Sandals South Coast - Part 1

Ron and I love Sandals and have been to seven different resorts. This trip was the first time we’ve stayed at a resort for a second time. We vacationed at Sandals South Coast in 2011, although back then it was called Sandals Whitehouse. The resort is made up of three “villages” (Italian, Dutch and French) plus a central piazza which includes the lobby, the main pool and most of the restaurants. The grounds are full of tropical flowers and wandering peacocks. Since our last visit, a section of over-water bungalows was added, as well as a new sushi restaurant and an over-water bar called Latitudes, the perfect spot to catch the sunset. With all the recent updates to the resort, we thought it would be a good time to go back and check out the changes.

Sandals South Coast is located on the southern side of Jamaica, an hour and a half ride from Montego Bay. It was a long day of traveling, especially that last drive over the mountains in torrential rain. Fortunately, our driver, Michael, carefully navigated the flooded roads and numerous potholes. Michael told us that you have to be a PhD (“Pot Hole Dodger”) to drive in Jamaica. Ron asked how often the roads get repaved and Michael laughed and said every five years when there’s an election. :-)

It was still pouring rain and getting dark when we finally made it to the resort. We didn’t even bother to unpack our bags or change our clothes before dinner because by then it was 7:30 (8:30 home time) and we were starving. I was really glad we’d booked a room in the Italian Village since it was the closest to the restaurants. We grabbed an umbrella and waded over to Bayside, a buffet restaurant for breakfast and lunch and a French restaurant at night. Oh goody, they had escargot! Ron and I each ordered a plate but when I stuck my fork into one of the tasty little morsels, it exploded! I’ve never had an escargot blow up before. Luckily, most of the hot garlic butter sprayed across the table and we only got hit with a little of it. The waiters came over to make sure everything was OK and we all looked but never did find the escargot. It was gone! Anyway, the ones that didn’t explode were delicious and so was my seafood bouillabaisse and crème brulee. After dinner, we went back to the room, unpacked the suitcases and fell into bed.

Monday

I woke up at 6 o’clock to light filtering through the curtains and the peacocks making their morning cat sounds. I rolled over and the next thing I knew it was 7 and I was ready for some breakfast. But first, a shower to wash the travel (and the garlic butter) out of my hair.

the view from our balcony

the Italian Village

After breakfast at Bayside, Ron and I took a walk down the beach to the over-water bungalows. Besides the bungalows and Latitudes, there was a new wedding chapel and several jetties. The beach had lost a lot of sand in recent years to tropical storms so jetties were put into place to stop the erosion. Although the sand wasn’t as wide as it used to be, at least the jetties were nicely done with blue wooden benches at the end of each one to sit and look out at the ocean. The rain from the night before had ended and the clouds were breaking up, but it was really windy. Since there wouldn’t be any water sports because of the wind, we spent the day just relaxing by the main pool. South Coast had three pools (there was one in the French Village and one in the Dutch Village) but the main pool was our favorite. It was huge with plenty of umbrellas for shade, floating mats and a swim-up bar. This was also where the activities staff led the pool games, Jamaican dance lessons and trivia contests.

wedding chapel

Snapshots by Sandals photo

Snapshots by Sandals photo

That afternoon, I stopped into Café de Paris to see if they had anything that was gluten free. Café de Paris, the coffee and pastry shop, has always been one of my favorite parts about Sandals resorts. Being gluten free now takes a lot of the fun out of pastry shops, but I’d read on Facebook’s South Coast fan page that Café de Paris usually had some sort of gluten free dessert or cookie each day. And there was still coffee and ice cream, of course. The woman at the counter, Nowanah, was making crepes and when I mentioned that I wished I could have one, she said, “We can make gluten free crepes. Let me see if we have the batter. If not, I’ll ask the pastry chef to make some.” I was so happy I almost jumped up and down! Of course, after that I had a crepe every single day.

Dinner that night was at Jasmines, the Asian restaurant. I had miso soup, spring rolls and beef Szechuan, and nothing exploded. :-)  Then we wandered next door to the café for a gluten free cupcake and a cappuccino.

continued on Part 2