Jamaican Vacation Part One

David and I have been counseled by many friends and family members to take advantage of our remaining time before our baby comes to enjoy sleeping, relaxing, going on dates, and pampering ourselves. We took this advice to heart and decided to get away on a vacation. We originally were looking into going to a country or two in Europe, but this was back when I wasn't feeling very well at all and I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to handle a lot of walking and touring sites. So, that's when we looked into going to a resort and ended up booking a week at a Sandals all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica! It ended up being the perfect vacation for us because there was no limit of activities available to us (snorkeling, sailing, kayaking, glass-bottom boat rides, scuba diving, tennis, pool, darts, etc.!) but also it was a great place to be to do absolutely nothing!

We arrived in Jamaica Sunday evening May 16th, we were so excited to explore the beautiful resort, eat delicious food, and drink lots of yummy mixed drinks (non-alcoholic of course!). We felt so lucky to book a beautiful ocean-view room with a balcony. We were pretty tired after our day of travel, so after doing some exploring and having dinner we went straight to bed.

Monday morning I woke up feeling really hungry; we ordered a plate of fruit to our room, opened the doors of our balcony, and stayed in bed eating pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew while listening to the ocean lapping the shore just outside. It was pure bliss! We then got ready for a day at the beach and headed out for some adventure.

We went on a snorkeling trip, here's a view from the boat of Sandals Montego Bay's beautiful beach and resort.

We also saw some dolphins swimming in the water on our way to the snorkeling site! It was really hard to snap a picture of them, this was the best we got.

We had a great time snorkeling and saw lots of beautiful fish and different types of coral. Back on shore we relaxed a bit. Here's Dave enjoying a daiquiri and the picturesque view!

The resort grounds were spectacular, there were lots of fun little hideaway spots with hammocks or chair swings to steal a cozy moment with your sweetheart at.

After a day at the beach we got showered and ready for a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant at the resort called Cucina Romana. This was the only time I straightened my hair during the week, the humidity turned it into a frizzy mess pretty quickly so I didn't waste my time doing that again!

Dave and I at dinner. You can't tell in the picture, but we were just over the water. It was a beautiful restaurant and a fantastic dinner!

Tuesday morning we went to the nearby Sandals Royal Caribbean resort to check out the place, it was gorgeous there as well! They had a soft-serve ice cream machine right on the beach which I visited many times during our stay!! :)

We went on a glass-bottom boat tour which was fun; but snorkeling is definitely a far better way to see the underwater life since the noise from the boat engine scared most of the fish away. Here's a picture of the pretty coastline from the boat.

We decided to take advantage of the opportunity and signed David up to get certified in scuba diving. I got certified while I was at BYU and most of my family are certified divers as well, we all love it! David jumped right into his scuba diving book and loved learning about the equipment, skills, and science that goes into diving safely!

Sandals Royal Caribbean has a small off-shore private island that is really neat. The Asian style building is a Thai restaurant. There also were several beaches, a pool, and some exotic birds on the island.

We went back to our room to get ready for dinner and nap a bit but were feeling a bit hungry. We called down for a hamburger, fries, and some daiquiris to be delivered to our room and enjoyed them on our deck. Oh boy we were getting spoiled!

For dinner we went to Tokyo Joe's, a restaurant at Sandals Montego Bay. It was fun, you selected what vegetables, meat, or seafood you wanted prepared with which seasonings and sauces and the food was made right in front of you. Again, it was absolutely delicious!

We listened to this fantastic steel drum band a bit before calling it a night. Another great day in paradise!

On Wednesday we took an excursion to Negril. It was so fun to see the beautiful Jamaican countryside and learn about Jamaican history and culture from our tour guide Dalton.

The tour included a three-hour stop at the Sandals Negril resort, it was just as beautiful as the resorts in Montego Bay. We signed up to go snorkeling at the Negril resort, but it was cancelled when it started to rain and thunder a bit.

No problem, mon! We just stayed on the beach and enjoyed reading and relaxing. Here's my cute maternity swimsuit, it was fun having a pregnant belly to show off at the beach! :)

Next the tour stopped at a fun mall where we did a little souvenir shopping. We got this cute baby top for our little guy. We can't wait to meet our baby and see him in this top in the coming months!

We also stopped at this market where they were selling jewelry, wood carvings, and shells. We didn't buy anything here but thought it was neat.

David was so excited to see this gentleman selling fresh coconut water, we had to get some! The man just lobbed the coconut open with his machete!

Here's David enjoying a sip from his coconut. This was something he grew to love on his mission in the Philippines.

Our final stop in Negril was at this beautiful cliffside resort (which was not a Sandals resort).

The water was just gorgeous and the cliffs were so striking!

There was a spot for cliff jumping, David did the jump twice.

We love Negril!

When we got back to our room in Montego Bay we found this sweet surprise waiting for us! The Sandals staff were fabulous and made us feel so pampered and cared for during our stay!

...to be continued...