Is it Worth Visiting? Breezes, Runaway Bay in Jamaica?

So you are planning a trip to Jamaica, and likely you are stressing out on where exactly to stay. I know, I just went through the same ordeal. Planning a vacation is fun, but it is also stressful, especially when you take into consideration the cost, and the difficult choice on where to stay as far as resorts/hotels go.

Weeks into planning we finally decided on our destination, Breezes, Runaway Bay in Jamaica.

The reasons were obvious, this resort had the best price at the time, and offered the delicious all inclusive package, which is well worth it considering all of the money you will save on not having to buy food, or drinks. The all inclusive package is the only way we travel now, as we end up saving hundreds of dollars had we had to purchase food and beverages separately.

This is not the only savings you get when going all inclusive at Breezes Runaway Bay in Jamaica. Besides the included food and beverages, there is an array of other freebies that Breezes adds to your order, and they include free snorkeling trips and glass bottom boat rides out into the sea for a look at the wonderful reef systems and marine life that Jamaica has to offer. Other beach activities are included as well, and you can get a look at everything included by checking out their website.

That's not all folks, they also offer a horse and buggy rides around the area outside of the resort. You truly feel like a king when sitting in the backseat of their horse buggy, while staff pours you and your other passengers a glass of champagne. Yes, this is all included!

But wait, Breeze's Runaway Bay is so far away from the Montego Bay airport!

Maybe so, but Breeze's has a waiting room for you right before you exit the airport. You wait here and are given instruction by the front desk staff on when your free shuttle will arrive. That's right, your transportation to and from the resort are included. This is like all inclusive on steroids.

The ride will vary, ours took around 1.5 hours, which was not bad at all because you get to view the surroundings in Jamaica for a bit, and the shuttle stops off at a small craft/souvenir shop on the way. You can shop or even grab a quick bite to eat here.

We got to know one of the locals who showed us a few interesting Acai fruits. You also can take photos of the beautiful blazing blue/emerald colored sea just beyond the shops.

Next we have the resort, which welcomes you with beautiful landscaping, and a wide open check in area.

Check In-

Check In at Breezes Runaway Bay is set for 3pm. We arrived a few moments after 3pm, and had about a 20 minute wait before being escorted to our rooms.

Rooms-

We booked 2 rooms, one was a standard garden view room, and the other was their Veranda room which included a plunge pool outside on out balcony.

The Garden room resembled the Veranda very much so, except the Veranda of course has a mini plunge pool outside. The Garden View was basic but large and spacious, and comfortable.

The bathrooms were neat and featured a step up type separation. The showers were all clean, spacious and comfortable. We had no issues with warm water, or clogging of the toilets.

The Garden room we were given included an outside mini deck which overlooked a large mangrove tree. The view was beautiful, and unique.

The issue we had however was with our more pricey Veranda Plunge Pool room, which was disappointing because we had absolutely no privacy on our ground level patio. The very first plunge pool room oddly enough had a convenient wooden gate that kept people out, and prying eyes away. The other rooms in the same section though had no gate, and no privacy, so anyone walking past the walkway located just beyond our plunge pool could, and did, look right in at us. The foliage does not provide enough privacy, so enjoying the plunge pool was annoying, enjoying the patio, just sitting there was annoying as well, because every few minutes you had someone walking by and staring in at you.

This issue wouldn't even be an issue had they just added wooden privacy gates to ALL of the plunge pool rooms, and not just 1 to some VIP suite.

The next issue we had was due to the pool yet again.

I did not even recognize an issue till I went walking around the resort and peeping in at others pools. I noticed theirs had waterfalls flowing into the pool to keep it clean, like filtration. Ours was not on. Our water was stagnant, and not moving. Not only that, ours did not have a light on, so what we were given was a depressing dark stagnant pool which was useless due to how cold the water was, and how gross the water was due to the lack of filtration.

It took 2 phone calls, and 2 days for them to finally address the light situation. Granted they fixed it, they should have deducted some money off of our bill for the 2 days where the pool was completely unusable.

At any rate, we did not come to play in the pool the entire time anyway, so it was an issue we just overlooked and made the best of it, because besides that issue, everything else was ire.

The beds are pretty standard, and the first night they were uncomfortable, but that was because we needed to get used to them. By the second night, everything felt fine and sleep came easily and comfortably.

The AC worked without a hitch, and the safe which is located in the bathroom closet, was spacious and easily fit our 3 cameras and important documents and money for safe keeping. So there were no worries in that department at all.

The Grounds:

Breezes Runaway Bay is simply beautiful, and the more we walked around to get to know our surroundings, the more impressed we were with how immaculate the staff keeps and maintains the place. We found numerous species of flowers, fruits, and ferns growing on the property.

The Food:

They have restaurants here you can eat at, but you have to make reservations for them at the front desk. This was never an issue for us, but to be honest we really loved the buffet food the best. No complaints in the food department, everything was fresh, delicious, and changes in variety were done nightly for dinner. Breakfast and lunch stays basically the same with a few new assortments thrown into the mix daily.

My favorite however was the seafood chef they had offering different seafood dishes every night.

The Beach:

For me, the beach was a disappointment, not a huge 'good grief why did we come here?' sort of disappointment though.

The reason we booked this resort was due to the aerial photos which appears to show large and massive coral reefs in the water right outside of Breezes Runaway Bay.

I was excited to get some snorkeling in, which is what we tend to do whenever we go away. Breezes however really restricts you on how far out you can go, and how far in width you can swim. Due to the waters being slightly rough a few days, the swim buoy line was smaller than a full sized pool. If you went under the buoys to free yourself of this restrictive swim line, you got the lifeguard hooting at you with his whistle to come back into the swim line.

This was beyond frustrating because the swim area was so small and compacted with people that enjoying any coral or fish was impossible due to the constant bumping into one another, and churning of the water.

Not only that, but the water is very shallow, so you never really get to experience floating over any reefs slowly, as you cannot fit, and would destroy the coral if you dare tried.

There are a few healthy little reefs and brain corals we got to see, but we were really disappointed with the fact that we could not swim around this large shallow reef to experience the other side of it, in deeper less congested waters.

The beach itself is beautiful however with well maintained grounds, and enough seating for everyone. The problem is that the beach is small, and yes, you can walk it in about 8 minutes from one side to the other. You can however walk further towards the right, that is though, if you do not mind the hounding pressures of the locals attempting to sell you things.

The locals are not allowed to walk on the sands, so they stick to swimming up to the swim area and get you there instead. So basically you will have someone yelling from the water to come in, so he can show you his shells, or weed he will want you to buy. This particular man though was beyond friendly, and actually I enjoyed seeing him there on a daily basis.

Venturing off of the beach toward the right invites you into the more pressure sellers. They are all friendly locals, and if you tell them no, you do not want anything, they will leave you alone, so do not let the appearance of their little shacks frighten you in any way.

At first we were afraid to venture past the property line, which warns you that you leave at your own risk, however when we did go, we were glad we did, because those shacks down their have a beautiful offering of souvenirs you cannot find at the resort, and for decent prices, so definitely go and check it out.

Staff:

The staff here at Breezes Runaway Bay is simply delightful. They smile when you walk by, ask how you are doing, and some of them will even whip up conversations to fill you in on local destination spots that you won't want to miss while in Jamaica.

The waiters and waitresses are all fast, friendly and efficient, and I seriously had no idea what people meant when they said, people work at the pace of 'Jamaica time'. We experienced friendly service, and fast service. In NY it is impossible to find smiling faces at restaurants, the smiling was a breath of fresh air, and I would rather wait 20 minutes longer for friendly service, than instant rude service like how we get out here in New York.

Tipping is not allowed, and that is clear. We did not like this, because we love tipping when we go away, so we would hide a few dollars under our plates for our servers.

I wish Breezes would make tipping optional, because most look at you like you are trying to get them to commit a crime if you leave them a tip. If I appreciate someone, for appreciating me, it should be MY option to tip, and not someone else's, so this was something I'd like to see changed.

With that said though, I adored every single staff member of Breezes in which I encountered.

Snorkel/Glass Bottom Boat Excursions on Site-

These excursions are free. They also have a dive excursion you can take. I believe you must pay for tank rentals on those however.

At any rate, the dive center is located at the beach, towards to far right and is the same place where you trade in beach towels for new clean ones.

You must get up very early and wait for them to open in order to book the snorkel or glass bottom boat tour. We had issues booking, which was due to rough waters, so we never got to experience the free snorkeling. We did however get lucky and got to do the glass bottom boat ride.

The boat ride was fun, but pretty short lived. Regardless though we got to see nice reefs deeper out from the resort which was neat.

Horse Buggy Ride:

We got lucky and were able to book the horse buggy ride on our second day staying at the resort. The horse buggy ride takes you out of the resort and across the street to see some of the beautiful homes located in the area. We also stopped to take photos, and were all given flutes of champagne, which simply added to the entire experience.

Definitely take the time to do this horse buggy ride, as it is beautiful and included. We tipped of course, how could we not? Stunning to say the least.

Nearby Golf Course:

We did not come to play golf, but tons of others who were on the resort did. I believe they offer shuttles over to the golf course. I am not sure on whether or not it is free to play or not though. For golf enthusiasts, this is something to look into if you plan on booking here. The course is immaculate though, from what we saw.

Excursions-

At the front entrance you can find a bunch of pamphlets which allow you to take a look at available excursions in the area for pay. We already had out itinerary set up, but for those who do not plan excursions ahead, they can plan everything for you with ease.

Overall:

We were plagued with downpour nearly every day we were in Breezes Runaway Bay, and not once did it really become a problem, because Jamaica as a whole is beautiful to see, even in the rain, who would have guessed it?

Would We Book Again?

Even with the small beach, and shallow waters, and small swim restrictions in the beaches waters, yes, I would definitely go back. The staff is magnificent, the food was great, and the area as a whole is simply paradise in the jungle, and we loved it. You get a whole lot of bang for your buck, and this all inclusive resort is no run of the mill inclusive. It's got standards, and you will enjoy yourself here.

All in all, I'd rate this one a 4 stars out of 5. I would have easily slapped on the final fifth star had the swim area in the water been extended. There is a big beautiful reef out there, and we would have loved to have gotten to see it, unfortunately you get denied with the hooting of a whistle. Haha. All in all though, everything is ire. Everything is paradise.