout with the locals—which you should— I suggest hiring a driver for a couple days! You can contact Dwayne via WhatsApp (+1 876-376-1458), you can also view his Trip Advisor reviews here.
Lodging
We decided to stay on the cliff side of Negril and away from Seven Mile Beach and all the resorts lined up along that strip. It turned out to be a great decision as we loved our stay at The SPA Retreat. Upon arriving, and to our surprise, Kedesha, the receptionist, told us she had upgraded us to the roof terrace cottage. She also provided us with a cellphone we could use for the entirety of our stay in order to communicate with hotel staff, our driver, and any other Jamaicans we needed to contact. This turned out to be such a great perk of the hotel, we used the cellphone often to communicate with our driver and local restaurants.
Kedesha then gave us a tour of the property, introduced us to the bartender, waitresses, chef, and the owner, all whom we grew to get to know well throughout the entirety of our stay, especially our friend Ricardo, the bartender. Being exhausted from travels, we decided to relax upon arrival and spent the day at our resort.
Day 2
Day 2 got off to a slow start— we drank coffee and hung out on our balcony listening to Bob Marley and enjoying our morning. We had breakfast at Blue Mahoe—the coconut French toast was to die for— then were ready to hit the road at 11am. Dwayne picked us up for the first stop of the day— the Floyd Pelican Bar.
The Pelican Bar is built from wood in the middle of the ocean but you can swim in peace as it’s not deeper than 4 feet. They have a bar and kitchen so you can eat, drink, and smoke all ganja you want all day there. You take a boat to the bar and pay the owner of the boat $25 per person to get you there and he will hang out at the bar until you’re ready to go. Dwayne arranged this for us, which is another great perk of having a driver. You just tell them where you want to go and they take care of the rest.
We hung out at the Pelican bar for a couple hours before heading out and hitting up Seven Mile Beach in Negril. We decided on Margaritaville because of the vibes. It was lively and they were playing all the Jamaican reggae hits! I was in heaven. We stayed there until sundown then headed back to our hotel. Back at the hotel, we hung out with Ricardo for a while before he took us to Kenny’s Italian Cafe. If in Negril, you should definitely check it out on the weekend. The owner brings in a DJ and turns the place up. We stayed there until the 11pm curfew.
Day 3
Day 3 was an early start as we planned to go to Ocho Rios—a 2-hour drive from Negril. We first went to Martha’s Brea to raft down the river. This is a tourist trap. It’s great if you want a few pictures, but it wasn’t an exciting adventure. I was so bored I decided to push the raft myself and after breaking a sweat doing so, jumped in the river. The entire excursion was 1.5 hours down the river and cost $35 per person.
We then stopped at another locally owned spot for lunch where we had the Jamaican national dish— ackee & salt fish with rice and peas. We learned a lot about the fruit and how the dish is made, super good! After lunch we headed towards the Blue Hole waterfall.
Now this excursion is well worth it! The waterfalls were so beautiful and blue, I was in awe! You pay a $20 entry fee per person. Along the way you will get many people trying to be your guide, it’s required you have one as they walk you through the jungle and lead you to 5-6 waterfalls/swimming holes. The tour guides operate solely on gratuity and typically suggest $20 per person. We were blindsided by this at the end of our tour, so please be ware. I also strongly suggest water shoes! There’s a lot of walking and climbing, especially at the falls so it’s worth bringing some. If you forget they sell them at the entrance.
On our way back to Negril, our second driver Linbert, who works for Dwayne and was just as amazing, took us to a local spot to try the famous Jamaican desert- pudding. It was incredible! We then stopped for dinner at another local spot for some jerk shrimp. We ate and drank extremely strong Jamaican rum while vibing to more reggae.
Last Day in Negril
Day 4, our last full day in Jamaica, we decided to again take it easy. We had been doing so much driving around the north and west side of the country that we just wanted to relax. For breakfast, we headed to Coletta’s Restaurant for an authentic Jamaican breakfast and then crossed the street to layout at Seven Mile Beach. We rented beach chairs from the Whistling Bird Resort for $10 which also came with water floats for lounging and a bumping reggae playlist! We chilled at the beach listening to reggae, drinking red stripe, swimming, and just having some good ol’ fun until late into the afternoon.
In the late afternoon, we returned to the hotel and swam at the pool until sunset. We decided to have dinner at the hotel before heading out to the strip for some dancing. We went to Kenny’s Bar and then Jungle Nightclub— yes, the club was open. There was still a curfew so the club closed at 1am, but man were they playing all the hits! I could see why that’s the hottest club in Negril.
Transportation
Like I said, the best decision we made was hiring a driver, especially during these COVID times where many of them have lost business and are just getting back on their feet. You can also rent a car, but beware that Jamaicans drive on the left side of the road.
Costs
Meals in Jamaica should be relatively cheap, like $5-$6 per meal. But because of COVID, prices have been doubled. Each meal costs us $10-$14 USD.
Restaurants in Negril
- Coletta’s Bar – great authentic Jamaican cuisine
- Sweet Spice – best authentic food and loved by tourists and locals alike
- Blue Mahoe – locals frequent this restaurant located on the hotel property we stayed at
- Rasta Ade – located right on the beach strip, go here for an authentic Rastafarian vegetarian meal
- Kenny’s Italian Cafe
Nightlife in Negril
- Woodstock Bar
- Jungle Nightclub – most popular and lit nightclub
- Bourbon Beach – definitely go here for live reggae music
- Roots Bamboo Beach Resort – great reggae live music
- Miss Lilly’s – a new Black owned resort and bar
- Lady V Bar
- Red Dragon
Things to Do in Negril We Didn’t
- Blue Hole Mineral Springs
- YS Falls
- Negril Cliffs
- Rick’s Cafe
Things to do in Ocho Rios That We Didn’t
- Luminous Waters Tour
- Scotties (best jerk)
- Arthur’s Beach Bar
- Doctor’s Cave Beach
What a Blog! I felt like I was apart of the experience.