How to Have an Easy Weekend Getaway in Jamaica

July 1, 2014

Jamaica in June means no reservations needed for hot restaurants like Sugar Mill or Marguerites and up to 20 percent off excursions like boating and scuba diving. Hurry up, Mo' Bay is calling. — Kaci Hamilton

Easy Weekend Getaway Jamaica | Affordable Caribbean Vacations | Nonstop Flight
Quick Arrival
In the air: Fly nonstop from Miami in an hour and a half. Or a little longer from Detroit. Or Chicago. Or about a dozen others. (See them all at islands.com/nonstopflights.) On the ground: See the sights by local bus, a private system that's dirt cheap and goes everywhere, all the time. There's no schedule, no rules about exact change, and no AC, but for about $2 each way, I have more stories than I can ever retell.Zach Stovall
Easy Weekend Getaway Jamaica | Affordable Caribbean Vacations | Where to Stay
Into a Room
Royal Decameron Montego Beach: I'm usually skeptical when a hotel claims to be "minutes from the airport," but faster than I can change my e-mail auto reply, my toes are in the sand and my only quandary is whether to have another Red Stripe. All-inclusive, from $169 a night. Jewel Paradise Cove: I didn't mind traveling an hour to realize my adult playground dream: a water slide; 10 restaurants; walking distance to a sunset cruise; 20 minutes from Dunn's River Falls. All for $238 a night, and I haven't even gotten to the butler.
Easy Weekend Getaway Jamaica | Affordable Caribbean Vacations | What to Do
Within Easy Reach
Get your jerk on: Spoiler alert — what the Pork Pit has mastered in flavor, it matches in ambience. The breeze through the courtyard cooled my tingling lips after helpings of chicken and ribs so authentic they should've required a longer trip. Back in time: A journey to 1805 used to require a DeLorean, but not at the Bellefield Great House, where I had rum pressed in the original mill, and heard accounts of family being bought and sold. History became more than a spiel. Tours by appointment.

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