Negril, Jamaica

[Jeff in St Pete]

Villas Sur Mer's mansion on the water - we want to rent this on our next visit.

The 3 bedroom house we rented.

Inside the house.

[Jeff in St Pete]

Each house/cottage had an outdoor seating area.

The jungle paths through the property

Heliconia bloom

[Jeff in St Pete]

The pool area

Thrinax palm

Pritchardia sp. - these are the only ones I saw in Negril

Another shot of the pathway leading through the property

[Jeff in St Pete]

Rocking lounge chairs by the pool

Thrinax parviflora crown over the roof of the house

Pool bar

[Jeff in St Pete]

Rick's Cafe sure has changed. The first time we came here in 1988, this was only a small bar where locals gathered to watch the sunset. Now all of the all-inclusive resorts on the beach transport their guests to Rick's a couple hours before the sunset. Once the sun sets, the place clears out quickly.

Cliff jumping and diving is very popular here and some of the local guys put on a daily show for the tourists.

If you look at the second photo, you can see that the guys climb up into an old dead tree to jump. Third and fourth photos show the guys jumping (look close and you can see them).

[Jeff in St Pete]

My buddies with our friend Andy at Rick's Cafe

You can easily fall over here...

I kept thinking that tree limb is going to break.

Looking up the coast from Rick's Cafe. Negril Lighthouse in the distance.

[Jeff in St Pete]

A nice lady I bought some gifts from

Roadside food is best in Jamaica!

The Hungry Lion - a restaurant that has been around for more than 20 years.

Erica's cafe - Another place where I used to eat. Good local food. It really amazed me how little the West End of Negril has changed in the last 22 years. Manuel Antonio (where I live now) has changed more in 3 years than Negril has in 20 years! I love the fact that things haven't changed much there.

[Jeff in St Pete]

Breadfruit tree painted in Jamaican colors

Close up of the fruit

The coastline of the West End of Negril

Bouganvillea

[Jeff in St Pete]

I saw this sign hanging in almost every bar in Negril. It seems in order to sell liquor here you only need to post a notice that you intend to apply for a liquor license at the next meeting in Sav. Sav is short for Savanna-la-Mar which is the capital of Westmoreland Parrish.

A funky house in Negril

Just Natural - another of my favorite restaurants that I have been going to for many years.

Tables set up in their front yard - Just Natural Restaurant

[Jeff in St Pete]

I stopped in this place for a gelato

Another shot of Rockhouse from the road

[Jeff in St Pete]

I stopped in this place for a gelato

Another shot of Rockhouse from the main road

Horse along the road

Thrinax

[Jeff in St Pete]

Roadside Crotons

[Jeff in St Pete]

Negril Lighthouse

Interesting tree growing near the lighthouse

More Thrinax

[Jeff in St Pete]

I had forgotten about all the Crotons that were planted next to the lightkeeper's house. There were some pretty cool Crotons growing on the grounds.

[Jeff in St Pete]

More Lighthouse Crotons

[Jeff in St Pete]

More Crotons by the Lighthouse

My friend Danny standing next to some of them for scale

[Jeff in St Pete]

More Bouganvillea

A nice little bar by the water

Roadside stand

[Jeff in St Pete]

My friends left Jamaica two days before me and they decided to fly back to Montego Bay (a 15 minute flight versus an hour and a half car ride). I went with them to the Negril Airport to see them off.

The terminal building

Boarding the plane. Check out the Jamaican Royals in the background

[Jeff in St Pete]

Closer look at the Royals

Headed for the runway

Flying to MoBay

[Jeff in St Pete]

After my friends left, I stayed at the same resort but I moved out of the three bedroom house and into a one bedroom cottage.

Inside the cottage

[Jeff in St Pete]

Ackee - the national fruit of Jamaica. It's the main ingredient of the national dish - Ackee and Saltfish - which is typically eaten for breakfast. The fruit cannot be harvested until the pods open naturally and it has to be cooked properly, otherwise it can be poisonous. It's not native to Jamaica and is believed to have been brought to the island on a slave ship from West Africa. The fruit has the consistancy of scrambled eggs or curds of cheese and to me it kind of tastes like scrambled eggs.

LTU Pub - Another place that has been around for years. It's just a short walk down the road from Rick's Cafe and this place is more my style. Many locals and ex-pats hang out here and it's a great place to watch the sunset as a more tranquil alternative to Rick's Cafe.

View from LTU Pub. I came here every morning for breakfast and Blue Mountain Coffee. One of my favorite spots in Negril.

[Jeff in St Pete]

The Marley Family is still very popular in Jamaica

The entrance to Xtabi - another great place on the cliffs

A cottage at Xtabi

[Jeff in St Pete]

Large Pandanus in front of Hotel Samsara

Downtown Negril - there's not much more to the town than this

It was really hot that afternoon and I stopped in Burger King (yes there is a BK in Negril now) for a milkshake. I bet there are not too many BK's with this view.

[Jeff in St Pete]

The Negril River

Sabal? In downtown Negril

[Jeff in St Pete]

Another Lighthouse photo

The resort in the next two photos is called "The Caves" and is probably the most expensive place in Negril. I stopped by to check out the rates - rooms start at $605 per night.

[Jeff in St Pete]

Photos from the ride back to Montego Bay.

The fourth photo shows a Carnival Cruise ship in port

[Jeff in St Pete]

Arriving into MoBay and the Airport

[Jeff in St Pete]

That's all the photos of Jamaica. After I got back to San Jose, I stopped by to see Dewayne Richardson in Santa Ana (a suburb of San Jose). He was holding a couple Chambeyronia macrocarpa watermelon's for me and I wanted to stop by and pick them up. I didn't stay long and I didn't take any photos of his fantastic palm garden - I didn't really have much time since I had to drive back to Manuel Antonio that day. I only snapped one pic from his back patio. It's a beautiful outdoor space surrounded by flowering plants and palms.

Leaving Santa Ana I spotted these Royals along the road. They look like R. oleracea to me.

The new highway is finally open! This has been in the planning stages for something like 30 years. It used to take 3.5 hours to drive from Escazú/Santa Ana to Manuel Antonio. Now the drive takes 2.5 hours! No more narrow winding mountain road to cross.

The End

[Natureguy]

Jeff,

Thanks for taking the time to post all these incredible photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a huge Royal Pam fan and those pics of R. princeps! STUNNING!!!!

Bob

[tikitiki]

Jeff,

I was looking at going back to jamacia for my wife's 40th and staying at this hotel. Is it easy to swim right off of the cliffs there?

[ariscott]

Thank you posting it, Jeff. I enjoyed them when you uploaded them to facebook, and I enjoyed them again now . Beautiful place...

[Jeff in St Pete]

Thanks Bob, glad you enjoyed them!

Tom, which hotel are you referring to? Tensing Pen or Villas Sur Mer? I stayed at two different places.

Thanks Ari!

[Miccles]

Hi Jeff,

Fantastic photos of a stunning area. You've put it firmly on my "must visit" list ! Really enjoyed your pics, and can see why you return there..... thanks for the tour !

Regards

Michael.

[Al in Kona]

Jeff thanks for the tour of northwest Jamaica (Montego Bay & Negril). Looks like an interesting fun place to visit. The lack of Coconuts (due to LY) on a beautiful tropical island is sad to see, however. Were there no Coconuts at all anymore? Have you ever been to any other areas of Jamaica? Yes, some of the Thrinax palms are nice. I only have one Jamaican palm, Thrinax excelsa, a very beautiful species that grows in low mountains in the extreme eastern tip of the island.

[Jeff in St Pete]

Amazing photos and description!

I was also there, in July 2008, and i can say that my crazyness about palms did born then (before, i only had a new home, and a new yard, with only a group of 3 syagrus romanzofiana!)

I was in Negril, at Riu Resort (with son and daughter), loved the experience, and went to several trips!

Rafael, I am familiar with RIU but I have never stayed there before. I'm glad you had a good time in Negril!

[Jeff in St Pete]

Hi Jeff,

Fantastic photos of a stunning area. You've put it firmly on my "must visit" list ! Really enjoyed your pics, and can see why you return there..... thanks for the tour !

Regards

Michael.

Hi Michael, glad you liked the photos. Negril is such a great place, I hope you do visit there someday!

[Jeff in St Pete]

Jeff thanks for the tour of northwest Jamaica (Montego Bay & Negril). Looks like an interesting fun place to visit. The lack of Coconuts (due to LY) on a beautiful tropical island is sad to see, however. Were there no Coconuts at all anymore? Have you ever been to any other areas of Jamaica? Yes, some of the Thrinax palms are nice. I only have one Jamaican palm, Thrinax excelsa, a very beautiful species that grows in low mountains in the extreme eastern tip of the island.

Hi Al, there were coconuts, but not very many. They seem to grow ok for a while, but they turn yellow and die before they mature. I did see a few tall coconuts that were still healthy, but it's nothing like it used to be when Jamaican Tall coconuts were growing everywhere.

I've been to Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril, Mandeville, Treasure Beach, Savanna-la-Mar, and a few other small towns. I've never been to Kingston or over on the eastern end of the Island.

[epicure3]

Jeff:

Those are fantastic pictures and really give a great flavor of the west side of Jamaica. I have never been and it is now your fault that I have to go. It looks incredible. You had me right at the beginning with the spicy food. In addition, I am a huge Red Stripe fan. The palms and crotons were magnificient. Thanks again.

[Davidl]

Jeff thanks for posting photos of your trip to Jamaica. There seems to be lots of natural beauty there and the buildings are very colorful as most of the islands and of course Central and South America. You are a good photographer and you frame your photos very well. I hope one day I will be able to visit there.

[Jeff in St Pete]

Thrinax parviflora - native to Jamaica and one of the most commonly seen palms in Negril

I was told these were T. parviflora but now that I've researched it a little it appears these could be Thrinax excelsa which is also endemic to Jamaica. I apologize if I misidentified them.