Ocho Rios, Sunset Jamaica Grande

I stayed at this hotel on an all inclusive basis. I didn't feel that it waranted the 4* plus that it claims to be. Travel time form home to hotel wass 16hrs and I expected better. On arrival the very large lobby looked a very tired and not very welcoming. CHhck in was uneventful and reasonably quick. Baggage was left with bell boy to bring to the room, this a service that the hotel offer. 4 hours later no luggage. My husband had to go and get it. this was not a problem but why offer a service and then not give it. Room was clean, bright and spacious but this was one of the recently renovated rooms in the South tower 14th floor. Tea and coffee making facilities but no coffee and no milk and was never given throughout the holiday. Food was varied and plentiful, but when eating in the buffett resturant be very aware of the cats. they are breeding like wild fire and they are ferrell. The hotel do not encourage them but the geusts feed them. They need to be spayed and neutered or got rid of.The booking system in place for the al a carte resturants is very poor as they were booked almost 3 days in advance. The in house entertainment leaves a lot to be desired but some of the acts from outside were really good and was the saving grace for the evening entertainment.You get the usual harrasment from traders on the beach but I was firm but polite and wasn't bothered too much after that. The hotel could do with a complete overhaul in regards to the communual areas that are under cover because when it rained there were huge puddles of water everywhere because all the roofs seem to leak. I have never seen so many different utensils being used to try and catch rain water to avoid most floor areas becoming slippery and very dangerous. Most of the staff were very nice and profesional but there were a couple who were a little bit rude to some guests but the guests had left thier manners at home, not a please or thankyou which in my book go a long way to getting good service. The pool was cleaned on a daily basis and the pool areas and gardens were well kept. The only minus was the sand playing area where volley ball and other ball games are played because the ferrell cats use it as a litter tray. YUK YUK YUK. I would not go back to this hotel because I know can get alot more for my money at a different hotel. This may have been a GRANDE hotel once, but not any more. I would give it a good 3*plus rating.

I read a few of the reviews before leaving for my trip and I have to say I was worried. But once I got there I didn't know what all the fuss was about. My family and I were attending a wedding and we had a fabulous time. I was very pleasently surprised. The room was very comfortable and clean.

When we first arrived we were put in a twin instead for king size. I asked for a room change which they did very promptly. The food was also very good. I've been on an all inclusive before which only catered for 'English' food to my disappointment but the Jamaica Grande didn't disappoint. They provided local food as well. My only criticism is that there was no seafood (e.g. crab, prawns, ect) on any of the menus. The restaurants were all lovely with my fav being the asian. The bars were great with drinks on constant follow with VERY friendly staff. Actually MOST staff were very friendly throughout the hotel.

During our stay there must have been 3 weddings a day. My friend and I were worried that her wedding would feel like a 'convayour-belt-manufactured' day but she felt extra special. Word of advice though....if there's a group of you attending a wedding make sure you're all staying at the Jamaica Grande. They charged $100 per person to come onto the grounds to attend the wedding. My friend wasn't told this when booking.

The pools and beaches were lovely with great snorkling near by. Only problem was that there were not enough umbrellas to go round.

Overall, it was a lovely family friendly resort with lots to do. Just bring more US$ than any other currancy.

My holiday in Jamaica Grande was absolutely fabulous. I went with my children who are teenagers and they would not leave the hotel they enjoyed the food the activities on offer and made many new friends. This was my second visit to this hotel the staff were very friendly the rooms were clean there was entertainment on stage every night.

Jamaica is a very beautiful country despite what you might hear.

It was amazing didn't want to go home. Though I will say that there isn't any entertainment in the evenings there. Don't listen to peoples bad reviews. Overall it was my best holiday ever.

We went to the Sunset Jamaica Grand from July 12-17. It was better than we could have ever hoped! We read a mix of reviews on this place, so we were definitely sceptical. Here is a breakdown of our vacation in paradise.

Flight: We took a direct flight on Continental. Direct is definitely the way to go. We had to pay a little more money for this flight but it was worth it.

Arrival: When we got to Jamaica, the airport was great. Very efficient and very clean. We went through all the stops: customs, luggage etc. It was all a breeze. Tip: We were waiting along the running revolver rack for our luggage for about 10 minutes. We didn't see it and then I noticed a whole bunch of luggage neatly laid out next to the rack. That's where we found ours. Don't forget to look there too. After getting our luggage, we went to the resort pick up area. It is huge and every resort has it's own little shop. We went in and filled out information for the hotel and for the bus to get to the hotel. Then they directed us to the company that we paid for to take us to the hotel: Jamaica Tours. We booked them through Orbitz. We went to Jamaica Tours, signed the information and then somebody took our luggage right out to the bus for us. This guy did ask for a tip afterwards, we tipped him $2, so if you don't want to tip, haul your own luggage to the bus area. We got on a small air-conditioned bus. It probably only sat 20 people. The beginning of the 2 hour trip was bad. The roads are all under construction, so the ride was really bumpy. I get a little sick on boats when the sea is really rough and I did begin to get sick on this bus ride because it was a lot of stop and go in the beginning. After a while though, the road is fine, no bumps or construction. We stopped at a rest stop about halfway through. Our bus stopped at the RIU and then at our resort. They are only 10 minutes apart, so that wasn't bad. Our driver did ask us if we smoked and we just said no and that was that. Before we got off the bus, the driver kindly asked us to tip. Once again we gave $2.

Hotel arrival: When we arrived at the Sunset Jamaica Grande we were extremely impressed. The lobby was beautiful and clean. Everyone there was super nice. We waited on line to check in for about 10 minutes, not even that, and while we were waiting we got a really delicious rum punch drink served to us. As soon as we were done checking in, we went right over to guest services and made dinner reservations. You can only make them up to 2 days in advance. We arrived on a Thursday and booked both our Friday and Saturday dinners right then. No problems! Then we took our luggage to our room. We did it ourselves, although they do have people there to do it for you but we were tired of needless tipping.

Room: We stayed in the beachfront cabanas. Now we were sceptical about these rooms too because we read tons of reviews on this place and no one ever mentioned staying here. Best decision ever! First of all, only 2 adults per room. No kids! Second of all, the high-rises involve waiting for elevators. The beachfront cabana rooms are only 2 floors, so you never have to wait. Ever! We stayed on the first floor. If you are going to stay in the cabanas, definitely ask for a first floor room. We had a nice little patio on the first floor whereas if you are on the second floor you have a balcony about half that size. The room was clean, the maids were very friendly. FYI: In the shower there is soap, shampoo, and lotion. There is also a hairdryer and an iron with an ironing board.

Extra: We did leave the deposit for the safe. Every day we locked up our expensive items and never had a problem!

Pools: All beautiful and clean.

Bars: Be careful! They use over-proof rum in their drinks. The first day we were there we made the mistake of drinking too much. The problem is the rum there is like Everclear here. You can smell the rum in the drink but you can't taste anything. Every day they have a different drink of the day and they are all amazing! That is all that we drank. When we wanted a frozen drink, we asked for a Hummingbird, which is a strawberry-banana Daiquiri with rum. It is yummy! Devon at the main pool bar is the best!

Food: The breakfast buffet is great. We ate there every morning. The French Toast is amazing! During the day, we always ate at the 2 pool grills. The jerk chicken is awesome. At night, we ate at the buffet the first night. It was OK. Nothing to brag about. Every other night that we were there we ate at a restaurant. Reservations were super easy to make. Like I said when we first arrived, we booked for 2 days and then we went back on Friday to book for Sunday. Easy and effortless. The food was flawless. Presentation amazing! We loved every minute of eating here. We went to Il Diva, Ginger Lily and the South Beach Grille. All were awesome! We did go to Caf Jamalicious on our last day for lunch. It was good. A different kind of food but good.

Beaches: South beach is the nicest. They have donut rafts for you to relax in while in the water. They were the best! North beach is really rocky, although that is where all of the water sports for the hotel are located. On South Beach you can rent items for the water like jet skis. TIP: Watch out for sea urchins. They nest in the seaweed.

Activities: Many of the daily activities are geared towards children. We made our own fun during the day by laying in the donut rafts and drinking. They have cup holders. At night, there were shows and stuff. Just things to watch. No audience involvement or anything. If there is one complaint we had it was this. We wish there was more to do. We did make our own fun though. We went out to trampolines in the water on the North Beach side. We also went kayaking and on the Hobie Kat boat. We went down the waterslide a lot. We played pool and ping pong too. Plus one day we took the snorkelling gear and went into the water. Tip: If you like shells, check out the beaches when no one is around. I found the best shells in Jamaica. I brought them all home and put them in a glass jar.

At night: If you are a couple, definitely take some drinks and walk out to the gazebo pier. There are chairs out there and you can just sit, talk, drink and look at the stars. It is really romantic. The club isn't worth your time. We went there at about 11 pm and it was terrible. Maybe it gets better later?

Towels: Towel service is easy. They give you 2 cards when you check in. You exchange them at one of the 2 towel huts to get towels. We took our towels with us everyday back to the room, since the huts close at 6 pm and we were usually still out there past that time. Then the next morning we would bring the towels back to the hut for new towels. During the day, if our towels got really wet, we would just exchange them. No problems!

Craft Market: We did venture out to the market. We were nervous, but it was fine. You walk out of the resort and make a right. Then walk down and it will be on your right. Everyone asks you to buy their stuff. Just relax and don't get annoyed. If you want to buy something, BARTER! My fiance bartered for everything. We got some great deals. Tip: Go early in the am before it gets too hot.

Extras:

Cool Runnings Catamaran Cruise to Dunns River Falls:

This cost us $138 for 2 people. We booked this through Jamaica Tours. Best decision ever. The boat picks you up by the beach. You walk down the South Beach further than our hotel. Suggestion: Leave about half an hour prior to the boats arrival time. We stopped at a lady at the end of the resort who sold us a voucher for water shoes. You need water shoes to climb Dunns River Falls. They were only $5 to rent. She gave us the voucher after paying her. Right before you get on the boat, at the end of the dock is another lady. She has a release form for you to sign before getting on the boat. Once on the boat, they offered us punch and water. No alcohol! They save that for the ride home. Then they explained the trip. First we went snorkeling. It was awesome. Then we went to the falls. Really cool. You hold hands all the way up. Suggestion: Bring a waterproof camera. There are plenty of people there who are willing to take your picture. They do offer at the end to give you a video of your climb, we didn't buy it though. If you choose to buy it, I think it was $40 and you get it when you get off the boat at the end of the trip. The best part was the ride home. So as soon as you get back on the boat, they give you rum punch and Red Stripe. Suggestion: Sit in the front of the boat. I took motion sickness tablets and it was a good decision. The way there it is smooth and calm but the way back is a crazy roller coaster of fun. I started with rum punch while my fiance had Red Stripe. The boat flies up in the air and crashes down into the water and you are constantly getting soaked. It is so much fun. Eventually I switched over to Red Stripe. He had to hold our beers with his fingers over the top to keep the salt water from going in. It was awesome. I guess if you don't want to get as wet, you can sit in the back. They do make you put all of your stuff below deck, so it doesn't get wet. Although I kept my waterproof camera and snapped some pictures of us getting drenched. Once you are closer to the drop off point, they teach you dancing and by that time we had guzzled so many Red Stripes that we were all about dancing. They do ask you to tip them when you leave but you will want to tip them. I think my fiance gave them $20. They were awesome!

Jet Skiing:

We went down by the South Beach to rent a jet ski. You can always barter a price. One lady told us $140 for an hour. We came back the next day and bartered with someone else for $100 an hour. She took the $100 and then we went out around the harbour for an hour. It was fun.

Spa:

Due to the fact that we had just gotten engaged before we left, we wanted to treat ourselves. We paid for a couples massage, which was really nice. It was 45 minutes and we laid next to each other, though we each had our own person massaging us. It was $130 for the massage, plus we left a $26 tip for them to split.

Photos:

A guy came around and took a bunch of pictures of us in the pool. We went to the photo shop to see them, we ended up getting one, a 5x7 for $10 and I bought a frame that was $14 to go with it. It was a nice investment because they even wrote whatever we wanted across the photo.

Champagne Sunset Dinner:

This is an option that you can pay for at guest services. Since we wanted to treat ourselves, and we are big on food, we opted to pay to have this dinner on our last night in Jamaica. The dinner is $140, plus we tipped our waitress $28 and the chef $10. He came out to the table to check on us, which we loved, so we gave him a small tip. If you are looking for romance in an ideal setting with amazing food, pay for this dinner. We were on the beach, alone. They set up a table for us with champagne and everything. We had one waitress, just for us. Her only job is to cater to us. The dinner is 5 courses and includes a shrimp appetizer while the dinner was surf and turf. We like to go out to dinner in NJ and there has been times where we have spent $160 for 2 of us to eat and drink. This meal was well worth the money. Not only was the food to die for but the atmosphere was amazing. We booked our dinner for 6:30 pm, although you can book at 7:30 pm or 8:30 pm too. We watched the sun go down from our table and then later at night we had the moon and stars above us. TIP: Bring your camera. The waitress will take as many pictures as you ask her to.

Leaving: We had to get up really early on the last day that we were there. I was afraid that we wouldn't get to eat because the bus left at 7 am but the buffet didn't open until then. Boy was I wrong. When we went into the lobby to check out, which took seconds, they had a continental breakfast waiting for us with coffee, tea, juice and an assortment of muffins, pastries and croissants. It was really nice. We got on a regular size bus this time. It was a full size normal bus. We only stopped at RIU and then made the same trek back, the bus ride was much smoother. Most of us slept the entire ride.

Airport leaving: Immigration went fine. We actually had some time to kill before our flight took off, so we ate lunch at the Jamaican Bobsled Cafe in the airport. They had really delicious wings soaked in a guava rum sauce. Tip: You can bring rum on the place. After you get through immigration and everything, you will enter the shopping area. There you will find shops and restaurants. We went into a liquor store. The guy assured us that we could take the alcohol on the place. Wray rum is supposedly the best kind of over-proof rum. Regardless, we bought tons of rum. My fiance bought two big bottles and it cost him $20. I bought a bunch of little bottles for gifts and they cost me $13. They put his bottles in a cardboard carrier. Though they told us we could get on the plane with the bottles, we were worried, so we stuffed everything in my bag. Low and behold, they do check the bags again before getting on the plane but they don't care about the rum! People were walking on with the cardboard carriers. I guess the people in Jamaica want you to buy their rum. So make sure you buy rum at the airport after going through immigration and all that. TIP: We put money aside for the departure tax but they never asked us for it.

All in all, this was one of the best vacations we have ever taken. We plan to go back to this resort. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

I booked my Jamaica vacation through Bookit.com. They were wonderful. No problems at all. I visited Jamaica May 25 to June 3 2007. This time we flew Spirit Air to Jamaica. We had a 2 hour delay with Spirit Air but the staff were much friendlier than those on Air Jamaica.

We arranged a private driver when we arrived at MBJ, he was awesome, his name is Ronnie. He drives so carefully and does not make you sit on the edge of your seat.

When we arrived at the Sunset Jamaica Grande, SJG for short, we were greeted at the door with the fabulous punch that you read about in other reviews. The lobby is updated with an open atrium and modern facilities. The tiles are very slippery when wet! If it is raining, the water will get on the floors. When I made it up to the desk, the staff at the SJG seemed clueless. I had made requests for adjoining rooms, I travel with my husband and 3 children, in the South tower. I had to wait for the manager Ms Ulysses, not sure of spelling, she said they did not have any adjoining rooms available. I was given two rooms in the North tower that were not adjoining and was told to check with the front desk manager in the morning for adjoining rooms in the South tower. By this time, I was just plain tired of having to wait and seeing all the disorganization, so we took the rooms.

The North tower is rather old and outdated. The rooms are very much like the US hotel rooms at a cheaper hotel. Don't expect much. The day was pretty much a waste as I did not want to unpack and then repack again in the morning when we switched rooms. We spent the time familiarizing ourselves with the resort.

The North tower is adjacent to the casino, kiddy area, entertainment center including pool table, badminton and a stage area. What we did notice was that a lot of the activities at the SJG are out of order. For example, the pool table was destroyed, more than half of the video games are out of order, there is only one washer and dryer that is functioning in the guest laundry. Beware, it costs $5 USD to wash and $5 USD to dry, you have to purchase tokens that are way over in the South tower gift shop! The ice cream machine is out of order frequently and many, many more! Again, there seems to be a huge lack of management to get stuff accomplished!

Overall, the staff is nice. I would not go so far as to say they offer the warm Jamaican welcome. In December, we stayed at the FDR Pebbles. The staff there was far superior to the staff at the SJG. The FDR staff made it a point to welcome their customers! There were a couple of exceptions at the SJG. Jermaine at the North tower bar was very pleasant. Also, Dwayne at the bar next to the Sunset Grill was also nice and welcoming. Though the resort advertises that tips are included, we still tipped the staff that went out of their way to do a good job. Unfortunately, there were not as many at the SJG as there was at FDR Pebbles. The only downfall of the FDR Pebbles was the manger. He treated his workers with very little respect.

In the morning, after tracking down the manager, we were switched to the South tower. It is updated more so than the North but again, there is only your typical hotel room there as well. It is not, by any means, a fancy resort. Also, two elevators were out of order. The wait for an elevator was horrendous! We stayed on the 11th floor, so the stairs were quite a climb but we did choose this option from time to time because of the elevator situation.

The South tower is adjacent to the main dining room and the specialty restaurants, La Diva, Ginger Lily and the South Beach Bar and Grill. All are fully booked on the night, they ask that you make a booking 48 hours beforehand. If there are openings the night before, you can also get in but honestly, you could just walk in and say you had reservations. Again, the hotel lacks organization.

As far as the food is concerned, none of it is great but there is always variety. One spot that is not visited very often is the Jamalicious Cafe under the North tower. They serve the Jamaican Patties here. I was not crazy about them but my kids enjoyed them. They offer chicken and beef but most days the beef patties are out of order and they only serve chicken.

The service in La Diva and Ginger Lily is very good, they try to make it an upscale experience. It is good for Jamaica, but again, don't forget that you are not in the US anymore! I preferred the food at La Diva, the bread was excellent. The raviolis were pretty good too and the wine was potent! When you drink at the specialty restaurants, they serve in actual glasses. I don't like drinking wine out of a plastic cup. So, this was a treat. My kids really like Ginger Lily. I though the food was average but the atmosphere was nice. They do ask that you dress up for these two restaurants. Men need to wear trousers and ladies wear resort wear. Just bring one outfit and you will be fine!

Another dining option is the main dining room, they serve all three meals. Nothing is great here but there is a variety and you won't go hungry. Breakfast is the best. My husband enjoyed the fresh eggs and the made to order omelets.

One note about the food, we were not crazy about the Jerk Chicken at the SJG, the jerk sauce was rather bad. They serve Jerk Chicken at 12:30am at the South Beach Bar Grill. That was so disappointing! At the FDR Pebbles, the jerk sauce was to die for! I craved it till we returned to Jamaica but the SJG was quite a disappointment. My husband spoke to the food manager about the chicken. He did make us some barbecue sauce to try. That was nice of him but it was just your typical Heinz barbecue sauce. Oh how I miss the Jerk Chicken at the FDR Pebbles!

As far as activities are concerned, there were quite a few. Unfortunately, we had rain 9 out of the 10 days that we were in Jamaica but we tried to make the best of it. What we did was wake up at 5:30am and enjoy the few hours of sun, by 11 am the rains came pouring! Unfortunately, the water sports did not open till 9:30 am. My family tried the snorkeling, gear was available at the pool hut for free. Bobcat, a sailboat, was available crewed by one of the staff, this was lots of fun. Sign up early in the morning at the water sports hut. Wind surfing instructions are available, I think my husband finally made it up on the wind surfing by the last day, it is not easy. Especially since the rain held us back. The aqua cycles and the pedal boats are fun and a lot of exercise. You are limited on how far you can go out in the ocean, they try to protect you from the big boats. The one slide on the swimming pool was working on our visit, the other was still out of order and being constructed. The kids went down the one a couple of times, they did not seem too interested. There are two jacuzzis and 7 or 8 pools, the jacuzzis get packed, especially in the rain. The pools have an oily film on the top. They are not kept that clean. Swim at your own risk!

The market is within walking distance from the resort, do not go alone. They sell the typical Jamaican crafts. I bought a nice bamboo wind chime this time, I was looking for some of the yummy jerk sauce that they use at the FDR Pebbles, unfortunately I could not find any! It is sad to see how the Jamaicans live in such poverty. I am amazed that they do not rebel but they have a very laid back way of living. Last time I was in Jamaica, I promised to bring donations for the people. I packed a huge suitcase full of clothes, books, toys, pens and other needed stuff. I donated the items to Ronnie, the awesome driver and he said his church could much use the items. It is so sad how little the Jamaicans have. I also donated items to our nanny at the FDR in December. Her name is Kemonie! She was so awesome when we stayed at the FR in December and I really wanted to donate items for her and her family. Ronnie agreed to drop off the items to her at the FDR Pebbles. If you can, bring stuff to donate! You'll feel good about it.

Overall, the SJG did not meet my expectations. I feel the warm welcome from the FDR Pebbles was not there at the SJG. Many things were out of order at the SJG. The food was just ordinary. Did I get my monies worth? Yes. But, when I vacation, it is the time that is spent that means so much. I want to make the best of it. Yes, we did try to make the best of it but midway through our vacation we were ready to go home! At the FDR Pebbles, we were sad to leave. At the SJG, we were happy to get back to the States. I gave the hotel 2 stars. It is nothing great. It has potential but lacks in management to make that potential possible.

Let me end with saying, Ronnie is a great driver! He was there to take us back to the airport without any waiting! The other vacationers were so jealous that we had a driver there waiting. They had to ride those scary buses! Don't forget the set up transport with Ronnie. Tell him that Jeff and Jennifer say hello! You won't be disappointed! He is worth it and his prices are very reasonable! I would use his services even if the resort offers transport. The SJG does not offer transport.

We stayed at the Sunset Jamaica Grande from 12th-19th February 2006 and had a wonderful time.

Flight:

We flew Premair Gold with My Travel from Gatwick and despite some of the reviews we read before we left about My Travel we had no complaints despite the journey taking an extra 2 hours on the way there due to bad weather in NE USA.

Arrival at Airport:

The airport was a bit chaotic and it took ages to get our luggage. Apparently the man loading the bags onto the conveyor belt required a sit down after every two bags!!!!! There was also a member of airport staff removing bags from the conveyor belt and stacking them to the side (in front of the conveyor belt blocking one side)- so if you can't find your bag at first don't panic.

When we finally got/found our bags and moved through arrivals to get onto the bus a porter took our bags and put them on a tatty old truck (your bags travel separately from you). He then advised us our $5 tip was not enough (despite us having only 4 bags). We were later advised by our rep that the going rate is $1 per bag.

Transfer:

The transfer from the airport to the hotel took approx. 2 hours and the roads were a little bumpy. However after having been travelling for nearly 15 hours I found this just sent me to sleep!!!!

Hotel:

On arrival we sat in the impressive lobby and received a fruit punch before we checking in very quickly.

We had rooms in the South Tower on the 9th floor. As mentioned in some of the other reviews the rooms are spotlessly clean but "Island Typical" - basic and brightly coloured. We had a fantastic view of the beach, pool area, mountains and part of the town.

Bars:

We tried all of the bars during our stay, and found all of the staff to be really friendly and helpful. The drinks were strong and the only problem we had was finding one of the elusive ash trays! However bar staff will provide a plastic cup with some water in it as a make-do ash tray if you miss out on a real one.

Food:

We ate mainly at the buffet and found it to be very varied with a good selection of Jamaican and US style food. We also had lunch at the Jamalicious Caf one day - which was good (but for really good patties go off of the resort and turn left to Juicies - they were amazing!). We also had dinner at the Italian restaurant one night which was also excellent.

Pool:

We spent any pool time at the pool by the South Beach. This was definitely the quieter of the two pools (and didn't have a swim up bar - although the walk to the South Beach Bar and Grill took about 30 seconds!!!) It also had individual gazebos so if a rain shower did occur you stayed sheltered! (The rain was really cold). The gazebos also had small separate pools in front of them so it could feel like you had a pool all to yourself!

Beach:

We sat on the South Beach the one day we spent at the Beach. Due to the rain we had the first two days we were there the water was a little cloudy but we definitely did not see any oil slicks.

Entertainment:

We found this a little hit and miss - we found that the bands didn't play enough reggae for our liking. However on two nights it was really good - Monday night there was a four piece male group who were amazing, followed by a male singer who was hysterically funny - he was running around all over the place and even ended up lying on the floor at one point. Then on the Friday night Karen Smith sang and she was fantastic. It was the only night we saw the dance floor completely full.

Out and About:

Unfortunately the weather for our first two days was not very good (it rained and rained and rained!) but we took this as an opportunity to go into the town. Everyone was incredibly friendly and we were hardly approached at all - in fact we felt more hassled when we were in Gran Canaria than we ever did in Ocho Rios. Places to definitely visit are Mama Marleys Bar, the shopping centres (particularly for diamonds - thank you sweetheart!) and Juicy Patties for some of the best chicken patties we've ever had.

We also went on two excursions which we would definitely recommend - the Spirit of Reggae Tour and the Cool Runnings Trip to Dunns River.