Jolly Beach Resort (All Inclusive)

[ebonybee]

Visited Jolly Beach Resort (All Inclusive) on my April 19th cruise on the Brillance. Facility is good and very, very clean. The beach is fantastic-very long and had depth. Great family resort-but I didn't have any. The cost was $42.00 per person with children half the cost. There were no lockers but you could acquire a courtesy room to clean-up(no charge.) Beach towels were provided. Taxi was $20.00 each way. A Casino is nearby that you can also walk. Pineapple beach is also near and can be negotiated by long walk on shoreline or by waverunner. Resort was heavily visted by British-98% of guests. A British cruise ship in port offered the resort as an excursion. Since this was not a couples only resort-everybody was welcomed including same gender couples.

Two pools-one very, very large with waterfall. Music, games, and all the water sport equipment you can imagine. We used the jet skis and paddle boats. Wasn't brave enough to try surfboard sailing. Roped off swimming area. No snokeling-they have drudged the nearby harbor making Jolly Beach very cloudy.

Food in restaurant is very weak-they were serving liver as an entree. Outside grill had burgers, chicken burgers, hotdogs, grill cheese, fries, salad, and the best jerk chicken I've had in my life-I asked for instructions and the sauce. Comments by the British was that the jerk chicken was "lovely."

I loved the drinks-everything was available-but enjoyed a "passion lady" best. Didn't take part in beer guzzling contest or water polo. Hubby made mistake of telling bartender "don't skimp on the alcohol in his drink." She made him pay. He went back to say he was now "humbled" and would she cut back on the alcohol.

There are about 2 vendor stands selling t-shirts and souveniers but they never approached. A couple of "private businessmen" asked if "there was anything I needed." I said no and they politely wished me a good stay.

Would recommend for families with kids who need larger playing area, pool, or just a change from the ship. I believe it when they say there is not a bad beach on Antigua. Kids ordered a lot of grill cheese sandwiches which looked great and was made with "Texas Toast."

Weak points-formal restaurant food and limited number of life vests for water sports.

Strong points-lively facility, very clean, beautiful beach, variety of alcohol and jerk chicken!

[yankfan]

Thanks for the info on Jolly Beach Resort. Did you notice any people snorkeling from the beach? We are considering this as an option when we vist Antigua next cruise. Thx!

[ebonybee]

No snorkeling due to harbor dredging. The resort didn't have masks/fins for you to try-totally unavailable.

We were told we could take a boat to another snorkeling cove with a vendor.

[yankfan]

thanks for the info!

[syndyj]

[quote name='ebonybee'] Pineapple beach is also near and can be negotiated by long walk on shoreline or by waverunner. [/QUOTE]

Hi, just wanted to correct this information here, I stayed at Jolly beach for a week and visited Pineapple Beach Resort and you can not walk to Pineapple Beach from Jolly Beach. Firstly, Jolly beach is on the West Coast of the Island, Pineapple Beach is on the East Coast. The beaches that are close to Jolly Beach are Valley Church, Fryes and Darkwood Beach, all accessible by a few minutes drive but not by walking.

If you walk north along Jolly Beach (which is a VERY long beach) you get to the beach by Jolly Harbour Resort and if you walk south you get to the beach by Cocobay Resort which is most likely the beach you are talking about.