This will be a long trip report, as it was a long time coming. My wife and I got married in Jamaica in 2001 in Ocho Rios. Since then, we have longed to return. We planned to return for Christmas/New Years this year (2002/2003), but my wife was diagnosed with tumors in her back that had to be removed. Her procedures went well, relieved her pain, and we moved our trip to late March. Having stayed twice in Ocho Rios, we wanted to try Negril this time. Our previous trips had been to all-inclusives in Ochi, but we wanted to try a more Jamaican place to stay this time. We decided to split our trip between 5 nights at Firefly and 4 nights at Grand Lido Negril.
Grand Lido Negril trip report here.
FIRELY 3/21-3/26/03
After much reading on the Internet, particularly negril.com, we found only positive review of Firefly. It was nude friendly, and right in the middle of the beach. Price was not bad (even for high season), so we booked it. They were ever so helpful, no problems with moving the dates because of my wifes surgery. They even emailed us in February to ask how she was doing.
Firefly was everything we had hoped for and more. We opted for the beachfront penthouse the view was awesome. The flights of stairs got a little tiresome, but the view was motivational to get up to the room, and the beach was there for the walk down. Beach bar was great great bartenders (especially Megan). Fireflys beach is narrow, but with so much beach in either direction it really didnt matter.
Comparing our first sights of Negril to our previous Ochi visits, we found that Negril was way more laid back. The gardens in Ocho Rios were beautiful, but had a hard time comparing to the beaches and sights of Negril. Also, we noted that the hagglers were much more laid back much easier to say no thank you and move on than in Ochi or MoBay. Our first meal in Negril was at Rainbow Arch, just a few doors down from Firefly. First jerk chicken of the trip was wonderful (never did have any that was bad). I like the sand/beach floor they even had the NCAA tournament on a TV above the bar. After settling in, we looked forward to our first Negril sunset. We were disappointed in Ocho Rios because the sunset often was behind land, tress, gardens, etc. The sun set directly into the middle of the ocean in front of Firefly. We were so hopeful to see a green flash, and looked for it each night, but alas there were always a few stray clouds on the horizon. Despite this, the sunsets were spectacular each night. That evening, we were pretty tired and turned in early to our room. Nice screens/blinds in our room. As we settled in, we could easily hear the reggae concert from next door. This happened each night, it was great different venue up or down the beach had great music for us to listen to as we fell asleep. It was not too loud, nor did it last too late. And when it stopped, we could still hear the waves from the beach. We did note that it is hard to escape the early morning light in Negril we really didnt want to sleep too late anyway; didnt want to waste our time in Jamaica.
We used Fireflys hottub a couple times very nice. The temperatures fluctuated some too hot one night but it was very nice to have. Firefly makes note that it is nude friendly, but the sign really caught our humor. Guests must wear a thong, wrap, or coverup at the bar or in the office. Thongs are OK. Thongs are OK became our mantra for the trip. Several guests did take advantage of this policy and we did our sharing of sunning as well. The front row of beach chairs is really right by all the foot traffic on the beach but back a couple rows were not bad at all.
Have I mentioned the ocean? It was so nice.. at times it seemed bathwater warm.. other times it seemed just the right amount of cool to break the heat from the sun. You can wade a good ways out it is pretty shallow. The office also has floats you can rent very cheaply. The colors of the water are really beautiful especially watching them during the day and seeing the different angles the sun puts onto the rocks, beach, ocean, etc.
We ate at several places within walking distance from Firefly during our stay. Once at the CocoLaPalm restaurant just a few doors down. Very nice. Not really cheap, but not too expensive either. We also ate lunch at Normas/SeaSplash and had pork and jerk chicken pasta. Really good. For dinner one night we ate next door at Sunquest Cottages when they had a live band. I think this place had gone under new owership because no one from Firefly had eaten there, but when we tried ate there it was great. Best pork we had was from a beach vendor. We noticed from our veranda that the bartenders from Firefly were buying lunch from this one guy who came through with a metal box. I ran down to catch him before he left to see what he had, no problem jerk Pork. Cheap, and the best/spiciest/most tender we had in Negril.
We ate at Rockhouse for lunch one afternoon. We had thought about staying at Rockhouse, but the villas were booked during our stay. We did take a tour of the site very nice. I could definitely see staying there. The pool area was great. Also, great snorkeling there. I jumped from a ledge and snorkeled around a bit. Nice that they have ladders all around, because I couldnt find the entrance near where I jumped from the ledge!
For dinner one night we at at Kuyaba it was great! This place was really bustling. We had heard a lot of Spring Breakers were staying there and it appeared so when we got there. We were afraid it might be kind of a bargain place, but everything was wonderful. Great gardens and atmosphere at their restaurant. We would think about staying here in the future. Not sure how many/if any rooms were ocean view.
As for breakers, we saw some while we were there (3/21-3/30), but it was starting to wind down. Biggest group we saw, other than from a boat looking at Ricks, was at the Fun Holiday beach bar walking back to Firefly from Kuyaba after dinner. Whole bunch of folks, lots of noise then we noticed the body shots taking place on the bar itself. Gave us a good laugh.
We also ate dinner at Xtabi one night. Really nice also the lights made the ocean waves crashing against the rocks very dramatic and romantic. Excellent food! One couple near us lit one up after dinner... nobody seemed to care. My kinda place.
I guess to me, staying at Firefly was great for a lot of reasons. It allowed us to be more out on our own in Jamaica, and explore Negril. Negril seems awesome because while it is a very tourist oriented town, it also has not lost the local vibe.
On our last night, we met the owners of Firefly for the weekly rum punch party. They were a very nice couple, it was great chatting with them about Jamaica. To stay very laid back place really doesnt do it justice.
Ben