Jamaica’s Best Kept Secret

(Published in N Magazine, Issue 23.4, Summer2004, p. 29)

The Caribbean has become a frequent and prime destination for naturist travel for people from all over the world. Nude flights and nude cruises are becoming more commonplace, and many resorts are recognizing the trend and accommodating the naturist traveler to bolster the tourism that has lagged somewhat since 9/11/2001. Nowhere has this manifested itself more than Jamaica.

While there has traditionally been a naturist-friendly attitude at the Super Clubs such as Hedonism II, Grand Lido, Couples and a few others, many resorts are jumping on the bandwagon to set aside areas for nude use. The Super Clubs have expanded with new resorts, notably Hedonism III and Grand Lido-Braco, to capitalize on the nude travel trend. Some facilities are making available “Nude Weeks” at their otherwise clothed facilities. These facilities are largely all-inclusive and can be very expensive, and more so during the winter and early spring.

Four years ago we made our first trip to Firefly Cottages in Negril. It was the winter of 1999/2000 and very cold when we booked our first trip there. Having seen ads in N Magazine, and write-ups for Firefly on the web, we made arrangements for a midwinter vacation there at the end of January 2000. Our goal was to escape the cold and be able to tan all over without it costing “an arm and a leg.” Firefly fit the bill on both counts.

What a nice, laid back, quaint place to spend a holiday. Firefly was small, quiet, very clean, and the grounds and gardens were beautifully manicured and maintained, the hot tub centrally located, and the owner and staff were exceedingly friendly and accommodating in every way. While Firefly did not have a restaurant there were numerous places to eat along the beach, and the cost of food was more than reasonable and very good. Firefly’s small bar did (and does) serve breakfast, fruit plates, sandwiches and drinks daily from 7:30 a.m. until 10 p.m.

We are still kicking ourselves and wondering why it took us nearly 4 years to return. In August we began planning our Christmas time off knowing that the coming 3 months involved extensive traveling to train employees on new software, and we were anxious for the winter holidays to be a time to relax and unwind from that ordeal. I think “Jamaica” must have hit us simultaneously and we contacted Firefly and made arrangements for a Christmas Eve flight to Montego Bay and the taxi ride to Negril. We received an unexpected ‘discount’ as repeat guests. No wonder Firefly has guests that have returned year after year…some as many as 20 times!

Firefly isn’t a naturist-only destination. There is a wonderful mix of travelers from all over the world, some naturist, some textile, visitors of all ages from honeymooners to the elderly, some with children, and singles are always welcome. (While there are more textile guests than nude guests, most women were topless in the beach area, and topless is quite common all along Negril’s beach.) The people blend well and you easily befriend the other visitors, nude or textile, particularly with the weekly beach party and bonfire with free rum punch and popcorn. We enjoyed several meals with other Firefly guests at beachfront restaurants. There are no negatives to being nude at Firefly it is accepted without question or concern.

The Firefly beach area is quite small, approximately 25 yards wide and 40 yards deep, and nudity is confined to the ocean, beach and the hot tub in the garden area. Wearing a wrap to the bar, office or in the garden is required, however it’s a small price to pay for paying small prices to relax nude in Jamaica.

Firefly’s rates are extremely reasonable, even in the high season, with the highest rate at $220/night for an apartment that sleeps up to 8 people. There is one unit on the beach, backing the bar; the penthouse rooms provide a nice view of the beach while the balance of the rooms are garden view and less than a minute walk to the beach. The rooms have refrigerators, stoves, pots and pans, dishes and silverware for self-catering. Negril city is 3 miles away and has grocery and other shopping available. They also have four small cabins (Secret’s Cabins) available with rates as low as $17/person per night. These cabins don’t have kitchens, shower or bathroom facilities, but modern bathroom facilities are 15 steps away from the cabin doors.

During the course of our stay we bought day passes at Hedonism II ($65/person from 10:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.) entitling use of the facilities, food and drinks, at no extra cost. Hedonism also offers a night pass from 6:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. for $75/person. Things tend to get a little wild at night and we opted for limiting ourselves to the day visit. Photo identification is required for these visits: IDs are held by security until you leave.

The Hedonism nude beach was far more active than their “prude” beach and much more beautiful. It curves around at the end and is quite natural with trees over the water forming a pretty lagoon. During the day the activity on the nude beach is pretty typical of any nude beach I’ve been to in my travels. The maintenance staff was quick to run off non-nude ‘observers’. For all one hears about sexual activity at Hedonism resorts, it surely wasn’t evident during our day visit.

In the 10 years since my last trip to Hedo II, there have been major additions to their nude facilities including a new bar, a swimming pool with a swim-up bar, and new snack bar. We enjoyed our brief stay there.

Due to circumstances beyond our control (actually beyond MY control), we enjoyed ‘two’ trips to Firefly. We were scheduled to return home on New Year’s Eve. My spouse, a British national residing in the U.S. has a Green Card documenting her right to live in the States. “We” somehow neglected to “remember” to bring her Green Card to Jamaica. While we did have a photocopy of the card she was unable to return to the United States on New Year’s Eve without the real thing.

We made the “tough” decision to extend the vacation by 5 more days in tropical paradise, until January 5^{th ,} the next date we could get a flight home. She returned to Firefly while I flew home to Lake Como Resort to pick up the Green Card. I stayed long enough to enjoy the New Year’s Eve party at the Butt Hut, and New Year’s Day caught an early plane BACK to Montego Bay (with the Green Card), and then the taxi back to Firefly.

The owners of Firefly, David and Audrey Sykes, were most understanding of our predicament and booked us in another room for the extension of our stay. (Three more full days of sun and nude beach, Red Stripe Beer, and watching the beach vendors walk the beach selling American cigarettes, Cuban cigars, fresh fruit, cashews, orange juice, lobster, jerk pork, meat pies, ice cream and a variety of trinkets—someone had to do it and it might as well have been us!)

Firefly has monthly drawings for a free week’s stay. (See Firefly’s website at http://www.jamaicalink.com for details.)

We are negotiating with them to enter us TWICE in the drawings for the stay since we did check out and then check back in, albeit the same day. (Author’s note: We got picked!!!!!!! Will spend Thanksgiving week 2004at Firefly.) Our final night at Firefly we walked 10 minutes down the beach toward Negril to eat supper at a very small open air hut restaurant named Rainbow Arch. I’d had a considerable amount of jerk chicken and jerk pork (a somewhat spicy Jamaican specialty) during the stay, but this was the highlight of the dining experiences of the entire vacation. I had the very best chicken I’ve ever eaten and the jerk sauce HAS to be the best in Jamaica. I had half a chicken with Red Stripe, she had a quarter chicken and coke, and our very best tasting meal of the whole trip was under $10. What an incentive to return soon! Sadly the next morning we would put on shoes (a very rare occurrence for 11 days) and clothes and bid farewell to our many new and old friends at Firefly.

I can very highly recommend Firefly Cottages to anyone looking for total relaxation and an extremely affordable naturist vacation. The owners and staff know you by your name even if you’re there for only a couple days, and the atmosphere they create is contagious. The guests soon reflect the personality of the staff. Firefly Cottages is the Best Kept Secret in Jamaica, and well worth a visit.

Of course we learned a few things for the “next” trip as well. First and foremost, return to Firefly for its totally relaxing atmosphere. Secondly, eat at Rainbow Arch early on (and often). And finally, with regard to the Green Card: Don’t leave home without it (unless it’s intentional)!

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