We visited Negril a few times (didn't love it) and also the parish capital Savanna-la-Mar which I thought was grittier and more interesting. Our lovely driver (from the area) said he avoids Sav at nights and weekends as it is too wild.

I did, however, love the amazing food in Sav. This is brown stew snapper, I believe and we also had the best jerk chicken of many here.

We stayed in a very small fishing community where goats, chickens and dogs (all owned, surprisingly to me) roamed freely.

Most of the local men we met had worked as free diving fishermen and spear fishers. Curried prawns and yellow rice cooked up in our host's outdoor kitchen.

I really enjoyed and would recommend our excursions to two local waterfalls - the first falls, YS, were a bit more touristy and crowded but very picturesque. The water was cool, refreshing and very full of minerals. There were a couple of nice big swimming holes. The falls were located in an active and scenic cattle and horse ranch and are close enough to the Appleton distillery that you can make a day and do both.

The second falls, Mayfield, were a bit more rustic and naturalized. We took a two hour tour up through many small falls and swimming holes. For nature lovers and those who prefer a bit more solitude. The water here was also very mineral and clean.

If you're considering a stay in the countryside I'd highly recommend it, but I personally would do a bit more research and go a little higher end in the accommodation than we ended up. The place my friend chose had a few positive reviews on airbnb but not enough and not recent enough, I think.

My jellyfish welts just flared back up :( i now look like an arm model for 'faces of meth.'

Yikes! Sorry to hear about the jelly fish welts!
Love the photos-- the falls are lovely and the food photos look awesome! Sorry the guest house wasn't the best but sometimes those are the trips with the best stories!

Ugh, jellyfish stings are a terrible souvenir! Break out the Benadryl! Love your positive attitude.

Love the photos and the trip report. Hope you had good R&R away from the snow!

Thanks so much for the travelogue...sounds like you had a fun and interesting adventure. Some lovely shots and memories...and beats the heck out of facing the wall of snow!

Your photos are just beautiful - how long did the swelling and welts last? They look so painful. I'm glad you had a good time - good food and great beach.

Thanks for your comments! It has been nine days since my first jellyfish sting and I still have welts. Here's the worst arm....not sure what's no-see-ums and what's jellyfish at this point. Even though the marks are dotty instead of lines, so were the jellyfish welts when I had them and they're in about the same place. In Nova Scotia the nasty jellies are dark red and easier to avoid! These seemed to be completely transparent.

I was worried about food poisoning but so far so good, even though I watched our host wash, quarter and serve chicken on what I internally called "the salmonella table" wth "the salmonella knife." I think the chicken being so fresh must have helped.

Robo you are my travel hero! You had a true local experience, not a manicured version designed only for tourists. Of course you want to feel safe and might have benefited from a bit more amenities but anyone can book at a resort for a vacation, not have a clue what is outside the gates and then you could be on Any Island, Carib. Your version sounds much more interesting to me. Great pics and travelogue. And those jellyfish are wicked! I still have scars from a jellyfish I tangled with in Negril back in '78!!

Thanks for the wonderful photos! Your experience sounds delightful. Well, except for the jellyfish experience. The food looks great.

What a unique adventure! I react badly to stings of any kind so I'm not sure if I would have been brave enough to get in the water.

Wonderful pictures and story, thanks for sharing. Sounds like a great trip. Hope those welts clear up soon!

It looks like the dogs at the beach are trying to warn you not to go in the water! Jellyfish rash ... not the kind of souvenirs you want to bring home! Hope they clear up quickly and glad you had a mostly positive experience.

LA has been cooler since you and Mtn were here ... I am fighting a fever and worst sore throat ever ... thanks DH for bringing that cold/flu back from his last trip!

Jamaica was practically cool compared to LA! Only 82 degrees or so! I still haven't done my LA trip report...maybe I'll get to those photos this weekend.

BF has been championing Jamaica as a vacation spot for a few years-- I have been on the fence. My sister went to somewhere in or near Negril for her honeymoon and they ended up returning early. It was such a disappointment for them--and this was reported as a 4-star resort. BF has been many times. They always rented a villa with full staff along with some friends and relatives-- but he's pretty low key when he travels and doesn't have as high expectations as I do. Some of his stories make me very hesitant to jump on board... if I am reading between your lines correctly, I suspect you'd say the same about your visit? Would you return?

All that said, I know there are some lovely sights-- and I love the idea of jamaican jerk and fish in an intimate hut along the road. (Your fish photos look amazing!) There is a funky boho resort along Treasure Beach that interests me.. but I think I have convinced him that there are plenty of other islands to visit where we can make new memories and find new favorites! Puerto Rico is such an easy and affordable trip from here-- of course it doesn't have that raw island culture but it does have plenty of history and beautiful natural features. I am currently campaigning for Cuba. I've wanted to go for ages-- a friend traveled there a few years ago and it only increased my interest. It is unlikely that we're going to get an actual vacation this year so I am targeting 2016. He's warmed up a little bit but is not completely on board yet ;)

I am not a seasoned traveller to the Caribbean, but even my middle class friends who travel told me that when going to an all inclusive, never ever go to less than five stars. They say that will only guarantee a bare minimum of cleanliness and amenities.

I didn't really care for what I saw of Negril and wouldn't hesitate to stay farther out in the countryside again.

I would REALLY like to get to Cuba before it opens up a bit more. I would just like to see the culture before it changes.

As for the negatives, we rented a bare bones b and b and I would take care to rent better, more professional accommodation and hire a well-recommended driver (I did really like our driver and he really made the trip for us! In fact if you stay near Negril I would recommend him for sure).

If I had done these two things, I would have been fine. Our last day was the 'get the money out of the rich people day' and I was asked by locals to pay school fees, adopt children, leave my tablet with them, etc. etc. (adopting legally from Jamaica is almost impossible btw). That was a little uncomfortable and made the last day a lot less fun. I think being asked for stuff is not uncommon when you are a relatively rich person visiting a poor area. I do wish I had thought to bring more stuff to give, like antibiotics and ibuprofen. Everyone we met had enough to eat but some people definitely lacked for basic medical care.

The real downside is that our host was just sketchy. His business partner quoted us $10 a day each for suppers and he tried to charge us each $50 a day! He said it was because we were big...not THAT big! He was also hardcore hitting on one girl in our group -- and although this was my first trip to Jamaica, I spent a lot of time in dancehall clubs in my wilder days so, although I'm an XL girl and don't get hit on by white guys that often, I am quite familiar with being hit on by Jamaican and Caribbean guys. This dude was well over the "being forward" line into sketch territory but trying to make that girl feel like it was "just" cultural differences when it was well beyond that. And he was not like a young handsome guy either, just pushing his luck. That said she could have been a lot ruder, but also that's problematic when it's a person with a key to your room. I didn't mention that part at the beginning because I am somewhat familiar with Island guys and felt this guy wasn't representative (he was the worst person we encountered on our trip and maybe the worst person I've encountered on any trip, but I've been lucky while travelling and haven't run into many horrible people!).

I have never been to Cuba but all the people I was travelling with had been. They preferred Cuba for the most part but felt the food was MUCH better in Jamaica. The scenery was extremely beautiful in Jamaica. They said the animals are much better off - Cuban cows, according to them, all look on the verge of starvation and the Jamaican cows, dogs, chickens and goats I saw all looked fat and happy (unlike Cuba, most dogs belonged to someone and a lot were fixed).

My friends all were comfortable driving scooters around Cuba where they preferred having a driver in Jamaica between driving on the left and the potholes. Some of my friends had pretty sketchy nightclub experiences in Cuba and certainly sketchy nightclub experiences were there to be had in Jamaica although our outings were quite tame. There are a lot of rules and a lot of police in Cuba and they occasionally had to pay bribes. One friend had been arrested in Cuba. I didn't feel like that was going to happen in Jamaica although according to our driver he felt the police were "in general a very corrupt bunch."

You can get by with English in Jamaica: although you may not understand everyone, they will certainly understand you and the signage is in English. I suspect the same cannot be said for Cuba although I have never been.

Chispa, Feel better. We have had a cold ricocheting around our house too. So far it has sequentially felled 3 of 5.

Robo, Hawai'i was cooler than LA, too! LA was crazy warm!

Cuba is on our list, too. In fact before I started looking for a way to use miles I had it on my list for next year's spring break. Only thing is, the reviews on TripAdvisor concerned me. I agree the sooner you go, the more intriguing, arguably (although I have a friend who argues it is all so scripted, better to wait until it genuinely re-opens), but of course the tradeoff is the tourism infrastructure. I don't have to have luxury, but I won't skimp on cleanliness and comfort.

mtn - would you consider the Royalton in Varadero? I think it would be at LEAST clean and comfortable and probably a step up from that (without being a true luxury experience). I think most Canadians end up in Varadero if I'm not mistaken. Then again there's the Paradisus Rio de Oro in Holguin that looks pretty nice! Those villas look pretty fab. Although both those resorts are 18+ -- maybe the kids go skiing and you go beaching?

I am sorry, Robo! I fear my post came off as tacky.. it wasn't my intention at all! I am glad you were able to get away from the snow and cold and loved your photos!

BF's fear is just what Mtn's friend says-- that it is all very scripted. He is also fearful that we'll have to pay top dollar in order to have what we consider a clean and comfortable stay. I am sure there is truth in those fears but I'd really like to go before it opens wide to tourism. We'll have some time to consider our options. There are many other vacation spots on our list -- which keeps growing each year (two now) when our vacations have been downgraded due to life, budgets and schedules.

Funkyart, I didn't consider your post bad in any way! I just love discussing the pros and cons of travel.

My friends travelled within the casa particular system (guest house or B and B) and always enjoyed it although the houses are fairly plain. You stay with a family, essentially. They were plain but clean and all had ac. Very affordable.

Great! So glad.. sometimes things "sound" different in print and on second reading. Thanks for getting the spirit with which i posted!

Goodness! Robo if you were my daughter I would be rushing to your side with creams and salves and Aleve...... Glad there was a group of you and not just two as your "host" sounds positively unsavory.

Jellyfish are nature's revenge on people using her beaches :-( I hate them. Thank god I have never been stung but have seen plenty of it. The heart stopper is a Portuguese Man 'o War.....sort of the nuclear version of jellyfish--- although not actually a jellyfish, it looks and acts similarly---- to be avoided at all costs!

My dad has been gently suggesting a visit to the local parasitology specialist -- but I think it's early days for that! I'll see how it looks over the weekend. One of our group is a nurse and she already asked the dr. at work about it, prescription was time and benadryl.