Relax and Have a Beer at Norman Manley Beach Park in Negril

Negril's famous Seven-Mile Beach is chock full of restaurants, hotels, and bars. One of my favorite places to have a drink there is also one of the cheapest.

At the very end of the Seven-Mile Beach, just before you cross over the bridge into central Negril is Norman Manley Beach Park. This public park has a wooden structure that operates as a bar every day from around 11am to 8pm, and until midnight on Sundays. The bar itself has no name. I usually refer to it as Sanchez's, as the current owner is called Sanchez.

The bar is almost never crowded, except on Sunday nights, when it is packed full of locals jamming to dancehall on a huge sound system.

Most days, you'll find a couple of people playing dominoes at one of the tables, and a tourist or a local having a drink at the bar.

Jamaicans often order a flask of J.B. rum with a Coke, a Ting or a Red Bull. That order will get you as many cups of ice as you need. If your not into hard liquor, you can order the classic Red Stripe, or my favorite, Dragon Stout. No alcohol, no problem: you can order a Wata or a juice.

Many days, after a long walk on the beach, I'd sit in Sanchez's bar and alternately gaze at the amazing Caribbean Sea and listen to the Jamaicans at the bar talking in patois about their next business venture. Sitting there, I'd reflect on how lucky I was to have this amazing view, to feel the cool breeze, and just being able to completely chill out.

Unlike many of the other bars on the beach, you see very few vendors at Sanchez's. Although Negril is full of tourists, there are also relatively few tourists at this bar.

Definitely worth checking out while you are in Negril. If you go, tell Sanchez that Tanya sent you....