Day Trip To Negril, Jamaica

Back in February/March 2011, a buddy and I went to Montego Bay, Jamaica for a 7 day all-inclusive vacation at 4-star Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort & Spa.  All-inclusive vacations are always a great value as you get your flight, hotel, food, drinks and entertainment all included in one price.  The only drawback is that it can get quite repetitive staying on the resort all 7 days.  Resorts usually offer different types of excursions so that guests can leave the resort and do some fun activities outside the resort.  One of the two excursions that my buddy and I did was a day trip to Negril.

Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort and Spa

Getting There

Holiday Inn Resort is about a 1 hour 45 minute drive to Negril and my buddy had to lift and carry me into our tour bus.  There were a couple steps to get into the bus and people left the front seat empty for us so it would be easier.  My buddy would just collapse my manual wheelchair and put it in storage at the luggage storage compartment of the bus.  I actually enjoyed the short bus ride as I got to look out the window and see all the lush scenery that Jamaica has to offer.

on the bus ready for Negril

looking through the front window of bus

Exploring Around

Once we got to Negril, the bus driver did stop the bus at one particular spot and let everyone explore the area a bit.  My buddy and I didn’t want to go too far from the bus as we went up and down the main road on the gravel.  It wasn’t too bad as my buddy wheeled me to look at some of the old homes and the trees and plants surrounding it.  We even passed by a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville and took some pictures there.  We wanted to try some authentic Jamaican food apart from our resort and found a neat place to have lunch.

going for a stroll in Negril

Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville

Lunch

at Pilot’s Cafe Restaurant & Bar

We see Juicy’s Restaurant Grill & Bar attached with Pilot’s Cafe Restaurant & Bar.  This is actually the same restaurant but with two different names.  This place was wheelchair accessible as there were lower tables along the higher tables and stools.  We ordered some kind of chicken meal and some drinks, and after lunch we looked around the area a little bit before getting back on the tour bus to get to our next stop.

ready for lunch

yummy

Rick’s Cafe

It was about a 15 minute drive to Rick’s Cafe which is one of the top attractions in Negril.  This restaurant and bar is filled with locals and tourists and has a 35 foot high cliff at the back that features one of the world’s best locations to see the sun set.  With loud music blaring and everyone crowding to see locals jump off the cliffs while performing tricks and asking for money donations.

at Rick’s Cafe waiting to see some locals jump off the cliff

a local jumping off

We did not eat or drink here but still enjoyed the atmosphere and the magnificent views of the ocean and the sunset.  Tourists were even jumping into the water at lower lengths but my buddy didn’t do that either.  This place really was the highlight of Negril and I can understand why.

beautiful sun set over the cliff

We had a great tour spending over 4 hours in Negril.  The drive there wasn’t too long and we enjoyed the views of the ride.  It was definitely great to get out of the resort and eat food from a small local restaurant.  Seeing the sun set at Rick’s Cafe was also wonderful and we would gladly return to Negril and hopefully stay there for more than a day.