This resort was great for many reasons. They keep their beach very clean and have 2 bars. Pool bar happy hour from 4-5 then the beach bars happy hour goes from 6 to 7!

great option if you want to be close to everything and public transportation, overall satisfaction, totally recommended

Arrived at Sandals and was very disappointed you pay for internet and then it times out, excuse was that many of the guess were online. well, if your going to charge for a service, upgrade so it is a service worth paying for. I was in Afghanistan with better/faster service... the room was a big disappointment for the money, the view was great however. The properties on Sandals is very nice, however, i was highly disappointed with the food options during the day. Fast food was all that is available during the day, the nice sit downs were open at night only. AND when you went into the buffets style breakfast and lunch place, it took a long time to get a beverage. in the six days i was there, only one evening i received good service, but the food was awful. i ended up eating mac and cheese and bread, was hoping for Italian food. Entertainment was nice, lots to do as far as water sports and such, but if you are not a big eater or drink a lot of hard liquor this is not the vacation for you. Overall i would/will not recommend it to anyone. OH and if you go with the intentions of playing golf, BRING your clubs.

Why Bonaire?  We are often asked that.  Lots of people, excluding divers, don't really even know where it is located. It is considered one of the top diving spots in the world.  We chose Bonaire because of our love for flamingos.  Still, people wondered why Bonaire and not Hawaii or Cancun.

My wife and I were married on Saturday May 16, 1998 at 2pm in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Treasure Island Hotel.  After the wedding and reception, we left for McCarran International Airport to catch our red eye flight to Fort Lauderdale.  We were flying nonrevenue standby for our honeymoon and most people thought that was crazy.  We had many back up plans though, so no worries!

At around 11pm, we were on an America West Airbus 320 and seated in first class, drinking some sparkling wine!  It was a routine flight to Fort Lauderdale and we arrived at sunrise.  We were very tired.  We rode the Tri-Rail to Miami airport where we were taking American Airlines to Curacao.  It is difficult to get to Bonaire but we had to go because we both love flamingos and there are lots of them on Bonaire!

Around 10am, we were on an American 727 to Curacao.  It was a nice flight and soon we were there to catch our final flight to paradise.  We connected to an ALM DHC-8 for the 20 minute flight to Bonaire.  This flight was delayed about 30 minutes due to a broken aircraft in Aruba.  We were anxious to get to our destination, naturally.  We arrived into Bonaire int he early evening on the 17th.  It was quick and easy to clear customs and we had a 10 minute taxi ride to our hotel, which was the Divi Flamingo.  We checked in and they upgraded us to an oceanview which was awesome!  We went to the bar and had some rum punch, while enjoying our first Bonaire sunset.   We had dinner at the hotel because we were tired and then it was off to bed!

May 18, 1998--We hired a car and toured the island this day.  It is very desolate and is a desert island.  We saw the Willemstoren Lighthouse, the slave huts, and the salt mounds.  We also did some snorkeling at Pink Beach.  That evening, we went to dinner in town at the Admirals Tavern and had an excellent meal.  We walked into the casino at our hotel but since we were from Vegas, it was not too exciting for us.

May 19, 1998--We stayed around the hotel this day and did some snorkeling.  The area around the pier had lots of exotic fish and urchins. I even saw a lionfish.  We ate dinner in town at Rendez-Vouz.

May 20, 1998--We took a cruise on a sailboat to Klein Bonaire, which is a small uninhabited island off the coast of Bonaire.  The meaning is "Little" Bonaire.  It was a lot of fun and they fed us lunch and we had some rum punch also.  The snorkeling was fantastic on Klein Bonaire!  For dinner, we ate in town at Zeezicht and it was great!  We also walked around town and had some ice cream and did some dancing at a little festival that was happening at the town pier.

May 21, 1998--We went into town this day.  The town is Kralendijk and since it was Asencion Day, the place was dead.  We ate lunch at Subway because that was all we could find open.  There were absolutely no shops open and it looked like a ghost town.  In the evening, they had a little get together at our hotel with dinner and dancing.

May 22, 1998--We had one last breakfast on the beach and then headed over to Flamingo Airport for our flight to Curacao.  It was another ALM DHC-8.  We stayed for one night in Curacao at the Holiday Beach Hotel.  We really did not get to see much and only briefly saw Willemstad.  We'll have to go back someday!

May 23, 1998--We flew from Curacao to Miami on an American 727 and arrived in the early evening.  After clearing customs, we decided to spend the night.  We flew on what is my shortest flight ever flown, a USAir Express EMB-120 from Miami to Fort Lauderdale.  Yup, it was a 21 mile flight!  It was us and another person on that flight and we were free, so they obviously did not make money on that one!  We got a hotel in Fort Lauderdale for the night.

May 24, 1998--We flew back to Las Vegas this day.  It was an America West Airbus 320.  There was one open seat in first class but we chose to sit together in coach.  No breaking up this newlywed couple!!  We were back home by noon and we had to begin preparing for our move to Seattle.  Yes, we were relocating for our new life together!

The Divi Flamingo Hotel was awesome!  We'd definitely stay there again when we return.  It was a great beachfront location and has two great restaurants.  It has been totally fixed up since we were there so I am sure it will be evne better than before.

All the photos are obviously pre-digital so the quality is lacking. 

Almost 12 years later, here we are!   It has been so wonderful, it seems like only a day.  Oh, there have been bumps in the road but we get through them together.  As for Bonaire, we have yet to return.  We wanted to for our 10th anniversary but life got in the way.  Delta has Bonaire flights but they are just one day a week so it is difficult to go.  We really do want to go back though so we'll see what we can do in 2010!

Watch this space

Watch this space

Watch this space

Watch this space

I was recently on business in Kingston. Although I would have greatly preferred to have my business in Negril or Montego Bay, I wanted to make the most of my experience on this, my first trip to Jamaica. Had a great outing to Strawberry Hill (please see seperate review on this resort). Other sights to be seen out and around town, with a trust worthy driver mind you (Kingston is a dangerous place) are the Jamaican Prime Minister's Residence and the Bob Marley Museum at the sight of his former recording studio. My next trip down, I will surely alot enough time to head to either one of the above spots or Ocho Rios.

During November, I traveled to Kingston Jamaica to conduct a live fire demonstration with my company's line of 9mm sub-machine guns.  The Jamaican Police are particularly interested in replacing their Pakistani-made MP5s.  We were hosted by the Assistant Commissioner of Police and spent most of our time with members of their small arms instructors and special weapons and tactics experts.  Jamaica has serious issues with drug and weapons smuggling and gang violence and recently received a large chunk of money from the EU for defense spending.  I found the technical and tactical proficiency of the Jamaican Police to be extremely high and their courtesy and professionalism were a rare treat.  I look forward to my next trip back to Kingston to meet again with my new friends there.  The range was located in the volatile neighborhood of Spanish Town on a national police training compound.  With no shade to speak of, we were fortunate that the day of the shoot the weather was very comfortable with a gentle breeze and occasional cloud cover.  We fired several thousand rounds from our guns as well as their current stock of Pakistani and Mexican made H&K MP5 immitations. 

On a recent business trip to Kingston, my colleagues and I wanted to get away from Kingston for a day but had limited time before our afternoon flights. This ruled out a potential trip to the closest resort town, Ocho Rios, as the road there and back can turn nasty with simple traffic congestion. However, our host, the Assistant Commissioner of Police recommended that we trek up into the Blue Mountains, home of the some of the world's best coffee, for a lunch at the Strawberry Hill resort. Owned by world-renowned recording studio owner, Chris Blackwell, this isolated mountain top hotel was designed specifically for his recording artists to have a bungalow getaway, hidden from the paparazzi and screaming fans. With his famous Nassau, Bahamas recording studio hosting many famous album recording sessions from U2, Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Palmer and Melissa Etheridge to name a VERY few, he could assure these stars that they would have the very best views with the very best service within a short helicopter ride from Kingston's Manley Airport. The only road to the resort is a dangerous 2-lane road, which winds its way up the mountains. Only the very brave and/or locals dare traverse this road therefore secluding the hotel from the mainstream. Throughout the hotel, the walls are peppered with pictures of guests such as those mentioned above as well as other notable patrons such as Prince Charles. Having only about 14 exclusive bungalows, which are tucked below the line of sight on the sides of the mountain, the ambiance is very quiet. You get the impression that you are on top of the world; that there is nothing higher than the hotel around. The only noise around is the gentle sound of the infinity pool, chirping birds, a light breeze hitting the tropical trees and subtle sounds of reggae emitting from the outdoor speakers. The buildings' construction is compeltely open due to the constant cool temperatures, different from the hot and humid climate of the rest of Jamaica below. There are no windows or screens; only the wooden blinds to shade the sun. From the hotel's central restaurant, where we ate lunch, you literally look down at the rooms around the circumference of the mountain top as well as the breathtaking vista of Kingston below and the surrounding Blue Mountains, which fauna give a bluish hue that give them their namesake. As could be expected, the food and drink at the restaurant were top-shelf and the service above and beyond the already purely genuine and polite service found in Jamaica. We also took time after lunch to walk around the basement of the restaurant to view the many platinum and gold albums and other rock and roll memorabilia decorating the walls of the resort's guest conference room. This is a highly recommended side trip for travelers through Ocho Rios or Kingston and a certain resort destination for those privileged few who can afford a stay here!!

(Originally published at http://www.troysgonewalkabout.com)

We started the day at a car rental office in the grand Hotel Sevilla on the Prado, one of Havana’s most graceful boulevards, to get our wheels. I couldn’t help but have visions of us cruising around the country in a sleek 1950’s Chevrolet convertible, with sunglasses on, the wind through our hair and generally just looking too cool for school.

Alas, we got exactly what the paperwork had previously informed us we would: A not-so-sleek 1990’s Hyundai Accent. But to the locals we may not have looked quite as sensible and domestic in our car as we thought. The previous night Eddie had seemed very impressed when we told him what we were getting, telling us Accents were generally the cars of choice for higher ranking government officials.

As it was my credit card on file I was slightly concerned about the chances of getting wrongly charged for damage after returning the car (especially as we had just been charged, unfairly we thought, for supposed new marks on the sides of the already well scratched van we hired in Grenada), and so I watched the car hire employee closely as he sought to mark down the countless blemishes on the Hyundai’s bodywork. He wasn’t overly precise, and when he had finished without marking any of the scratches on the roof or undercarriage, I started to point them out. The man waved dismissively, telling me that he wouldn’t be looking at the car anywhere near that closely on its return. I wasn’t quite so sure, but to give him his dues we most definitely succeeded in adding a couple of extra dents to the car’s undercarriage on the country’s absolutely terrible roads and my credit card remained charge-free.

Derek and I had opted to share the driving, but as I was the only one with experience in a left hand drive, I got first dibs on taking us through the surprisingly orderly Havana traffic. From the Prado I took us out onto probably Havana’s most famous thoroughfare of all, the Malecón, following the seafront westwards to the road’s end before eventually turning inland into a well maintained district of foreign embassies.

We were looking for one of Cuba’s few motorways, but with little to no signage were relying exclusively on the hire car company’s provided map and a good deal of dead reckoning to determine our position. We found the autopista after crossing an overpass on top of it, and then made a U turn to have another go. There were no signs, lane markings or roadside fencing, and from the look of the other vehicles it seemed like we could get onto the autopista by using any of the on/off ramps we liked regardless of the direction we were travelling in. Spoilt for choice but somewhat confused, we were soon on the divided carriageway heading west, sharing it with only a few other hire cars (relatively modern like ours and with the distinctive red ‘turista’ number plates), trucks, slow motorbikes and the occasional horse and buggy.

What there were plenty of on the almost empty autopista were people, waiting by the roadside to hitch a ride in the back of an empty truck. Most were in groups resting in the shade of the concrete overpasses, generally with a man in army greens present to (I assume) ensure those waiting got a lift in order with their place in the queue. For some distance either side of the overpasses there were a few others spaced here and there, perhaps taking a chance at being able to beat the line. It seemed an inefficient and frustrating way to get around, whimsically planning an expected time of arrival at a chosen destination no more precisely than “whenever I get there”, and this was a first real inkling to us that either the country lacks much transport infrastructure, or that the populace is generally too poor to afford it, or both.

Eventually we turned off the autopista onto a two lane road bounded by rural wooden shacks with thatched roofs, and at once the condition of the road worsened. First it was the frequent potholes up to half the size of the car, necessitating dropping down to first gear at times, and sometimes the bitumen just disappeared completely, revealing a surface of ungraded gravel. As we climbed into the hills and the road became twistier the visibility worsened too, as we got stuck behind an old truck crammed with hitch-hikers that regularly spewed out clouds of blue fumes.

In the mid-afternoon we arrived in the small town of Viñales and cruised along its lengthy single main street in search of the casa Leo had organised. There was a small snag as it was already full, but one of the girls in the family got in our car and directed us to the apartment building of some relatives a few blocks off the main street. It was a rudimentary three storey block of small, two bedroom apartments, each opening out onto a common front yard that was home to dogs, pigs and numerous free range hens and their chicks. Derek and I had a room in a flat on the first floor, and Ben and Tony were in the flat directly above. Inside, all the rooms were incredibly basic, but were spotlessly clean and had enough little decorative touches to show their occupants’ obvious pride in their abode. But we could never work out exactly who lived with whom, as the residents all drifted in and out of each other’s flats as if they were communal.

The rest of the afternoon was spent sightseeing around the mogotoes, distinctive densely vegetated limestone mountains surrounding the town. This was very much a rural area, as we passed old farmers in battered cowboy hats toiling in fields of rich, red soil planted with crops of tobacco and sugar cane, using bullocks to help them in their manual labour.

Our first stop was at a giant mural of pre-historical animals that had been painted on the exposed rock face of one of these mountains that, without trying to be too dismissive, won’t go down in my book as a Cuban must-see.

Back in Viñales we casually meandered along the main street on foot, and for the first time I was really able to take in the style of the vintage cars that the population still have to rely on. I admired the wide collection of old Chevys, Plymouths, Dodges and Buicks, some rust buckets clearly not in current working order but most still running with much care, and came across a few American makes of that era I’d never before seen, Zephyrs and De Sotos among them.

Though Viñales seemed to be a popular stop-off with tourists and there was no shortage of casas in which to accommodate them, finding a restaurant turned out to be decidedly tricky. We ate a nice meal at quite possibly the town’s only one (before learning it was generally customary to eat at the casa), before calling it an early night.

This restaurant has amazing food. I am a weightlifter and I eat a lot and very picky. I thought 3rd world, non-inclusive restaurants were garbage BUT not Bailey's. I tried their pizza which was fairly cheap considering it was Pizza Hut quality and enough to feed 2 people. I also tried their fajitas and tacos which would put Taco Bell to shame... In summary the food was excellent and I did not have to take Pepto Bismol afterwards ;(

I've stayed at this hotel a number of times over the past few years - my most recent visit was in May 2009. All in all, it is the best hotel I have ever stayed in and certainly worth the money. As an all-inclusive it literally caters to your every need - a huge choice of foods and activities, and only a few steps away from the beach. It's only flaws are that it is situated just outside Ocho Rios and so you have to get a taxi to get there, and the free watersports that you don't have to pay extra for are limited, in comparison to the other hotels I have stayed in, in Jamaica. Note that the hotel really does cater for you in every way, but you won't see the real Jamaica until you step out! It's paradise, but a created version of paradise from the clean air-conditioned rooms to the hotel staff's Americanised accents. To meet real Jamaicans and see the real Jamaica, make an effort to leave the hotel (at least once!) and visit Ocho Rios or a nearby town. A few tips: 1. The private taxis that the hotel offer cost about 10 times the price in comparison to a local taxi. To use a local taxi, walk to the entrance of the hotel, stand by the side of the road and flag down any of the white cars that pass. They are local taxis and will stop for you if they have space to take you. Most of them go straight to Ocho Rios town centre (about 10 min drive away) but it's best to double check. 2. Despite some bad press, Jamaica is generally safe, but as in most tourist destinations you should be safe and aware. Keep your belongings with you and don't flash the cash too much. Only carry as much money as necessary and use JAMAICAN dollars, not American ones. (You often get a better rate that way and only commercialised shops and establishments accept US dollars) Have fun!

Animateurin auf der AIDA vita, cruising the caribbean Islands for one season after crossing the atlantic ocean from spain. The route: Santo Domingo-tortola-antigua-guadeloupe-dominica-st.lucia-st.vincent-grenada-trinidad.