Visit the Villas
The Hermitage
San Michele
Milestone Cottage
Mullion Cove
Cottonwood Cottage
Read Reviews
Bluefields Bay -- Activities page 2
Music, TV/VCR, TV/DVD: Each villa has a CD player and a small selection of CDs. Please sort these carefully from your own music, as guests recently (and sadly) left with CDs owned by a staff member. You can also rent a TV/VCR or TV/DVD for US $140/week if you list your preference on the enclosed questionnaire form and send the payment to our office.
Telephones: The following numbers are good to keep with you: Mullion Cove/Office: #876-955-8993; San Michele: #876-955-8210; The Hermitage: #876-955-8004; Cottonwood Cottage: #876-955-8002; Milestone Cottage: #876-955-8644; Fax: #876-955-8672 (guest name/rental villa must be shown). U.S. Calling Cards do not work in Jamaica, so outgoing calls must be made “Collect”. The best option is to ask our managers how to go about purchasing a “Phone Card” for outgoing toll calls.
Visitors: If you have friends in Jamaica who you wish to host, we offer 2 options: For our half-day rate (US$75 per visitor), your friends can join for either lunch or dinner, utilize the full bar, and enjoy the facilities. A full-day rate (US$125 per visitor) means they can join for activities, lunch, cocktails/appetizers at sunset, and a delicious dinner. Our management must receive prior notice in order to properly plan for this, and they must also agree if you wish to host “local” guests too. In both cases, you need to render payment prior to visitors arriving at the villa. You are not permitted to share all-inclusive provisions with others.
|
Neighbors: The Bluefields Peoples Community Association (BPCA), a non-profit community organization, was formed about ten years ago. The BPCA began by offering training in fishing/agricultural techniques, providing literacy classes, and helping to organize a local Basic School (catering to children under 6 years of age). Our resort business has now assumed sponsorship and operation of this school. We always hope to include a Board Member from the BPCA and the Head Teacher from the school at our weekly cocktail parties in order to acquaint our renters with their work. It is possible to arrange for a visit to the Basic School and to this Community Center. We recommend that a visit be planned for Wednesday morning before the Jerk Chicken Luncheon at The Treehouse. Please advise if this is of interest to you and your group? And if you wish to contribute to our wonderful community, please contact us about how you can help to improve education or conservation in Bluefields! The BPCA sponsors a community cleanup program every other week. Please help by bringing down and donating rubber gloves. The Bluefields Kindergarten is referred to as the Bluefields Basic School. If you would like to bring down small items to help the children, below is a wish-list from the head of school. The school has been adopted by the resort. Puzzles (for children ages 3 to 6 years old) |
Helping out at the Basic School
|
Dancing, Drinking, Eating Out: Your waiter may be able to suggest some local reggae bars, but these are active only on weekend nights and have a “local” clientele. Casa Mariners is nearby, offers less noisy sound, satellite TV and pool tables. Newly re-opened Culloden Café is 10 minutes away with good food, yummy desserts, and a lively bar scene. American owner Ann Lyons has lots of fun books on display from her previous life in NY publishing. Adjacent Natania’s Bar & Restaurant offers satellite TV if watching games is of importance. The Jungle, Negril’s most popular “club”, gets going late, is especially active Thursdays through Saturdays, has an entry fee of about US$10 per person, and offers a free “ladies night” on Thursdays.
Party-Planning: If you wish for “live music”, consider hiring the fun reggae band named “Sunset” (US$350 for 2 ½ hours), a steel band named “Carib 5” (US$250 for 2 ½ hours), Denzel Douglas (aka Dougie) who plays his keyboard (US$175 for 2 ½ hours), or a Negril mento band (US$75/hour plus transport costs). You can also hire a local DJ to play reggae hits at a lower rate. But PLEASE be aware and respect the Jamaican law that there is to be absolutely no use of outdoor speakers after 11PM!! And we ask you to be careful not to disturb other renters.
Shopping: Kew Park Plantation is offering estate-grown Jamaican coffee for our visitors (Medium, Dark, or Espresso Roast ground and whole beans) for US$10/pound and US$5/half pound. They also offer plantation tours (see Touring section). There are duty-free shops in the airport departure area with liquors, Blue Mountain coffee, spices like jerk seasonings, t-shirts, paintings, books, cards, tropical flowers. There are also duty-free shops in the MoBay Freeport. In Negril, visit Times Square, a galleria of duty-free shops with none of the unpleasant “higglers” (peddlers) that frequent most local crafts markets. Paintings and small gifts (the spotted painted animals in our homes) come from the Gallery of West Indian Art at Round Hill. We also have correspondence cards depicting artwork in our homes ($15/box of 12) and the book Escape in Style (featuring Milestone Cottage and San Michele) for $25. Please do not purchase items in our area and help to foster undesirable commercialism!
|
Touring: Our drivers can take you to some interesting destinations if you rent a vehicle. The resort town of Negril, 40 minutes west, has a spectacular 7-mile sand beach, snorkeling off its cliffs, bars, restaurants, water sports, shopping. Please recognize that this is an extremely commercial area, so you cannot take a picnic and drinks. There are endless restaurants/bars, with current favorite being Idle Awhile with its great beach location. Other good dining spots: Charela and Cafe-au-Lait (Jamaican/French cuisine), Cosmos Restaurant (seafood). Or you can go to the Grand Lido Resort at about 3PM, and, for a half-day rate, enjoy their facilities, go for a sunset cruise on the ship which belonged to Princess Grace and then dine in one of their restaurants. If this is of interest, please contact Bryan Drew (General Manager) at #876-957-5015, ext. 301 or bryandrew@superclubs.com. |
 |
Boating up the Black River (longest river in Jamaica, 25
minutes east of Bluefields) is similar to a trip through the Everglades. It
costs US $12/person and affords views of mangrove, crocodiles, birdlife. Be sure
to stop to admire the gingerbread Victorian buildings that are in the middle of
the city of Black River. You might wish to combine this with a visit to an
incredible Orchid Farm near Black River owned by Dr. Bennett who raises
unbelievable orchids. Or you can also visit the magnificent YS Falls, about 40
minutes northeast of Bluefields and the highest waterfalls in Jamaica. The Falls
and a long stretch of the YS River run through the middle of a 2000-acre private
plantation, and the owners opened the Falls to the public (9:30 AM to 3:30 PM,
every day except Mondays) at a cost of US$15/person. Tubing is available on the
YS River for an extra charge and there is a short canopy tour right above the
Falls for US$20. There are far fewer tourists than at Dunn’s River Falls, but
try to reach YS Falls early to be ahead of tourists coming from Negril or
Montego Bay. Go after a dry day, since otherwise the Falls may be muddy.
Tours of Kew Park Plantation (45 minutes away) are now available. Its owners
will show off the coffee groves, take you to see a fascinating cave near the
coffee groves, explain the drying and processing of coffee and show where that
is done, give a tour of the old family church, view the Kew Park Greathouse, and
take you to their cottage (an old fort complete with gun slits) to enjoy the
Bluefields picnic. Long pants or socks are recommended. Cost is $120 for one
couple + $20/each for other persons. Appleton Estate offers tours of its rum
bottling plant about 1 ½ hours from Bluefields.
Treasure Beach is 1+ hour east of Bluefields. This community has a wide dark
brown sand beach, huge sand dunes, and water often fine for bodysurfing. You may
want to visit Jakes or Jack Sprat (beach bars/restaurants). This community does
not have “salesmen” on the beach and lacks Negril’s commercialism, although
frequent undertow makes swimming somewhat tricky.
Return to Villas on Bluefields Bay Home Page
For More Information...
The Villas on Bluefields Bay
International Advisory Group, Inc.
726 N. Washington Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314 USA
(202) 232-4010
Fax (703) 549-6517
Email: vacations@bluefieldsvillas.com