We visited Seven Mile Beach in Negril twice during our 7 amazing days in Jamaica. I've mentioned that in other blog posts, but I thought I'd focus on Seven Mile Beach for this one, for those of you who may be visiting soon - or for those who are travelling from their armchairs. Our first visit was a very brief one - we were on the way from somewhere else and one in our party asked our awesome driver Lion, from Lion Tours if we could check out the beach when he had mentioned that we weren't far away. Even though we were planning a full day at the beach later in the week, we were all too curious to wait, so Lion made a detour and we all got out to spend an hour on the sand!
Often called one of the most beautiful beaches in the world by travel magazines, it is truly lovely.
I have mentioned before how our host at the Blue Hole Mineral Springs - especially the elderly mother of the hotel owner was a little worried about our plan to hit Negril. Though we were fine I totally understand why she was worried! - as our host she didn’t want anything bad to happen to us, and Negril can definitely be kind of sketchy... read my previous blog posts to hear about that!
However we weren’t going to Jamaica without the opportunity to spend some time on that famous beach - so off we headed on a day trip from the Blue Hole with Lion driving for the trip to Negril.
On this day we planned to spend most of the day at that famous beach, so first we stopped at the bank machine and got a few dollars out - we planned to buy a few tourist things - and also planned to try our best to avoid that hard-sell which is not easy on the beach in Jamaica!
First we took some pictures on the way towards the “Woodstock” beach area.
The Respect Your Elders etc signs
And shared them on socials!
Then we walked into the beach area.
Once again from the beginning we noticed the influence of our host. Yes, we were treated like gold. Somebody came out to make sure we had a proper seat to the beach and were very solicitous to make sure we were OK for our entire time.
One beach moment that I have thought a lot about since is meeting Marva.
Marva was one of the many people selling Jamaican themed knick knacks, food, or jewelry on the beach to tourists. Unlike many, she wasn’t selling made in China things with Jamaican flags or rasta colors, she was selling bracelets and necklaces, as she explained to me,that she made herself.
My son was chilling on the beach taking a break with his device because teenager :
Dave was off grabbing a beer- he was really enjoying the local Red Stripe...
(I'm more of a rum punch kinda girl)
when Marva came to talk to me. I had already bought several trinkets including a Jamaican flag themed woven bracelet from a young boy for five dollars and a really cool summer dress (Rasta colors, made in India!) and was getting pretty low on cash but when Martha came along with her stuff but of course it was really hard to say no so I end up buying a small necklace and the bracelet from her.
I probably spent about $20 US - and then we got talking just like I had with the people in the store the day before.
I asked her if she have any family in Canada and told her about how many Jamaican people lived in Canada and how my school was mostly Jamaican and how many my friends growing up were from Jamaica and so the culture felt very familiar to me. We spoke for a little while and somewhere in the conversation I told her how lucky I felt to be right there on the beach at that moment in time in Jamaica.
I said it was somewhere we never expected to be and that I was so lucky that my work took me there and I didn’t know if I’d ever get back there but that I hope someday to return. It was then that she gifted me the necklace that she had made - I’m still wearing it right now months later as I write this.
I remember clearly when she gave it to me she said, “This is a gift from Marva and if you never take it off one day you’ll return back here.”
Somehow I believed her.... and I still do.
And, of course... I told everybody about it on my socials in real time. It is made from seeds she said grow by the ocean - she polished them and then strung them into a necklace. She must’ve spent a really long time making it. There was something a little magical about the gift and I believe that I’ll get back there and I’ll meet Marva again some day.
It was funny - my husband Dave walked up to us near the end of our conversation after she had given me the gift, and said pay her for that! thinking it was part of the sale and she said, “No no no this is a GIFT from Marva!”
It was a beautiful moment . Have an open heart and you will make friends everywhere.
If you find yourself on 7 Mile Beach and you meet Marva, tell her I said hi. Seriously.
What else can I say about our family day at the beach? We swim - even my husband Dave who isn't really a swimming fan, got into the water....
Dave got some video of some of the action on the beach here : WATCH and here WATCH.
And this really was the first time I got to spend any time at the ocean as well as my son. I had only really seen any ocean for the first time the previous year when I was in Los Angeles for the first time and I was absolutely blown away and learned what the world awe-some as in awe inspiring really means I took the bus up to Santa Monica and spent an hour to on the beach and saw that ocean for the very first time!) That was only for an hour or two and this time I had the whole day to enjoy it... not only dipping my toes in, but getting right in.
I forgot to worry about sharks. That's the first thing childhood me would have thought of, but as far as I know they aren't a thing near the beach on Negril!
Anyway, there we were at the beach - with my son checking out the ocean for the very first time - he had never seen it at all, and now that I think of it, I don't think my husband Dave had either.
I do the selfie thing while my son takes his first steps in the ocean
Dave does a little video hoping he doesn't drop his phone in the ocean.
Check that out HERE
And I got some video of husband Dave's first time in the ocean.
Check that out HERE.
Dave gives us a view of the beach in another video.
Check that out HERE
About 20 yards into the water past the beach, there were these giant floating things tied down to the water that anyone could just climb up and either chill out and sunbathe, or use to dive off of into the water. I'm pretty short, just 5'2" - I don't know if that's why or if it's just cause I am really unathletic, but I wasn't able to climb up on either of them. I saw young teenagers do it, but I couldn't make it up even though I tried several times. Neither could my son Cassidy when I encouraged him to do it but he didn't try very hard. He gets discouraged quick unless it's something he really wants to do and he didn't care about it that much, so he just enjoyed his time in the water.
Somehow my husband Dave DID manage to get up there and ended up lying there long enough to get sunburned. Cassidy and I both also got a wicked sunburn even though we had started out the day with sunscreen - more on that later. (It pretty much ruined his last day experience in Jamaica the next day, he was so miserable from the pain.) Bad momma. I felt TERRIBLE.
On the sunburn : I ended up really paranoid when we got back to Hamilton and my son's shoulder was peeling really badly, so I took him off to a doctors visit. I said to the doctor that I felt awful about it, I was clearly feeling super mom guilty.... and he just turned kindly to Cassidy and asked if he'd had a good time in Jamaica and told me not to worry. Cassidy's takeaway is that the sun is a super powerful thing and getting burnt is not good...Really wish I could have avoided him getting that lesson though! The problem is, it got washed off in the water and he was walking in the water not swimming - so chest and shoulders exposed to the hot sun beating down on the water...
I posted this a week later back at home in Canada :
Anyway - we very much enjoyed our day at the beach marvelling at how we were actually in Jamaica and so thankful to my client for bringing us all there... what an experience!
The water was beautiful. The sand was awesome. The sales people were pretty agressive. The sunset was unbelievable. The rum punches were good (I think I had three, and the alcohol content is high!
Even the BATHROOMS are pretty :
Oh - and the patties were amazing. I had been waiting for the opportunity to try a true Jamaican patty!
Torontonians may recall the recent city wide controversy about which Toronto subway station makes the best patties...Bathurst station in the west end or Warden station in the east end. In case you are wondering which side of this eternal question I am on, as a Scarborough girl its #TeamWarden all the way. The pizza at Warden station SUCKS in that same shop tho... and Bathurst has the best cheese danishes!
But, I digress. A lot.
ANYway as someone from Toronto who thought she knew the patty, I was looking forward to trying one in its home country - and had been disappointed that three or four days in I had not yet seen a patty (we were getting more home cooked gourmet meals morning noon and night at the Blue Hole Mineral Springs!)
I’d heard I would find them on the beach, and sure enough it wasn’t long before - as I was sitting there in the parade of vendors - along came a guy carrying a big cardboard box and when he got closer I was excited to find that the box was filled with patties -- beef, and veggie.
I ordered two beef patties - one for me and one for husband Dave - and I was shocked when sn Cassidy agreed to try a vegetarian patty. He's a vegetarian but he’s definitely not known for trying new things and he had never eaten one before... but we had lots of talks with him before our trip about being open to trying new things and I guess the message kicked in.
He seemed to enjoy it...he ate the whole thing!
Anyway -- here are some more pics from Woodstock beach area of Seven Mile Beach, Negril.
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