Rain shineor
Good or bad weather, there are countless things to do at Jamaica’s Half Moon resort
MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA— Before packing my bag for a quick jaunt to Jamaica, I checked the weather forecast. Each day had the same prediction: 29 C (great!) with rain, thunder and lightning (not so great). With my planned bikini-beach-book program off the table, I changed tack and decided to check out as many never-tried-before activities as possible.
It’s my first time to Jamaica and I couldn’t imagine a better equipped locale to have as my base camp than Half Moon, A RockResort in Montego Bay. Located on a lush 400 acres, the resort has more than three kilometres of private beach, wrapped around a halfmoon-shaped bay that used to house the loading dock for the historic Rose Hall plantation.
But for the past 60 years, the world’s well heeled (the Royal Family always stays here when visiting this tropical Commonwealth country) and well connected (it was a favourite of JFK and his family) have been sipping rum punch and looking out to those famous Jamaican sunsets.
But sunsets — or sunshine, for that matter — weren’t going to be part of my rainy stay, so instead, I set my sights on Half Moon’s luxury spa, five restaurants, seven bars,13 tennis courts, 54 swimming pools, and an 18-hole Robert Trent Jones Sr.designed championship golf course.
With five days to spend at this AAA four-diamond-rated resort, I knew I was about to experience a lot of firsts.
First professional golf lesson
I’ve “played” golf a couple of times before: actually, it was more like a bunch of friends frantically hitting balls as hard as they could across a field in the rain.
But I was now looking for my first proper golf lesson, courtesy of Spencer Edwards, Director of Golf at Half Moon and former PGA European Tour player.
Bright eyed and wonderfully engaging, Edwards leads me down to the practice putting green while chatting about golf’s greats and sharing some tips he’s learned over the years.
“When you read, you automatically tilt it away from you like this so you can see it properly,” explains Edwards holding his hand up like a book. “With the green, it’s the same thing. This way, you can see every bump and line in my hand.”
We walk down to the bottom of the green and all of the lumps and bumps that were flat at the top suddenly pop up. Edwards heads over to a hole with a training stake, used to mark where to aim the ball in his hand.
“Now, that you’ve had a read of the land, you tell me where you think this should go,” he says. I point to a spot about a metre to the left of the hole.
“OK, let’s try it.” I take my first shot and am off by less than 10 centimetres. I try a second and sink it. Edwards is a little taken aback.
“Am I being pranked right now? When you put the stake there, I didn’t say anything because that’s exactly where I would have put it. Is someone going to jump out of the bushes and say ‘Aha. She’s a pro?’ ”
I’m under no illusion that I’m some sort of golfing genius; but I do believe Edwards is some sort of golf-teaching genius. Thirty minutes with him and I feel like I’ve learned enough to hold my own (and how to properly hold a putter).
First open-air yoga class
The next morning, with the clouds still crowding the sky, I book myself in for my first open-air yoga class at Fern Tree, the spa at Half Moon. I meet instructor Cassanie McKenzie in the covered yoga pavilion on the far side of the spa’s lush courtyard.
McKenzie is one of three instructors who, during the high season, offer up to 15 classes a day. “Guests began asking for more,” she says. “It expands every year.”
I can understand why. As I roll out my mat, along with four other guests, a tiny green lizard scurries across the wood floor. McKenzie leads us through a series of flowing Vinyasastyle movements, vocally guiding us with the classic, laid-back Jamaican cadence.
I breathe in the heady scent of wild oleander growing in the surrounding garden while balancing in tree pose and think, “Why haven’t I done this before?” followed quickly by “When can I do this again?”
First cerasee-and-rum massage
“Our mama used to make us a cerasee tea when we had a runny tummy as children. It has strong medicinal purposes.”
I’m sitting in a light bathrobe, my feet resting in a wide basin, at Fern Tree. Massage therapist Wendy McFarlane pours in warm water and swishes around dark brown leaves, making her own tea for my toes. “It is an excellent herb for purifying the blood and body, and helps with swelling of the feet or abdominal pain. A bundle of these leaves is also good with garlic.”
This is the first step in the spa’s signature ritual, which will continue across the street on the sea side of the resort for my first-ever overwater spa treatment in the stilted open-air bungalow.
Using ginger and orange essential oils, McFarlane’s expert hands work out the knots earned from my golfing session (and my overnight flight from Toronto to Montego Bay). The waves gently lap against the rocks below the floorboards and those pesky clouds keep rolling on in — not that I mind anymore.
To wrap up the signature massage, she tips a small bottle of white rum over my back; the cooling and purifying effect of the alcohol on my skin brings my journey of “firsts” to a re- laxing end. I definitely want to go back for seconds.
Off-site adventure: Zionites organic farm Even when a resort such as Half Moon offers amazing on-site activities, getting off the compound and seeing some of the country is always amust for me. In its inaugural adventure, Half Moon organized a day trip to Zionites Farm, one of Jamaica’s certified organic farms, located in the Free Hill community, an hour and a half from Montego Bay in the mountains above St. Ann’s Bay. Emma Yardley is a freelance travel writer who splits her time between Toronto and Vancouver. Half Moon Montego Bay, Jamaica, covered the cost of flights, on-site transportation, accommodation, activities and meals. Follow Emma Yardley at @emmajmyardley on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.