This is long long long long overdue, and I apologize!!! However it is here and I am so excited to FINALLY share with you my Montego Bay, Jamaica travel guide! Fun fact: Montego Bay is actually the second-largest city in Jamaica, the first being Kingston. We learned that on our Montego Bay tour!
First things first, 9/10 times we fly United Airlines. So we hopped on a flight at 10 am, had a quick layover in Houston, and then onward to Jamaica. We got to our resort at 3 pm! We stayed at the Riu Resorts-Montego Bay. There are a couple right next to each other, and ours was the cheapest (can you say budget vacation?!).
Side note: Derek will give me an insanely low budget for vacation and says we can go if I can find something within the budget.. guess what… I always find something. Ha! He said he was going to have to start making it lower so maybe I won’t be able to find one.
Anywho, back to the resorts. There are three Riu resorts right next to each other. You have the Riu Montego Bay (kids are allowed here), Riu Reggae Montego Bay (no kids allowed to stay), and then the Riu Palace (no kids at all! and you have access to all three resorts!). We have stayed at multiple Riu’s and we love them! However, they are all very much the same, so if you go to one it will pretty much be the same wherever you go.
The first day we were there, we just lounged around at the pool bar (that you see here) and went and learned to sail! If you watch my YouTube video (HERE) you can see some live footage of that! We had so much fun! For FREE, you could sail, kayak, and paddleboard all at the resort. We did all of them but paddleboard because those were always taken when we went. I think the most fun was sailing though, Derek LoVeD it!
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The next day we went zip-lining, tubing down the river, and riding the gator through sugar cane fields and fruit orchards! That was so so cool. Derek and I snagged a lime as we were driving through, only to find out that we did not have a way to cut it. Ha! It’s okay though, I found a way to pry it open and got to have a taste. It was sooooo good and fresh!
The restaurants are so good also. Keep in mind, this is an all-inclusive resort so if you do not branch out you will get that type of food. There was a Steakhouse, Asian fusion, and Italian! I do believe the Italian was my favorite! The Asian restaurant was a buffet-style, so that was a little odd to me, but it was still really good!
One thing that I HIGHLY recommend doing is taking a tour of Montego Bay. We learned so many cool facts about the city, and say the “real” Montego Bay, not just the gorgeous beaches. You will see in the Youtube video that there is a lot of poverty in Jamaica, but a lot of people really want to be their own boss. They will go to the Market for 12 hours a day to sell their fruits/vegetables/handmade goods so they can provide for their family rather than working at a resort or working for someone else. Very commendable.
Last but CERTAINLY not least…….jerk. Everyone has heard of jerk chicken. There is a place in Montego Bay that is a local “jerk center” and they are always so packed when a cruise ship comes in. It is called Scotchies! They cook their chicken/pork (pork is my fav!!) on sweet wood, and that is what give it the “jerk” flavor!
There are not many places that Derek and I have been that we have said that we cant wait to go back, but Jamaica is not one of them! There is still so much island left to explore and the food, people, and scenery are all so amazing! I hope you enjoy this post as much as I loved reliving our vacation!
xoxo, Brooke Anne
