Jamaica
If you are a fan of the Caribbean then you have heard of Jamaica. Jamaica is known for its vibrant culture from reggae music, nightlife and incredible cuisine. This Caribbean island is packed with beautiful beaches, incredible adventure activities, waterfalls, and more. It has luxury resorts and amazing tours and excursions. It is perfect for a weekend getaway but I recommend a one week visit. It is definitely a top tourist destination and it will not disappoint on all it has to offer.
Jamacia one week itinerary
When coming to the island you need to decide on a few key ideas. One do you want an all-inclusive resort and two where do you want to be located. The good news is there are beaches all around and great tour options from wherever you decide.
Negril
There are so many different beach areas to choose from. Negril is known for its famous 7 mile beach which boasts crystal clear waters and soft white sand.
Ocho Rios
Ocho Rios is a great place to stay if you are looking for more adventure activities. There is ziplining, dolphin experiences, and an abundance of waterfall areas including Blue Hole, Secret Falls and the famous Dunn’s River Falls.
Montego Bay
Montego Bay is ideal location if want to stay central and do day tours from there. You can do a day tour to Negril and to Ocho Rios and it is conveniently located near the airport. In Montego Bay, Doctors Cave Beach is a favorite.
Read more about these top three destinations HERE!
where we stayed for one week
We decided to split our time between Montego Bay and Negril and we were so happy we did that.
Montego Bay
In Montego Bay, you have a large selection of hotels and resorts. We stayed at the adults only S Hotel located on Doctors Cave Beach. This all-inclusive hotel was great! It had 3 reservation restaurants at night Jamaican, Italian and Seafood and buffet and grille for food options. It had 2 amazing pools, one on the roof with sweeping views of the beach and had a private section of beach chairs on Doctors Cave Beach. The resort also had a spa, gym, coffee bar, daily activities and nightly entertainment. It was ideal near the airport and we brought our snorkel masks and were able to snorkel right from Doctors Cave Beach. We did an excursion to Ocho Rios from Montego Bay since it is east of Montego Bay.
Negril
Negril is located on the western part of the island and known for its beautiful beaches. If you stay at an all inclusive in Negril, it is likely you are at the north end or just above 7 mile beach. There are some all inclusive options on 7 mile beach but other non-inclusive resorts and hotels in this area as well. There are also several hotels in Negril that are along the rocky coastline. Several of these properties have pools and have ladders that go down into the ocean where there are cool caves that you can swim in. If you stay in a cliff hotel you will need to taxi over to 7 Mile Beach. We stayed at the Travellers Beach Resort which was perfect. It was not all inclusive but had a nice pool and a restaurant/bar right on the water. It was very cost effective and allowed us to explore 7 mile beach and eat/drink at various locations.
day by day one week itinerary
day 1- arrive flight and head S Hotel
Head from airport to our hotel – S Hotel Montego Bay. The first afternoon we relaxed at the pool and had dinner
day 2-S Hotel and Doctors Cave Beach
The following day, we also took advantage of the all-inclusive resort. I used the gym in the morning. We lounge at the pool in the afternoon from the grill. We checked out the rooftop pool and we checked out the sunset on Doctors Cave beach.
DAY 3-Day Tour Ocho Rios- Blue Hole, Secret Falls and Dunn’s River Falls
The next day we joined a tour from Montego Bay over to Ocho Rios, where we explored Blue Hole, Secret Falls, and Dunn River Falls. We decided to do the trip from Montego Bay because Ocho Rios is east of Montego Bay and the second trip we were going to be in Negril which was even further from Ocho Rios. We were able to catch breakfast at our resort prior to leaving and had made reservations at one of the nicer restaurants upon our return. The day was packed with waterfalls and was a really epic part of the trip.
DAY 4- S Hotel Montego Bay
We spent one last day at Montego Bay at the resort. We spent time at the roof pool and spent more time on the beach. On Doctors Cave Beach, we relaxed on beach chairs, snorkeled from the shore where we were able to see a lot of fish and watched the sunset. We had dinner reservations at the seafood restaurant and got the see a steel drum band for entertainment.
DAY 5- Negril
The next day we checked out of our hotel and had a private transfer from Montego Bay to Negril. This drive about one and a half hours and on our arrival to our next resort, we were able to get early checking and headed straight to the beach that afternoon a big storm passed through, but we made the most of it. It paid off because we got an epic sunset!
DAY 6-Negril
The next day we decided to spend the day walking the length of 7 mile beach. We were able to see horses, several boat tours, and take in the beautiful beach. We ate lunch at Lily’s Cafe and grabbed a drink at Margaritaville. On the walk back we would cool off in the water. Once we got back to our resort, we grabbed chairs on the beach until sunset. The beach gets very dark at night so most of the night we ate at the restaurant at our resort. Personally, I would take a taxi to restaurant at night rather than walking on the beach not a lot of light once the sunsets.
DAY 7-Negril and Catamaran Cruise
Got up early in the morning to take advantage of the beach before our afternoon tour. This day we had booked our catamaran sunset cruise. This tour included snorkeling at both a reef and into a cliff cave. It also included a visit to Rick’s Café for cliff jumping. Our cruise included all you drink as well as meal. As we headed back, we watched the sunset on the catamaran.
DAY 8- Negril TO AIRPORT
Today we arranged the private transfer back to the airport in Montego Bay. The drive takes about 1.5 hours but we hit some traffic so was about 2 hours. We had plenty of time to relax at the airport before our flights home. There are lots of options for places to eat, drink and shop while you are waiting.
Plan your one week trip
However you plan your trip to Jamacia trust me you will love it. Hopefully my one week itinerary gives you some idea of how to plan your own trip!
