Saturday, July 15, 2017

Jamaica


In August of 2014, my sister and I were fortunate enough to visit Jamaica for a very dear friend's destination wedding in Montego Bay at the stunning Half Moon Resort. We were doubly blessed because we got to spend quality time with family friends whom we don't usually get to see, and because Jamaica is simply spellbinding. Although we didn't get to sight see as much as I would have liked to, staying at the resort itself was a wonderful experience. We did at least get to visit an incredible bio-luminescent lagoon, where we proceeded to pretend that we were in Dragon Ball Z as we splashed around in the glowing water. (This is not me, but I didn't get any good photos so I'm using this one.)

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Photo Credit: Glistening Waters 

The room that my sister and I shared at the resort was simply decorated but very classic and elegant. The staff at the resort were unfailingly polite, helpful and added many little touches such as picking fresh coconuts for us to drink in the morning (while also impressing us with their dexterity at climbing and cutting into the coconut with machetes without slicing off their fingers)! The food was delicious, and there was such a wide variety of food that I had never tried before like bread fruit and saltfish and ackee (Jamaica's national dish) and sorrel (hibiscus sabdariffa) drink.




The amenities and activities available at the resort were also noteworthy. We had a small private beach area in the back and a communal plunge pool in the front, and the water in both the ocean and the pool were so comfortable that you could jump right in without any shock to the system. The wedding itself was short, simple and sweet, and the setting was lovely with a beach backdrop and small pavilion area for cocktails afterwards.




I did wonder with all of the open spaces how the resort would fare if there was a major tropical storm or hurricane, but I hope and pray that the resort managers have a well developed disaster preparedness and evacuation plan. I also hope that the employees at the resort are compensated fairly and treated well, but these are things that are difficult to determine in a short period of time. Overall, I would highly recommend a visit to the Half Moon Resort and also exploring outside of the resort if you have enough time. Generally, I am not a big fan of "the resort experience", but I thoroughly enjoyed this particular setting, although I think five days of pampering were more than enough!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Well I think it's only fitting that your first commenter happens to be a Jamaican friend. I'm glad this experience made an impression on you. Sadly, you were leaving as I was arriving on that trip. I think it's cool that even now, you've taken time to recount what you have experienced.