5 Reasons to Book a Flight to Jamaica
1- Great excursions. I pre-booked all the excursions, but the next time I head to Jamaica, we have a private driver to plan our tours. If you want to go…I would highly recommend going through her. She was amazing. If you really want to go through a company, I would recommend JTL Tour Company. We booked through Tropical Tours on one of them and it was not that good.
2- Cheaper than the Bahamas. If you plan…The cost is not very much. Thing are pretty affordable. Oh and you can always bargain.
3- No worries. No problems. Truly, time is no worry for these people. Everyone’s answer is no worries you have time. Um… no there is a time limit to everything. Efficiency is definitely not a strong suite.
4- Nice locals. Jamacians really are helpful and nice. They love tourists.
5 – Amazing beaches. Seven Mile Beach was one of the nicest I have seen. *My favorite was writing a message in a bottle and I sent it out to the ocean. I wanted to wash away 2013 and say hello to 2014. I hope the letter makes the person who finds it feel inspired and wants to write back :).
*Warning: The food in Jamaica was not the best, but hey…they are not known for their food. The best food we had sadly was at Margaritaville and it was American.
Our Experience: When my Twin and I travel, we always create trouble. Lisa loves our trips because I pretty much plan every detail and do the research. Before I post I have to say this was the first time in my traveling career that the hotel did NOT match what was advertised. Sorry Twin. When I mentioned to people that I was going to Jamaica, people told me it was dangerous. So I will tell you…Neither Lisa nor I ever felt scared and we went all over the place. I was nervous because this time we chose to go to a cheaper hotel and spend more in excursions and I pre-booked everything. It was the best decision we made…not the hotel but spending less to budget more excursions. Overall we had a few hiccups, but nothing that ruined our trip. We booked the Wexford Hotel for $96 a night. It included a free breakfast, free shuttle ride, and access to the Aqua Sol Beach. It sounded great…well you get what you pay for. I was already sleeping and my poor twin found small bugs in her bed. We had to call for new sheets. She was pissed…At 3 am I just rolled over and said if you want to change hotels we can but it is another 100 a night and can we fix it in the morning. She got over it after a good night’s rest.
*All our tour guides recommended this the Sunset Beach Hotel for a cheaper stay that is still quality. We also asked a lot of questions and made friends. One of our tour guides actually saw us on the street walking our last morning and pulled over. That’s what type of travelers we are…No one can forget us.
We have a problem, but in Jamaica they say no problems man…just situations. On the weekend that we came, we never saw sun until the last day, but the rain never ruined our excursions, but we did have a few hiccups we would like to share.
- Limited WiFi. This was so upsetting. So at night when we did have Wifi, my twin and I sat on our phones for hours in silence. That is true friendship. No Pandora so we listened to Adore by Miley Cyrus on repeat.
- Tradesies? When we got down the Jamaica, there was one tour that we could not confirm our pick-up time. The hotel was so horrible and never got through, so I noticed our driver Hilton had a Galaxy 4. He asked me to teach him to send pictures and he asked while my Twin was in the bathroom, how to take good selfies because I took one. I told him, I will only if he can get a hold of the tour group. He agreed to that bargain. Hey, what can you say, you have to do what you have to do.
- Losing my phone. Here is the post on how I did it. Omg losing my phone was the worst thing ever. Lisa has never seen me cry ever. The only time she knew I cried was after the breakup, but that’s it…I am pretty heartless otherwise. When I lost my phone she saw I was on the verge of crying because without it…I lost all my pictures, I would not know how to get home from BWI and I would have an alarm clock to wake me up for work.
- Running out of cash. Yeah not our finest moment, but we did not bring enough cash but we still managed. We were proud of ourselves, we skipped lunch one day so we had enough cash to tip the tour guides well. There is no excuse not to tip because they work so hard. When we left Jamaica, only $.63 cents remained in our name after we tipped the shuttle driver.
- Being chased by a man. Yes, this really happened. Lisa and I were at Negril and we were setting our stuff on the beach, when a man came to help us with the umbrella. After that he asked questions and was like how is a beautiful woman like you in Jamaica single? My Twin and I did not give him another second. She wanted to lay and tan, while I did my solo walk. My quick walk, which is usually a long one that brings me epiphanies almost, gave my Twin a heart attack. Anyways, about a mile down the beach, I hear my name being called. I turn around Walter is chasing after me. He told me he does not do this, but there was something about me and he had to take a chance and follow his emotions. He told me he’s never felt like this and when he falls in love, he wants to fall with someone like me. For all of you who wonder how this fairy tale ends? I ran away without saying goodbye. All I wanted was silence to walk and think by myself on the beach. Pauline, our tour guide was rolling over laughing at the story.
- Yes, stores can refuse to sell to you. On our first day there, we went to a store and picked out 2 shirts and 2 flip flops. Well, they offered us one price on the flip flops, but when we found out the price for the shirts, we said no thanks, so what happens? I tried to rationally bargain and then my Twin was like no, I’m not buying it. The guy took all the stuff back and said I don’t have to sell any of this to you. I’ve bargained in a lot of places, including Brazil and China and never have they said no. So this is a first….YOLO???
Things we learned about each other on the trip:
Even after all this time, my Twin and I are still learning things about each other.
We both have ADD, but worse when we are together. For example, I went to the bathroom and told Lisa to get towels, I come out and she was on her phone and forgets. Or Lisa told me about a whole plan to fix our money situation, I forgot 30 minutes later.
I learned that Lisa is terrified of heights and she needs food and Chinese food is her comfort. She is also obsessed with Instagram. She hates seafood. She also love taking pictures of the most random things like a shot of a cute family with twins on the bobsled and got their email. All I have to say is LMAO.
Lisa learned that I am addicted to coffee, the stock market, snore, afraid of horses, and I love walking for hours. Oh I know enough Spanish to communicate with a Spanish speaking tourist.
Must See Tours:
Martha Brae This was a cute bamboo raft ride. This was Lisa’s favorite. It is just a peaceful ride down a beautiful jungle, but be warned…There are a lot of bugs so wear bug spray. This is such a cute little excursion for lovers. We played Miley on the river and serenaded all the couples; I think they highly enjoyed it.
Safari Village I would recommend going here because I have never seen another place they allows you to hold baby crocodiles. You also get to pet birds, monkeys, bunnies, goats and snakes.
Glistening Waters This is a secret place that no one really hears about but it is amazing. We asked all our tour guides all the must sees and this was one of them. Microorganisms grow in this area so when anything touches or moves the water glows. There are only 3 other places in the world that has this. If you go and eat dinner, you get 50% off the boat ride. On the night we went, it was raining so when we got out to the ocean my twin actually almost backed out. When the captain asked who was getting in…I was the only one to raise my hand. Yep, they made me get in the water first and that’s when others decided to jump in. I actually got an applause for going first. Then I went in a second time with Lisa because I told her she may never get another chance. I will tell you it is the coolest experience ever. Also the water is only a few feet deep…so no making up excuses that you cannot swim.
Mystic Mountain Here is where you can go on an actual bobsled. Idk how real bobsledders do this because your head spins. It is so hard to control and it goes so fast. But it is worth it to feel like you are in Cool Runnings for a few minutes. Also make sure to secure your items. I recommend a zipper purse that can cross your body or a backpack that you can place on the feet. For lose items they do not have a place to put it and squeezing it between your thighs is not a good idea. Here is post about losing phone.
Dunn’s Falls Our tour guide told us this was an easy hike. Um…lies. be prepared that this is a semi difficult and wet hike. In my head and all the advertisements said that it was a light hike so I expected a trail. Our guide was like oh no…you hold on a chain and climb…He forgot to say that it is a human chain and also you are climbing almost 1000 feet up a giant waterfall and yes trying not to fall as you hop from rock to rock. When you go make sure to rent the water shoes for $7… best money we have ever spent. FYI I saw my future husband there haha…a sexy Indian man and Lisa agreed he was hot but we would just make eye contact and I would look away and vice versa. He was just playing with my emotions haha.
- Half Moon Beach with amazing lobster. This is a very secluded beach. I would highly recommend making a stop. The water is beautiful, the place is quiet and a lobster meal is included which is delicious.
- Seven Mile Beach-Gorgeous. I walked 4 miles if it, but if you can… walk all 7.
- Tortuga Rum Cake Factory-This place is so cute. The rum cake is really good especially the coffee one. I would also recommend the gelato. I had to get it because they had papaya and I have never seen that before.
A few things to remember…. Always be generous with the tip. That’s how they make their living. Even though we were short on cash…we would skip lunch or buying something to make sure we always gave the bus drivers and tour guides. We also tipped at each attraction too.
That is how much we loved it. On our next trip, we are looking at the following itinerary.
- Chukka
- Blue Mountain Biking
- Rick’s Cafe Sunset
- Pelican Bar
- YS Falls and Black River
Feel free to join or you can call Pauline and start making plans. Pauline’s cell is (876)-425-0351 and her email is pbstours@yahoo.com. AND OF COURSE PICTURESSS!!!!