jdb
Guest
We are looking to take a trip to Jamaica in the spring and was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions on an all inclusive place to stay?
Jamaica Suggestions
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My only suggestion would be to not go. I was there for 2 weeks and hated it. The diving sucked and I got tired of people bothering me all the time to buy pot and other crap.
Scott
Scott
Cherry
Contributor
Its been many years like 20 or so for me but Negril was a great area and while I only did the hotel course and didnt have anything to compare it to the diving was good with quite a few rays. If you are single and want to "hook up" try hedonism 2 or the Grand Lido next door. nude volley ball in the pool at midnight 
shhhh dont tell mrs cherry. Go online and check out the Negril web page for a few other options ...like the Jungle house rooms rite on the beach...
things may have changed but like the song says...
doan worry...bout a ting ....every little ting gonna be alrite
shhhh dont tell mrs cherry. Go online and check out the Negril web page for a few other options ...like the Jungle house rooms rite on the beach...things may have changed but like the song says...
doan worry...bout a ting ....every little ting gonna be alrite
hcs3
Guest
if you're going strcitly for diving, jamaica is not the best option.
i have dove negril on 2 vacations for about a total of 20 - 24 dives. to get into decent diving, you have to go below 80 foot. 100 - 120 feet was pretty good, in fact, and i look forward to doing it again. at least IMO. i felt the dives in 40 - 60 feet were only OK, but some sites showed sings of damage from divers. 30 feet and shallower was boring. too many new divers kicking corals. not much was growing.
no large fish. jamiaca still spear-fishes and uses traps to catch fish for a large supply of their food source. you will see a ton of small fish, but nothing of decent size. most fish seem to be afraid of divers as well, except for the damsels, etc. if you want to see huge groupers, etc., jamiaca is not the place for you.
in regards to the resorts, most are excellent. one thing jamaica knows is how to have a good time. jamiacans are also the friendliest people i have ever met in my life. everything is "no problem." we have stayed in the sandals negril twice and loved it. they go out of their way to be friendly. the dive team was out of this world.
if you don't enjoy good pot, say no thanks and keep walking. they only ask once. if you show any interest at all, they will ask several times.
when buying anything on the island, try to pay 1/3 the price they originally ask.
HTH
henry
i have dove negril on 2 vacations for about a total of 20 - 24 dives. to get into decent diving, you have to go below 80 foot. 100 - 120 feet was pretty good, in fact, and i look forward to doing it again. at least IMO. i felt the dives in 40 - 60 feet were only OK, but some sites showed sings of damage from divers. 30 feet and shallower was boring. too many new divers kicking corals. not much was growing.
no large fish. jamiaca still spear-fishes and uses traps to catch fish for a large supply of their food source. you will see a ton of small fish, but nothing of decent size. most fish seem to be afraid of divers as well, except for the damsels, etc. if you want to see huge groupers, etc., jamiaca is not the place for you.
in regards to the resorts, most are excellent. one thing jamaica knows is how to have a good time. jamiacans are also the friendliest people i have ever met in my life. everything is "no problem." we have stayed in the sandals negril twice and loved it. they go out of their way to be friendly. the dive team was out of this world.
if you don't enjoy good pot, say no thanks and keep walking. they only ask once. if you show any interest at all, they will ask several times.
when buying anything on the island, try to pay 1/3 the price they originally ask.
HTH
henry
hcs3
Guest
Tim Ingersoll
Contributor
We were in Ocho Rios several years ago. We stayed at the Sans Souci Lido Resort. All inclusive. Very nice, romantic, quiet. I would recommend it. The diving sucked. There was a decent little wreck near the resort and some decent shallow dives. No fish bigger than your middle finger. The guide got really excited about a tiny barracuda. He nearly pulled my fin off trying to get my attention and then seemed put out that I didn't get excited too.
AllenG
Contributor
I've yet to hear anyone speak favorably of any aspect of a trip to Jamaica other than arriving back home. From crime to overly persistent and intrusive sales people to isolation at one's resort to poor service, Jamaica seems to be a bad choice.
CGoheen
Registered
I just came back from a week at "Breezes" in Montego Bay. Currently it is winter so it rained several days. On rainy days it's tough to get any water activity going. Visibilty seems to disappear to less than 10 feet and the water sports pretty much close shop to wait for better visibility. I dove with Recreational Divers Inc located at the Holiday Inn in Montego Bay. My hotel made the arrangements and it cost me about $40 US a dive. Depending on the day the visibility was from 10-30 feet. That is considered poor for Jamaica, but for an Atlantic Coast and quarry diver that's okay. The water temp was about 75 and there was differing acquatic life (Large crab, small crab, sea cucumbers, tropical fish, puffer fish, moray eels, etc). There was also various coral formations.
I like diving, so for the most part I liked the dives. The down side is that we were only 2 passengers on a 10 diver boat. (As an aside, that's the way it goes when you don't go with a large group - you become passengers on somebody else's dive adventure)The others were trainees, so the boat went where the trainees went. And since you have to be with a Jamaican guide, you went pretty much where the trainees went as they followed the guide. After each dive the boat went back to the pier (maybe 10min ride) and the tanks were unloaded and then refilled. So, you had a top side interval 1 hour to 2.5 hours as they refilled tanks and did pool training for the next batch. The air is not filtered like many shops do in the US, and no NITROX fills were available. Then the boat was reloaded and back out to another site nearby. We saw Chubb reef from several different points, and the "sea wall" (although it goes down to 130 feet we only were guided down to 51 feet).
I had hoped to go see Widow Maker and several other "famous" sites, but I didn't do enough research before I went to find some dive shop that wasn't tied to a training regime.
hcs3 gave a good summary of the Jamaican's in general. They want to sell you anything. I just said no and they left me alone. Cuban cigars are cheaper at the Airport as is the best rum. Buy it when you are leaving.
As far as the hotel goes, it was great. Good food, lots of really fun visitors from all over the world, free snorkleing, wind sailing, sailing, kayaking. The resort staff went out of their way to make sure we were having fun, even when it rained.
If you have questions, please ask.
I like diving, so for the most part I liked the dives. The down side is that we were only 2 passengers on a 10 diver boat. (As an aside, that's the way it goes when you don't go with a large group - you become passengers on somebody else's dive adventure)The others were trainees, so the boat went where the trainees went. And since you have to be with a Jamaican guide, you went pretty much where the trainees went as they followed the guide. After each dive the boat went back to the pier (maybe 10min ride) and the tanks were unloaded and then refilled. So, you had a top side interval 1 hour to 2.5 hours as they refilled tanks and did pool training for the next batch. The air is not filtered like many shops do in the US, and no NITROX fills were available. Then the boat was reloaded and back out to another site nearby. We saw Chubb reef from several different points, and the "sea wall" (although it goes down to 130 feet we only were guided down to 51 feet).
I had hoped to go see Widow Maker and several other "famous" sites, but I didn't do enough research before I went to find some dive shop that wasn't tied to a training regime.
hcs3 gave a good summary of the Jamaican's in general. They want to sell you anything. I just said no and they left me alone. Cuban cigars are cheaper at the Airport as is the best rum. Buy it when you are leaving.
As far as the hotel goes, it was great. Good food, lots of really fun visitors from all over the world, free snorkleing, wind sailing, sailing, kayaking. The resort staff went out of their way to make sure we were having fun, even when it rained.
If you have questions, please ask.
caymaniac
Contributor
I've had friends that have gone and will never go back. Is it because they advertise? The diving is no good. The people try to rip you off. My brother and his wife went and were robbed. My Dad and Mom went and they were robbed. How do you like being hasseled about going to parties to do drugs to have prostitutes? I guess if this is something you like ..........go.
Caymaniac
Caymaniac
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