Places that are "must-see" in Jamaica?

[parsley007]

I'm going on my honeymoon in the first week of January to Jamaica. I was wondering if anyone has been and can recommend any must-see spots? We're probably planning on going to Either Rick's or 3 Dives, Margaritaville, and Dunn's Falls.

Also, I still haven't booked the trip yet, and looking around on various sites (expedia, travelocity, orbitz) they all seem to have the same price for the flight + hotel, give or take $50 dollars. Just wondering if it might be better to go through a travel agent or try some other venue.

 

[ViviTheMage]

stay all exclusive there....it gets expensive to eat out.

we stayed at a non-all exclusive, and an all exclusive and i would prefer the all exclusive hands down.

we stayed on 'the strip' in montego bay for the first 3 days, then an all exclusive for the last couple of days.

I would say the dunns falls is a good choice, if you got a few hundred bucks go swimming with dolphins (cant remember what city)

check out the beaches in negril, also take some horseback riding along the ocean (they take you swimming with the horses if you can manage , that was fun!)

 

[parsley007]

thanks for the advice.

yeah, i'm pretty sure we're staying at sunset at the palms. it's an all inclusive on bloody bay in negril.

does the swimming with the dolphins required you to be scuba certified or anything? (sorry if that's a stupid question )

 

[GasX]

Make sure that wherever you stay has the type of nightlife you want. Jamaica is not really the best place to be going out on the town. Your cheapest, safest and (most likely) most fun option will be the resort's nightclub/beach bar.

We stayed at a absolutely beatiful place that went dark at 11pm. We were so desperate for a party, we ended up at a strip club twice. Keep in mind this was our honeymoon. A strip club is NOT where you want to hang out on your honeymoon if you can help it.

 

[Lola]

we went horseback riding there and i will never forget that experience. The company we booked with takes foster horses and rehibilitates them for tours. They are great and very resonable. It was so amazing riding down to the ocean, learning about the island then riding in the water.
let me know if you want their info.
They also have private rides for honeymooners that they include lunch and champagne!

 

[AbsolutDealage]

Originally posted by: parsley007

does the swimming with the dolphins required you to be scuba certified or anything? (sorry if that's a stupid question )

Nope. It's really shallow (<3 ft).

The falls is a good choice also.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: parsley007
thanks for the advice.

yeah, i'm pretty sure we're staying at sunset at the palms. it's an all inclusive on bloody bay in negril.

does the swimming with the dolphins required you to be scuba certified or anything? (sorry if that's a stupid question )

nope, but I do remember talking to some people who did it (I was with a party of 6 so we didnt go) they ran about 200$~~ each person, for 20 minutes or so of swimming with the dolphins.

I also heard good things from the safari rides they take you on.

I would say go rent a driver for a day and have him take you to the 'hot spots' around jamaica. they drive like bats out of hell, but they are pretty damn good at it.

when I was leaving (back in april) they were paving new highways down there (which was a huge thing, because the current roads were crap).

also go snorekeling on a reef somewhere, one of the oldest reefs in the world are in jamaica!

 

[ViviTheMage]

If you go to dunns rivers get the water shoes...i made the mistake of not getting them and I could definatly feel it when we got to the top.

dont forget the infamous ricks cafe!! you can watch a couple guys jump a couple hundred feet off of a tree into the ocean.
I jumped off of the furthest point into the cove (90 or so feet).

 

[parsley007]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
Make sure that wherever you stay has the type of nightlife you want. Jamaica is not really the best place to be going out on the town. Your cheapest, safest and (most likely) most fun option will be the resort's nightclub/beach bar.

We stayed at a absolutely beatiful place that went dark at 11pm. We were so desperate for a party, we ended up at a strip club twice. Keep in mind this was our honeymoon. A strip club is NOT where you want to hang out on your honeymoon if you can help it.

yeah, that's one thing i was kind of worried about, even though i don't think we'll be going to any stripclubs . people have said the resort does shut down around 11 or so, but i figured we'll be tired from being out in the sun all day and doing activities we'll be ready to go to sleep.

however, they say that it's about a 5-10 minute taxi ride to all the nightlife, so if we do want to go somewhere, i don't think it will be a big problem.

 

[parsley007]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
If you go to dunns rivers get the water shoes...i made the mistake of not getting them and I could definatly feel it when we got to the top.

dont forget the infamous ricks cafe!! you can watch a couple guys jump a couple hundred feet off of a tree into the ocean.
I jumped off of the furthest point into the cove (90 or so feet).

oh, you liked rick's? i was thinking about going, but people said it was real expensive. however i heard the sunset is real nice, so it might be worth it. i didn't know they let anyone jump from the cliffs, i thought it was just local people jumping for tips? i probably won't make the jump, a little too high for my tastes.

 

[parsley007]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz
we went horseback riding there and i will never forget that experience. The company we booked with takes foster horses and rehibilitates them for tours. They are great and very resonable. It was so amazing riding down to the ocean, learning about the island then riding in the water.
let me know if you want their info.
They also have private rides for honeymooners that they include lunch and champagne!

i've never been horseback riding, and i don't think my fiancee would be into it either. but it sounds really cool, and that they help the horses out, just not my cup of tea. thanks .

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: parsley007however, they say that it's about a 5-10 minute taxi ride to all the nightlife, so if we do want to go somewhere, i don't think it will be a big problem.

The nightclub choices for us were:

The stripclub 100 yards down the road. Good music, cheap beer and Eastern European hookers galore. We focused on the beer and the music and our "new friends" from the resort who were with us.

The local's downtown nightclub. We went by in a cab and did not even get out of the cab.

Another resort with a nightclub. Would have had to pay like $100 each for the "day pass" to the resort just to get in.

The Touristy area where the cruise ships docked. This was fun but was not open real late either.

I have been to many places and Jamaica was the one place where mixing with the locals was heavily discouraged by everyone there - it just isn't safe.

 

[aphex]

http://www.sidestep.com

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: parsley007

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
If you go to dunns rivers get the water shoes...i made the mistake of not getting them and I could definatly feel it when we got to the top.

dont forget the infamous ricks cafe!! you can watch a couple guys jump a couple hundred feet off of a tree into the ocean.
I jumped off of the furthest point into the cove (90 or so feet).

oh, you liked rick's? i was thinking about going, but people said it was real expensive. however i heard the sunset is real nice, so it might be worth it. i didn't know they let anyone jump from the cliffs, i thought it was just local people jumping for tips? i probably won't make the jump, a little too high for my tastes.

yup, locals do jump...not sure if we came at the right time or what (it was my first time there) they allowed us to jump from high up too. It is actually worth going to just see the cove itself. beautiful blue water down there.

I have many many pictures/videos from all of the things we did while we were there if you want to see!

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: parsley007however, they say that it's about a 5-10 minute taxi ride to all the nightlife, so if we do want to go somewhere, i don't think it will be a big problem.

The nightclub choices for us were:

The stripclub 100 yards down the road. Good music, cheap beer and Eastern European hookers galore. We focused on the beer and the music and our "new friends" from the resort who were with us.

The local's downtown nightclub. We went by in a cab and did not even get out of the cab.

Another resort with a nightclub. Would have had to pay like $100 each for the "day pass" to the resort just to get in.

The Touristy area where the cruise ships docked. This was fun but was not open real late either.

I have been to many places and Jamaica was the one place where mixing with the locals was heavily discouraged by everyone there - it just isn't safe.

agreed, watch out for the people who want to sell you drugs. usually the cops are very near by and are not very nice about it.

If they start to talk to you about weed/ganja, walk. I have heard stories of being thrown in jail for a few weeks there.

 

[parsley007]

Originally posted by: aphex
http://www.sidestep.com

checking the site out now, thanks

 

[parsley007]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

The nightclub choices for us were:

The stripclub 100 yards down the road. Good music, cheap beer and Eastern European hookers galore. We focused on the beer and the music and our "new friends" from the resort who were with us.

The local's downtown nightclub. We went by in a cab and did not even get out of the cab.

Another resort with a nightclub. Would have had to pay like $100 each for the "day pass" to the resort just to get in.

The Touristy area where the cruise ships docked. This was fun but was not open real late either.

I have been to many places and Jamaica was the one place where mixing with the locals was heavily discouraged by everyone there - it just isn't safe.

oh ok. i really don't think that we'll be wanting to do that much stuff at night, so i don't think it will matter, but that's good to know.

 

[parsley007]

Originally posted by: ViviTheMage

yup, locals do jump...not sure if we came at the right time or what (it was my first time there) they allowed us to jump from high up too. It is actually worth going to just see the cove itself. beautiful blue water down there.

I have many many pictures/videos from all of the things we did while we were there if you want to see!

pm sent

 

[parsley007]

bump for the night crowd :beer:

 

[parsley007]

up for more suggestions

 

[parsley007]

one last bump for more info..