On a strange “week off” from my work in June, my hubby Denver and I and two of our good friends decided to take a week long trip to beautiful Jamaica!  Denver and I had only briefly stopped there on our honeymoon cruise a few years ago, but didn’t really leave Royal Caribbean’s port area.  Kristina and I must have looked at reviews a million times before deciding on Jewel Paradise Cove Jamaica, an all-inclusive, adult-only resort in Runaway Bay, near Ocho Rios.  Apparently we were super lucky in regards to the weather; it had been raining the week prior, but we didn’t have any bad weather, besides some gnarly wind!

{image via google maps}

If you are ever looking for an all inclusive in Jamaica, I’d highly recommend Jewel Paradise Cove.  The ONLY thing I wasn’t completely in love with was the {lack of} beach.  Since Runaway Bay is in a cove, their small beach was lacking in the waves department, but taking a short walk to a public beach wasn’t a big deal and quite the adventure anyway!  There are also endless excursion options for reasonable costs.  On one day we took an excursion to Negril, about 2 1/2 hours away, where we swam in the amazing water, shopped, and visited Ricks Cafe, a popular cliff diving location and restaurant.  It was a long day, but our tour guide (“Madame D”) was hilarious and we had a blast!  Water sports at the resort are included, so my husband and I were able to scuba dive a few times as well as take paddle boards out in the cove.

The food at the resort was excellent and there was a good range of options, including a Japanese Steakhouse, fancy bistro, pizza/Italian restaurant overlooking the sunset, and their wonderful all-you-can-eat buffet, as well as a smaller burger/Jerk chicken joint.  Drinks were plentiful, and the friendly staff always made sure we had a full drink from their wide drink menu.  Not 10 minutes from walking in the front lobby, we were served their signature drink of the day.

The rooms are beautiful and modern, but still “beachy” and our first floor porch walked right out to one of their pools with a swim up bar, hot tub, and volleyball net.  Their employees are extremely friendly and attentive, and we were always treated with respect and kindness.  There were probably under about 300 rooms, so the resort is intimate and we got to know a lot of the employees by name as well as other guests.

They do hold weddings at the resort as well and we saw a few different groups who were there for destination weddings.  They had a small photography shop and provide it for weddings and photoshoots, HOWEVER, you know I’m always going to recommend taking a trusted photographer!  The people were very nice but, like any resort or tourist location photographer, probably don’t have a lot of experience or the proper equipment.  But I digress…

Of course I had to take my camera on our vacation, although I made sure to keep it locked up in our room most of the time.  I did manage to capture some images from the resort, and Kristina and I did photoshoots for each other as well!

Below are a few Go-Pro images from Denver and I’s scuba diving adventures at Jewel Paradise Cove

Melissa Sigler | Kansas City | Lawrence | Destination Wedding Photographer