We are about to touch down in Montego Bay’s airport, one of the largest, busiest and modern airports in the Caribbean. Once you get your luggage don’t stop! Keep walking to find your tour provider. They will be past the vendors promoting car rentals, time shares, shows etc. Your tour provider (Air Canada Vacations, Nolitours, Signature, SunWing, Sunquest, Transat and West Jet Vacations) representative will meet you outside.
Let the vacation!! Your tour provider will direct you to the vehicle that will take you to your resort.
Optional stop – cold drinks for the long ride. Negril is approximately 90 minutes on a modern bus with air conditioning no bathroom. Expect to stop to drop other vacationers off along the way.
Our resort was located on famous Bloody Bay Beach. Upon arrival we were greeted by smiling, friendly front desk staff. A welcome drink (drink of the day) is offered by bar staff. Tip – sign up for Riu card to receive discounts for spa services and excursions. Bell staff will show you to your room, so you don’t get lost. The resort and grounds are spotless. This is a smaller resort. It has 416 rooms.
Once unpacked, we were off to the buffet for our dinner. The buffet was always fresh and there was plenty to choose from. In addition to the buffet, there are four a la carte restaurants –Steak House, Fusion, Japanese, and Italian. Dress restrictions apply at a la carte restaurants. Reservations are required and are made in the main lobby starting at 8:00 am. Space is limited so most of them are taken by 8:15 am and they close restaurants for events (i.e. weddings or rotating closure), check with the front desk. Menus are displayed for you to see what each restaurant has to offer. They have two seat ings, 6:30p and 9:00p for a la carte restaurants.
We upgraded our room to an ocean view junior suite (worth extra money to upgrade to get better room location). The room was spacious with two queen beds and a sitting area. There is also turn down service provided each evening (they prepare your bed for sleeping and leave a chocolate), very nice. There is an in room safe, coffee maker; small bar with 4 full-sized bottles of various alcohols, the mini bar is stocked daily with a great selection of non-alcoholic drinks, bottled water and beer. There is 24-hour room service and free Wi-Fi throughout the resort.
Beach was amazing! Pristine, beautiful clear, calm turquoise water with soft white sand. It’s also fairly shallow and very nice to swim or float in (floaters are available at the beach store or sellers on the beach). If you are looking for waves and surf this is not your beach. This resort is almost in the middle of the bay with about a 15 minute walk to either end passing other resorts and small market. There are plenty of lounge chairs and while there were a few sellers on the beach, we didn’t find them bothersome at all. The resort also provides free access to some water sports (paddle boats, kayaks, sailing) from ScubaCaribe shack on the beach. The shack is where you can book excursions (catamaran to Rick’s Café, snorkeling, scuba diving etc.). Dive Center on site. Good for first time divers. Local musicians played up and down the beach, and were really good. Doesn’t get much better than laying back with the sun and the sand listening to some nice reggae on the beach.
There are two main pools – one has the swim-up bar and the other right next to it, separated by a walkway with plenty of lounge chairs and a Beach Bar with beach service. Entertainment – staff offer daily programs (aerobics, horseshoes, volleyball).
Lunch is available close to the beach and pool. There is a buffet or jerk chicken hut on the beach which was excellent and our favorite.
Sunsets are stunning!! We had an excellent view from our balcony. You can also bring your camera on your walks because the scenery continues to change.
Stay at on play at two. You do have privileges to Riu’s other resort Riu Negil. You can use the resort no questions asked. Riu Negril guests do not have the same privilege. There is also a kids club available for kids ages 4 -12. There are two wedding locations.
Nightly entertainment is available in the lobby bar until the theatre shows. Our two favorite shows were the Steel Drum Band and the Beach Party. The steel drum ensemble was very energetic and played quite a few top 40 songs on the drums. The resort is pretty quiet in regards to nightlife. We ended up taking a taxi for $10USD to the larger Riu down the beach and had a dancing/party night at the disco there which was fun.
Spa, fitness center, and tennis court on site. Golf is available offsite. The spa offers a variety of services for a fee. We recommend the massage. Remember your Riu card gives you a discount.
There are many excursions to choose from we did an all day excursion to Black River, YS Falls and Appleton Rum Factory Tour and scuba diving. Black River – River tour on covered pontoon like boat– ride along the river to see crocodiles (we saw 5) and Jamaican landscapes. YS Falls should not be missed. These beautiful falls are located on private land the bus can only go so far and then you transfer to private transportation – tractor pulling trailer with seats. The view from the bottom of the falls was amazing. Walk up the path to falls and staff are there to greet you and walk you through water to get you to top of falls guide you through the rocky bottom and water to get you to photo stations to take pictures with your camera. There is no set price – you pay what you think is fair. Lunch not included. Bus stopped at local eatery on site to eat.
Appleton Rum Factory – great tour with unlimited tasting bar.
Looking for souvenirs, Time Square, a small mall, is about a 20 minute walk or 5 minute cab ride. Store 10 is the largest and has the best prices. Prices are negotiable.
Seven Mile Beach, Jamaica’s longest beach with its beautiful white sand and turquoise water, was very clean and no rocks in the water just soft sand. No all-inclusive resorts, all mom & pop hotels. Lots of beach sellers keen for visitors to look at their stalls but are okay and leave you alone if you say no thank you firmly enough. Not worth the walk. Bloody Bay is a nicer beach.
Rick’s Café, rated one of the 10 best bars in the world. Here you can watch daring jumps by visitors and professional cliff divers from the highest platform of 35 foot. Enjoy world famous sunsets. Drinks or snacks are reasonably priced.
Other resorts on Bloody Bay All Inclusive Resorts – Couples (adults only) & Grand Lido (adults only), Sunset on the Palms – beach access located on same beach.
I was lucky to do a site inspection of Couples Resort. It is an adults only resort with 234 rooms. All rooms have been recently renovated. They have one buffet & three a la carte restaurants. Reservations are required and dress code in effect. There are two pools with a swim up pool bar and a beach bar with beach service. Couples resort includes all water sports activities and organized tours. Included free of charge are shopping shuttles, shuttles to a scenic local bar, catamaran cruises, Margaretville bar, golf – transfers and green fees daily and church. From scuba to sailing, snorkeling to pool volleyball, the water adventures know no bounds; the only thing left is water skiing. There are two wedding locations. Couples also has a Spa, Beauty Salon and fitness club. At Couples Resort tipping is not permitted.
Club Mobay Airport Lounge in Montego Bay Airport. This is a great way to fast track through the long lineups (immigration/security/customs). The lounge is available for both arrival and departure. We took advantage of this on our departure. It was very efficient and food was great. Enjoy snacks and premium drinks, high-speed Internet access, shower facilities, a fully-equipped business centre, and a kid’s area.
All in all, Jamaica was a great beach getaway, with fantastic food, sun, sand and of course water!
