When your vacationing party includes only adults, trips are easy—everyone can find something to do that they enjoy, and there is no worrying about the youngest member of your group becoming overtired or refusing to eat their dinner. Once kids come along, however, vacationing takes on an entirely different slant.
"You are only as good as the youngest member of your group," my Dad would say. Usually, that was before reminding me that, as the youngest of the family, my parents decided to wait until I was sixteen before taking us three kids to Disneyland, because I would whine about my feet hurting.
Beaches Resort in Negril, Jamaica is as family-friendly as you can possibly get. What did I like about it most? You can dive in to all of the family activities that you want, but if you also want some couple-time to check out the spa or watersports without the kids, you can do that, too. There is, literally, something for everyone, no matter what your age is or how active you want to be. As the staff told us, "At Beaches, you can do everything or you can do absolutely nothing. It's up to you."
At first, I did relax to recover a little from the jet lag. There is a gorgeous expanse of beach to walk on, and two beautiful pools. If you need a bit of refreshment, the pools also have two swim-up bars.
Salt and sand or fresh water, take your pick! Towels are always at the ready, and it was a great way to cool off from the hot Caribbean sun. There was a water park and slide for older kids or adventurous adults. If you have little ones, you can sign them up for kids camp activities, and the staff will take them to a little shaded wading pool. Sometimes Mom needs a little quiet time of her own, and I'm thinking lying on the beach with a book, while someone else takes the kids swimming, may be the idea. Beaches really does think of everything, and I love that so much is included with your stay, because you really can be completely worry free.
Beaches Kids Camp runs every day, for kids aged 2-10. The kids can be there as much or as little as their parents wish, but from the looks of the schedules, the kids just may prefer to be there as much as possible. The activities range from sand castle building competitions to baking with Cookie Monster, pizza making, Letter of the Day with various Sesame Street Characters, and sports, crafts, or even science experiments. Even babies can get in on the fun, with programs especially for them and certified nannies on site. If your child has special needs and you want them to participate, but also need a break, the resort provides a one-on-one nanny to help them out, for a reasonable hourly rate.
Often with places that cater to families, I find that the teenage crowd is left to their own devices, and there's little to entertain them. Not so with Beaches. In fact, they thought of everything! Kids can to go to Liquid (their own club) to dance and enjoy non-alcoholic drinks, learn how to DJ at the Scratch Academy, snorkel, play beach volleyball, chill at Trench Town, do crafts, or visit the Xbox game garage and see if they can beat their high score. If they want to join their younger siblings in their activities at the camp, they can do that, too! Also, if you have a teenager, you know how hungry they can get—at Beaches, we found that there was no shortage of food.
I've stayed at an all-inclusive before, and one thing that I really loved about it was that the restaurants take the guess work out of dining. Whether you want an ocean-side, sit-down dinner or a midnight snack, there are many options to choose from. Breakfast at the Mill was a buffet, full of everything from fresh fruit (I swear, I ate my weight in papaya,every single day) to fried plantains, Jamaican beans and fish, or a freshly made omelette. There are even options for kids, and seating sized especially for them. But don't think that you're stuck with just one restaurant option—there are eight places to choose from, ranging from an ice cream counter to pizzeria, and Kimonos (where we had Asian stir-fry dishes, made by our own personal chef!). Between the singing of the staff and good food, we were kept completely entertained until it was time to go.
The fun doesn't stop when the sun goes down, however. Beaches also has nightly entertainment, and we happened to be there in time for a Sesame Street parade and beach party! Usually when you go to theme parks and see characters, you have to fight through hoards of people, but these kids got one-on-one time with the characters—close up and personal! The parade wound its way through the grounds to the beach, which was transformed with tiki torches and a feast laid out before us. After dinner, there was music, dancing, and more!
Whether you do it all or just relax, you can't help but soak up the sun and the luxury at Beaches Negril. I think my favourite part of our stay was on the massage table, when a lovely woman kneaded every single bit of stress that had built up over the last few months out of my back, with the scent of lemongrass around us and music softly playing. Between that and the gorgeous views of the ocean, I could have stayed at Beaches Negril a lot longer than the two days we were there.
I think I'll just have to convince my husband to go back with me.
Many thanks to the Jamaican Tourism Board and Beaches Negril, for inviting me to visit and spoiling me absolutely rotten! It was surely a vacation I will never forget, and will dream about as winter rains come to the Fraser Valley. Visit the Beaches Resorts website to find out more and to book your own vacation.
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