[12/25/2015 Friday]
8:30 we have the first coffee and tea at the self-service stand. Today is a holiday and most stores are closed, so we drive to a hotel with a public bar and eat breakfast here: I order pancakes with papaya and Harry different kinds of bread.
A little further up the cliffs, there is another lighthouse, which we want to visit after breakfast. Unfortunately, this is self-fenced and so we go back to discover the white sandy beach.
Negril is especially interesting for bathers and water sports enthusiasts, the weather keeps a constant 32 degrees, boat rentals are booming, diving, snorkeling and very popular is to be pulled by a parachute from a boat.
It is not as easy as you think to get to the 11km long white sandy beach. There is no promenade or driveway, everywhere are large hotels that have direct access to a beach area and most have private driveways. So we drive on, almost to Orange Bay, and stop where the locals go swimming. There is a gap in the fence and so we get to the beach with very clear water. It is 11 o’clock and because of the fact that today is a holiday, the rush is limited.
We go swimming in peace and sunbathe, little by little the tourists wake up and stroll partly along the water, more and more motorboats appear and even two horses are marketed, tourists are allowed to ride on them and a Jamaican has dressed up as Santa Claus… an offer I can not refuse is the full body massage with “Special Christmas Price”, so I let me knead for 40 minutesJ 14 clock it is Harry and I too warm in the sun and we eat a bite at Erica, I thought the store is a recommendation from my guidebook, but that was in another city, Erica is just so average.
In the evening I write a little and save photos away, Harry reads. From big celebrations of the locals we have not noticed anything.