Fordele: The vibe at this place is just lovely. We had never been to an all inclusive before (we like to experience the culture of a place and not just stay on a gated off property), but we booked because it was close to downtown ocho rios and a great price for including the round-trip montego bay airport transfer and free drinks/food/activities.
We ended up loving the layout and vibe of this place. It's a luxury resort but it's kind of fraying at the edges, in a charming kind of way - apparently one of the first resorts built on the island. Everything is extremely clean and well designed. We loved the beautiful trees and plantings overgrowing the beach and pools. The naked island is also beautifully landscaped, with a luxurious isolated feel. We often felt like we were in one of those vacation posters from the 60s.
The naked island. We were nervous about this but decided we had to do it before we left. It was actually really awesome and there was no reason to be nervous. The vibe was much more social out there, probably because being naked breaks down a lot of barriers you might normally feel with strangers. One woman commented that "this place is the opposite of sexy, it's more like becoming a baby again" and that was true. Teneil was running trivia at the pool bar out there and she was hilarious, and the bartender Abigail out there was great too. There's a full bar on the island and there's food out there around lunch too. You take a ferry out, find your beach chair, and then undress. You may not be out there with clothes on, except staff.
Our cab driver Nash was the absolute man. He took us to the blue hole and then we booked him again to take us to the farmers market in ocho rios. He then took us to his favorite bar where we played dominoes with the locals - the most fun we had on the trip. Finally he brought us to a local Jamaican restaurant where much food was eaten. Book him, he's the man.
The blue hole was incredible. Don't leave ocho rios without going there - natural waterfalls and turquoise pools with cliff jumping and rope swings. Our guide was Dave, who was also the man. The guides carry your cameras/iPhones over their heads as they swim across the pools and they never get wet.
We loved the activity lady chevalle as well, who we tried to convince to walk with us to Ocho Rios which she thought was a fully hilarious request. Good people.
Be aware that if you want to do scuba, the beginners class is at 8:30 AM and you may not scuba the day before your departure.
Ulemper: The food was better than we expected for an all inclusive, but I was sick of it after 3 days. The Asian restaurant has a cool location out over the water, but the food was really bad except the thom kla soup (you're in Jamaica, why are you ordering Asian food anyway. This is an every-Asian-cuisine-on-one-menu place, which was the first sign).The drinks are free flowing and pretty yummy, but definitely watered down (even the gin ordered to our room was clearly half the alcohol of regular gin - I've made a gin and tonic many times and never put 3 shots in it). However, if these drinks were full alcohol, the resort would have a problem with guests being way too drunk so I understand why they do it. We also found more name-brand stuff that seemed to not be watered down on the naked island.
The snorkeling trip was sad because the reefs around Jamaica are pretty much dead, and the "couples reef" is no exception. You'll see some little fish and a squid if you're lucky, but the coral is largely dried up. However, it's nice so swim out in the ocean and the trip is only an hour so why not.
Cabs are very expensive, because the drivers stay with you wherever you go.
My last criticism is that there's definitely a "hush hush" rule among employees that they are not allowed to tell you about fun local things to do (truly local).
