Travel Guide – Montego Bay, Jamaica

Sadly, we had to return from our all-inclusive Jamaica paradise and come back to reality. Jamaica was such a dream and the only thing missing… was Chloe, although it was nice sleeping in past 7 am in a ginormous king size bed! We were in paradise, this has been one of our favorite places to vacation, so far, and can’t wait to go back. I’d highly recommend everything that we did, it was all a once in a lifetime experience, checkout more details below.

When to go:

I did some research and discovered that the best time to go was January through April because of rainfall and humidity, but beware of Spring Break crowds. 

How to Get There:

There are three international airports in Jamaica, Kingston, Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios. We flew into MBJ airport in Montego Bay through American Airlines. If you fly with American Airlines then this is a perfect opportunity to use your points. Flying to the Caribbean is only 15,000 points per flight, which is a steal of a deal on American. We were able to fly here for 60,000 points (15,000 points X 2 people X 2 flights per person) which you can get with the current bonus by signing up for the Barclay AAdvantage Red World Elite Mastercard.

One sad thing that I did learn is that I had to pay for my checked baggage. With the AAdvantage Citi card I thought I received my first checked bag free on all American Airlines flights. However, it’s only if you’re flying domestically, Canada, Mexico, or the US Virgin Islands and the Caribbean is not included.

Where we Stayed/Ate:

Hyatt, currently, has three All-Inclusive resort locations, Cancun, Los Cabos, and Jamaica. Each of these resorts have two sides, the family side, Hyatt Ziva, and the adults-only side, Hyatt Zilara. The resorts are essentially the same and if you’re an adult you can venture to each side freely. Hyatt Ziva is typically less expensive but there isn’t any regulation for adults to go over to the Zilara side and enjoy a kid/teen free zone. The best part, since it’s an all inclusive resort, is that all meals, drinks, room, and resort activities are included in the price. If you’re big drinkers, this does include alcoholic beverages (!!). It’s also a plus because it makes planning super easy because I don’t have to peruse various Yelp reviews and travel guides to find the best places to eat every night.

Checkout my full review of the hotel, here.

What we Did:

After our last vacation, hiking in Sedona, boyfriend and I promised each other that the next vacation would be relaxing. Overall, we lived up to this goal and spent most of the time on the beach and relaxing by the pool, but I had to add in a little adventure.

Mystic Mountain Bobsledding:

Mystic Mountain was a truly unique experience and the company does a really good job at adding in adrenaline and relaxing activities. We chose to do the ski lift canopy tour and the bobsledding. The bobsledding was really cool and is based off the Jamaican Bobsled team of 2008 so it’s really unique to the area and the views were amazing! But, beware it’s an all day excursion. It takes 2 hours to get there (then 2 hours back) and you have 5 hours to do all the activities they offer.

Checkout the blog post, here, for tips and how to make the most of this excursion (also there are more pictures)

Rafting down Martha Brae River:

I had seen pictures of the bamboo rafts down the river all over Pinterest and it looked like such a unique and cool experience. Much to my surprise it turned out to be relaxing and romantic! Make sure to bring water shoes though, we didn’t get wet but it’s a bamboo raft that sits right on the water so it’s possible to get splashed. This excursion only takes an hour and a half and you’re on the river for around 30 minutes.

Checkout the blog post, here, for more pictures and tips on how to tip your captain.