On our last day in Jamaica before we flew back to Canada, we spent the day on a large catamaran sailing along the north coast of Jamaica while knocking back large gulps of rum. This experience was the highlight of my Jamaica trip, and I would encourage everyone who is able to drink copious amounts of alcohol on a small boat.
The day started with a bus trip from our resort to a nearby beach, where a bar awaited us serving drinks. It did not make sense to me to buy drinks at the bar, as surely the boat crew will serve us free drinks on the boat. There were also local vendors selling souvenirs and pre-rolled joints, including a man walking around the beach selling ''marijuana cake" and proudly exclaiming that the cake is "not for the kids". Schools of small fish were swimming around the shallow inlets of water. The beach itself was clean and well maintained, and I would have loved to spend some time there, but we were ready to go on the catamaran beside the nearby dock.
To my disappointment, the boat would not serve alcohol until the voyage back to the dock from Dunn's River Falls. It ultimately did not matter to me though, as I was able to appreciate the views of the Jamaica coastline and the ocean in a slightly tipsy state, rather than a hammered state. As we were sailing, the on-board DJ was playing 90s R&B songs, which was an odd choice, but I was cool with it.
Soon after, we anchored in an area for snorkeling. I was confident in my swimming abilities to hop out of the boat and swim around, but I made sure to get a life jacket from the staff. I grabbed some flippers, a snorkeling mask, and jumped out of the boat. I swam a ways from the boat and ducked down to see some coral reefs, but the effects of global warming bleached the once colorful reefs. However, I managed to see some fish. When swimming back to the boat, one of the crewmembers swimming in the water asked me if I wanted to hold a sea urchin. When she placed the creature on the palm of my hand, I felt the sea urchin try to suck my palm with its mouth. The urchin was also quite prickly, but it did not harm me at all.
After everyone got back onto the boat from snorkeling, the boat continued to Dunn's River Falls. Now, I already did the climb from my trip on board the MSC Seaside, and if you want to know how the climb was, please read my previous post. I enjoyed the climb the first time, and I was happy to do it again with a new set of people. I wished I could have scampered up the waterfall without supervision, but I had to stay with the group. After the climb, we lazed around in the beach until it was time to go back to the boat.
Now back on the boat, it was finally time for the staff to serve alcohol. I was ordering and downing rum and cokes every 5 minutes. I thought I was ordering Appleton White rum, but when I ordered my sixth rum and coke and saw the rum that the bartender was pouring, I nearly fainted. I was ordering Wray and Nephew rum the whole time, which was a much stronger rum. This was why I was feeling drunk earlier than I usually am. The ride back to the dock was bumpier than usual, which made me feel uneasy, as well as drunk.
The front of the boat was where everyone was dancing, partying, and having a good time. The DJ was playing all kinds of reggae, soca, hip-hop, and club favourites. I was especially impressed at the man dancing exuberantly to "Cotton Eye Joe" by Rednex. It was certainly a unique way of partying, compared to partying on land, or even on a cruise ship. You are in a small area with nothing but metres-deep water surrounding you, which increased the danger, but also increased the excitement. The time went by quickly, and before I knew it, we were back at the dock and disembarked off the boat. I was feeling quite inebriated after that adventure.
I have some video below of my Jamaica trip, with video of the party boat, as well as my time at the Luminous Lagoon and in Ocho Rios. Check it out below, along with some pictures from my time on the party boat:
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