Couples Ocho Rios April 16-22, 2000
In August of 1999, I decided that my husband and I would celebrate our 10-year anniversary in Jamaica. I decided on Couples Ocho Rios. The dates we booked were 4/16-4/22. Flying from Las Vegas NV gave us the option of an all-nite Red Eye on Air Jamaica from LA, or, fly to Atlanta the day before, and then take the 3 hour flight from Atlanta to Montego Bay on Air Jamaica. We chose the latter. We landed in Montego Bay on Sunday, at about 10:30am. Stumbled our way to customs boothes, then to our luggage, and finally to our bus that Couples has waiting for us. It was the 2 of us and one other couple, who we later learned was a preacher and his new bride. Two miles out of the airport the traffic was stopped for a bicycle race. We finally made it through the fast, bumpy, windey, narrow road to Ocho Rios. And 10 minutes later, we were checking in.
Sunday: Our room was not at all what I had seen in the brochure. It was much older. At first I was disappointed, but later came to feel that it was probably the best room around, and we will probably even request it the next time we go. We were placed in room 404 of the main building. Top floor, 6 steps from the elevator, dead center of the resort, ocean view. From our room we could be equally near to the water sports area as to the bar and pool. Dead center. We figured that the West wing was too far away from the bar and pool, and the East wing too close to the disco/pool area (noisy at nite). We spend most of Sunday walking around the grounds, exploring the gift shop, hitting the buffet, lounging by the pool. We played ping-pong and pool for a really long time. And began sampling the Red Stripe. We had learned through Denny's site to bring large insulated drink cups, and were stupid enough to keep refilling them each time they were empty. We ended up that evening at the beach grill talking with Radcliff, the cook, who ended up being the nicest most accomodating person we ever met, and who kept serving us jerk chicken and french fries. We got pretty drunk that nite, and went to bed early.
Monday: Hangover. Breakfast buffet, which is quite good. They offer all types of selections...fresh fruit, omelets, any style eggs, meats, coffee, tea, juices, cereal, bagels and toasts...had to hit that first. We spent more time on the beach,and time at the pool, being lazy and recovering from the Red Stripe. Ended up playing bingo and winning a Couples T-Shirt.. I drank water all day long, but by dinner time, Doug was ready for more beer. The staff had set up a Welcom Reception on the main patio with food and cocktails, and we went to it for a little while. We had dinner in the French restaraunt, Le Gourmet, getting dressed up was fun, and the food was good. He practically had to force me to stay up for the lounge show, which was a cool Reggae band. We finally headed up to bed at midnight.
Tuesday: No hangover! We woke up, had breakfast, and headed to the lobby to catch the bus to Dunns River Falls. We signed up to be in the group that was being video taped, which I recommend. The final product was very personalized, and featured only 4 or 5 couples, us being on of them. The clime is long and challenging, up 960 feet of waterfalls, and the water is very cold. But, the guides were fun and patient, and we finally made it up. We got lost in the maze of vendors and craftsmen on our way out, and ended up buying our first of many souvenirs. Then, had to head back down to the beach at the base of the falls for our Couples Resort Beach Party. They were serving Red Stripe and had many fun contests, such as a limbo contest, "pass the bamboo", and a beer chugging contest. Had good fun there, and then headed back to the hotel. We had dinner in the pasta restaraunt, then watched the lounge show/disco for a while, and hit the sheets...
Wednesday: Had found 2 other couples interested in a charter fishing trip. Our boat arrived at 8:30, and kept us out til 12:30. No fish, no bites...we were out $120 bucks. That sucked. Hung out at the pool, and played in the surf for a while, taking the kayack out around the island and back. Went on a snorkling trip, was in a deep area, but still very nice. Headed to the Wednesday Night Beach Party. All the tables had been set up on the beach, with candles and table cloths, there was a bonfire, and several long tables filled with beautifully laid out food and carved ice scuptures and carved melons...very nice. Then there was a big show which included fire-eaters, dancers, singers, and dance contest. This was very entertaining and fun. We ended up partying the night away..I don't remember when we finally went to bed!
Thursday: I felt good today, Doug was hungover! Can't we get this coordinated?? There was a Scavenger Hunt poolside that I forced him to help me with. We ended up winning 2nd place, and a bottle of Rum. Went on a snorkling trip to the shallow reef to the right of the island. This was the most beautiful snorking area with millions of fish and corals to look at. After that, we headed to the pool for some relaxation. Dinner tonite was at the patio restaraunt, and after we ate we stayed for the entertainment which was not very exciting, so ended up going to bed early.
Friday: Woke up and went to breakfast, then went to the hat-weaving class where we wove our own hats out of palm tree leaves. After that was Easter Egg Painting, and an Easter Egg hunt. I stayed poolside, but Doug went on the hunt and won 2nd place, a bottle of Tia Maria and a Captain Morgans t-shirt. We then went up to shower for our Vow Renewals. This was very nicely done. We wore our Couples T-Shirts with denim shorts and flip-flops! Quick ceremony, cake, champagne, and lots of photos. Time to CELEBRATE, so we headed to the bar for another cocktail. We met up with our Irish friends from the Beach Party, and ended up taking over the disco and dancing our butts off til the wee hours! Very drunk and late nite again!!!
Saturday: Woke up and headed to breakfast, then to the pool for a while. We had reserved a spot for the 10:00am horseback riding, so headed over there at about 9:45. They ride you up into the hills and it is about 1/2 hour ride, which we really enjoyed. It was Dougs first ever time on a horse! We made our way back and went to our 12:00 massage which was very VERY good. Decided that it was time to go for a shower and lunch, since we had scheduled a 2:00 snorkling trip and the 4:00 catamaran trip. So, we headed up to our room. Upon entering our room at 12:45, we saw a note from the front desk reminding us to be in the lobby at 12:15 to catch our bus to the airport. WHAT??? We were a half hour late to leave to go home????? Damn, I was certain that we were going home on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!! We wildly started packing, if you can call it that, and running about to return beach towels and pick up our photos from the vow renewals, and finally made it to the lobby at 1:10!!! A shuttle bus was leaving at 1:15, and our plane was scheduled to leave at 4:10. We made it to the Montego Bay airport at 3:40, and BARELY made it onto the plane. You would have been appalled to see two frantic, massage-oil-covered freaks running through the airport like OJ Simpson, but there we were.... Well, we made it home, but kept laughing at ourselves all day for forgetting that it was time to go home!!! We wondered what would have happened had we missed our plane....
All in all it was the best vacation either of us had ever had. The resort is older, but beautifully maintained and very classy and clean. The staff was very attentive, friendly, fun-loving, and professional. The atmosphere was wonderful, especially the fact that it was couples ONLY, no singles, no kids...we really had time to enjoy each others company and reconnect with each other. After being there for a week, we are already planning our next trip, where we plan on staying for 2 weeks, and possibly taking the double-take. It was a beautiful resort and I have absolutely nothing bad to say about anything, and highly recommend it to anyone considering going.