We (family with 2 older teens) are planning a trip to Negril in July. The area appeals to us because we are not AI people and like to snorkel, walk on the beach, and get out and about. I'm torn between picking a hotel on the cliffs (they look so beautiful) vs. one on the beach (easy access for walking/swimming). Is it worth splitting half our time between 2 hotels? I don't have a sense of how easy/difficult it is to get between the 2 areas (is it walkable?). We're never been to Jamaica so any advice would be appreciated.

Any chance of going earlier? June/July can be very wet in Jamaica. We had a few vacations ruined by torrential rains, and gave up going at that time.

If this is your first visit, and since you'll have kids along, I'd definitely pick the beach over the cliffs. You will find it much easier to arrange water sports and snorkeling trips, plus there's more of a "scene" on the beach, which makes for great people watching.

Some of the hotels on the cliffs are probably walkable to the beach ( although it's a longish walk), but it can be extremely hot, and you'd be walking along a narrow road that winds into the center of town before heading toward the beach.

We've been going to Jamaica with our kids ( now young adults) for a long time, and have often stayed at COCO LA PALM, which is in the middle of the best part of the beach. A step up from that is IDLE AWHILE, just next door. Both of these are small, family-run hotels, so if you're interested, I'd book as soon as possible, esp if you plan on going during a school vacation period.

We made our first trip to Negril this past November. We split our trip between the beach and the Cliffs. It was perfect. Felt like two different trips.

We like to walk, and I thought we might walk between the two area, but, it's a bit too far, and the road on the cliffs isn't pleasant to walk on. Too narrow, and traffic goes too fast.

I agree.. either just on the beach the whole time, or a beach/cliffs split (Catcha Falling Star or Tensing Pen are both pretty amazing). It's not difficult to change mid-trip, lots of people do.

They aren't far from one another, but it's easiest to just grab a taxi. There's a plentiful system of them locally.

As already mentioned, more than the distance, there's just one narrow winding road, with lots of traffic (driving on the "wrong side" of the road), and a narrow, if any, shoulder. And it's hot

As far as the weather, just happened I was there last year in July (8-18 i think it was) and it was fine. It's true it was plenty hot and humid and a couple times we got a big rain shower. But definitely not bad enough to change travel dates (just my experience).