Hawaii - Kiertelyä Oahulla ja visiitti Pearl Harborissa

Viikko takana Hawaijilla ja kolme päivää ollaan kierretty Oahun etelä- ja länsiosia vuokracitymaasturilla, joka on myös toiminut meidän majoituksena tuon ajan. Yritimme etsiä siedettävän hintaisia hotelleja, hostelleja, Airbnb-majoituksia sekä couchsurffaus-paikkoja, mutta tulimme siihen tulokseen, että kannattavin vaihtoehto sekä liikkumisen, nukkumisen ja kukkaron kannalta, on vuokrata auto, jossa voi nukkua.

Yöpyminen Hawaijin saarien leirintäalueilla on tehty mahdollisimman hankalaksi, sillä matkailijan on varattava leirintäpaikka netistä etukäteen, ei kuitenkaan yli 30 päivää ennen saapumista, yhdellä leirintäalueella saa yöpyä korkeintaan 5 peräkkäistä yötä ja osa leirintäalueista on auki ainoastaan viikonloppuisin tai vain osan aikaa viikkoa. Oahulla on 3 ja 5 yön leirintäalueita, joista lyötyy lista netistä. (http://www.to-hawaii.com/oahu/camping/) 
Vaikka yöpyisit leirintäalueella vain yhden yön, joudut silti maksamaan leirintäpaikkamaksun koko ajalta. Kaiken tämän lisäksi täytyy vielä hakea erikseen leirintälupa netistä. 

Aluksi ihmettelimme ihannesijainnilla sijaitsevien leirintäalueiden asiakaskatoa, mutta kun tutustuimme tarkemmin miten leirintäaluebusiness pyörii Hawaijin osavaltiossa ja tarkemmin ottaen Oahun saarella, ymmärrämme täysin, että byrokratian kankeat rattaat työntävät luotaan potentiaaliset telttailijat muihin majoituksiin. Camping on ehdottomasti halvin majoitusvaihtoehto, jos jaksaa nähdä vaivaa lupien ja kaiken maailman sääntöjen läpikäyntiin. 

Huonoja puolia autossa elämisessä on muun muassa puhelinten, tietokoneen ja muiden laitteiden laattamisen hankaluus, sillä meillä on vain yksi USB-portti käytössä, eikä ollenkaan autolaturia. Hiljaisen nukkumapaikan löytäminen saattaa olla vaikeaa, WiFin perässä ravaaminen on joskus rasittavaa sekä sen faktan hyväksyminen, että aina ei pääse suihkuun kun haluaisi tai olisi tarvetta, mutta onneksi Oahulla lähes joka rannalla on suihku, joita voi vapaasti käyttää.

Ko'olina Beach, Hawaii

Löysimme erittäin siistin ja viihtyisän rannan, jota ylläpitää Ko'Olina Resorts. Ainoita miinuksia kyseisessä rannassa on, että jos sinne haluaa mennä autolla, ilmaiset parkkispotit ovat aina täynnä ja niihin saattaa joutua jonottamaan, rannalla on erittäin paljon lapsiperheitä ja siellä on kielletty uimista lukuunottamatta lähes kaikki muut hauskat ranta-aktiviteetit.

Not much to do here then, huh?

Harkitsimme salikorttien ostamista, että pääsisimme tyydyttämään jumppahimoamme, mutta se ei ollut kannattavaa huonon Les Mills - tarjonnan vuoksi. Onneksi Grit Cardio - treeniä pystyy tekemään hotellihuoneessa ja oikeastaan missä vain puistossa tai nurmialueella. Sitä olemmekin hinkanneet erilaisissa ympäristöissä kieli poskella. 

Henkka after our morning Grit Cardio.

The park where we did our morning workout.

TIISTAI 10.1.2017, PEARL HARBOR 

Ehdottomasti yksi vaikuttavimmista sekä mielenkiintoisimmista kokemuksista tähän mennessä on ollut Pearl Harbor -armeijatukikohdassa vierailu. Sisäänpääsy alueelle on ilmainen ja lisämaksusta asiakkaan on mahdollisuus valita erilaisia opastettuja kierroksia. Ilmaista tekemistä ja nähtävää oli sen verran, että emme kokeneet tarpeelliseksi maksaa tällä kertaa kierroksista, vaikka ne vaikuttivat mielenkiintoisilta. Pääsimme näkemään muun muassa museon, jossa pyöri lyhyt dokumentti Pearl Harborin 7.12.1941 tapahtumista, saimme kokeilla oikeaa koodinmurtajalaitetta, näimme rähähtäneen torpedon, pienoismalleja laivoista ja lentotukialuksista ja useita räjähtämättömiä ammuksia.

Joka päivä 1300 ensimmäistä halukasta pääsee ilmaiseksi vierailemaan USS Arizona hylyn muistomerkillä, joka on rakennettu uponneen laivan päälle. Itse olimme sen verran myöhään liikkeellä, ettemme päässeet näkemään kyseistä paikkaa lähemmin. 

Vierailu Pearl Harborissa oli erittäin positiivinen, mielenkiintoinen, sivistävä sekä pysäyttävä. Countlessmilesandsmiles suosittelee lämpimästi Pearl Harbor - visiittiä kaikille historiasta kiinnostuneille yläasteiän saavuttaneille.

USS Arizona memorial is built above the sunken ship.

Huomioonotettavia seikkoja Pearl Harborissa: 

* Ilmaisiinkin aktiviteetteihin menee helposti 2-3h, eli jos haluaa käydä myös maksullisilla kierroksilla on hyvä varata aikaa reilusti. 

* Alueelle ei saa viedä laukkuja eikä reppuja. Ne voi jättää $3 maksavaan narikkaan alueen ulkopuolelle. 

* Parkkeeraaminen on ilmaista, mutta siihen kannattaa varata aikaa, sillä kohde on suosittu nähtävyys ympäri vuoden. 

* Ei sovellu lapsille.

Henkka in front of the fleet attack submarine USS Bowfin. 

Breaking the encrypted messages in the museum at Pearl Harbor.

Exploded torpedo at the museum.

Japanese Kaiten which is a one man suicide torpedo.

USS Bowfin at Pearl Harbor.

Viikon Oahulla pyörittyämme kaipaamme edelleen WOW-elämystä, jota varmasti moni lähtee Hawaijilta hakemaan. Täällä saisi poltettua koko reissubudjetin kahdessa viikossa, jos haluaisi tehdä ja kokea pää märkänä kaiken sen, mitä Hawaijin saarilla on tarjottavaa. Meidän on kuitenkin huomioitava reissumme kesto, tulevat muut kohteet ja kulut, joten kokemuksemme Hawaijista jää ohueksi huippuaktiviteettien osalta. 

Oahun etelä- ja länsiosa muistuttavat hyvin paljon Floridaa pois lukien Waikikin alue Honolulussa, joka on eliittituristeille räätälöity ostoskeskusparatiisi, jossa on maailman upeimpia kauppakeskuksia. Länsirannikon auringonlaskut ovat kuin matkaesitteistä ja näkymä merelle rantateiltä on huikea.

Sunset at Ko'Olina Beach, Hawaii

Seuraavassa blogissa kerromme säästövinkkejä ennen matkaa ja matkan aikana.  

Mahalo for reading! 

Emmi & Henkka 

Hawaii - Aloha!

Hawaiji on ollut kauan aikaa varsinkin Emmin must visit - listalla ja päätimme kesällä reissua suunnitellessamme buukata lennot sen kautta seuraavaan kohteeseemme. Vietämme täällä yhteensä 2 viikkoa, jonka arvioimme riittävän hyvin tämän kokoisessa ja hintatasoisessa paikassa. 

Not even one hour in Hawaii and we already saw why one of its nicknames is rainbow state.

 

Olemme nyt olleet Honolulussa 4 yötä 2 tähden hotellissa, jossa WiFi toimii ainoastaan aulassa ja siinäkin tosi heikosti. Reissun suunnittelu on vaivalloista huonolla netillä, eikä tosiaan tee mieli istua hotellin aulassa koko päivää kytäten vähäisiä istumapaikkoja kuunnellen muiden matkalijoiden valituksia surkeasta netistä. 

Olemme vertailleet erilaisia majoitusvaihtoehtoja ja tulleet siihen tulokseen, että tämä on ehdottomasti kallein kohteemme tähän mennessä ja huonostakin yösijasta saa maksaa pitkän pennin. Yllätyimme tosin siitä, että ruoka täällä on kohtuuhintaista, sillä jenkkituttumme varoittelivat, että Hawaiji on törkyhintainen. Honolulu on ainakin toistaiseksi osoittautunut kalleimmaksi jenkkikohteeksi, jossa olemme käyneet. 

Ensivaikutelmamme Honolulusta on siisti turistirysä, jossa lomailee paljon rikkaita lapsiperheitä ja aasialaisia. Yleisesti ottaen Honolulu on erittäin positiivinen kokemus Jamaikaan, sen likaisuuteen, rasismiin ja turvattomuuteen verrattuna.

Surfing is a huge deal in Hawaii.

 

Ensimmäisenä kokonaisena päivänämme kävelimme Diamond Head kraaterille, jota oli suositeltu monessa eri lähteessä. Sisäänpääsy kävellen oli huokeat $1 / henkilö, joka menee reitin ylläpitoon. Itse vaellus ei juuri sykettä nostanut, mutta suosittelemme silti varustautumaan hyvillä kengillä sekä riittävällä määrällä nestettä vaikkakin enemmän erottuu massasta, jos varusteet vastaavat aktiviteettia, sillä näimme reitillä enemmän hameita, suoria housuja ja sandaaleja kuin urheiluun tarkoitettuja asusteita. Aikaa koko suoritukseen menee 1-2h ja mikäli Honolulussa tulee vietettyä pidemmän aikaa, kannattaa ehdottomasti käydä ihailemassa maisemia huipun reunalta.

 

Inside the crater at Diamond Head.

A view from the top of the Diamond Head crater. Honolulu, Hawaii

Got these stamps when we finished the climb to the top.

Olemme huomanneet pari kuukautta reissattuamme, että tykkäämme viettää päivät erilaisten aktiviteettien parissa kuten treenaten ja uusia paikkoja tutkien ja iltaisin suunnata casinolle pelaamaan pokeria. Pidämme molemmat tietyllä tapaa rutiineista ja reissaaminen tuntuu paljon mukavammalta ja ansaitummalta kun teemme töitä sen eteen matkan varrella. Hawaijilla ei ole ainuttakaan casinoa ja laki kieltää kaikenlaisen uhkapelaamisen ja vedonlyönnin, joten täytyy toivoa ettei aika täällä käy pitkäksi, kun ei päästä grindaamaan. 

With this bike you can cycle to the casino in Honolulu.

  

FAKTOJA HAWAIJISTA:

* Yhdysvalloille kuuluva Hawaijin saariryhmä sijaitsee Tyynellä valtamerellä, johon kuuluu 8 pääsaarta. 

* Hawaijin alkuperäisasukkaat ovat polynesialaisia, jotka saapuivat saarille ilmeisesti Marquesassaarilta jo 300 eaa tienoilla.

* Pääkaupunki Honolulu sijaitsee Oahun saarella, joka oli ensimmäinen Hawaijin saarin, jonka eurooppalainen James Cook havaitsi ollessaan tutkimusmatkalla Tyynellä merellä 1778. 

* Oahulla vierailee vuosittain yli 5 miljoonaa matkailijaa. 

* Hawaijista tuli Yhdysvaltojen 50. osavaltio heinäkuussa 1959.

Sunset at Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, Hawaii

Varasimme vuokra-auton loppuajaksi täällä Oahulla, jolla pääsemme huristelemaan saarta ympäri omaan tahtiimme. 

Mahalo! 

Emmi & Henkka 

California - Hope to see you soon again

At first we want to apologize for not updating our blog as often as before. It has been a struggle to cope with only one phone since Emmi's phone broke in Jamaica. The camera on Henkka's phone isn't that good so we don't have many pictures about our trip in California. The few photos we have you can see in this post and find out how we spent 1,5 weeks in California. 

We booked a room through Airbnb in Torrance which is near LA and Santa Monica. We didn't have any big plans for California since we knew 1,5 weeks won't be enough time to see and do a fraction of all interesting things we would like. We even tried to re-schedule our flights to Hawaii so we would have more time in California but it would have cost $200/person so didn't make any sense. We booked the flights to Hawaii six months ago and that time we didn't have any plans for the weeks after visiting Jamaica. Sometimes it's hard to estimate how much time you are willing to spend in each destination if your trip has many of them. 

View in Santa Monica, California

Because we love working out and especially Les Mills group fitness classes we wanted to try their new immersive THE TRIP class which is available only in a few cities around the world. Santa Monica, CA is one of those so we paid our asses of for week passes to 24 Hour Fitness center.We miss Les Mills classes in Finland because the quality of instructors is superb because of the high standards of Les Mills Nordic.

"THE TRIP is a fully immersive workout experience that combines a 40-minute multi-peak cycling workout with a journey through digitally-created worlds. With its cinema-scale screen and sound system, THE TRIP takes motivation and energy output to the next level, burning serious calories." -LesMills.com

In our opinion THE TRIP was a great experience and a hard workout although we both expected more from the graphics. Instructor has to be clear about the instructions because the room is dark and the he is facing the same way with the customers. In our first class the instructor was a rookie and she kept repeating same phrases through the whole workout. In the second class we took the instructor was more experienced, inspiring, funny and kept challenging the team.

With the expensive week passes we got 6 Les Mills classes (would have gone to 8, but 2 were cancelled without notice). Bodypump classes were held in a dusty and dirty class room and the overall quality of the instructors was quite low except John who was a great THE TRIP coach. Week passes are only valid in the fitness center where you purchase them even though 24 Hour Fitness is a chain company. That fact we figured out by ourselves when we tried to go to another facility to train. No-one had mentioned anything about that when we were discussing the prices.

The service and a steam room was nice and the fitness center in Santa Monica has a free towel service and parking for 2 hours which is practical.

All in all it was great to go to Les Mills classes after two months not attending any but we wouldn't recommend 24 Hour Fitness for that rip off price.

We rented a car for the whole time we spent in California because the distances are quite long and using Uber everyday would cost a lot more so a rental car is a must have.
The rush hours in LA roads are terrible so prepare to double your estimated driving if you want to be somewhere on time. We recommend asking for a car that has Sirius Satellite radio in it or you'll be hearing the same 10 songs from all channels all over again.

We drove to Phoenix to get Emmi's new phone which she ordered to our friend's place. It took 6,5 hours to get there from our Airbnb place in Torrance. We were lucky to stay over night at our friend's house and took on the second 6,5 hours the next day.

Sunset in Arizona.

In California we worked out daily, played poker, walked at Santa Monica beach and went to explore Hollywood and Beverly Hills. It feels the time flew way too fast and we didn't want to hoard every possible attraction so we will definitely go California again for at least a few weeks. Our Airbnb host was so lovely that we wanted to stay the whole period at her place in Torrance and not even look for another options.

More sessions like these please!

Henkka at the Walk of Fame.

View from Beverly Hills, California

Santa Monica, California

Thanks for reading, see you soon!

Emmi & Henkka

Jamaica - The wrap up

Two and a half weeks in Jamaica have been relaxing, fun and warm. We have been traveling the coast of Jamaica from place to place by local minibuses. We have visited Port Antonio, Treasure Beach, Negril and Ocho Rios which have all been places worth visiting. Although we can't recommend Kingston due to its filthyness, dirtyness and dangerousness. There are two international airports which are in the two biggest cities Kingston and Montego Bay and you should only land and take off from them and spend the rest of the time somewhere else. 

A stunning sunset in Negril, Jamaica

Here are some notes that we've pointed out during our trip in Jamaica: 

1. The smaller the place where you go the kinder and hospitable people you're more likely to meet. 

2. Walking outside after dark in big cities isn't recommended especially alone due to the high risk of getting robbed. If you are a white woman you will get a lot of attention from the men here especially if you are alone. You are lucky If they leave you alone if you say no. 

3. You will hear gospel EVERYWHERE! There are most churches per square mile in the world in Jamaica but the rules of the Bible are bent so that people can take advantage of them. 

Seems legit, Port Antonio, Portland

4. People eat chicken A LOT here in Jamaica. The quality of the chicken is mostly bad and the portions come with bones almost everytime. So prepare to find bones and joints in each traditional order you purchase. 

5. People are helpful especially with anything related to transportation. If you need to find something or need a ride somewhere you get the answer if you ask locals. Some information for example local bus schedules you can't even find online so people are your Google.

6. Trash, trash, trash... You see it everywhere. Locals eat their takeaway and throw the trash on the ground. Smaller cities and tourist traps are usually cleaner. 

7. There is no rush in Jamaica so you can forget your tight schedule before entering the country. If someone gives you an estimated time you can always at least double that to get the real time. 

8. There is no need for jackets or trousers since it's warm around the year in Jamaica. 

9. In Negril you can usually pay with US dollars also but we don't recommend it because you get a really bad exchange rate.

10. If you go to some waterfalls or other attractions you should always hire a local guide instead of taking a package deal from some travel agency because they have good knowledge of the places and they take good care of you and your stuff during the trip and it's also cheaper to hire a local guide.

11. There are different prices for travelers and locals on taxis, entrance fees and tours. It's always wise to ask locals what do they pay for route taxi ride so the driver won't fool you when discussing the price. Otherwise the fare can be 3-6 times the amount locals pay. In some cases you can't help the fact that being non-local pays a lot more that Jamaican residents. We had planned to go to Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios to see what is it like there and to write a blog about it but when we checked the prices they were 600JMD for Jamaican residents and 2800JMD for travelers so we decided not to support that kind of rip off and ended up going to Blue Hole which we heard to be a much better place. 

12. Countlessmilesandsmiles doesn't recommend renting a car in Jamaica because the traffic is quite aggressive and it's cheap and easy to use taxis, route taxis and local buses. 

13. Don't carry a lot of cash with you when roaming around Jamaica in case you get robbed. The poorer you look the better. 

14. Openly homosexual behaviour is not well tolerated. You would at least get rude comments, staring and might even get your ass kicked. The same things might happen if you are white and somehow wander into a bad area in big cities.

15. If you are into smoking weed it is really easy to get it here. In every corner there is someone who asks if you want to buy ganja. It is legal to have a small amount of it with you but not in a vehicle.

Negril, Jamaica

PLACES WORTH VISITING

 - Treasure Beach and especially Pelican Bar 
 - Negril which has a lot of good snorkeling spots and stunning sunsets
 - Blue Hole in Ocho Rios
 - Reach Falls and Frenchman's Cove in Port Antonio

You can easily explore these places in this order traveling the coast of Jamaica by local buses and route taxis. 

At the beginning of our trip in Jamaica our Airbnb host told us that in every situation someone would try to take advantage of us because we are white because it's a common thing here to believe that white people have a lot of money. Now when we think back of our trip it is very true even the host that warned us did the same thing to us on our last two days here. She said that we could stay at her place for the last night before our flight back to Fort Lauderdale since we had booked her place for a week and only stayed there for 4 days in the beginning of our trip. When we got to her place at the end she said that it would cost $23 to stay there even though she never mentioned it before. The same thing happened when she offered us a ride to the airport. When we were about to leave she said that it would cost $18 and the taxi would be way more expensive. In both situations she wanted to help us and eventually told that it would cost us. We both felt she wasn't being honest about the details so we wouldn't even consider other options. 

Countlessmilesandsmiles wants to point out that you should always make sure what everything costs for you here in Jamaica so you won't get ugly surprises. We also that 2 weeks is enough to see and experience everything worth doing here in Jamaica. When we encountered some racism towards us on Jamaica it was so disrespectful and hurtful. We think that every racist person should be sent to a place where someone is racist towards them and really feel how racism hurts and how pointless and absurd it is.

This is something you'll never forget. Negril, Jamaica

Negril, Jamaica

In the next blog you'll hear about our first experiences of Los Angeles. 

Thanks for reading & see you soon! 

Emmi & Henkka 

Jamaica - Negril

FRIDAY DECEMBER 16TH 

We game to Negril by 4 different taxis (Treasure Beach - Black River - White House - Savanna La Mar - Negril) and the whole trip took about 3 hours with some breaks. We booked a tent on Airbnb for a good price for the whole stay here in Negril. We were excited and suspicious at the same time because we had never slept in a tent on our travels before and wanted to try what is it like to sleep outside and hear all the noise caused by animals, traffic and people. One of our biggest concerns was that would we be able to get sleep due all of the noise and lay on a hard ground. 

Is this an all-inclusive resort?

This little fire alarm keeps us awake at night.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17TH, NEGRIL 

After the first night in a tent and a few hours of sleep we got a ride from our hosts to Seven Mile Beach where we did some price hunting on snorkeling tours and ended up to buy a round trip to an island near the beach including the snorkeling gear. That deal was the only one where we got to snorkel for more than one hour for a decent price. We paid 9500JMD for the whole thing and we think it was a bit too much. That snorkeling was a great exercise since both of us were exhausted once we got back to the guest house. 

Emmi found a cute seashell.

A view from the island we went to. Negril, Jamaica

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18TH, NEGRIL

We woke up early and walked to Seven Mile Beach. We thought we would walk the beach from the start to the end and back but only did about half of it because Henkka had to start his poker session earlier because it was Sunday. All in all our little walk was about a half marathon so we got a decent workout and tanlines in the Jamaican heat. After we got back to our accommodation Henkka played his Sunday poker session in our tent and Emmi enjoyed the rest of the day in a hammock.

The Seven Mile Beach witch real lenght is about 4 miles. Negril, Jamaica

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19th, NEGRIL

As we got used to sleeping in a tent the quality of our sleep increased and we woke up early and rested. We headed to Rockhouse for breakfast. We had smoothies and the best banana pancakes ever. We would have rented snorkeling gear from there but unfortunately they only rent them to their hotel guests so we walked around a little bit and found a resort called Xtabi witch rented the gear for 10USD for a day. Both Rockhouse and Xtabi have awesome cliffside snorkeling places right beside their resorts. We had a blast snorkeling in both of them even though the gear we got weren't the best possible quality. 

Is this the right way to SUP?

Henkka coming up the ladder.

RiCK'S CAFE

On our last day in Negril we went to Rick's Cafe because we had heard it's a great place to visit and the sunset at Rick's is breathtaking. We had high expectations since we had read about the place on many websites and we had seen nice pictures taken by travelers at Rick's. 

Henkka at Rick's Cafe Negril, Jamaica.

The food and drinks were over-priced and we had to pick them up on our own which felt ridiculous because of the high prices and the waiters were walking around with their hands empty. The service was bad and some of the staff were hard to discuss with due to their unfriendly attitude. What an overrated place full of tourists and families with kids. 

We'd rather suggest people to go to see the sunset and jump down the cliffs somewhere else. There are many nice resorts on West End Road where you can rent snorkeling equipment and get great service like we did. We recommend Rockhouse or Xtabi if you're looking for nice cliffside snorkeling spots and delicious food brought to your table with smile on a waiters face. These resorts are more laid back, the prices were decent and the customer service was awesome. These places weren't such tourist traps as Rick's.

We rate Rick's Cafe 2/5 ⭐ because the view is beautiful and the burger tasted average. We recommend this place if you are a party animal, don't count every penny on your trip and if you are totally full of Jamaican style restaurants. There was also a Pokestop and quite a lot of different kinds of Pokemon so it might be a good idea to stop by if you're trying to catch them all. 

All in all Negril is a good place for partying but also has something to offer for everyone. Negril has beautiful beaches, nice places for snorkeling, awesome resorts and seems like to be on the safer side of places in Jamaica. Like all the places where tourists like to spend their holiday the prices are a little bit higher because Negril is somewhat a tourist trap. Local taxis are mush more expensive and the drivers don't hide the fact that locals pay 1/3-1/4 of the price that travelers are paying. In most restaurants you may pay in USD but it's much more expensive to pay with USD than the local money in a long run. If you want to experience the real laid back Jamaican atmosphere you should visit for example Port Antonio or Treasure Beach rather than Negril. If you are looking for all-inclusive resorts and more of an international atmosphere then Negril is definitely your place to visit.

Negril is said to have the top 10 most beautiful sunset in the world. Indeed!

Thanks for reading! 

Emmi & Henkka

Jamaica - Treasure Beach & Pelican Bar

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 14TH, TREASURE BEACH

We booked an Airbnb accommodation here in Treasure Beach for 3 nights because a friend of ours recommended this chill, small, safe and relaxed place where everyone knows each other. TB is a small fishing village which is not a typical tourist trap located in Jamaica's South Coast about 2,5 hours from Kingston. There are 4 public beaches where you can swim and snorkel and the locals are really friendly and helpful with everything so this is a great place to spend a few days. 

The peaceful Treasure Beach

On our first day here in TB we had to find an ATM since we were running out of Jamaican dollars and on our way to a local bank we met American who told us there is no ATM for travelers and that the machine only works with local banks' cards. He was so helpful he offered us a ride to get the cash from an ATM in the nearest city called Southfield which is 14 kilometers away from TB. This is a great example of the kindness this place is full of! 

We recommend to visit TB if you are looking for a peaceful, laid-back, relaxed and friendly seaside location to chill. Prepare yourself with couple of nice books, snorkel, swim suit, cash (since there isn't ATM in TB) and a laid-back attitude. If you are a party animal and looking for fancy resorts and jet skis this isn't your place. 

These two fellas bout to go one on one.

Nice colors you can find at Treasure Beach.

There is a nice little restaurant here in TB called Mellow Yellow. It is an Italian & Jamaican cuisine where the prices are good and the food, especially pastas are tasty. The service is friendly and quite fast compared to the usual Jamaican. They also have free wifi to use.

Mellow Yellow at Treasure Beach.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 15TH, TREASURE BEACH


Floyd's Pelican Bar in St. Elisabeth, Jamaica

Floyd’s Pelican Bar is located in Parottee Bay on the South Coast of Jamaica and has to be one of the most unique places to eat and have a drink in the Caribbean Sea. Since Pelican Bar is located 3/4 miles from the beach built on a reef you have to hire a captain who takes you to this wonderful bar by boat. It took about 35-40 minutes to get to Pelican Bar from the beach where we are staying. We were the only ones in the boat and it cost us 8000JMD. You may get it for less if there are more people in the boat. To get a boat ride you just have to show up on the beach with cash and the captains will take care of the rest. The prices are negotiable! 

We got to see a few dolphins on our way to the Pelican Bar.

Pelican Bar has a great story behind it: the owner of Pelican Bar – Floyd Forbes had a dream one night about a bar out at sea. The bar is made of driftwood, palm fronds and coconut tree trunks driven down into the sand and that's how Floyd’s dream became a reality in 2001.

On a lucky day you may see stingrays and dolphins by the bar. We recommend to bring a snorkel and swimming shoes. Also remember the cash!

The bar's name came about because large pod of Pelicans rest on the sand banks.

Pelican Bar, Treasure Beach, Jamaica

On a lucky day you may see stingrays and dolphins by the bar. We recommend to bring a snorkel and swimming shoes. Also remember the cash!

TIPS FOR YOUR TRIP TO PELICAN BAR:

1. Make sure your captain isn't in a rush back to the shore. (This happened to us and it wasn't nice to leave after such a short time.)

2. This place is not suitable for kids. 

3. There is no restroom in Pelican Bar so we recommend to use it right before entering the boat.

4. Bring a snorkel, swim suit and cash for a cold beer. 

5. You can bring a business card, t-shirt, key chain or something you'd like to leave as a memory in Pelican Bar. 

6. If you would like to eat at Pelican Bar, ask your captain to call ahead and order.

We truly recommend Pelican Bar for group of friends and this was the first time we both thought how wonderful it would be to spend a nice day with our friends enjoying lovely Jamaican atmosphere and have cool drinks under the Sun in the middle of Caribbean Sea. We miss you all. <3

Thanks for reading & see you soon!

Emmi & Henkka