Staying at Port Antonio
 

Hi,
My boyfriend and myself have spent the last couple of months figuring out what part of Jamaica would be most suitable for secluded vacation for 8 days and we narrowed it down to Port Antonio. Besides Fern Hill, all the other hotels seem rather expensive.Any advise on this subject would be appreciated. Also is travel by taxi really expensive to get to other places from Fern Hill? There are 2 beautiful beaches at walking distance from Fern Hill but we would definitely want to explore. Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks..

Rio Vista, outside of town, might well fit your budget/seclusion/style needs.
Car rentals through Dharma are good transport option to taximen. Explore Frenchman's Cove beach, check out Dragon Bay before it converts to Sandals, drive to Boston and Long Bay
for longer beaches, jerkstands where jerk was invented and beach bars laid-back.

We found Rio Vista very nice , the owners very friendly , but quite out of the way for most of the areas attractions . Taxis would be expensive since they cost the same as US and canada . We had really wanted to stay there , but figured out the taxi thing beforehand , and when we saw it at the end of the Rio Grande raft trip realized we had made the right choice to stay closer to the beaches . With a rental car the issue is solved as Tiv. suggested . Look at a one bedroom at Goblin hill , San San Tropez , and actually the once very luxurious villas at frenchmans are not all that scary ! Most of the larger hotels in the area have a bit of a worn out feeling , clean but faded on the edges . Fern Hill is a pretty cool spot , u can definitely walk to san san and frenchmans ,even The Blue Lagoon , amazing views , beautiful grounds etc. I did TONS of research before going , and visited other hotels while there . I would be happy to answer any questions . Did a trip report under Port antonio trip report . willem , a.k.a. Faith .e-mail , we LOVED it !!!! [email protected]

Thanks so much for your replies, actually I did check out Rio Vista some time ago, but since it had options of just villas which were like 110$ per night we found it a bit steep.Will keep on the look out!!As for the car, renting would be a good option I guess. Thanks again!

Fern Hill is a popular place in Portie , there is not a huge selection of hotels , which is actually the draw of portie . We found Fern hill and Goblin hill to be central to the areas attractions . we did not rent a car but walked daily to the beaches and when we did tours or went to town we used a taxi . Derrons was the service we used and they actually picked us up at the kingston airport . It is truly a special area , full of natural beauty and charm . Faith

Thanks Faith ,
We are still looking into our options, there aren't too many but I think from the sound of Port Antonio and the distance to the beaches near Fern hill ,we are leaning towards Fern hill. We definitely want to avoid the bustle and crowds and though the selection of hotels is few I think the place from the look of it more than compensates!!! Thanks for the reply. Will let you know of our final decision... if there is one that is!!

Unless you are set on Port Antonio, you should look at Tiverton's website for some great looking places for a more secluded vacation. http://www.jamaicaescapes.com/home.html

My list would include Horizon and Blue Hole Gardens. Haven't stayed at any of these - yet - but they're at the top of my "to do" list.

Thanks cartera45. I did check out tiverton's website. I agree those places are far more beautiful than the pictures reveal Im sure, maybe for my honeymoon someday!However, our tickets are booked for Port Antonio so its too late to change venue now!

We stayed in Port Antonio for part of our honeymoon at Rio Vista and loved it (would like to go back one day). We did the 4 night honeymoon package (I think it was around $1200, including breakfasts, dinners, and rafting trip). We had a couple of guides show us around one day; we went to Reach falls, long bay beach, and blue lagoon for $50.00 canadian, plus we bought lunch for the 4 of us at the boston jerk stand. We spent 2 days chilling at Rio Vista (and did our relaxing rafting trip), and taxied it to Frenchman's Cove for the last day. It cost us $400 to $500 Jamaican each way, depending how many of us there were in the cab, and whether we wanted to change over in town (it's cheapest this way). It's definitely pretty far from the beaches/coves though, so if you are avid sun worshipers staying in the Fern Hill area could be a good option for you. We ment to check out fern hill for futre trips, but were too lazy to climb the hill (though we had no problems hiking the blue mountains at 2am in the pouring rain, lol).

Have a great trip.

Holly

Thanks Holly,
I have just posted a new message regarding guest houses I came across while researching, they seem to more suit our budget. Rio Vista seems beautiful, but we're complete beachies and need to be within walking distance of the same. Thanks for your response though. Tanya