When traveling to Jamaica you have got to get yourself on the water and the best party is a catamaran cruise to Rick’s Cafe and Margaritaville. We spent the afternoon on a catamaran having fun on the water with snorkeling, swimming, and playing on a jungle gym. If you are heading to Jamaica, this is a fun excursion that will get you off the resort while enjoying the good life.
Table of Contents
Catamaran Cruise with Island Routes Jamaica
We arrived at Island Routes Catamaran tours to cruise along the Negril Coastline in Jamaica from Beaches Resort.
We walked out to the Catamaran from 7 Mile beach getting our feet wet after a hot morning on dry land. It felt oh so good and we couldn’t wait to get out for a swim. It was one large and luxurious catamaran and we all grabbed our spots out in the sun for the journey to the reef.
Catamaran and Snorkeling Tour Jamaica
Being the Caribbean, excursions are all-inclusive just like the resorts. So once you get on the boat, your food and drinks are included. There was a fully stocked bar with a buffet lunch and we were free to feast and drink and dance and party. But first, it was time to get in the water! Read: Jamaican Food – 20 Traditional Dishes You Have to Try
You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do when in Jamaica, so some people remained on board to bask in the sun.
Snorkeling in Jamaica
Being used to traveling independently, we found it funny that we were snorkeling with our life vests on. I have a feeling there is a huge liability on package tours, so there was no going in the water without our life jackets.
It made for a little bit of an uncomfortable swim, but hey, we didn’t have to worry about running out of breath. The reef left a little to be desired in Jamaica and it has definitely seen better days. It looks like it has seen a lot of uninformed tourists in its day who have caused a lot of destruction to the waters.
Jamaican Marinelife
The coral didn’t look overly healthy and there wasn’t a lot of marine life. We saw a few of the staples such as starfish, trumpet fish, blowfish, and sea urchins. But they were few and far between. If you have never snorkeled before, this would be a satisfying first start. And anytime you have the chance to swim in the warm waters of the West Indies, it’s always a thrill.
We were out in the water for about half an hour following our guide who was fantastic. He knew where to find what little marine life there was to be seen so I stuck close following his lead.
Pirate’s Cave – Jamaica
Our next stop was Pirates Cave. This is apparently where many a pirate hung out and kept their stash. We were back in the picture-perfect turquoise water swimming to explore the caves and at this point, I was happy to have my life vest.
It was a pretty tough swim. Once inside we saw an old bar. How cool would that have been to swim up to a cave and sit at a pool bar? Only this time it was a bar in the sea!
It’s abandoned now and when I asked what happened to it, our guide replied “Bad Business.” Back on the boat, the party began. After about 15 minutes we heard the blow horn from the boat signaling us to come back and we set up further along the coast.
It’s a Catamaran Party
Once we were finished snorkeling, the booze poured freely. We weren’t allowed to drink alcohol before going in the water, but the rest of the trip was on the boat, so while we made our way to the next stop, we had the option to drink rum, beer, wine, or anything we desired.
Jamaica is all about enjoying rum and fun in the sun. Read: 33 of the Best Things to do in Jamaica
The breeze felt amazing and we barely felt the heat of the day as we continued along the coast of Negril Jamaica seeing its famous landmarks.
Rick’s Cafe
Our next stop was Rick’s Cafe. Famous for the cliff divers that put on a nightly show. It doesn’t look so high from the photos, but it is a fair distance and they even have higher platforms for the pros to jump off of.
We figure it must be dangerous since someone in our group told us that a friend of hers broke her back jumping from this very spot in the past. Luckily, nobody from our boat was jumping, so we sat back and relaxed as we enjoyed our very own show.
A well-trained diver flipped off the rocks for us not once, but twice. At this point, we were feeling pretty satisfied. We had enjoyed a feat of wraps and fresh fruit, had some yummy fruit juice and but the best was yet to come. Read more: 22 Things to do in Montego Bay
Margaritaville
We pulled up to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. Yep, there really is a Margaritaville. There are Margaritaville’s all over the Caribbean and this one was fantastic.
Oh, how many times I have sung the words “Wasting away in Margaritaville, searching for my lost shaker of salt...” As we pulled up, we saw the water trampolines and for some strange reason, every one of us said, we’d love to go on them. So the captain pulled up beside the trampolines and a bunch of fully grown adults hopped in the water to jump on the jungle gym for adults.
And this is where things got silly.
It was a group of fully grown men and women jumping around like a bunch of 5-year-olds. It became a full-on challenge ala Wipe Out of us all trying to cross successfully. It didn’t happen. So after a few hours on the water, we were all nicely burnt to a crisp, mildly sun stroked, and thoroughly happy. Because yes, we had fun in the sun all day long.
Our Captain
When our captain (the only female captain in Jamaica) Sydelle Gifford announced that we could use the trampolines, we were all in! Would I do a Catamaran Trip again? You Betcha Mon! Check out these Catamaran Tours from Get Your Guide with easy cancellation up to 24 hours notice and last-minute bookings if you want to go soon!
Read Next:
I have read that jamaica is a very nice country. I have never gone there in my life.I have also read about caribbean sea having beaches and resorts. Snorkelling is type of swimming in which you have to breathe from your face within the water. I also liked pirates caves which travellers have to pass while boating in the caribbean sea. I have also read about Margaritaville in the book but have seen first time on this blog .I have also liked Cliff Diver at Rick’s Cafe in Jamaica. I have heard that cliff diving is very difficult to do. Jamaica is a very nice place for travellers.
Island Routes is a great company that offers all kinds of tours, including transportation from most hotels in the major tourist areas of Jamaica, from dolphin encounters to ziplining to horsebackring on the beach. The have something for just about everyone!
Rose-Anne Gleiser
Personal Travel Advisor
Certified Jamaica Specialist
[email protected]
Lol loved the WIPE-OUT video! Fun fun fun!! Got a couple of those somewhere in my old files!
You’ll have to dig them out. They’re always fun for a good laugh.
Had a great time in sandals negril resort..the best time for us was the catamaran ride the captain and staff made our ride on this beautiful boat so much fun. Dwayne is the best tour guide on that boat, if you visit sandals negril look for him he will take good care of you, not that the rest of the staff on board wasn’t wonderful. Everyone on the boat has individual jobs and they all did a great job making sure we were all looked after. Thanks guys for the best time ever, we will for sure visit this resort often and especially the ride on the catamaran.
That sounds like such a fun day!
It was a very fun day with great people too!
This brings back some memories.
Hi Corve, I take it you too have had a great day on a Catamaran in Jamaica?
Great times on the trampoline and that photo is priceless. Convinced after the first attempt and it got wet it became “near impossible”. Great times no less and plenty of laughs.
Bringing back lots of fond memories.
Yes, we’ll use that as our excuse, it wasn’t that we were simply hopeless:) It was because the water made it slippery
;-)It was a great time in Jamaica for sure!