The Honeymoon in Jamaica: Part I

It is quite chilly up here in Chicago! Did you know that on Monday Chicago was colder than Mars?? Not okay.

That being said, I’m daydreaming of the Honeymoon we went on back in November to Jamaica, where everything was sunny and warm and perfect. It’s going to take a couple posts to share all these adventures and photos!

{Getting There}

Eric and I took off for our honeymoon bright and early the next morning after the wedding. Well, actually it was still dark it was so early, so nix the bright. We rocked these awesome (and original) Married AF shirts and koozies by The Daily Tay, and got lots of compliments.

We had booked our trip through Southwest Vacations. Loveee Southwest Vacations, you guys! They make it so easy to have everything taken care all in one place.

{The Resort}

On the plane we could hardly contain ourselves. We knew we wanted to find an all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean, one where we could relax and soak up the sun, but one where we could still be adventurous! After lots of research, we landed on Couples Swept Away (CSA) for seven days in Negril, Jamaica.

Let me say this place is a real life dream, in case my pure joy above does not convey that enough.

Not only are the facilities gorgeous, but the entire staff is beyond kind. I can definitely say that we left with new friends. CSA is not too big, not too small, and it’s impossible to not feel the romantic vacation vibes.

This resort is located along a gorgeous strip of Seven Mile Beach and has two big pools, six restaurants, bars throughout, and a variety of nighttime entertainment. In addition to food and drink being included, your stay also includes a whole bunch of other water recreation and island activities – glass-bottom boat tours, snorkeling, windsurfing, catamaran cruises, etc.

I said it was a real life dream, right??

{The Room}

So beautiful and literally located steps away from the beach. At night you could hear the waves gently crash. There was also a balcony that had us feeling so adult and fancy when we’d sit out there.

{The Eats}

Oh my goodness, so yummy! I know people hate on resort food sometimes, that is not the case at CSA. Eric’s favorite was probably the jerk chicken, while I fell in love with a fresh fish sandwich on the softest bread ever.

A light breakfast could be delivered to our room, or we could go to a couple restaurants for a sit down menu or buffet. Everyone knows breakfast is my fave, I was not disappointed.

At one spot for dinner, there’s a pasta bar that served as an appetizer for a three course menu. Basically, like four dinners in one. It’s a miracle we didn’t come back twice our sizes.

We particularly liked one cafe for the afternoon munchies, Seagrapes. It was technically the vegetarian restaurant, but I guarantee a majority of the clientele was not just vegetarian. There was all sort of healthy eats to enjoy.

{Catamaran Cruise}

This was the first big activity we signed up for. The crew had Jamaican music going and Red Stripe flowing, the Jamaican beer everyone drank. They took us along the island for sightseeing and even stopped at a giant cave for us to go swimming.

We caught all these pictures with the GoPro we bought just before our wedding weekend! Eric and I had talked about getting one, and then knew we couldn’t leave for all these water adventures without it. Highly recommend –  we were able to get some awesome shots and were totally carefree about any concerns of it getting wet!

{Snorkeling}

I had never been before! This was one of the biggest things on my to-do list. We signed up for a daytime snorkel and loved it. We got to see a giant barracuda, feed fish, hold starfish, see a sunken cannon and anchor…it was all so beautiful. I kept telling E it was like opening my old science text books and seeing the coral reefs from the pages come to life.

GoPro was clearly also a star for this outing.

We had such a fun time, we signed up to go again at night. Jumping off the boat that time around was definitely a little freakier, but very awesome. The reefs seem totally different, and we saw more creatures, like an octopus and sea turtle.

We loved snorkeling so much, we thought we’d take it one step further and get scuba certified. More on that in Part II, along with other adventures!

That’s all for today, friends! I hope no matter where you are – beach, mountains, or in between – you’re having a great Thursday, with holiday spirit in full swing!