May 26th- June 3rd

Here we are in the Sandals Airport lounge, kicking off our 9th visit to a Sandals resort. For this trip, we chose the "Sandals Dunns River" resort located in Ochos Rios, Jamaica. Named for the famous "Dunns River Falls" just down the road, the resort's main pool has a tribute to the falls. Since it was our 9th trip, we were Platinum Level Returning Guests, we even racked up our "gold" Sandals this trip during the Returning Guests party. A few more paid nights & we're off to St Lucia Grande on Sandals's dime!!!

Things to do....

This trip was really about unwinding, b/c both of us have been w/o a vacation for about 6 months. We booked our normal, the base-level concierge room, which at this resort was the Roman Honeymoon Concierge Room, on the third floor of the oceanfront wing. We were upgraded one level to the Genoa Honeymoon PENTHOUSE room. No real diference in the level, except I think we ended up one floor higher... Though we didn't spend a lot of time in the room, we did get partake in some goodies provided to us during our stay, our "Welcome Back" cookie treat, our "Anniversary cake (11 Years!!)" (Hmmmmmm!), and room service for breakfast and dinner (Rack of Lamb!!!).

The one off-site excursion I really wanted to do was the ATV Safari. Since they didn't have a motorcycle safari, the ATV was calling my name. We started out on 300 cc machines in matching red. Ten minutes into the ride, Kristy's machine slipped it's chain during an uphill jaunt, which worked out in my favor! Kristy comandeared my ride, and I got the "sag-wagoners" ride, which was a somewhat tempermental, but FAST 400cc monster! Needless to say I found all the mud puddles I could & threw myself & machine into them full force. The aftersite was something to behold, but it all washed off during the optional 30 ft cliff jump into the ocean.

Other daytime activities included lots of snorkeling, ping pong & my favorite....volleyball. If my body could take it, I would play volleyball as much as possible. The core of the volleyball group while I was there was about four other guys from England. We'd start with 2 on 2, and people would walk up and join the fun. After three days, my toes were sores from all the digging & jumping in the sand. Three weeks after the fact, and I think my knees have finally returned to normal...

Although I wanted to take some time off from cycling, I ended up finding a bike to ride. Snorkeling was pretty good for Jamaica. There were lots of reef fish, including this little bastard who bit me b/c I was dangling my fingers to get him close to the camera. A site NOT so common at other snorkeling locations, TONS of sea urchins, and not the typical carribean black sea urchins. These things were ALL over the place, we even got to hold one when the Sandals photographer was on our boat.

During a particularly "HOT" ping pong match w/ Kristy, the resort tennis pro, Joseph, strolled by. He decided a challenge was in order... I beat him 21 to 18, close. During the match, I mentioned playing "Derrick" at the Royal Plantation...seems Joseph knows him. Small World!

Dinner dates? We wanted easy the first night, so we sacheyed over to the well stocked tree bar for a pre dinner drink while we waited for a table @ Marco Polo's. We had Rochelle as our waitress who helped us peruse the menu. The after dinner show on this particular night was GREAT, as it included Ray Charles AND Elvis!!! We managed to stay up until the Chocolate bar @ 11:00 pm, then went to bed. Thursday nights festivities included posing for a pre-dinner picture, and sampling the "International Buffet", before our dinner @ Kimonos. You have to give it to the chefs there, as we ended up flipping shrimp everywhere, while they tried to catch them. For Friday's dinner, we headed over to Sandals GRande Ochos Rios for dinner @ the Italian themed Valentinos. Though the food was a slight letdown from our last visit, we we happy taking pictures on the new pier. Once back on SDR property, we strolled through the "Beach Party" food, which was very impressive. Saturday's dinner was the much awaited Il Capitano. After a drink @ the tree bar, we were seated at our outside table, and dove into the antipasti. We were greeted by chocolates as an Anniversay Present when we returned to our room and spent the time eating them & posing for a Sandals themed photograph. We returned to Marco Polo for Sunday nights dinner. Monday night we neaded back to SOR for dinner @ the Reef Terrace. The best meal, based on sceneriy & food, would have to be The Reef Terrace @ Sandals Grande Ochos Rios, (but if Il Capitano @ SDR had a sunset, it would win). The Reef Terrace had it all, a sunset, a cat, good food, and a bottle of our own wine. I must have shot 30 photos of the sunset. Any honestly, no "photoshoping". I kept the shutter open long enough to capture the sunset, and then popped the flash off to get the foreground......one of my favorite landscape shot of the trip. Our final dinner, we dined @ Il Capitano, where our new buddy Federiko(sp?) set us up w/ a special table and menu. We enjoyed a lengthy conversation about wine & food w/ Fredricko. (GOOD LUCK w/ your future Federicko!!) Lunch? Lunch consisted of treats from the brick oven pizzaria, and salads from the buffet.

The Jamaican bobsled team showed up for an autographing party. We bought two t-shirts which were autographed and we got our picture taken with the "pusher". I was surprised to learn that the the Olympics are this winter in Vancover!!!

The pool was small, compared to some of the other Sandals, but had all the amenities of home...a swim-up bar, rafts, waterfalls, and photo ops. Although the beach was small, it was quiet and cozy. The volleyball court was on the beach, as well as the gazebozes, which you could rent if you wanted too....rentals included a butler to bring lunch & and drinks you so desired. The floating platform was a favorite place to relax in the afternoon (our room circled in red), accessable by a short swim! The pool was peaceful, with the "falls" set up to mimic the famous "Dunns River Falls", it made for relaxing pool time, trying a sampling of the various drinks, as well as buy a hat made from a palm branch from my new buddy Ivan.

As always, the food was great, the sites were fabulous, and the people were generous. But this is probably our last time in Jamaica, at a Sandals resort. We covered all areas of Jamaica: Montego Bay (man, we were young!!!), Negril, Whitehouse & twice in Ochos Rios (Royal Plantation & Sandals Dunns River), and it's time to "check 'em off the list". Our next trip is back to an encore appearance in Antigua, then our free trip will be to Sandals Grande St Lucia. By the time we get there, the rooms over the water (check out the "Greek Village" section of this link) will be completed......and MAYBE we'll be comped one on our free trip!! (Doubt it, but we can ALWAYS hope!!)