Honeymoon in Jamaica
 

Hi all,

Fiance and I are getting married in Little Bay this coming January. After a week in Little Bay, we are trying to decide where to spend our second week (honeymoon without family). We've decided to stay in Jamaica, and are focusing on Negril or Treasure Beach. We're looking at The Rock House, Sunset at the Palms, and Jake's. The Caves looks beautiful, but a little pricier than we'd like.

SATP looks great, but all the reviews seem to mention a bug problem all year round, which doesn't seem to be the case elsewhere. May also be a bit more "resorty" than we'd like.

The Rock House is beautiful. Will we miss the beach though?

Jake's is great. Is scuba available in the Treasure Beach area? Is there a good beach?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated!

Negril and Treasure Beach have totally different vibes. We didn't stay at any of the hotels you're looking at so I can't give you any advice on them.
We stayed in Negril and went to Treasure Beach one day. We passed by Jake's which looked really cool. Very quiet, out of the way area. Totally different than busier Negril.

Treasure Beach:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...r/ddf3c98a.jpg

7-mile beach:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...r/8315e2d8.jpg

We did prefer Negril's 7-mile beach just because we thought it was more beautiful. A very underrated beach I think.

Hopefully others will help you. Good luck.

If going to TB I can highly recommend Mar Blue - it's romantic and cozy and very luxurious in an unpretentious way, and the food is incredible. Jake's is funky and cool but costs a lot for few amenities, IMO.

If Negril, we have stayed at and loved Catcha Falling Star (not far from Rockhouse, but smaller property), Beach House Villas (if you can get the penthouse suite it would be worth it), Nirvana (owners villa or a verandah suite would be ideal), or Rondel Village (beachfront suite).

Also consider Tensing Pen on the cliffs.

All have web sites.

Are you getting married at Coral Cove in Little Bay?

Would second the recommendation for
MAR BLUE in TB/better food,service,
cleanliness,privacy and amenities than Jake's for honeymoon post Little Bay.
In original Domicil, the second story
STAR jr.suite with balcony; in the new
Verandah, the second story with balcony
suites, or Papaya Waters suite with its
own private pool (there are 2 others
btw, 1 for Domicil, 1 for Verandah guests -- 16 in all is max.capacity.
If you're a foodie, Chef/owner Axel
Wicterich just won The Jamaica Gleaner's
'best innovative cuisine' for the second year running. Nothing like it
on island for food. And still, very laid-back without the forced boho-chic
thing...

Thanks for the replies. Yes, we are getting married at Coral Cove. Any thoughts? We found it online and it just looked perfect. The staff has been very responsive to questions, so we decided to take a leap of faith and book our wedding there.. We're very excited.

We're still undecided between Negril and TB. Do you think Coral Cove and the hotels in TB have a similar feel? We thought Negil might be nice after a week in Little Bay (yes, I realize Little Bay is not far from Negril :)

Please keep the comments coming! Marblue looks wonderful as well and will be added to our list of possibilities.

Thank!

I can say nothing but wonderful things about The Rockhouse. I proposed to wife there and found it to be a relaxing, incredibly romantic property. We looked at Jake's but it is more secluded and we like to walk around Negril and enjoy the town. At first we were sceptical about not staying on the beach, but we did not miss the beach one bit. We did go Negril Treehouse one day and bought lunch and drinks all day and they let us use their lounge chairs and beach. However, we really enjoyed being able to swim off the cliffs and in the surrounding coves. We only use the Rockhouse pool once or twice, during sunset it is incredible to swim in and watch the sun drop into the sea. I can highly recommend Rockhouse. I thought the restaurant was pretty good too

We know a couple who has been to Jakes. There is not much there at all and the resort is quite rustic. It may not be what you want for a honeymoon. In Negril on the cliffs Tensing Pen, Rockhouse and the caves are great. You could do a split trip at SATP and a cliff property. The caves is really AMAZING if you can swing a few nights there. Tensing Pen is a bit less resorty than Rock house. Liza is well traveled in Jamaica and I'm sure has also given you great suggestions for resorts I have not seen as well as tivertonhouse...he was a great help to me when planning our jamaica trip. I think a split is great as you can do the beach for a few days and the amazing cliffs for a few. Idle A while is also a nice beach hotel.

Well Little Bay and Treasure Beach have a similar feel in that neither has much in the way of mass tourism, that's more true in Little Bay than TB but both are pretty mellow. Negril is definitely not, but the cliffs are a lot mellower than the beach.

LB's beach is OK...Negril's is better if you like white sand, clear water and lots of activity (jetskis etc).

I love Little Bay but not many tourists go there, and that is definitely part of the charm...people are friendly, excursions (especially by boat) are easy to arrange, it's a small town. TB is a lot like that too.

LB is very close to Negril, just a half hour and that long only because of the conditions of the roads...so you could check it out easily from Little Bay.

TB is longer, 2.5 hours from either Negril or LB would be my guess.

Tough choices but I think you can hardly go wrong, really :)

I just came back from Negril on a much needed vacation. I usually like to be off the beaten track and not in a real touristy place, but just wanted to relax and have everything taken care of this time. We stayed at Couples Negril and it was perfect. I think I'd rather stay there on a honeymoon and have everyone take care of things for me. Couples Swept Away on 7 mile beach is supposed to be even nicer than Couples Negril (which was quite nice). The food was average, the drinks were good, the customer service was wonderful, the rooms were fine...some people think they are basic, I thought they were lovely (don't waste your money on ocean view at Couples Negril...there is no true ocean view from the rooms), the activities were great, and the landscape was lovely. I have always worried that an All Inclusive would be very spring-breaky---this was anything but. We went to the Rockhouse and I hear people love it there. I wouldn't want to stay in a bungalow that was near where the catamarans pull up to watch people cliff jump though. I would miss the pretty beach, thoguh the water was gorgeous there. If it was me, I'd pick Negril and if it didn't cost too much, I'd look at Swept Away. I walked by Sunset at hte Palms and the beach didn't look too nice...it looked a little like a summer camp actually. I love summer camp, but not when I am paying for a luxurious resort. I thought Jakes looked cool too, until I heard that it was a concrete building without fans or a/c. no matter how cool it looks, it is going to be ridiculously hot inside! If you like water sports, again Couples was great. Scuba was included, if you were certified. If not, you could take a free 1 day course with 1 free dive or pay and get certified. Snorkeling was included and it was ok. There is a catamaran sunset cruise to the Rockhouse that was included. Definitely get a massage on the beach.

Rockhouse is a very special place with a great staff, good restaurant and lovely grounds. I enjoy it but would not spend a week there.

Being an active person, I need a good gym and really enjoy an afternoon sauna and steam, preferably right after a yoga class and before Happy Hour:)

For me, Swept Away is pretty much ideal as the beach is great and the fitness facilities awesome. I love the beach but need more than a beach or pool to keep me interested for a week. CSA is one of the better AIs in Jamaica.

SATP is not right on the beach and is also not adults only. For me, dealbreakers.

I also think Jamaica Inn is quite romantic with a nice beach.

Good luck!

First...congratulations on your upcoming wedding! that is a very exciting time in life for sure! I actually was married in Negril and have been there 9 times total (May being the last time). If you're looking at staying on the cliffs and can't decide if you'll miss the beach, let me tell you that you can definitely have the best of both worlds. 2 months ago was the first time that we stayed on the cliffs (we did 4 nights at the beach and 2 at Blue Cave Castle on teh cliffs). i will never stay on the beach again. For $50Jamaican (equivalent to around $2.00) you can hop a route taxi to the beach every day. the laid back vibe on the cliffs is SOOO much more relaxing and you are very rarely hassled for money and to buy trinkets/drugs/whatever. on the beach the locals can get aggressive and although it has never bothered me, i didn't realize that is didn't need to be that way. i say GO to Negril and stay up on the cliffs. Catcha Falling Star is beautiful, the Rock House is awesome....or grab the honeymoon suite at BlueCave Castle (FABULOUS), and jump a route taxi to the beach for the day!

Thanks for all the great advice! After much indecisiveness, I think we've decided to split our time between The Caves and SATP. Budget got adjusted, and the reviews of the Caves are awesome. I think we'll hit TB on our next trip to Jamaica :)