Montego Bay, Jamaica…
What can I say?
Where do I start?
First, let me start off by giving my home girl Honey a shout out (love you girl!), for inviting me as a Plus-1 for her friends destination wedding (beautiful ceremony and really cool people). And yes her name is Honey. The locals LOOOOOOVED it! Lol literally every time we introduced ourselves they repeated her name and said something about it. Best line we heard was a guy introducing his self as “B” because he wanted Honey… ha ha Honey…B…Get it? lol…guess you had to be there, but anyway…yea. That’s how I ended up in Jamaica.
Alright, now to the trip. It all started on the bus to the resort where we met Montego Bay Bae (My friends and I do this thing where we name the guys we meet or talk to, based on where we met them or what reminds us of them and that’s how we refer to them when telling stories to each other. Oh y’all never did that. Fine. But don’t judge). We started talking to him and found out he was traveling alone from NY
Side note: WHY is it that, no matter where I am in the world, I ALWAYS end up meeting someone from my State. Its literally like a NY magnet and we all attract to each other lol. Its weird, yet comforting. Idk how to explain, but yea it happens.
We invite him to sit with us at lunch, converse (y’all know how I feel about the word conversate), exchange numbers and next thing we know our duo trip became a trio and we’re having a good old family vay-cay. We did all the excursions together, kayaked in the ocean (if you ever wondered if kayaking is the same in all waters I’m here to tell you it is lol but it was still great 🤣) and even had a photo shoot on the beach. Not kidding. The photography literally spent like an hour and a half shooting pictures of us individually, as a group, as fake couples…and no one would have known we had just met the day before lol #goodtimes. 
Buuuuut let’s just pause and take a moment to acknowledge the fact that Montego Bay Bae looked GREAT in EVERY. SINGLE. PICTURE. Not exaggerating. It’s almost annoying how great he looked. I mean we, of course, didn’t mind looking, but it was crazy how ALL his pics coulda been in a swimwear or water sports catalog mmmhh mmmhh mmhh.
Ok….. back to the details of the trip. I had an amazing time crossing things off my bucket list.
Swimming w/the Dolphins and Sting Rays-
We went to Dolphin Cove in Ocho Rios (a little less adventurous than the other options, but appreciate Honey and Montego Bay Bae for being down for it). For some reason I’m obsessed with dolphins. Idk why. But I feel like dolphins are like the dogs of the sea, friendly and can be trained to do tricks. I know it’s weird. Actually, just ignore that statement altogether (I lowkey feel guilty about enjoying the dolphin shows because I know the animals should be in their natural habitat, and a lil concerned about animal cruelty and what not, but the trainer did say they live up to 15 years longer with them than they would “in the wild”. Either way I’m not conflicted enough to stop seeing them so #sorrynotsorry). But any way, kissing be dolphin was cute, the belly rides were fun, dancing with them was hilarious. A lot of work for the boogie board ride though. Montego Bay Bae couldn’t swim so I had to drag him out to the middle of the area to get his rides. Lmao…. Wish I had pictures from this cool experience, but I was clearly not prepared for the optics. Trust me…it wasn’t a pretty sight. But of COURSE Montego Bay Bae’s pics were great. Shocker (rolls eyes lol) Honey had admirers everywhere we went (she just has that bubbly personality that people gravitate towards) so she got an invite for a private tour to feed some fish, see baby dolphins, swim with the sharks and get massaged by a sting ray. It was actually a pretty educational experience. Bucket List- ✔️ check
Dunns River Falls- Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Flowing directly into the Caribbean Sea, this 600 foot cascade was truly an amazing thing. The cold water was pretty intense, but the hike was incredible! Pretty sure it was the first time I ever used water shoes, and it was completely necessary lol. I could have done without the human chain up to the top though. It was awkward because people were going at different paces and then families would stop and take pics at EVERY ledge. It was a lot. But even with multiple groups climbing at the same time, the experience was still serene. Nature truly is a beautiful masterpiece. And I MUST say my skin feels GREAT from soaking up all the nutrients and minerals from the water and the sunlight. If my hair was braided I would have done more flix in the water, splashed around a bit, but we already talked about the picture situation earlier. Still got some good pics though. And you already know how Montego Bay Bae’s pics looked.
Luminous Lagoon- Trelawny, Jamaica
Have you ever heard of bio-luminescence? I hadn’t until I visited the Atlanta Aquarium with my friend. I instantly became intrigued, started to research it and added it to my bucket list. Well, I was blessed with the opportunity to cross it off my list literally a week later. It was sooooooo random. Honey and I were talking to the lifeguard (the one who introduced his self as “B” cuz he wanted that sweet Honey lmao) at the resort pool and he mentioned that he was on his way to his other job which HAPPENED to be Luminous Lagoon. What a coincidence right? It was meant to be! He gave us the contact to the woman that runs it and she sent a taxi for us the next night. It was AMAZING. Hopefully I can explain it right, but please feel free to do your own research. So there’s these microorganisms, from fresh water, called dinoflagellates, that releases light (lucifrin) when stimulated by motion in the water. I think…lol sounds right, right? In regular words, the water glows when fish/ people move around. We literally got to swim in it. And when you lift your arm out the water your skin kinda shimmers, looking all glittery and what not. We were only in about 4 ft. deep, so it wasn’t scary. The bottom of the water was like a soft/squishy mud bed that felt great and weird, at the same time, between my toes lol. This could actually be a romantic thing to do with a significant other. Lucky for us, we had Montego Bay Bae lmao.
Sidenote: On the tour, there was this RUDE lady that asked the translator to stop talking while the presenter was talking. 2 words: CULTURAL INCOMPETENCE. Like WTF. He was translating because some girls on the tour only spoke Spanish. DUH smh. It really made me mad, cuz she was lookin’ at him like he was wrong and she was right to be annoyed. We were SOOOOOO ready to tell her about herself. But we just let her live her life so we can enjoy our moment. But really though, She lucky the presenter wasn’t speaking Patois. Then we ALL woulda needed a translator. Sheesh. Moral of the side note: Lets all be conscious of other cultures and realize that “our way” is not the only way and English is NOT the only language. Ok carry on.
There are two other places I’d like to experience this in Bali, Indonesia; and Vieques, Puerto Rico, also known as Mosquito Bay. Unfortunately, it’s not as bright in Mosquito Bay, due to past hurricanes, but hopefully by the time I visit it will be back to the way it once glowed. I also don’t have a picture for this because a) its hard to capture on film and b)I just assumed my pic was not hot and… Besides, pics and explanations really don’t do it justice. Take my word for it and experience it yourself.
So I guess you can say my time in Jamaica was a great. Memba Dat! Can’t wait to get back to feeling Irie on the island. Shout out again to my homegirl and Montego Bay Bae for the memories and pictures. Oh and you’re welcome Montego Bay Bae cuz we made your trip LIT lol.
Dear Future, 