Negril or St Lucia
 

My wife and I are contemplating either the cliffs at Negril (Rockhouse or Tensing Pen), or St Lucia. Has anyone been to both and have an opinion. We are looking for unspoiled nature, clear water, great snorkeling, carribean feel, and an island one can explore via 4x4.

Although we have not been to either Rockhouse or Tensing Pen, I would choose Negril over St. Lucia any day! We love Jamaica-everything from the Blue Mountain coffee to the beauty of the island, as well as it's water. St. Lucia is ok if you like to hike or troll for blue marlin but it wasn't challenging enough to keep us interested for the entire vacation.

Thanks for your advice Katherine. I think we will go to Jamaica.

I've been to both. In St. Lucia we stayed at Club Med - I wouldn't recommend it. We day tripped to Anse Chastenet - very nice - and the volcano, that was fun. We only went to St Lucia once.<BR><BR>Jamaica we've been to more than 10x and the last 6 or so have been to Negril. Obviously we prefer Jamaica :)<BR><BR>The cliffs are awesome, we stayed up there on our first trip to Negril and only don't now because we've had kids with us the last couple of times.<BR><BR>I've eaten at Rockhouse...lovely boutique resort, not oo big and good snorkeling cove. Also walkable to lots of restaurants.<BR><BR>TP I have not visited but i can tell you it's much further up the cliffs, less you can walk to. I've heard only good about it though.<BR><BR>Unspolied nature certainly exists in JA, not in Negril though...you can rent a jeep or car and explore or for not much more $ have a driver/guide and sit back, relax and enjoy the ride...up to you :)

Liza this is the second time you have mentioned Club Med in St. Lucia and not wanting to go back or recommend it. I was just wondering if it was the island or Club Med that you did not like?

There's no Club Med in St. Lucia

It was Club Med I didn't like.<BR><BR>xxx, this was in 1986 or so, has it closed?

Ahh...according to clubmed.com it has closed. Wonder what they did with the property? It was not on the same part of the island as Anse Chastenet. What I didn't like was the beach - very windy and wavy, and I didn't care for the Club Med scene...they tell you that you can &quot;do nothing at all&quot; but that's only if you want to say &quot;no thanks&quot; a LOT. GO's were constantly asking us to play volleyball or whatever. And the Hands Up song was tough to take. It was all kind of summer camp-like.<BR><BR>Anse Chastenet had a nice beach...black sand and very calm, the sand made the water look very blue. If we'd stayed on that calmer side I might have liked it better.

Ah, that is what I thought. I knew it would have been Club Med over the island. I went to Club Med Paradise Island in 2001. Let me tell you I have stayed in Holiday Inns nicer then that! Room was horrible and small. Two twins were pushed together to make a king and every night the bed would push apart and we would fall through the crack. Food was awful unless you like pizza and spagetti every night. We ended up leaving after two days would rather be back at home then there.

LOL! We weren't going home, it was our first Caribbean trip so we loved it anyway...but the room was just OK and the other thing that bugged me was dinner...always had to sit with other people. Not that I'm anti-social but we were on a romantic trip...I was about 20.<BR><BR>Still, it was winter and we weren't in NYC!

Well we went the beginning of October and live in Florida, so I was able to go to the beach here still. I guess that is another reason I did not like it the Bahamas is not really the Caribbean. I can see the same color water here, you have to go to the Caribbean to get the real pretty water.