Montego Bay (Jamaica)

I went to Sandals Montego Bay for 2 weeks in August 1997 for my honeymoon. It seemed pricey at first glance (it was about 3400 ukp for us both) but this turned out to be pretty good value for money.

The food was excellent, there were at least 5 restaurants to choose from including a Chinese, an Italian and an A La Carte, all at least four courses. You could also pop along to Sandals Royal Jamaican or Sandals Inn for a change. Sandals Royal Jamaican has an excellent Indonesian restaurant you have to get to in a "traditional" Balinese boat, but it's well worth the effort. All of the staff did their best to give you a good holiday and the activities were enjoyable, though you weren't forced to join in.

The resort is private, some people think this means you miss a lot but we weren't there to soak up the local culture, and I think I prefer this as there are so many hustlers around. Plenty of grass and cocaine available at "K-Mart" prices, but if you aren't that way inclined it can be a bit disconcerting to have it waved in your face continuously. We went to the Sumfest Reggae Festival in Montego Bay. It was a good event, but again a lot of hustlers. Acts we saw here included Shaggy and Chaka Demus & Pliers.

Sandals provides free scuba diving, it was ok but the reefs are fished out. The diving team lead you around by the nose, as in many Carribean resorts. This suits your typical American holiday diver, but gets a bit annoying for your average uk diver. All in all I would go to a Sandals resort again, but only for a "chilling out" kinda holiday.