Honeymoon at Sandals Montego Bay

Sandals is beautifully landscaped with lush gardens filled with colorful flowers. My husband and I came to Sandals Montego Bay for our honeymoon. After a wonderful, but long and tiring wedding, we were ready to relax. So, we spent most of our time lounging in the pools (complete with swim-up bars) or on the beach, listening to calypso music.

Those seeking more excitement can participate in organized group activites. Watersports available include snorkeling, diving, kayaking, water-skiiing,and sailing. Lessons and equipment are included. Sport activities available are tennis, volleyball, basketball, lawn chess, shuffleboard, horseshoes,and croquet. Couples who would perfer to be alone can escape to the many hammocks, love baskets, gazebos, and secluded lush gardens throughout the resort.

Night life includes a disco, a piano bar, and live performances by bands and entertainers. The all-inclusive resort also offers several restaurants to choose from, including a snack bar which provides fast food at anytime during the day and most of the night.

Quick Tips:

The resort staff can arrange additional excursions, such as waterfall tours, big-game fishing and 'booze cruises.' The highlight of our trip was the booze cruise. Spend the extra for this excursion, it is a blast. This is a great place to go if you like staying busy. If you prefer a more relaxing trip, you may want to consider a different Sandals resort.

Best Way To Get Around:

The resort itself is absolutely beautiful. However, past the gates of Sandals leaves much to be desired. I do not recommend that anyone venture outside of the resort other than to participate in an organized tour. Sandals provides transportation to and from the airport.

There are several levels of rooms that you can choose from at Sandals. My husband and I stayed in a Junior Suite within a duplex which had a king-sized bed, full bath, and a sitting area. The rooms are beautiful with marbled bathrooms and four poster mahogany beds. All rooms include air conditioning, king-size bed, amenity kit, hair dryer, telephone, private bath and shower, safe, clock radio, cable T.V. and coffee maker. Suites have sitting areas, mini-bars, terry robes, and a daily New York Times Fax.

Suites also come with concierge service. We heard from many of our friends that the extra $ was worth it to have this service. However, we never even saw our concierge and were very disappointed that we had spent the extra money. The bottom line is that Sandals has so much to offer that you really don't spend that much time in the room. And since Sandals is 'for lovers,' when you are in the room, you really are not paying much attention to the facilities, if you know what I mean. My advice: save your money, get a basic room and enjoy yourself just as much as those who book a suite.

Out of all the restaurants Sandals has to choose from, we enjoyed Tokyo Joe's the best. Tokyo Joe's allows you to create your main course and have it stir-fried by chefs. The restaurant is an open patio for outdoor dining with Asian decor and soft candelight. The only drawback is a limited desert menu.

The Oleander is the most formal of Sandals Montego Bay restaurants. It is a white-glove service restaurant serving Jamaican cuisine in an elegant Georgian-style setting. The atmosphere is great, but the food is only average.

It does give you an opportunity to try the local flavors, such as Jerk Chicken, one of Jamaica's most famous dishes. Dessert was the best part of the meal, so don't forget to save room!

Sandal's has all the amenities for a beach bum - whether they prefer to stay active or choose to simply lounge on the beach. There are many water sport activities, as listed above. There are more than enough beach chairs and cabanas for those who wish to relax.

We enjoyed out Jamaican vacation, but we believe that Jamaica is really overrated. The beach was average - there were patches of seaweed in the water and the skyline always seemed to have a haze. Also, the water is not nearly as blue as the resort brochures advertise. The sunsets were beautiful, though. There are several hammocks, swings, and gazebos on the beach which make the sunsets that much more romantic.

Join about 25 other couples on a giant Catamaran for an exciting ride! Jamaican guides will provide you with a continuous stream of rum punch, which does in fact pack quite a 'punch'. For about an hour, we sail, drinking and dancing to reggae music. Our first destination is to a coral reef where we snorkel among tropical fish. The second is Margaritaville -a beachside bar featuring a relatively long waterslide. All are encouraged to take a ride down the long, slippery slide - it is quite fun!

On the ride back to the resort, all of the ladies on the cruise are treated to complementary foot massages. Guests continue to drink and dance to reggae, often times singing along with the music. All the while, a friendly Jamaican fellow is videotaping the whole event which will be available for you to buy.