Jamaica: Ocho Rios

Ocho Rios has been picking up in popularity with tourists to Jamaica the past few years, and with good reason. The deep green vegetation that crowds the dense interior of the island stretches down to this part of the Jamaican coast, unlike the normally dry and barren beaches of the region. The lovely waterfalls draw the attention of visitors, and the more isolated area makes it quiter and more tranquil than busy Montego Bay.

A large part of my experience was staying at the Enchanted Garden resort. While I would definitely recommend this nice property for heterosexual couples, it was pretty dull for two single gay guys looking to meet new people.

Quick Tips:

Choose a hotel that's appropriate for your social group or that caters to the kind of people you'd like to mingle with.

Best Way To Get Around:

Jamaica may be unfairly targeted as a "dangerous" destination, but there really isn't much of a need to go walking around outside the compound-like resorts. Though most people will probably leave you alone, there is not much to see walking in the area around town that isn't already covered in group tours.

This beautifully landscaped resort is quite unlike the rest of Jamaica that we saw on our trip. Over twenty acres of lush flowering trees, palms, orchids and manicured lawns provide a natural eden for hotel guests, who may never want to leave for the nearby beach.

The popular tourist attraction in Ocho Rios is the Dunn''s River Falls. Here at the Enchanted Garden you can try climbing their much smaller but no less slippery and dangerous waterfall. A world-class aviary allows you feed the local birds who will come sit on top of your head and nip you if you aren''t so forthcoming with the banana.

There are numerous restaurants at the resort offering different world cuisines. The hotel''s spa offers a thorough line of services and restorative products for sale. A shuttle bus takes you on a oneminute ride across the street to their private mini-marina, where you can swim, sun, or engage in water activities like boating or skiing.

The room itself that we stayed in was quite nice, and we were paying for an economy. Service was alternately good and bad, but compared to another hotel we stayed at in Jamaica this was considerably better. Though the Enchanted Garden does not market their property exclusively to couples like Sandals, it is a very romantic resort destination and my single friend and I felt a little uncomfortable.

One of the themed restaurants that are an option in Enchanted Garden's all-inclusive dining plan is Temples, a surprisingly good Thai eatery. Foreign cuisine in Jamaica sounded iffy, and my past experience with all-inclusive resort dining had been pretty frustrating. I was taken off guard then when Temples served a choice of three dishes, and the two that we sampled were quite good.

Not all of the restaurants on the premises are open each night, so you have to plan in advance when you'd like to dine at the Thai, French or Mid Eastern restaurants. Make sure to reserve a table when Temples is available, as it was the best meal I had while visiting Jamaica.

This casual restaurant and lounge is where most afternoon meals are served at the Enchanted Garden. It's notable in that throughout the large well lit space are huge aquarium tanks filled with exotic species of fish. As you nibble on your banana encrusted chicken dish, you can watch the lovely angel fish and zebra fish slowly amble by. They also have board games and cards to keep you amused in the lounge area in between meals.

When I read that the Enchanted Gardens resort included an aviary on their property, I expected a caged parrot and some ducks waddling about. But this large walk-in atrium had a variety of large birds that were native to the island as well as some exotic species I had never seen before.

Two beautiful peacocks routinely showed off their feathers for us, while numerous brightly colored parrots swooped down from below to land on our outstretched arms and sometimes our heads. They must have been trained somehow because each time I was terrified their strong claws would rip into my scalp, but they gently planted their heavy bodies atop me without leaving a scratch.

The highlight of the aviary visit was that the handlers encouraged us to participate in feeding the birds. The animals were quite happy to get bites of banana and instantly became much more friendly to the human inruders. The aviary is a great addition to the resort, and should be a definite stop for everyone, though perhaps outfitted with a baseball cap.

The spa and gym that is located at Enchanted Gardens has some great strengths and clear weaknesses that earn it a mixed review. The spa features extensive services for relaxation and physical well-being. These services, however, are not always executed well, and I got the impression that the procedures were modified on the spot so as to naturally require an additional "follow-up" treatent which came, of course, at an additional price.

I went there for sunburn relief, and purchased a moisturizing aloe body wrap. They poured somewhat cold water on me, then generously applied their own homemade aloe gel all over my aching skin. They then wrapped me up like a mummy in a bedsheet and poured freezing cold water over me. I couldn't exactly jump up as I was bound in a bedsheet! But I shivered and asked if they might try a little bit warmer water. The attendant said not to worry, I'd get used to it. She then left me alone in the room for twenty minutes without saying a word.

Maybe I'm just not used to tough love spa treatments but this lack of communication seemed odd to me. Afte twenty minutes and my resorting to call out to her, she finally arrived to find my teeth chattering. She said, oh, is that too cold? Well, in the end I was less preoccupied with pain and I allowed her to convince me to buy some additional aloe so I could simply escape without further harm.

The gym was fairly lacking in equipment, but I had the place to myself. I guess not too many honeymooning couples were interested in keeping up their work out regimens. There's not much in the way of cardiovascular equipment, and the locker room was inexplicably "unavailable." You might be better off jogging the extensive campus of the resort.