Negril Jamaica trip report - cliffs/beach combo

We just got back from a week in Negril. Very nice! Unlike anything I've experienced in a dozen or so trips over 45 years to various parts of the Caribbean (all on smaller islands).

We flew Air Jamaica from BWI... direct, friendly, and relatively painless (but whatever happened to padding on seat-backs?). Met at the curb by our driver, Kenny Salmon... a nice guy at a good price in a fairly new and roomy van. You can reach Kenny at kennyjamaica@gmail.com">kennyjamaica@gmail.com. (He provides a free loaner cell phone for your stay if you book him round-trip.)

First 3 nights were at Rockhouse, in the cliffs area of Negril. Beautiful property; lots of places to get in and out of the water; good restaurant and poolside grill. We stayed in premium villa #1, which I think might be the worst of the high-priced spreads (too close to the road, not a particularly good view from the patio, and not well-situated to catch the breeze). You would do well to ask for #3 or #4 if you are staying in their best rooms. The lesser-priced villas and regular rooms looked very nice. The inside layout of our unit was excellent; housekeeping was perfect; but the AC was weak, even after the maintenance guys thoroughly checked it out. It seemed like it stayed in the upper 70s or low 80s in the room, even after a couple hours of the AC running.

Other than checking out the little shops across the road, our only venture off the premises was a snorkel trip to the reef with Famous Vincent. (Flagged him down the day before as he cruised slowly along the cliffs.) Snorkeling is "good but not great" at the reef. Along the cliffs right in front of Rockhouse the snorkeling is ok, and would probably be impressive if it was your first time. Swimming into the caves that are all along the cliffs was definitely cool!

The morning after our third night, we met up with Kenny, moved our stuff to CocoLaPalm Hotel on the beach (our room was already available so we got fully checked in), and then took off for Mayfield Falls to do the Riverwalk tour. Just the two of us, guided by a very pleasant and knowledgeable young man who had grown up right near the falls. Excellent and very much worth it!

CocoLaPalm is well-placed on Negril's 7-mile beach, with a wide stretch of sand in front, and shade provided by mature trees (sea grape?). It being the off-season, there was never a problem getting a spot in the shade... but in prime season I'll be there's a lot of "staking a claim" going on in the early morning. They have nice lounge chairs, but no beach umbrellas. Our room was great (strong AC!), the fridge was quite large, with no pricey pre-stocked drinks, and housekeeping did a good job. Friendly staff; a good snorkel boat (we went out to the reef again); all sorts of options for food, entertainment, and activities by walking down the beach in either direction. Walking across the road we were right at Best of the West jerk chicken stand, and next to it a small store with fresh patties (beef, chicken, or veggie) and cheap sodas & beers to take back to the room fridge. We ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant - Marley's - and had lunch at it's grill. Both good. A couple lunches next door at Idle Awhile's beach-side restaurant - excellent! Dinners also at Charela (classy and tasty, with live music) and Norma's (also nice, but not quite as good).

As for the "beach scene", the vendors who have stationary set-ups for tee-shirts and knick-knacks could be kind of pushy but it was no problem to just say "no thanks" and walk away. The walking vendors (fruit, patties, hand-scooped ice cream, cigs, newspapers, coffee-by-the-pound, aloe-by-the-branch, freshly-cooked lobsters, etc.) were low-key and stayed down along the water-line unless you acted interested. The ganja salesmen were certainly around, particularly after dark when their numbers increased, but took us at our word that we weren't interested. None of the sellers went in for the "desperation" style of sales pitch, and none of them (or anyone else we encountered, for that matter) was ever unfriendly or intimidating. We encountered two groups of musicians -- a 3-man steel pan combo, and 2-man/1-woman reggae group... both were GREAT. They walked along the beach and would set up and play a couple selections for anyone who expressed an interest.

Our last full day there was Jamaican Labor Day. In talking with some local folks, I learned that there is a long-standing tradition of doing volunteer work that day for the community (e.g. fixing up public property, or painting houses owned by old folks) if you have off from work. Because schools were closed, lots of young local kids were playing on the beach and in the water... happy and cute.

Here are some photos:
http://usera.imagecave.com/balt21212jamaica/