Travel blog
I don’t need a lot when it comes to food and dining but dinner and lunch should definitely be hot and have some taste. The choice of food isn’t wide here in Melia Hotel, I suppose poorer Cuba had more to offer.
The hotel food is of very poor quality. I am really surprised because I have read many positive comments about food and dining here in Dominicana.Unfortunately, even the a la carte restaurants in the hotel just pretend that they can cook and serve the acceptable food.
It took me almost two days to write about Punta Cana beacuse I am not convinced what to think about this place. I simply did not fall in love with it. It has not got the Jamaican vibe, its hospitality and its laid-back life.
In the hotel I feel like in a big prison, I don’t have access to real people, real town, I have got the fucking bracelet which allows me to dine and drink without limits but I hate that.
I knew I opted for an all-inclusive hotel but I didn’t expect it to be so hard to bear.
I was sure that I would adore the sea and the beach here in the Dominican Republic but they are so-so, just acceptable. I have been to marvellous places before, Punta Cana isn’t a paradise.
Thanks god, it is not a peak season in the Dominican Republic, there are hundreds of deckchairs on the beach and near the pool but the majority of them is empty. Uff that is more comforting for me as I despise the crowds.
Not pretty but safe. Below the roundabout in the center of Negril.
Value Master – supermarket with reasonable prices.
Sometimes weird…
We love their socks, stockings and caps.
1 US dollar equals 130-135 Jamaican dollars. You can pay with US dollars everywhere.
Street food: jerk chicken with rice and fries, price: 12$. Two, big portions, good quality.
Below the bar in the center of Negril called Time Out popular with natives and tourists.
Hotel food: sweet and sour chicken and coconut chicken, price: 26$.
Jamaican water has got very good quality, it is possible to drink tap water and we drink it.
Prices of bottled water in the supermarket are moderate, one bottle (600 ml) costs 0,3$. In a hotel you will pay 2$ plus taxes.
Crisps cost a lot, 3-4$ a packet.
Often neglected, very thin, dirty and sometimes injured. Jamaican pets fight for survival every day. They eat what they find, catch or get but they are friendly and they will look at you with their sad eyes.
Again we tried some local food. It is called bammy, it looks like bread and it is from cassava flour.
Bammy to typowy jamajski chlebek na bazie manioku. Jest smaczny i czesto podaje się go do dorsza z ackee.
Pros
1. Natural beauty
2. Moderate accommodation prices
3. Warm and crystal clear ocean
4. Good or even very good food
5. Safety and many smiling people
6. Quietness and few tourists in June
Cons
1. Rather expensive food, high prices of fruits
2. Harrasing in public places
3. Not a lot to see, the offered trips are pricey and not interesting
4. The weather in June. It is very hot but unfortunately rainy.
5. Constant cheating, tourists are overcharged in every place. One taxi route / ride should cost 150 Jamaican dollars but taxi drivers charge about 7-10$. By one ride I mean a distance of 3-4km.
Jamaica is a beautiful place and the people here are more open than the ones in Mexico, Cuba or Panama. Of course, their friendship is fake and they adore and appreciate your cash not you.
The beach in Negril called the Seven-Mile Beach is picturesque.
It is well-kept, it is clean and the water is amazing. The ocean is warm, clean and has got a beautiful light blue color.
The adventage of our hotel is free access to paddleboards. You can use them any time you want and admire the beach from the ocean.
There are many places to eat in Negril, however, it is not so easy to find standard that many people would accept. Of course hotels offer great food with real crockery and cutlery, white napkins and clean glasses but the street food is not always edible and acceptable.
We ate jerk chicken and jerk pork in a bar called Best in the West. Well, it wasn’t bad but it was not good either so we dined only once there.
Barrels changed into grills are Jamaican standard and they are everywhere.
What we really like are so called patties, they are stuffed with cheese, chicken, shrimps, you name it. They are served warm. Jamaicans often eat some rich chicken soup with patties. Both patties and the soup are very tasty.
You can eat two patties and two mugs of soup for less than 5$.
We do recommend Juici Patties in the center of Negril near the roundabout. The patties are yummy and fresh.
Negril beach is like a street market where you can buy anything you want: trips, fruits, boat rides, shells and drugs.
Men with aloe vera leaves mean „I have and I sell drugs”.
The vendors aren’t pushy or agressive. They greet you, try to befriend with you and wish you all the best. Many ask about your name and remember it.
Plaża to miejsce gdzie kupić można po prostu wszystko: owoce, kraby, muszle, wycieczki, przejażdżki łodzią i wszystkie możliwe używki.
Sprzedawcy są uprzejmi, witają się z turystami, życzą miłego dnia i nie są zbyt nachalni. Często pytają o imię i je zapamiętują.
