Catamaran Adventures In Jamaica and The Turks & Caicos

While at Beaches Resorts in Jamaica and the Turks & Caicos I got to enjoy Catamaran rides. Catamarans are medium sized boats that have netting towards the front that you can sit on and look at the ocean beneath you. A huge thank you to Island Routes for these amazing opportunities!

I thought I’d share some of my favorite pictures from both excursions. This would definitely be on my “must do” list if I was traveling to the Caribbean again!

While in Jamaica, Jacob and I went on a catamaran that stopped near a cave and we got to swim into the dark cave and out the other side! We also watched people jump from a cliff into the water below.

Jacob relaxing on the catamaran

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The cliff people were jumping from while we cheered them on

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This is the cave we swam in. We went in the left side, went around inside and then came out the right side of it. This was good exercise since I had to pull Jacob along the whole time.

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My little ham

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Enjoying the sunny day

Our Turks & Caicos catamaran adventure took Sinisa and I to a private island and also stopped in the middle of the ocean for us to go snorkeling.

The Catamaran

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Look at that beautiful water! This picture was taken when the catamaran pulled up next to the private beach.

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Taken after we went snorkeling. Those yellow things in the water are people still snorkeling :)

Catamarans are a unique way to explore the Caribbean. Ours had some snacks and drinks as well as a DJ playing music. Here are my tips for enjoying the ride:

1) Wear lots of sunscreen!

2) Be careful walking on the net and do not run on it. I sprained my ankle trying to get Jacob away from the edge of the boat because my foot got caught in the net.

3) Try new things! Snorkeling, swimming in a cave, jumping into the ocean from the boat? How often do you get a chance to do something fun like that?!

4) Bring a coverup for your bathing suit. Once you’ve been in the water you will want to wear something over your suit while you cruise back to the island. That wind gets chilly when you are wet.

5) Bring a camera to get some pictures. Waterproof cameras are the best.

Enjoy!

 

 

Views From Beaches Resort in Jamaica

A couple months ago I talked about our amazing sponsored stay at Beaches Resort in Negril, Jamaica and shared how kid-friendly the resort was. As the weather here in Chicago is teetering between Winter and Spring, I am daydreaming of the warm weather of Jamaica and Beaches Negril and wanted to share more pictures of the resort with you all. Pictures do not do this place justice. It was truly the most beautiful place I’ve ever been and I hope to go back and stay again soon.

Our room (we could see the ocean from our patio!)

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 The private beach

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Eating with views of the water (we ate on the beach a couple times as well!)

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Great pools!

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I really loved how everything was open and airy throughout the resort.

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See why I hope to go back to Negril to stay at Beaches Resort again soon? It’s such a beautiful place!

Beaches Negril Resort & Spa: Jamaica’s Family Friendly Resort

Do you ever have an experience that is so absolutely amazing that you can’t even put it into words? This is how I feel about my trip to Jamaica. I was blessed with the opportunity to travel on a press trip with my son Jacob to visit Jamaica and stay at the Beaches Negril Resort and Spa. I’ve honestly never been somewhere so wonderful. Before my trip was over I knew that I wanted to save up money to go back again with my whole family.

Our experience is going to be split into multiple posts since I have way too many pictures to share but I thought I’d start off by sharing about the family friendly aspect of the resort we stayed at. I think a lot of places use the term “family friendly” very loosely but Beaches Negril Resort and Spa truly is. They made TripAdvisor® Travelers’ Choice Awards list of ‘Top 25 Hotels for Families in the World’ last year and they definitely deserved to make that list.

Beaches has a partnership with Sesame Street and we experienced fun with the Sesame Street characters all throughout our stay. The first night we went to a party to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the partnership between the two companies. There was even cake!

Every week there is also a character parade. It was fun to watch the characters dancing.

There was a balloon artist that was making balloon animals and other things for the kids. He made Jacob a sword and a crown.

When the parade passed by everyone followed the characters as they led us to the beach to eat a huge buffet dinner. Jacob enjoyed meeting all of the characters as we listened to live music.

During our stay we did a few other different Sesame Street activities. We watched a live Sesame Street show in an auditorium. We also turned ‘Trash to Treasure’ with Oscar the Grouch.

Jacob’s favorite Sesame Street activity was having Elmo come to our room and read a bedtime story with him. He was so surprised to have Elmo knock on the door and come visit! First they stretched and then they settled down to listen to a story before Elmo left a stuffed animal with Jacob to drift off to sleep with.

Another fun activity we participated in was Pop-Up Adventure Play. The children arrived to a grassy area with boxes, tape, leftover materials and numerous other discarded items. It was amazing to watch the children use their imaginations. Two boys built and airplane, some of the kids put together a bakery, and Jacob and his friend built some sort of huge building before helping “open” their bakery.

Along with all of the activities there are pools with water slides, a playground, an Xbox lounge, a DJ Scratch Academy, and a fabulous child care center.

Stay tuned for more details about the Resort, the food, Jamaica, and our visit to a local school with the Sandals Foundation!

I’m Headed To Jamaica {Soon}!

I’m so excited to share that I will be headed to Jamaica next month courtesy of Beaches Negril Resort & Spa! The last time I took a trip somewhere warm I was in College and went to Orlando, Florida. I wasn’t doing anything fun though- I was on a mission trip spending most of my time tarring a roof in the hot sun.

Headed to Jamaica is a dream come true and something I never thought I’d be doing. I’m going there with my five year old and am excited to come back and share about our experience. I’d never thought of taking kids to a Beaches resort, because I’d always thought of Beaches as a “couples” honeymoon type place, but upon looking at their website I discovered there is tons for kids to do.

With outrageous waterparks, XBOX® Play Lounge, the Scratch DJ Academy, exclusive Kids Camps, teen nightclubs, Certified Nannies, Butler service, and Red Lane® Spas, Beaches Resorts provides an unrivaled experience in the Caribbean. As a proud sponsor of Sesame Street, Beaches Resorts also offers the Caribbean Adventure with Sesame Street®, where kids can spend their vacation with their favorite friends from the Sesame Street gang with daily activities and weekly stage shows.

Here are some pictures from their website which make me wish the trip was today as I sit here looking outside at a sky filled with rain clouds.

Check out that beach! Have you ever seen anything so amazing?!

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Jake is all about the pool since he thinks fish will touch him in the ocean :)

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I think every vacation I’ve ever dreamed about had a variation of this. What a fabulous way to spend a day!

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Of course the rooms are beautiful as well. Imagine waking up to palm trees and a crystal clear ocean!

Have you ever traveled internationally with children? I’d love any tips you have to share with me since I’m a little nervous!