4 Days in Mo Bay

Visit Dunn's River Falls. I am almost hesitant to tell you what you do there (if I had known, I might not have gone), but you should definitely go. It is a hike, but well worth it for the sense of accomplishment.

Do the Dreamer snorkeling trip/booze cruise. It’s by far the best "booze cruise" I have ever been on. They offer a nice boat and fun crew.

Talk to the locals. One local explained some of the history of Jamaica and that the dialect they speak is a combination of Spanish and English. However, most people involved in the tourism industry will tone down the accent and speak English.

Quick Tips:

Mo Bay is a poor town. Most of the locals are just looking to make a buck by selling you wares or pot, getting you into their taxis, etc. I never felt unsafe, really; overwhelmed is more like it.

We were offered marijuana everywhere, by cab drivers, concierges, and people on the street. Be careful. Just say no. It is illegal in Jamaica, no matter what they say. With that said, our hotel seemed pretty lax about it. I smelled it in the hall and on the beach a few times.

If you are staying at an all-inclusive resort, bring a mug or be prepared to buy one. We thought it sounded dorky to bring one, but so many people did just that. All the drinks come in tiny 8-ounce cups. Not only is it bad for the environment, but who drinks only 8 ounces of anything? The nice insulated mugs at the resort (and at Margaritaville) are . If you go to one of the markets, they are . Or you can bring your own.

Don’t bother bringing your own beach towels. Resorts provide "towel vouchers" for you, and you can even you leave the property with one.

Best Way To Get Around:

Watch out for non-legit cabs. The legit ones have green license plates.

Most people who visit Jamaica are on a "package" deal that includes air, hotel, and roundtrip transport to/from the airport. If you don't have roundtrip transport (we didn't - see why in my Sunset Beach Resort review), it confuses everyone at the transportation desks. Luckily, one of the nice ladies at one of the desks led us to a legit taxi and bargained for us. I highly recommend having your transportation from the airport prearranged. There are all kinds of people hanging outside the airport trying to get you in their taxi and begging for money, which was a rather uncomfortable way to begin our vacation.

Getting a taxi from our hotel was always easy. It was about into town from our hotel, and we took a trip out to Dunn's River Falls for roundtrip for four people. The taxis there are generally VW buses, with two bench seats in the back.

Our hotel also had giant buses that took day trips to area sights and, at night, made hourly trips to/from Margaritaville for free.

Built on a man-made beach 5 miles (15-minute cab ride) from Montego Bay, this hotel had everything we wanted: all-inclusive offers, a location on the beach and close(ish) to town, and a reasonable rate.

Upon arrival, you’ll notice that it’s set up like a fortress. No one goes in or out without security knowing about it. That made me feel safe. The hotel is down a quiet road near the marina.

The hotel welcomes you with a beautiful, covered open-air lobby filled with tropical plants, a large bar, lounge chairs, and giant couches. Nearby was an enclosed game room with pool tables. Just outside the lobby was a large pool with a bar in the middle, and beyond that, the beautiful blue ocean. This particular area of the Atlantic is not quite as pretty as Doctor's Cove Beach, but that's only due to the coral reef that makes the water dark in spots. This hotel is perfect for snorkelers, and the snorkeling is free!

Everyone that works there goes out of their way to make sure you are happy. At check-in, we inquired about a room on an upper floor of one of the towers. We had to wait another hour to actually check in, but we got a 10th-floor ocean-view room!

The room was clean and fairly standard: two queen-size beds, dresser, desk, etc. Also, there was a small locking box (you get a lock and key at check-in). The outside balcony was really nice to go out on and gaze at scenery. The food at the hotel was good. There are two "fancy" restaurants, a Chinese and an Italian place, but they were booked up, so we ate either at the pool "pick-up window" (burgers, fries, jerk chicken, etc., but the fries were the only good thing) or the buffet restaurant - the pasta was the most delicious thing, but definitely try some of the local fare! The made-to-order omelets in the morning are good, too. They have a little bit of everything.

The hotel will arrange any excursion you want. There is a $6 bus that takes you to go shopping, see the city, and explore an overlook. A free hourly shuttle takes you back and forth to Margaritaville. We arranged to have a "private" taxi take us to Dunn's River Falls for $80 roundtrip. There is a daily group tour, but we wanted to be on our own time.

We bought our package on Expedia, and they would only sell a one room package for 3 adults (not 4). Well, we had a fourth, so I called the hotel. They said the room would be "tight," but would allow it for $80 extra/night (for AI). Expedia would not add a fourth to the itinerary for the package, so we cancelled our roundtrip airport transportation and took a cab. As for it being "tight," it wasn't. It was a normal room with two queen-size beds. We stay in them all the time with four people!

I have been on several snorkeling/booze cruises in Mexico and Florida, but this was by far my favorite.

The 3-hour cruise leaves from a pier near beautiful Doctor's Cove Beach. Generally, your hotel will have arranged transportation for you, or you will take a taxi there and have about 30 minutes to look around, while the boat is prepared. This is nice, because Doctor's Cove Beach is the most famous and most gorgeous beach in Mo Bay.

Once you board the large catamaran with about 30 other people, you are introduced to the friendly (and really hot!) crew and the bar is immediately opened. While they do have Red Stripe on tap and several types of liquor, the most popular drink is Rum Punch, a fruity concoction of rum and red punch. It's tasty. They have a few other "specialty" juices to mix with liquor as well. Just like at the resorts, if you have your own (larger) cup, you can get a bigger drink.

The cruise sails out around the beautiful ocean, past Montego Bay for the first hour, and then stops to let everyone snorkel. While the boat is cruising around, the crew will try to make everyone sit on the rope "net" at the front of the boat. It's a little scary, but awesome! It puts nothing but NET between you and the beautiful ocean. It's an amazing feeling.

The snorkeling is magnificent, and you don't even need a life jacket because the salt water will keep you afloat! The water is very clear, and there are many colorful fish.

After the snorkeling, the cruise makes it's way to Margaritaville, a huge 3-story bar/restaurant located on the water. At the restaurant, you can relax, listening to Jimmy Buffett and trying one of their out-of-this-world Pina Coladas ($8), buy souvineers in the shop, or if you dare, ride the waterslide from the top floor into the ocean below! Once in the ocean, you can swim your way over to the water-trampolines. It all looked like fun, but the pina coladas were too delicious to do anything else. The eye candy of the boat crew down below was not bad either!

After about 30 minutes or so at Margaritaville, everyone boards the boat and heads back to Doctor's Cove Beach.

The tours are available daily Monday-Saturday, at either 10am or 1pm.