I just got back from a week long stay at Great Huts and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to relax in REAL Jamaica away from all the development of places like MoBay, etc.
Great Huts is located in Boston Bay near the Boston Bay Jerk Center, which is where Jerk Chicken originated. The compound is on about 4 acres of land right on the edge of the Bay and looks almost as if it was made for the spot it occupies. All of the different huts and rooms are located all along the property and to get to them you walk along well groomed paths through some small trails that go all over. Besides all the rooms, there's a main common area with wi-fi and a few benches and seats, etc. to relax at. This is also where their complimentary breakfast is served. The breakfast is awesome and consists of fresh fruit, fried egg, toast, fresh squeezed orange juice, and Jamaican coffee. I thought the dinners were a little pricey, so I didn't eat there much, but every time I had them prepare me dinner, it was delicious. So if you have the money, I'd highly recommend some of the dinners they can cook up for you there.
I stayed in the Akan tent, which was a nice small room with 2 twin beds, a cement floor, and a shared shower and sink. We didn't have any hot water, but that wasn't really an issue. It's pretty warm most of the time, so usually it was pretty nice to have a cold shower. There are quite a few other rooms that a pretty neat. Probably the coolest one was the tree house overlooking the bay. There's two beds, your own bathroom, a tub that you can sit in and watch the beach, and overall it's just a really neat room. There are pictures on the website, so I guess check those out.
If you end up staying here, I highly recommend Little David's. His is the first jerk stand on the right as you come out of Great Huts. You can get a 1/4 chicken with 2 pieces of festival (a sweet fried bread) for about $340 Jamaican (about $5 US). There's also a few guys that hang around the jerk center where you can get some really great juices (get the passion fruit), beer, or whatever other snacks you can think of. If you want to get groceries there are some stands in the area where you can get some vegetables, snacks, drinks, etc. If you want an actual grocery store, there are a couple in Port Antonio, which is about 10 minute ride in a route taxi and will cost you anywhere from $80 - 100 Jamaican.
As for the beach, you get to it through a path that runs down the hill and directly to the beach. The beach is gorgeous. The water is crystal clear and Great Huts has done an excellent job of keeping it as well as the rest of the compound really well groomed and clean. I think I saw groundskeepers working to keep the grounds clean just about every day. The beach has about 4-5 hammocks which always seemed to be in the perfect spot. There are also a few really nice tide pools that you can relax in and are fairly secluded if you want some privacy. One of the coolest things is there's a huge rock about 20 feet above the water with a cement platform you can jump off of into the bay. I highly recommend it.
There are also some locals that live on the other end of the beach and they're a pretty friendly bunch of guys. If you want some surf lessons, they can help you out and show you what to do. They've got a few boards you can rent too. If you surf, I'd highly recommend bringing some boards you can leave for them. There aren't any shapers in Jamaica and not too many people come there to surf, so boards are few and far between. So if you can, leave some boards.
While I didn't really do anything but surf and hangout with the guys on the beach, there are quite a few really great excursions and activities you can do. Peter can help you out with some of those. One that I really wish I would've done that I heard nothing but good things about is their excursion to Charlestown which is a Maroon settlement back in the mountains. Reach falls is close, and everyone who went loved it. The only excursion I did was my friend and I took a taxi to the marina in Port Antonio to Lady G'Diver Dive Shop and did their snorkeling trip. It was about a $25 US trip and they take you out in a boat to some really neat reefs where you can swim around. I wish I would've done the diving, but I didn't really feel comfortable doing that without my certification. They'll let you dive as there aren't any licensing requirements to dive as there are in the states, I just didn't feel too comfortable doing that.
All in all, a great trip, and really neat if you want to see real Jamaica and get away from all the tourists and development of places like MoBay. Stay at Great Huts!





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