Sunshine and Bob & Rita Marley

Our incredible week in Jamaica

We flew into Jamaica on Saturday, March 23rd and hit some rough stuff but overall the flight went well. The airport wasn't huge so we were able to deplane and get through customs fairly quickly and we were off. We stayed in the Riu at Ocho Rios which was about a 90 minute drive from the airport. Tanya and I buckled in and along with our driver, we were off. They drive fairly crazy in Jamaica. The road was mostly two lane and people would pass constantly. The oncoming traffic would always move over to the edge of the road so there never seemed to be any road rage. The vibe is so chill. We made it to the resort and by the time we checked in it was about 5:30 p.m.

View from our balcony at Riu- Ocho Rios

Our room was cute and our view of the Caribbean Sea was spectacular. We were hungry from our travels so we hit the buffet. What a spread of food. I will say that the fruit was amazing and they served everything. The jerk chicken was super good and I tried the ox tail as well which was a very right piece of meat. After a couple of drinks, we headed to our room for the night. Day two was so much fun. After hitting up the buffet (again...I can't say enough about the fruit). The pineapple was so good and the coffee was so strong. We pretty much just chilled and laid out on the beach. I did fail as Tanya's cabana boy though as she burned her legs and chest. When you stay at an all inclusive resort (which is the way to go in my opinion), the drinks are amazing. Tanya's favorite was the Bob and Rita Marley and mine the Miami Vice. Put it this way, we drank a lot of rum.

Bob & Rita Marley - Miami Vice

After spending the morning in the Jamaica sun and enjoying the warmth of the Caribbean, we headed to the room to change for lunch. I know I mentioned the food prior, but it was amazing to see how much food gets prepared. Kudos to the kitchen staff because the buffet again was solid. I tried goat curry. Goat was very greasy, but it was really good. After lunch, we headed to the room to take a nap. It's one of the best things about vacation is that you can nap whenever you want (even if you never nap...like my wife). Afterwards, we headed back down to grab a couple of drinks and we both decided to stay out of the sun for a bit. We made dinner reservations at the Italian Restaurant (one of four - Asian, Italian, A-la carte and a Steakhouse). I will say that the food at the restaurant was good but not great and they mixed up our order. We mixed in beach days and a day at the pool where there was hardly a cloud in the sky. We had booked a catamaran excursion and did some snorkeling.

Snorkeling in the Caribbean

The current was strong and it felt like we couldn't get to the reef. There were fish everywhere and I shot some amazing video. After that we climbed Dunn River Falls. It was in a word, breathtaking. It felt like we were in a constant climb. It was so fun and we met so many people from the fifty club to our sweet old(er) couple, we had a blast.

Dunn River Falls

They do a phenomenal job at Riu as far as entertainment goes. They had trivia almost every night and also had musical acts including a tribute to Michael Jackson. The vibe is low key for sure but there are plenty of things to take in. We decided to not go on our own as there was plenty to do at the resort. Our main goal was to just enjoy the rest and relaxation that Jamaica provided.