Touring Beaches Negril and Sandals Negril
- Amaris Scipione
- Sep 22
- 5 min read
It’s another day in Paradise! This resort has four different breakfast experiences, and I plan to try all of them. Today I am eating at Bayside which offers a breakfast buffet. It’s a hike from my room because it’s on the other end of the resort. I arrive to the restaurant and wait to be seated. I’m seated and a server comes by immediately for my drink order. I order an iced latte. I go to the buffet and decide on the French toast, bacon, and papaya. The French toast section had a nice set of options for toppings. I added some whipped cream and Nutella. The fruit area is not meant for short armed people. The fruit bar has two rows of fruit plates, and I find the second row difficult to reach. My face is pressed against the glass with my arm fully extended to reach the papaya. A piece of papaya was lost during the expedition. I do love papaya though, so it was worth it.
We meet at the lobby and then it’s time to ride the bus. We have an hour or so bus ride from our hotel over to Negril. The ride allows us to see some beautiful views of the coastline along a country road ride.
The first stop is Beaches Negril! Bert from Sesame Street greets our bus of full of grown adults and we’re all smiling. I give Bert a big hug as we get off the bus! Characters are so much fun! We gather in the lobby to hear about Beaches and then Cookie Monster comes for a quick visit as well! There is something magical about being at a resort with characters. We think of them for the small children, but really, they make most people smile.
Our host gives us an introduction about Beaches while we stand in the lobby and she tells us this will be an hour tour. I chuckle in my head. There are 14 travel advisors in the group who all focus on creating videos. Videos take longer than snapping pictures. There is no way we’re going to get through this resort in an hour.
We begin walking through the resort. There is a mini-golf course with a snow cone stand nearby. We also see the Kid’s Club which has a two-story climbing structure that has you climb between two rooms. There is also a nursery for babies and children and another room for older children. The staff has backgrounds in early childhood education, and all staff members have an autism certification.
Next, we move to seeing two different “rooms.” I put rooms in quotation marks because these were basically little beachfront houses that we saw. The first one was a 4-bedroom Villa. This villa was super spacious and would be wonderful for a large family or friends with their families. It had its own private pool and was also steps away from the beach.
We also saw another villa which was equally impressive. This one had a beautiful view of the ocean as well. We finished the tour with seeing some of the restaurants and other features of the resort. I love this resort, and it has what most families would want: family-friendly rooms, beautiful beach, waterpark, water sports, quick-service food options during the day, fun nighttime dining, and Kid’s Camp so adults can have time on their own too.
Our second stop is Sandals Negril. This is an adult-only resort. This resort is much smaller than Sandals South Coast, but I think the beach here is better than the one at Sandals South Coast.
We tour two different rooms which are both nice. One thing to know about this resort is that almost all dining options are essentially outside. There is a nice breeze and there is a roof overhead, but no AC. We are treated with a special chef tasting lunch. We are in one of the open-air restaurants and I’m comfortable throughout the whole meal. There is a nice breeze and the cool drinks keep us comfortable. A chef tasting means we do not choose our food, and we are all served nearly the same thing. I say nearly because they do make accommodations for food allergies. The food here was absolutely amazing! Our meal started with a salad and then it was surf and turf for our main course. We ended with a beautifully crafted dessert. They also accommodated my allergy flawlessly. This resort is great for couples who want a beach-focused vacation. Rooms are all very close to the beach and this resort sits one seven-mile beach which is the best beach I’ve seen in Jamaica.
We arrive back at Sandals South Coast and it is time to get ready for dinner. We have some time before dinner so I take the opportunity to try the bathtub on the balcony. Each side of the balcony has cloth curtains which close to give you privacy. I closed them all to get a feel for what this is like. I am bathing in my swimsuit and ultimately decide that closing the curtains really changes the experience. It is much nicer to sit in the tub with the curtains open and take in the beautiful view of the ocean. The bathtub is much larger than it appears, and you could fit two people in here. One thing missing for the bath is a bath bomb or bath salts so pack some with you if you want to have this experience. I think they are also available to purchase in the gift shop. This is a must-do experience if you are staying at this resort. Make it even better by opening up the bottle of wine or champagne that is in the room!
Once I’m ready, I’m on a mission to ride a bike. My room is on the far side of the resort which is the opposite side as the food. I walk towards the over-water bungalows because I saw a few bikes here yesterday. None today. I then walk through another building and find bikes! The bikes are used frequently around the resort, and I find it comical at the variety of outfits of people riding the bikes. I’ve seen plenty of couples ride on them in their swimsuits and I’ve also seen wedding party members ride them in a full-piece suit and plenty of women riding them wearing dressed. I’m dressed in a white flowing dress which has a non-flowing under layer. I don’t really notice how non-stretchy this under layer is until I go to hop on the bike. If the under layer had been one-inch smaller, I would have probably fallen off the bike. Luckily for me, it is just big enough to allow me to make a full rotation with the pedals. I use the bike and take it all the way to the restaurant.
Jasmine’s is an Asian restaurant. I order the miso soup and the Beef Szechuan. Both were delicious. My meal was modified for my allergy, but the others that ordered it commented on how spicy it was. We find bikes to ride back to our rooms as well! There are four of us and we ride up and down the ramps through the Rondoval Village. Those ramps create some speed. Be careful if you do this!
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