I don’t even know what to say. My friend and I have backpacked all over Asia and stayed in dumpy places, but never have we seen something so misrepresented as Zion Beach Cabins.
I will start out to say that the only positives were the beautiful landscaping, view of the bay, and Owen, the very kind cook.
We rented a car from the airport in Montego Bay, from which the directions on the website said 4.5 hours to Zion Country. It took over 6, with sketchy back roads and deep potholes – we lost a hubcap and bent the rim of the wheel on one. When we arrived in Zion, around 6:30 in the evening “Free-I” shuffled us to our room – not cabin, since those were supposedly full – which was a dreary concrete room in the back of the property for the same price as the cabins. He then told us he was going back to his dinner and disappeared abruptly/rudely. No tour or overview of where things were on the property – nothing. We attempted to swim while it was still light, but there was disgusting algae throughout the water at the “beach”. The kind of algae you get only when water has been standing for awhile. There was no kayaking to be seen.
Then comes sleeping or lack thereof. There was no ceiling fan, and no mosquito nets…in the tropics. Seriously. And for $80. Once I had just about passed out from sweating, and had gotten used to the bugs biting through my bug repellant, the dogs on the property started barking right outside our windows. Then the neighbor dogs joined in. This continued until DAWN.
I don’t know what kind of experience others had, and I can’t even fathom why it was so different than mine. I’m rather disgusted that I wasted an entire day of my trip to travel here based on good reviews from others. I’m writing because this experience was so bad that I hope I can help someone else not make the same mistake I did. If I had paid $40, I would have felt differently, but this place was far more than that.
Please give your money to another local proprietor in Jamaica, someone who values your business.
