A week of Bahamian sun and sand, in Eleuthera (2)

Paradise

Eleuthera is one of the many islands of Bahamas, unique in its own way. It is a 100 mile long island with an average width of a mile, and has a worm like shape, making it one of a kind. At any point on the island, you are within walking distance to the sea on both sides, the Caribbean and the Atlantic. I had read a couple of reviews about what to expect before going there, but nothing had prepared me for what we finally would experience. It was like being away from the world, in a place where time had slowed down...


Getting there

Getting to Eleuthera is easy. There are three airlines which fly onto the island - Bahamas air, Pineapple air and Southern air, from the US and within Bahamas. And even though it is such a small island, it has 3 separate airports. One in the north, one in the centre and one in the south. Clearly this place is popular with tourists, who are lazy and don't want to drive too much.

We were flying out at 730 am from Nassau airport and surprisingly, it was very cold in the morning. As expected, the airport was quite small but it did have a lot of flights going to its various islands. We were flying Bahamas Air to Governors Harbour, the airport in the centre of Eleuthera, and the flight was expected to be only 15 mins. There are flights to all 3 airports on the island at around the same time, and Bahamas Air combined ours with the flight going to the Rock Sound airport, in the south.

Our small plane to Eleuthera

However, they did not change it on the display boards showing the gate numbers, and we kept waiting outside the gate showing the flight going to Governors Harbour! Thankfully we figured it out on time and got on board the right plane. It was a small propeller plane and looked charming in front of the morning Caribbean sun. Funnily enough, since two flights got combined, the seat numbers were no more relevant and they asked us to sit anywhere we wanted. Thankfully we got window seats, which was wonderful.

As the way to Eleuthera was full of stunning views. The sea there wasn't deep, and you could see the rocks at the bottom too. And then we flew over some very small islands which each had a house on it. I am sure, these must be those typical billionaire holiday homes and they looked quite desirable from above.

We first landed at the Rock Sound airport within 15 mins. It was surrounded by very dense mangrove forests all around. It was very casual there, as people were getting on and off the plane as they wished. Some even got off by mistake when they didn't need to. And a guy entered the plane through the door to take the luggage off. We then took off again for a 10 min flight to Governors Harbour.

Eleuthera from above

As we flew along the island, we could see the one central road which runs from north to south and is visible from far. And the edges of the island were lined with some stunning coastal towns, lines of elongated white sand beaches and amazing crystal blue-green waters of the Caribbean Sea. The rest of the island was full of mangroves. The views throughout this 10 mins plane ride were very captivating.

The airport was quite interesting too. We got down and walked to the room which was the terminal. A guy got our luggage from the plane and just kept it on the outside of the airport so we could pick it up 😀. There was no luggage belt there. And we asked for a taxi as it was about 15-20 mins to our hotel, 15 kms away on the main road of the island. The guy who runs the airport duty free shop at the airport also drives people to their hotels, so he got his car out and dropped us at the hotel.

We could already see that we have come far away from civilisation as the road was bare and the air warm. I asked the taxi driver a question and he answered for the rest of the 20 mins drive a prepared speech as if the radio was on 😀. He told me the history and geography of the island, about its people and their life - all as if he was reading from a prepared speech. As if he told the same story to every passenger of his. It was actually quite funny.

Even though the island is so small in terms of area, its different parts are different and have a different vibe to it. The northern part is made up of Spanish Wells and its villages have a Spanish influence plus Harbour Island, a very famous resort island for the rich and famous. The rest of the island is very sparsely populated.

The island has only about 11,000 people. Everyone knows each other, its extremely safe and no one locks their doors. It is famous for its pink sand beaches. Also, the movement for Bahamas's freedom started from this island, from Cupids Cay, a location at the Governors Harbour village where our hotel was located. Apparently our hotel was earlier part of the Club Med hotel chain, but when one of the yearly typhoons destroyed it, it was taken over and converted to French Leave Resort.


The French Leave Resort and around

Our resort

And then we reached our hotel - The French Leave Resort. Thereafter, for the next 4 days we were in a different planet altogether, life became surreal for us. The resort was out of the world - in terms of its gorgeousness, calmness, beauty and luxuriousness. It was located on the Caribbean side of the island, and had a beach on the Atlantic side. The resort was quite spread out, with individual English white bungalow style villas with full or partial ocean views. It had an infinity pool, a jacuzzi, lot of outside sitting area, a very popular restaurant and some activities to do around. All enclosed within tropical shrubs and trees.

Breakfast views

Most of our days were spent lazily lounging around the hotel itself. Morning would start with a sumptuous breakfast in the restaurant, with a gorgeous view of the blue green waters and the Governors Harbour village across the bay. It was the perfect way to start every morning.

The hotel pink sand beach

Then we would sometimes go to the beach which was on the other side of the island and we could take our golf carts to get there. The beaches on this island have a pink tinge because of a small animal called Foraminifera, which is brought to the shores by the tidal waters. Their beach was in fact a pink sand beach, and seemed endless. It was definitely one of the best beaches that I have been to. And it was mostly empty, our hotel just had some sunbeds there, that's it. The water there was sparkling green blue and the sand was white and pink. It was choppier and windier as this was the Atlantic side, so it was a bit tough to swim in the waters with the waves and the wind. There was lot of sand also in the air, which covered all our stuff. But it was still fun to lay here in the sun, enjoying the view.

One of the days I went snorkeling off this beach and was amazed by the corals and sea life. The reef was a dead one but I could see how it would have been full at some time, with the huge rocks, all covered with dead corals. There were loads of fish there, at least some 40 types. In all colours, white, blue, yellow, orange, fluorescent yellow and blue. Everywhere. I also saw a sea snake which was a first for me. I got so engrossed in the snorkeling that I lost count of time and distance. I ventured quite deep out in the sea. I was also at times swimming very close to the reefs below, but thankfully not when the snake was around 😀. I really enjoyed the snorkeling here, though the winds had made swimming in the waters a bit tough.

Infinity pool

Then we would go back to the hotel, and laze in the pool or jacuzzi or sit in the shaded area for a long time. The bay there had a striking green colour which shone brilliantly when the sun was out. Without the sun, it would look a deep blue, still pretty but not as brilliant as the green. We went snorkeling in the bay but didn't see a lot of fishes, just a few sea cucumbers and a few fish. One afternoon, I went kayaking in the waters too and loved it. It got too hot very soon though, so I came back without leaving the bay. Also apparently the water was choppier than usual, thought I didn't feel it. I have generally kayaked in much tougher waters than the Caribbean sea.

The rest of the day would go just like that. There was a gym in the hotel too (but we never used it). And the infinity pool where we were most of the time. Or the jacuzzi next to it. Even though it was warm, when the clouds were out, I would feel a bit chilly, and sit in the jacuzzi, gazing lazily at the sea.

But during peak afternoon, it would get too hot. It took me a few days to figure out how to move the umbrella around during the day, that I could still stay out in the sun, next to the pool but still not feel too hot and avoid direct sun. I also realised that the bay used to look different depending on whether the sun was out. The green that we loved would go away when the clouds were out. When it got too hot, we would come back to our villa and sleep. It felt so amazing to just laze and do nothing the whole day.

There were two jetties at the resort where boats would come and dock, sometimes the visitors would come to the resort for the day too. And the views of the jetty and the bay at sunset were magnificent. Each day we had a different view, depending on how many clouds there were on the horizon. And each sunset was unique and fascinating in its own way...

One day we ventured out to the village. It was quite average though, as it had a lot of rundown buildings. The ones on the main island, which were holiday homes were definitely prettier. The village looked glorious at sunset though, from our resort, with its twinkling lights reflecting in the calm bay water. We also found a grocery shop in the village and got groceries to cook in our villa. The cost of everything was multiple times though.

Views from our villa

Our room was upgraded to an oceanfront deluxe villa, and it was awesome. It was like those English wooden bungalows, made of wood, with lot of windows and very airy. Right outside us was the jetty and one of the best views of the resort. And the rooms were very comfortable, perfect for such a lazy life. It was so hot everyday that all we wanted to do was sleep and relax. It was like we had come into a slow time zone.

The service at the hotel was very friendly too. The owner and the managers all knew us by name and made a lot of effort to help us, whether it was getting taxis, booking rental cars or diving, giving tips on what to do and so on. In fact one of the staff was a dive master herself and helped us plan for the dive. All in all, they took great care of us. Though we had a day when there was no internet in the resort, which was tough to deal with 😀.

Peaceful evenings

And the nights at the resort were perfect. One day there was live music in the restaurant which added to the whole ambience of the place. There were countless stars in the sky that were visible. And even the Milky Way could be seen two of the nights. It felt so amazing just to sit outside, with the waves lashing on the cliffs, no sound anywhere and just the stars above. In fact one day, there was a power cut for a bit and the sky looked absolutely fabulous! When I was there, I suddenly realised its been years since I sat outside under a clear sky. It was just amazing. Of course the mosquitoes in the evenings didn't help, there were loads of them. But they would clear out by night, so we could observe the skies comfortably...


Trip to Harbour Island, diving and exploring the island

There was only one day in the 4 days that we left the resort. That day, we rented a car and drove to Harbour Island which is in the north of Eleuthera. You can rent cars from the locals, most of which are second hand cars. Ours was a Japanese one, with instructions in Japanese. But it got us where we needed to go, so no complaints.

We had an early morning diving start from Harbour Island, and so left around 7 am from our hotel. The drive was about 50 miles and along the central road, known as the Queens road. While driving out, we didn't stop much on the way, just kept driving north. The sun was coming out and the morning colours were very refreshing. It was also coldish in the morning which we hadn't expected.

On the way, we crossed lot of small towns along that one single road. There were lot of bungalows on the sides, all isolated from each other and with sea views. The rest of the drive was just surrounded by green dense mangrove vegetation all around. We sometimes would come near the sea and sometimes would drive in the interiors. One noteworthy place on the way was Hatchet Bay which was quite crowded (relatively). Apparently the ferry from other islands comes here, docking inside the lagoon protected from the open sea. It would be good to come here sometime later.

We kept driving like this (the road was pretty good) and then turned right for the airport in the north. Right next to it is the ferry terminal at 3IS from where you can get boats to Harbour Island. This island is clearly popular with Americans, as direct flights come to this north airport from the US. We also saw a law firm's charter plane at the airport. And you can just get out and drive 10 mins to the ferry to Harbour Island.

Harbour Island

The water taxis leave from there every few mins as soon as it is full, and costs $6. A lot of locals stay on Eleuthera island and go across daily on work. Interestingly, they all say hi and talk and chat with the people in the taxi which felt like a welcome change. The taxi dropped us at the Valentines resort where our dive centre was located.

On the way to dive site

The day was glorious and sunny. We took a boat from the resort and they took us some 30 mins away to our dive site. The boat ride there was scenic. The water was not very deep all the way, sometimes just 7 feet deep and had a great sparkling green colour. At times, we could see the rocks on the bottom and sometimes the reefs too. We also crossed a few islands with holiday homes, seeing up close the lives of the rich and the famous.

Corals on rocks

The boat driver was quite talkative and told us titbits about his country. Apparently the Bahamian flag has 3 colours which stand for its people (black), sun (yellow) and turquoise (waters). He said he was from the island of Abacos which was all destroyed in the typhoon season and that's why he was working here.

Moray Eel

Our first dive site was at a wreck, called St. Fuegos. It was a good dive with lot of small reefs and some usual fishes. The next dive at Cabbage patch was outstanding. First, we saw loads of different kinds of fishes, lobsters, moray eels, lion fish, file fish, sea cucumber, sting ray and so on. There were some corals too. And it was fun to explore all the huge rocks and their surrounding plant life.

Dolphins

The crowning glory though were the dolphins! It happened in the middle of the dive when a group of four dolphins came near us, and I was late to spot them. They left soon enough, and I thought that maybe I had imagined the whole scene. We swam around a bit after that when I kept trying to figure out if I really had seen them or not, when the dolphins came back again. They kept circling us, swimming fast and slow, diving in and playing with the rocks, and generally having a good time. They then swam away and I was happy that this time I had got a good look at them at least.

Dolphins up close

They then came back a third time, as if coming back to make sure we had seen them play 😝. We could hear their whistles, watched their acrobatics in the water, and were just mesmerised with their antics. I think I forgot for a moment to breathe too, I was just so engrossed in watching them play around, swim around us and almost come face to face with us, as if smiling 😊. I think after this, we didn't really care about seeing anything else on the dive. It was already the dive of a lifetime and I felt on top of the world.

Dolphins

Dolphins

Dolphins

Lion fish

After this, I think we were done for the day. We went to eat at the Blue Bar and were surprised at how expensive the whole island was. We then explored a bit of the island and walked to the Pink Sands beach which is supposed to be the most famous beach of the island. To be honest, our hotel beach was definitely better. Though apparently the sand gets pinker on some days, especially during sunset. The beach was nice, with blue waters and white pink sand till where you could see. There was wind still and the water had too many waves.

Pink sand beach on Harbour Island

Its so hot during the afternoon that it makes you very lazy. We could have explored the island on golf carts but didn't. We did come across some churches and lot of pastel coloured houses which were very pretty. After spending some time on the beach, we walked back and took our water taxi to our car.

So we started our drive back and even though we had decided to stop and explore a few places on the way back, we finally didn't. We only stopped at the glass bridge which is the narrowest point of the island, where the island is barely 24 feet wide! And standing there you get a view which I hadn't imagined till then. On the one side is the Caribbean sea, green, shallow and very calm. And on the other side, the deep blue deep choppy waters of the Atlantic. Their difference is quite stark. Looking at this scene this way made me see the differences clearly. And it felt quite exhilarating to stand in the middle, where two oceans meet.

Between the oceans

While coming back we also stopped at the famous cliffs of the island but couldn't find them, so we just came back. Back to our resort before sunset, we sat in the pool and jacuzzi and enjoyed the sunset from our room. There are a few other places to visit on the island, like Gregory Town, Caulding Cay for its snorkeling, 'Ocean Hole' for its natural inland swimming and the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve. We didn't venture out much from our resort, so missed these places but they may be fun if you have more time.


And just like that our vacation ended. We were flying back to Nassau on the short 15 min flight and then off to London. We again had an early morning flight (somehow, 4 of the 7 mornings we had to wake up at 6 am which wasn't fun). There were dark clouds today, so it was colder. The taxi driver on the way back was also chatty. He was saying that sometimes they do get a cold wave in the island, when the temperatures touch 21 degrees Celcius 😁. Apparently the island is so safe, that people rarely lock their doors or cars. Also it is cheaper to go from Eleuthera to Miami than other islands in the Bahamas, so a lot of locals would have been to the US but not to the other islands of Bahamas! That was a very interesting piece of information.

Governors Harbour "airport"

The airport was full of people as it was just a room and there were multiple flights at the same time. But it had very simple processes, so we were ready to board very soon. We landed at Nassau on time and had to take a different terminal to go to US. However, they have immigration check at the Bahamas airport itself, which makes the connections in US a lot easier. And their restaurants have outside seating, which I found quite interesting. It even started raining today, though we didn't mind as we were leaving. And just like that, our vacation was over.

This trip was definitely one of my best, and the laziest. The place was lovely and I can see myself going back to Bahamas, maybe to a different island next time. By the way, its definitely not a cheap holiday by any standards. The food, the travel, the hotels are all exorbitantly expensive. Plus they all charge 20% tip on top of everything. And the hotels charge extra charges per day plus service charge on top of the room rates.

Still I loved it. The Caribbean is always the best place to relax, with the waters, the sun and the amazing vibe of the people. My all time favourite holiday destination...

Nassau(1)

A week of Bahamian sun and sand, in Nassau (1)

This winter, I landed in Bahamas for a week long trip, booked literally the last minute. And I must say, I had one of my most exotic, fun and relaxed trips in a long while! But it definitely had nothing to do with the lateness of the trip 😜. It is just that the Bahamas (and I think most of the Caribbean) has this amazing ability to make any vacation feel outstanding. The warm air, the blue green waters and the chill vibe of the people needs nothing else to make you forget everything else. And just enjoy the feeling of being. The trip to Bahamas was just like that...

We stayed two days in Nassau, the capital of the country. We found it to be a nice relaxed place, even though most reviews rate it as too busy and full of tourists. We explored the local fish market, the downtown and Paradise Island over the two days. And I didn't feel it was too crowded at all when I was there. But when we went to our next location, the remote island of Eleuthera, it dawned on me what people really meant by their comments. It was in comparison to the other remote parts of the country. In Eleuthera, we stayed at the French Leave resort and it was pure paradise. It was a remote resort, with lovely luxurious villas, facing the crystal green Caribbean sea in front and the famed pink sand beaches on the Atlantic side. We had such a fabulous time at the resort that we got out only once in 4 days! It felt heavenly, just to laze in the sea, the pool, the beach or chill in the room the whole day. We needed nothing else...


The trip to Bahamas needed a bit of research as it has many big islands and each is different. So you need to figure out what you want to do and which island you want to go to. All the islands sounded awesome and I was torn by which island to pick in addition to Nassau. We had to stay in Nassau on Providence Island for 2 days anyways as our flights were landing there.

The Bimini has great diving while Andros has vast forests, mangroves and reefs in its national parks. The Grand Bahamas has unique diving and swimming with the sharks options, especially in the Lucayan National Park while Exumas have some amazing highlights like iguana islands, sharks islands and swimming pigs islands, spread across its various Cays (small islands).

It's not really easy to commute between the islands. There are ferry services between them but these ferries are not regular. So it was a bit tough to plan the connections. The Exumas sounded interesting but the flights did not work for us as they only flew to the main city, Georgetown. Getting to the smaller Cays from there was still quite a long and expensive affair. You might as well do a day tour from Nassau to visit the Cays rather than fly there. (In hindsight I feel it is best to tour the Caribbean on a cruise ship. The transport becomes easier. During the day you can explore the islands, and use the nights to get to the next island. It is definitely worth it in the Caribbean)

After a lot of permutations and combinations, I finally realised I could book an amazing resort in Eleuthera using hotel points and we could get there easily by flight. So we booked the hotel and decided to stay in Eleuthera of all the islands. We didn't find much luck in booking airbnbs in Nassau, and so decided on a downtown hotel, booked the day we were flying! Given all the last minute bookings without enough research, I was somehow expecting something to fall apart on the trip. But nothing like that happened at all 😁.


Introduction to Bahamian life in Nassau

Getting there

It took me a bit long to get to Nassau, as given how late we booked, we were only able to find flights with 2 connections to get there. I had a long journey ahead with stops in Charlotte and Miami in US. My first flight was a long one to Charlotte. A Jamaican woman sat next to me and brought back memories of my last trip to the Caribbean. We talked about all the places I had visited in Jamaica. She was quite shocked that we had driven to all those places as she felt it was unsafe to drive there. Well...!

The connection time was quite short at the second stop, in Miami. So I was a bit worried about missing my flight. Initially I was impressed with American Airlines, given how efficiently we connected in Charlotte. This included getting out of (US!) immigration, getting my luggage, checking it in again and then going through security too again. This took literally 30 mins at the airport and so I got 2 hours to spend in the AA lounge. And their lounge definitely felt better than BA lounges. They had better seats, and even a nachos counter which was preparing fresh guacamole for everyone. I loved it.

Even though I was going to the Bahamas, the first day felt very American. I felt an onslaught of American accent on the flight itself and then in the airport. A visit to US also always reminds me how much more polite people in UK and Europe are.

By the time I was landing in Miami, it was evening and Miami looked stunning while landing. With its high rises along the beach and the glittering lights all along. This view never fails to stun you. My flight was 30 mins late, and I missed my connection as I had only a 40 min layover. I guess the flight could have waited for me but they didn't.

AA do have a standard process setup for missed connections. Very quickly, the service desk gave me a hotel for the night, vouchers for meals and a shuttle to get these. But the rest of the process took too long. It took almost an hour to get onto the shuttle though the guy had assured me that he had booked me a personal shuttle to the hotel! By the time I reached the hotel, it was very late. So I spent about 5 hours in the Miccosukee resort, which turned out to be an Indian casino hotel. I was tempted to sit on the blackjack tables but good sense prevailed and I decided to sleep, even if only for 5 hours.

Landing in Bahamas

The next morning, I got to the airport to get to Nassau. And realised again, how the US airports are never fun - they have long queues at security and the staff are quite rude. Anyways I made it through and was soon on a small plane to Nassau. The plane ride was very short, barely 40 mins. No wonder Bahamas is so popular among the Americans. And the first views of the islands, peeking out of the clouds were spectacular. All you can see are small green islands, surrounded by green waters. The view was enough to get me in a relaxed mode! And the ambience at the airport added to that mode. There was a person dressed in Bahamian carnival clothes, welcoming all incoming tourists with Indian style dhol music. And the immigration area had a live band playing music. It was already a good sign of things to come 😊.

We were staying at the Marriott on Junkanoo Beach, and I took a taxi till there. The way was all through green areas, with some mangroves and some small lakes here and there. It felt quite open, with good roads and lot of bungalows around, which must have been holiday homes most likely. The sun was out and the air was warm already. And I was all ready for the trip to start.

Most of our two days were spent in and around our hotel in downtown Nassau, with a trip to the neighbouring Paradise Island once and the fish fry multiple times a day.


Downtown Nassau

Cruise ships around Nassau

Downtown Nassau has been called a tourist trap, crowded and so on. I was a bit skeptical on what to expect there, but to be honest, it was pretty good. They do get a daily dose of cruises coming in everyday. We could see 5-6 cruise ships parked in the harbour every day from 11 am to 5 pm. And during these times, the downtown was quite full of tourists and activity all around. The beaches would be full of water sports, the shops and local market trying to sell their stuff, the restaurants were full of people eating and listening to music and the roads full of people walking around. And after 5 pm, it would suddenly go all quiet. And after that, all that was left were a few of the inland tourists walking around. Most of the shops and restaurants would also close down after that. And because of the quieter mornings and evenings, I didn't mind the extra activity during the day at all.

In Nassau, we spent our time in 4 different areas, all within walking distance. One was at the fish fry at Arawak Cay - apparently its the place where the locals eat. It was a local market within walking distance to our hotel. It was a collection of many small and big shacks serving local food, near the beach. It was always lively any time of the day, with live music playing and tons of people walking around. We had one lunch and two dinners there, at the Brunos, Twin Brothers and Goldie's. And all of them offered great food, especially the fish and seafood was quite tasty.

Indoor straw market

The second area we walked around a lot was the main market on the waterfront along Bay Street. The whole atmosphere was quite alive, with crowds all around but still had an element of relaxation. It was lined with the usual stores, selling branded and local stuff. And had many restaurants with a view of the sea. But my favourite place was the covered straw market, where the locals came to sell their products. The straw and wooden products there were exquisite. And walking around felt so much fun.

Market near waterfront

I also strolled through one of the colourfully decorated streets on Bay Street and walked into a store which was selling Indian stuff. It turned out that the the owner was also Indian, from Mumbai. He had decided to migrate to Bahamas, and I can't question that decision 😜. We spent a lot of our time just walking around the market area, exploring the shops, beaches and the marina. There were tons of restaurants there with good food and loud music. Our favourite was still the fish fry.

Nassau bungalows

The third area I explored was Nassau town. It was mostly empty as all the cruisers stayed around the waterfront and Bay street. So I decided to walk along the small quiet lanes away from the madness. The town is very small, located on a small hill, and you can walk up and down the streets. I loved the pastel coloured houses in town, everything was in different shades of pink, blue, green or yellow. And there were lot of huge British bungalows on top of the hill, those huge airy wooden houses (which I love!). How lovely they looked, in this paradise of sun and sand. We also walked to the Fincastle Fort and Queens Staircase in town on top of Bennet's Hill which gave a picturesque view of the town around. We could see all of Paradise island and all the cruises shining in the sun during evening. The town looks lovely when walking through it.

The beach

The fourth area we walked around a lot was the beach and the pathway next to the water. Right in front of our hotel was the Junkanoo beach which was spectacular. It was lined with coconut trees, the sand was white and the water deep blue and green. You could see the cruise ships and Paradise Island across the waters beyond. It was empty most of the days, but got extremely happening when the cruise ships were in. It would get crowded then and was fun to just observe. People would be going for water sports, playing games or just dancing on the beach. I loved it totally. Just walking by it multiple times in a day was uplifting by itself.


Paradise Island

Paradise Island is a small island very near the main Providence Island of Nassau, which has been developed into a luxury island. The main stay of the island is the resort of Atlantis which covers most of it and is visible from all around because of its trademark shape.

It is also home to a lot of celebrities, all of whom have their bungalows on the island. Like Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and so on. And some fancy yoga retreats, all of which are not connected by road but can be reached only by boat. It is connected to Nassau through a bridge now, but the best way to get there is to take the small water taxis from downtown which run every 30 mins. The trip costs $4 and is 15 mins during which the guide tells you the history of the island. Apparently it was called Hog Island but they changed its name as no one liked visiting a place called Hog island!

And once there, you have many options. You have the usual Atlantis options of adventure park, dolphin parks, casinos etc.. And the resort is HUGE! We walked in while trying to get to our beach and kept walking for 10-15 minutes before we could get out. But we chose to go to one of the beaches, Cabbage beach.

Cabbage beach

It was a long beach with white sand and deep blue waters. The weather was sunny and warm. But it was quite windy and the water was full of very high waves because the beach faced the open Atlantic. So it was a bit tough to swim there for too long. We sat in the sun for a bit, read some books and then had a lazy lunch at Viola's restaurant which had an outside seating area. It is located right next to the Sunrise Beach Villas and I found them a great location to stay.

Paradise Island

And then we decided to walk back to our hotel. First we came across a small pond, randomly on the island itself, which was full of tortoise and fish! Some 100s of tortoise. While crossing the bridge, we got to see some interesting views. On one side, we could see all the cruise ships lined against each other. Then the mail boats which sometimes transport people between the islands. And on the other side we got a view of the green island, with Atlantis as its crown. And the blue waters in between this all.

Walk back

Its a view which I think a lot of tourists don't see. We then kept walking for an hour back to Nassau, through the bylanes of the island, all empty streets, lined with pastel coloured houses. It was fun, but we also realised that its not that easy to walk a lot in the humid Caribbean sun.


Our hotel

We were staying at the Marriott on Junkanoo beach. The hotel was not too high end but was comfortable and quite convenient. It was located right on the beach and was very close to downtown and Fish fry. And a good place to stay if you are not looking for luxury. It reminded me of the Marriott Courtyard in Kingston, Jamaica that I stayed in for many months.

Cruise ship leaving the harbour

It had all the amenities you would need. A view of the beach and the shallow waters. In the evening you could just lie next to the pool, watching as one by one, the cruises leave the bay, shining in the setting sun. And at night, you could hear the sound of ocean waves in the background while sleeping (if you left the balcony windows open). I would totally recommend this hotel irrespective of what the reviews online say.


Other things to do in Nassau

There are loads of other things to do in Nassau which we had researched on but never got to do. Some are mainstream but a few give an inside view to the other real side of Nassau. Here are a few:
- Explore Atlantis, e.g., take a day-pass to the rides at Aquaventure or visit the Dolphin Cay Atlantis
- Visit Pirates Cove Beach, Casuarina Beach or Paradise Beach on Paradise Island, if you are looking for peace, quiet and seclusion
- Take a day trip to Rose Island or Pearl Island
- Snorkel around Love Beach and explore the undersea sculptures at Clifton Heritage National Park
- Take a dive trip to Stuart Cove and spend time on Cable Beach and the bars of Baha Mar
- Take a day trip to the Blue lagoon
- Visit some original Bahamian villages, like Adelaide, Fox Hill or Gambier
- Try the local drink, sky juice made of gin, coconut water and sweetened condensed milk


Impressions

I left Nassau feeling very happy, and having enjoyed being there. Everything was awesome - the weather, the views the vibe and the people. Nassau has great sunsets, every evening. Sitting and observing them is definitely a great end to every evening.

The people here felt a lot friendlier than in Jamaica. Even the shopkeepers did not hustle or try to sell their stuff aggressively. It felt they were more keen to strike a conversation than sell their stuff. The locals spoke in something like a Trinidadian sing song accent. And the ones involved in tourist facing jobs all had very strong American accents.

There was quite a lot of traffic. Surprisingly, the cars have both left and right hand drive, because most of the cars here are used cars from US and other parts of the world. It must definitely be interesting to drive like this. The island is quite expensive also, from food to travel to stay. They do accept US dollars everywhere though, which helps.

Overall, I wouldn't say Nassau is a must do but would definitely rate it as a great place to spend a day or two. Especially when connecting with the other islands. It is good to be with crowds for a while, as you won't get much on the other islands...

Eleuthera(2)

Caribbean diaries (4) - Jamaica (Negril, Kingston and around)

Caribbean diaries (1) - Haiti, Trinidad, Martinique
Caribbean diaries (2) - Panama City, El Salvador
Caribbean diaries (3) - Ocho Rios, Port Antonio (Jamaica)

Negril

The warm Caribbean waters

The Negril resort area is supposed to have the best beaches in Jamaica among all the resort towns. And during my first two months in Kingston, I was unable to go there as it was a 3-4 hour drive away. But finally, on my recent trip back to Jamaica, I made it there. And I was impressed. The 7-mile beach is definitely worth all the hype around it.

Negril is located on the north western edge of the island. Again, while going we took one route and while coming back a different one. So all in all, I have ended up driving all around the island of Jamaica 😊 (Route map at the bottom).

Our drive to Negril was through the interiors of the island. We stopped at the town of Mandeville on the way for a snack break and walked to the local Burger King for a quick burger and to the local mall to buy food for the trip. It was an interesting stop, especially as everyone warns you that Jamaica is unsafe. But walking to a random town did not feel unsafe at all.

Bamboo pathway

On the way, we passed through a lot of small towns and villages, and as usual, there were loads of churches and colourful houses on the way. And we noticed many locals just sitting on the side of the roads and chilling. We also saw lot of hawkers on the roadside selling different local fruits. We should have stopped and bought some of the healthy stuff, but Jamaica is made out to be so unsafe, that we resisted. We also noticed that lot of the towns had grand and huge luxurious houses up on the hills. I am guessing, these are all holiday homes of the rich. On the way, we also came across a pathway of bamboo on both sides of the road which was quite a fascinating sight. We were brave enough to get out and take a few photos there 😜.

The drive was beautiful - through foggy mountains and green forests, valleys and next to the sea, bamboo covered roads and narrow roads through the jungles. We saw loads of picturesque vistas and a striking sunset on the way. Everything was so fresh after the rain and very very green. We kept the windows open and loud music at times. It was an amazing drive. People were driving very badly on the single lane roads though. And we had to be extremely careful and focussed all the time.

Also right before our coastal drive to Negril, we ran into a huge accident on the road. This was on a one way road, and we ended up wasting an hour in the traffic jam there. So the whole drive took us 6.5 hours instead of 4! As when we had started, we had got lost in Kingston too and drove around in circles. So we landed at our resort pretty late at night.

Negril is famous for its 7-mile beach and most of the resorts are located on the beach itself. We however stayed a bit far at the Spa Boutique hotel. It is a popular resort known for providing a nice private experience to its residents, away from the crowds and noise of the 7-mile beach. And we all totally loved our stay there. And in keeping with my tradition of not leaving my Jamaican resorts much, it was pretty much the same for me in Negril also 😋.

Sunrise from the terrace

The resort is located on a cliff, with lot of rocks along the water. And inside, it was all very green, with the bungalows hiding in between them the trees. Most of the bungalows were two storeys and we got the terrace rooms which had a heavenly view of the sea especially during sunrise. I was planning to sleep in but when I saw the view outside at 6 am, I had to give up on my sleep and come out and read a book, enjoying the freshness around. The sea, the sunrise, the greenery and the water. It felt like heaven. And given how far the resort was from the crowds and there was so much greenery, it was able to give you the feel that you were all alone there, which I totally loved.

Pool during sunset

The resort had a small artificial beach on the cliff, a nice outside pool overlooking the sea and lots of sunbeds and hammocks next to it. Just outside on the rocks next to the sea, there were loads of crabs, and pelicans were coming and swooping to find prey. You could also see fishes in the water if you walked on the rocks.

They also had great snorkelling right next to the cliff which was fun. I saw crabs, sea urchins, star fish, a small ray, long bottlenose fish, dead corals and loads of blue, yellow and other coloured fishes while snorkelling there. Snorkelling was definitely better in the afternoon than the morning though. The water was so warm, it felt perfect. Not just for snorkelling, but for swimming too.

They also had a nice spa in the resort, though please note that the massage tents were near the sea but pretty much in the open. So you need to be careful who is around. They also had a nice in-house terrace restaurant right next to the sea where we had a few tasty meals. It had a very picturesque setting, with chairs right next to the sea. And looked stunning, especially at night when it was all lighted up and you could see the faraway lights of the 7-mile beach. But the restaurant closed at 10, so you always had to hurry 😁.

The staff in the resort was cheerful and helpful always. And they made you feel like you were there alone. You can stay at a place like this forever and not do anything, which is what most of us did except the youngest in our group who went to 7-mile beach both the days 😁.

On the Saturday, we finally went out of the resort for dinner to the Island Lux beach park which was on the 7-mile beach and had a very nice ambience to it. We ate at the seafood restaurant, which was a nice place, well lighted with a good lively ambience, right next to the beach and had good seafood too. So we liked it. It was a bit empty though given this was not tourist season in Jamaica.

The 7 mile beach

The next day I finally did go to the 7-mile beach - it is actually a sandy beach for 7 whole miles! The drive till there felt luxurious, with green palms on both sides and huge resorts lining the road. The beach was fantastic, with blue waters, blue skies, white sand and warm waters. But the beach wasn't nice to just hangout as all the resorts are all-inclusive and you can't just go and eat anywhere. Also they are a bit rude and even though the beaches are public, they treat them as their private ones. And stop anyone walking along. So it was a bit annoying.

Relaxation

Otherwise, there were lot of water sports, some nice sea food places including one place on the boardwalk where you decide the lobster you eat and so on. It was too hot and humid though and staying in the shade felt welcome. I spent some time on the beach and just alternated between relaxing and swimming.

Overall, the weather was quite perfect. It rained every afternoon while we were there, and the sunsets were pretty given there were clouds and they played games with the light. It was much hotter in the day and cooler in the evening. But overall, it was very comfortable the whole day.

The drive back to Kingston though was very different and more comfortable than on our way to Negril. We took the highway along the north of the island, to Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and then Highway 2000 all the way to Kingston. Given these were the most touristy areas and the highway connected all the major resort towns, the road was amazing and better quality than the inland one we had taken earlier. The road from Negril to Montego Bay was more open and green. And from there to Ocho Rios was a lot more crowded and less pretty. We ran into multiple military checkpoints here which was as surprise. Maybe because this is the most tourist heavy area?

On the way, it was raining initially and then suddenly became sunny, which felt refreshing given all the greenery around. On the north coast route, we passed by many bays with bright blue, light blue and green waters, and the waves lashing on the shores and beaches. They were all quite stunning views all the way and you can see expensive resorts, the usual coloured houses and the houses on the hills on the sides. We also passed through some towns looking like english seaside towns.

Montego bay was huge and posh. Part of it is built on the mountains overlooking the bay. There were multiple huge resorts all along the road. Also the roads were lined with palm trees everywhere. It definitely felt more luxurious. We stopped at Smockies there for lunch, it was a small little shack but had one of most awesome jerk chicken we ever ate. The rest of the drive was quite fast and uneventful, and we were very soon on time in Kingston. Google maps had suggested the other route through the island as the shorter one but it was wrong. This road was a lot better and prettier. Even though it was longer, given the quality of the road, it ended up taking much less time.

Once in Kingston though, we had another interesting experience. We ended up missing a few turns and landed in a not so great area at night where it was pretty obvious that the place was shady. It is called Whitfield and gave us a few quiet moments when we did not know what to do. When we read about the place later it turned out that it was actually unsafe. And to be honest, even a second there was enough to make you feel so. Anyways we got out of there safe and sound and were back to work soon enough.

Kingston

I stayed in Kingston for some 8-9 weeks in total and even though on weekends I left the city, I did explore it a bit for dining during the time I was there. Kingston is the capital of Jamaica, and a huge spread out city. With mountains on one side and the sea on the other. You can see the mountains surrounding the city and half the time they were covered with clouds, providing stunning views almost daily. The sunsets here are also one of the most alluring ones I have seen. Kingston had a waterfront, but no beaches. So the sea views are mostly of the deep blue waters but there isn't much to do in the water.

In fact it feels like a very industrial city. It has one of the few deep sea ports in the Caribbean and has a huge harbour. But it all looks very boring. Most of the downtown is quite rundown, with many old dirty looking buildings. In fact, most of the city I saw wasn't very pretty. They say that the houses up in the mountains were grander and better. And there are some nicer areas around. I did see one of them and got a sense of what people mean, but my impression of Kingston remains of a poor town. I was barely able to find any good areas to explore or malls to go to buy anything in the downtown areas. There was lot of graffiti on the street. And lot of colourful houses. I also saw children would be playing football all the time outside. But overall, I didn't see too many people outside and I don't think the city is too safe either.

Apparently, the US has a huge part to play in the current state of the city. In the 1900s, Jamaica was modernising very fast and doing well, but then it started leaning towards communism. And the Americans then came in, gave them guns and it all went down. Crime increased, development slowed down and Kingston became more and more like a ghetto. I don't know how true this anecdotal story told by a taxi driver was, but definitely worth reading up on.

Landing at Kingston

Landing in Kingston was always a treat. The airport is on a narrow strip of land jutting into the sea. And the views from the top were always magnificent. The drive to the airport was also exhilarating, driving through a narrow strip of land into the sea with waves crashing into the rocks on both sides. And the water was so blue on both sides. It was my favourite drive in Kingston always.

I must say one thing about Kingston airport though. Its one of the most rude airports I have even been to. The staff treats you as if all you care about is entering the country illegally. One, they don't let you get on the flight if you don't have return tickets! Second, no one in the airport smiles or speaks politely. Even small things like if you walk towards a lounge, or by mistake open your phone while in the luggage area or take the trolley further than you should have - someone will rudely shout and point it out to you. And thats saying a lot given I have travelled a lot in US also. And third, they have health warnings for people who have travelled to any of South America, Central America, Africa or Asia in the previous weeks! Its like they are the most vulnerable nation in the world! The number of checks they do, you would think they are the US!

Anyways, irrespective of the airport, I always loved coming back to Kingston. Most of which was because of its weather, which was always amazing. It was always sunny and warm, though it rained a bit during afternoons. And the clouds would make the daily sunsets very pretty, with lot of shades of pinks and oranges lining the sky. After being there, I also realised how much I miss staying in warm places.

People

We didn't interact a lot with the local people but my perception is the ones in the city are not too friendly, especially at the airport. But they were always happy. Everyone seems to be in their own happy land all the time. Service is very slow and everyone takes so much time, everything moves at its own relaxed pace. Especially in restaurants, a takeaway would take forever. A lot of people greet each other with YoMon which is so cute. Also I noticed that there are not many Indians on this island like some of the other Caribbean islands.

There is no Uber here, so you have to take local taxi services. Its always advisable to take one from the hotel for safety issues. I used to drive when I was here, and it was fun. The roads are good but the locals drive like in India. So I felt like I was home 😊.

Food

We explored a lot of the eating places in town but most of them were not good. The food was just not tasty enough. My favourites though were Uncorked, Courtleigh hotel restaurant, Tamarind for Indian food, and the Jerk Chicken shack near our hotel. These were the only ones of the 10-12 places we went to which we actually liked. And we went to a lot - Terra Nova hotel restaurant, Usain Bolt's Tracks and Records, Devon House's Opa, South Avenue Grill and so on.

Uncorked was a nice little cosy place with eclectic food choices and a nice menu. Tamarind food was awesome, especially the Kashmiri coconut naan. And the Jerk Chicken shack was one of the best jerk chicken places in town, because of which our hotel did not have jerk chicken on its menu! Opa at Devon House had a great outdoor ambience and a paintings gallery within the restaurant. And South Avenue Grill had a nice outside ambience too except it must have been one of the slowest services I have experienced ever.

Hotels

View of Kingston from hotel

We were staying at the Marriort Courtyard, which was in the central part of town where all the hotels were located. Kingston hotels are overall not great - there are no high end brands in town at all. And the rates are very high, in fact almost European rates, with less facilities. I always thought the Marriott hotel was average. But my colleagues who had stayed at some of the other options nearby swear that this was the best 😜. The food at Marriott was better than a lot of other food we ate but it got boring very soon. I loved its outside seating area though, enjoying the sun and warmth always. The mosquitos there were not too welcoming though.

Things to do

Honestly, there is not much touristy stuff to do in Kingston. Right in front our hotel was the Emancipation park which was a popular place to go to for the locals. It was always full of people - running, exercising, dancing, doing yoga et al. And even at night, it was always full. It felt like one of the few safe places in the city. I ran a lot there and it helped that it had a 500m running track all around. It always felt great to be out in the warmer temperatures there. Also, quite often, there was some events happening in park, as we could hear the sound of concerts there quite often at night.

The Bob Marley museum is one of the major things to see in the city, though I never made it. And a visit to Port Real which was a pirate city is also quite popular. Maybe for some other time. We went to Devon House which felt like a nice place and had multiple restaurants. I never figured out the shopping areas in Kingston though. I tried going to a few malls and shops on a holiday but they were all closed!

View from Strawberry Hill

Strawberry Hill: We did not get to explore much of Kingston outside as we were always working. But one place we did go to one evening (and can be a nice weekend place) was Strawberry Hill. The resort is on Strawberry Hill and also known as the same. It has a narrow winding way to get up all the way which can be a bit difficult to drive. But the view from the top is totally worth it. You can get a view of all of Kingston, which is actually quite spread out. And they have nice bungalows to stay in, up the hill. All of which are spread out in a nice green area with lot of local trees and flowers. The dinner there was also good. A pretty good option for a weekend getaway from Kingston.

Overall though, I think Kingston as a city is not much to write about. Most of Jamaica that people like to visit are the resorts on the north side. Kingston is just the capital city, the engine driving the island. But not pretty at all.


Map of Jamaican drives

Caribbean diaries (3) - Jamaica (Ocho Rios and Port Antonio)

Caribbean diaries (1) - Haiti, Trinidad, Martinique
Caribbean diaries (2) - Panama City, El Salvador

Blue Lagoon

This summer I spent a couple of months in Jamaica on work. My weekdays were spent in the capital city of Kingston and weekends were spent exploring the beach resorts nearby. During this time, I visited Ocho Rios (twice), Port Antonio and Negril along the northern coast of the island. And I loved my time there. All the resorts and the beaches felt like they were in a different timezone altogether. With the crystal blue and tranquil waters around, the warm and relaxed air and the chilled people everywhere. Where time came to a standstill, and all you wanted to do was float in its timelessness...

Ocho Rios

My experience in Ocho Rios was more about the resort I stayed at than the town actually. It was such an amazing experience to be at Jamaica Inn, that I went to the same resort twice and both the times did not leave it at all over the weekend!

Getting there

Getting from Kingston to Ocho Rios is quite easy and convenient. Its about an hour drive mostly on the newly opened highway 2000 which cuts through the centre of the island and takes you through some beautiful mountaineous landscapes. Its quite a high quality freeway where you can drive fast while enjoying the jungle views around. Its all green everywhere with tropical forests. The route goes up and down through the mountains and is a pleasure to drive through. And there are loads of villages on the sides of the roads too, though they are mostly hidden in the forests.

Sometimes when it is rainy, the whole drive becomes even more green and fresh then ever. And you get to see some majestic sunset views in the evening, with the clouds and sunlight playing games with each other. A part of the route also passes through a valley which is always foggy and filled with clouds, as if in a bowl. I drove through the highway some 5-6 times and enjoyed each of those experiences. And as soon as you are off the highway, you reach Ocho Rios within 10 mins.

Jamaica Inn - the resort

Jamaica Inn is one of the resorts you come to as you drive past the town. I am still very surprised that the first time I entered the gates at Jamaica Inn, my first impression of the place wasn't great. In fact, I actually questioned myself whether I had landed at the right place or not! It had a very rustic feel to it, like the old British bungalows. And lot of open spaces and gardens within the premises. It was definitely not at all like the swanky posh new age hotels that we all frequent nowadays. And so I wasn't sure if it was worth the high price it charged. But that was just my first impression, as everything else after that was heavenly. And I fell in love with the place within an hour of being there.

The first time I visited, I got one of the Balcony suite rooms which are the simplest ones available. They are located on the first floor and have a sea view. The interior decor of the rooms was very comfortable and it had an outside balcony where you could sit with a view of the garden below and the sea beyond. As I had reached at night, I didn't get to see the resort much.

I had dinner at their open air restaurant where there was live local Jamaican music playing. The food was average but there was already a very relaxing feeling all around which I had already started enjoying. Everyone in the resort was very friendly and always smiling. Service was personal and relaxed, and they took their time to do anything. It was overall a very friendly place, where even the guests spoke to each other and chatted for long 😊.

After dinner, I sat outside in my room's balcony, just enjoying the music from the restaurant, listening to the waves splashing along the beach and enjoying the twinkling lights far away. It was already so relaxing to be here, far away from all the troubles of the world. But even all this hadn't prepared me for my experience over the next two days.

Morning view from my room

And when I woke up in the morning was when I fully awakened to the bliss that was Jamaica Inn. The view right in front of my room was of a garden next to a white sand beach. And it was heavenly. It was so blissful being in the resort that I ended up not leaving it for the next two days at all.

Clearwater villa

Its a huge resort with bungalows spread in a huge green area. They have many different kind of rooms - balcony rooms, verandah suites, huge luxury villas with private pools and their own private entrance to the sea, cottages and so on. All of them are painted in a soothing shade of white and blue, have a lot of privacy and offer the perfect place to unwind. There was something of the old British world charm in the bungalows which was very attractive and calming. And of course, having food on the beach, the spa and all the activities made it easier to just chill inside.

Clearwater Villa

On my second visit to Jamaica Inn, I stayed in Clearwater Villa which was a huge suite and pure luxury. We had our own pool, own sunbeds, a personal garden and our own private entrance to the sea. And I enjoyed it totally. I think Jamaica Inn has ruined me for life regarding luxurious beach vacations 😊. There was a very private feeling about the resort, where it feels you have all the place to yourself, given how its been setup. And that is something I will always appreciate about this place.

Things to do in the resort

Breakfast view

Food: The resort has a breakfast area and the breakfast is included in the room rates. It also has a restaurant for lunch and dinner as well as bar food on the beach all day. The breakfast area has one of the most fabulous views I have ever seen - its located right next to the green and blue waters, with a view of the sea and the surrounding areas. Its the best way to start a good day. And the spread is also good, especially all the Jamaican fruits in the menu. Every morning, I ended up staying there longer than I initially planned, just lost in the views around more than the food.

Terrace restaurant

Every night, dinner again was in the open terrace, with a great background setting. The waves would be hitting the shore, the palm trees would be swaying in the background, the stars twinkling above and the lights of the town calling out from far. Every day, there was live music in the restaurant, with mostly local artists performing. One day it was reggae, another day Jamaican songs and popular pop songs at another dinner. It was always amazing to eat there, almost surreal every time.

And after dinner, I would just sit outside in my balcony, read a book or enjoy the sunset views with the sound of the music still playing. It always felt so surreal, as if I was in heaven with not a care in the world. And thinking to myself, this is the life and it doesn't get better than this. There is something about this place that is amazing - you forget all your troubles when you come here. I loved those relaxed stress free evenings there and they were definitely the high point.

Resort beach

Activities: There is a beach in the resort itself of white sand and dotted with palm trees plus almond trees serving as natural shades. They have a beach bar serving food and drinks, including complimentary ones. The water there is sparkling clean and had a variety of shades, from green to dark blue hues. And when its sunny, the water sparkles light green. I swam a bit in the warm waters and it was lovely, especially during the day when the weather was a bit warm. I also went a couple of times for snorkelling and saw all the typical coloured fishes - orange, yellow, blue et al and sea urchins, all very near the resort. You can very easily chill there the whole day, going into the water, waving to all the boats passing by, reading, eating and also trying out some of the water activities offered by the resort.

The resort has free gear for the residents for lots of water based activities like sailing, paddle surfing, kayaking and snorkelling. In addition, they also have a croquet lawn, the usual gym and a oceanview pool. They also have their own spa which has a fantastic location overlooking the sea, and is totally worth experiencing. They also have a library stocked with many books to pass time, especially during the day when its a bit hot to get out. I ended up reading a book on both my trips there. They also have a snack hour when they offer free snacks near the terrace restaurant. Everything there is setup in such a way that you don't feel like doing much or leaving the property either.

They had a few other activities in the resort, like going to a turtle hatching location, going for a nature walk and so on. I couldn't go for the turtle hatching as it wasn't the season. I did however go for one of their nature walks where they take you around the resort and show you different kind of tropical trees and flowers, and I think that was the maximum activity I did that weekend 😜.

Ocho Rios is part of the garden parish of Jamaica and hence there is a lot of focus on different types of trees and plants. It was quite an interesting walk, especially some of the flowers that the gardener showed. We started with tasting and smelling the leaves of some local spices like rosemary, lemon grass, garlic wine and blue mountain coffee. Then he showed us the ganja plant, which was a first for me. Among the fruit trees, they had the bread fruit, avocado, roseapple, cotton tree (used for making boats), royal palm, desert palm (which stores water inside it), soursap and almond trees (which provided natural covering like an umbrella on the beach).

And they also had a lot of the local flowering varieties within the resort - orchids, gulmohar (knows as pride of Barbados), lobster claw, frangipani, gingerlily flower (bright red), boostail (long tail), flame of the forest (bright orange on the tree), red shrimp flowers and so on. The gardener showed us each of these plants adding a bit of history or other detail to make it more interesting. Like he showed us the common touch-me-nots grass which were apparently brought to Jamaica and were planted on large farms to allow the owners to find where the slaves had run away.

Perfect with a book in the evening

But honestly, as I said, we didn't do many activities there as we ended up lazing and chilling a lot more than doing anything. The weather was quite hot and humid during the day, and cooler at night. It felt better when it was cloudy though and sometimes rained in the afternoon. Also you had to watch out for mosquitos and we had to use anti-repellant cream if we wanted to sit outside at night. I also noticed was that there was always loud sound of crickets in the background all the time which is so different than being in a city.

Outside the resort

There are loads of things to do around Ocho Rios actually. There is a dolphin cove where you can go and play with the dolphins. And then there is the famous River Dunn waterfall where you can walk along a waterfall all the way down to the sea and beach. It is supposed to be an amazing experience, and both weekends I was there, I had planned on going to the waterfall but never managed to make it 😁.

I once went for a scuba dive which is offered by the diving guys at the neighbouring resort. It was a nice dive at a ship wreck, where we spotted some sting rays, sponges, typical fishes and the usual reef. The ride back in the boat when they were dropping me was amazing. We got a very good view of the resort from afar. And it looked even better than being in it 😜.

I did go into the Ocho Rios town once and found it to be very average, quite in contrast to the resorts which are luxurious. It felt safe though which helps. I found things overall quite expensive though which I wouldn't expect in such a small town. I also bought a mango from a local stall, and the shopkeeper was surprised that I wanted to buy just one. The mangoes there taste almost as good as the ones we eat in India!!

One of the evenings, we went out for dinner to Oceans 11, a nearby happening restaurant. There were loads of local people enjoying being outside and eating and drinking. The location and ambience was good, being right next to the sea. But the quality of service was below par. The area also had a lot of nice apartments around, I am guessing they were all local holiday homes.

Sunset at the resort

One of the weekends, I also spoke to the owner of the place who is an American. His family has owned the place for generations and he mentioned that their aim is to make it a place which residents visit regularly, and dont want to leave. And they've made it just like that 😜. I also realised once there that this place was frequented by loads of celebrities, like Marilyn Monroe for her honeymoon and Winston Churchill for his breaks. I can see why. Once there, you don't want to leave. It was like being in a bubble, faraway from the world. Jamaica Inn has become one of my favourite hotels in the world now. And a tip - residents of Jamaica get a massive discount in rates, so definitely ask for them if you are.

Port Antonio

Another weekend in Jamaica, we went to the town of Port Antonio. It is located on the north-western part of the island and was a very different experience than Ocho Rios. The resort experience was the same - like other places in Jamaica, you don't want to leave any resort you are in! But the activities we did there were definitely different. And the drives were more spectacular too.

Port Antonio is almost a 3-4 hour drive from Kingston, in the parish of Portland. While going there, I took a route through the centre of the island (which is all mountains and jungles) and then along the north side of the island (which is a coastal route). And a different route while coming back through the west and south coast of the island. And both the drivers were quite a different experience.

Stony Hill drive

While driving to Port Antonio, the first part of the drive of about 30 kms was through the Blue mountains (called the Stony Hill drive). It was a narrow road most of the way, with too many ditches and bumps. The last 10 kms was especially bad, with loads of potholes. But the views were magnificent. All around were beautiful tropical forests, with hanging roots, and a river running all along, down in the valley. It was all so green and fresh. I drove through very small villages and settlements. Every village had its own church. And everyone seemed happy and chilled, just like Jamaicans are supposed to be. Loads of them were just sitting next to the road and staring at nothing. And many were wearing funky dresses. I mostly drove with the windows open and the fresh air felt amazing, so surreal and liberating.

At one of the bays on the way

Once through the mountains, I drove through the northern part of the island, which had a nice coastal road. It passed through many villages, all next to the sea with bays and beaches at every turn. It was picturesque all the way, through Orange Bay, Buff Bay, Margarets Bay, Hope Bay and so on. All the villages were small and not really touristy. The villages had small shops and lot of colourful houses. It felt a lot like South Africa sometimes. And the bays were picturesque, with waves lashing on the shore the whole time. A lot of these bays were overlooked by nice houses on the hills on the other side, definitely of the rich from Jamaica and US:). The last stretch from Port Antonio to my resort, the Goblin Hill villas, was a bad road with lot of potholes. And I had to drive very carefully. But the local cars of course drove much faster than me throughout.

Luxurious rooms

The resort was amazing. It had a huge area, all green, with lots of activities to do - a pool, tennis, gardens and so on. It had a huge reception with a restaurant and bar. And had a few villas overlooking the sea. I took one of the terrace ones and settled in soon. The villas were huge and luxurious - with a kitchen and a local cook who would come and cook for you in your own kitchen. And the rooms were well stocked, with mosquito nets and mosquito repellants (liquid) and so on.

View from the room

And the view from there was out of this world. It overlooked the bay, with the forests surrounding the bay. The first evening I landed, I just missed the sunset. But still sat outside, just enjoying the warm temperature and the sound of the waves. It was a bit humid but still fun. All around there were ambient insect sounds. And the stars above were beautiful. It felt so easy and amazing to just lie outside like this.

Monkey Beach

Morning of course brought an even better view. I had breakfast sitting on my terrace, eating what my cook cooked. And chilled in the resort for most of the day, walking, reading and just enjoy being there. There were loads of greenery in the resort, lot of trees, flowering ones like gulmohar and lobster claw, as well as fruit trees like almond and mango too and so many touch-me-nots which I have seen after a very long time. And of course brilliant views of the bay, including the view of Monkey island. I could even see people swimming there. In the afternoon, it rained a bit. And it was felt awesome to take an afternoon nap, with a cold wind blowing and the windows being open. I also went for a run around the property and down to the local beach which felt tiring given the villas were on a hill.

I did go out of the resort a bit though. First I went to Frenchman's cove which was a beach near the Frenchman cove hotel. To be honest, I was not impressed by it and would give it a miss anyday. The beach was too small and overcrowded. The cafe barely had some good food. It was too humid, and there were too many insects there. In the evening, I went to Woodys Burgers which is supposed to have one of the best burgers in town. It is a very small place which seemed empty when I went. I almost missed it too. But it did have one of the best burgers I have eaten.

Houses of the rich and famous

The next day, we had a more active day. We finally went to Blue Lagoon which is what Port Antonio is famous for. You can rent a boat, which first takes you to Monkey island which is breathtaking. It is a small island which I saw from my resort too. And it has this pristine white sand beach with shallow waters. It was amazing just swimming and chilling there for a while. And there was a swing there to take typical photos. You also pass by the houses of the rich and famous on the bay, and they sure did look luxurious and expensive.

Blue lagoon

Then we went to the Blue Lagoon in the boat. This place was quite ethereal in its beauty. The water was of different shades of dark blue, and at different temperatures, sometimes hot and sometimes cold. It was very deep and fun to swim in. There was also a small spring on one side where we experienced more warmer waters. This place really had exquisite beauty all around and we spent lovely 3 hours there.

Blue lagoon

I finally also managed to go to Geejams hotel for lunch at the Bush bar. The hotel is a nice place to stay but was a bit too expensive. The restaurant though wasn't as expensive, It has a nice view, in the middle of tropical forests, with roots and creepers all around and totally worth stopping for a nice relaxed lunch. And very soon the weekend was over.

Another bay on the way

On the drive back, I took a longer route through the other side of the island. And loved it. It was so exhilarating to drive along the coast through these fascinating drives with huge bays next to me. Through towns like Boston Bay, Long Bay, Morant and so on. All the roads next to the bay had magnificent views, of the beaches and the blue sea waves hitting the shore hard. I also saw crabs crossing the street many times. There wasnt much other animal life otherwise, other than a few goat here and there

Sunday football matches

As on the drive there, I noticed loads of churches, and huge and colourful houses in every village on the way. And there were tons of bars playing loud music too. People in those villages were mostly chilling. I noticed a lot of Jamaican wear very bright colours and have exotic hairstyles. And the villages we passed by had lot of people playing football (maybe because it was Sunday). Part of the route was also through expansive fields and plains which looked pretty during sunset. The road wasn't great though and the potholes were deep! But I loved the driving experience there and the views, especially the sunset time. And soon was back in Kingston...

Caribbean diaries (4) - Negril and Kingston (Jamaica)