Montego Bay. That's where it all began for Sandals in 1981 with their first resort, and it was where it all began for Janet and I in 1984 when we spent our honeymoon there. This year, we decided to "Come Back to Jamaica" to celebrate our 40th anniversary at the same resort we spent our honeymoon. We did not plan to share our anniversary with a hurricane. And yet...we did.
Many people have asked us why we decided to stay in Jamaica to ride out Hurricane Beryl. The simple answer is, we didn't...we decided to leave. We just couldn't find any flights out. We got stuck, plain and simple.
Our original trip plan for this trip was to spend six days with our kids and grandkids at Beaches, Negril. During that time we enjoyed a Re-tie The Knot/vow renewal ceremony to honor our 40th anniversary. Cue the collective *Awwwww*. And yes...it was all that.
On 2 July our kids returned home, flying out of Montego Bay's international airport, and Janet and I transfered north to Montego Bay to spend a few extra days at the adults-only Sandals Montego Bay to recreate our honeymoon. Both in 1984 and 2024, we spent most of our time at Sandals Montego Bay in our room. For different reasons. Can I just say in 2024 I beat the snot out of Janet in Scrabble as Hurricane Beryl slammed the island. In 1984...well, enough said.
When we arrived in Jamaica on 26 June, Beryl was just beginning its life as a tropical wave and we didn’t give it much thought. Tropical waves flow from Africa out into the Atlantic Ocean all the time…on average about 60 times each hurricane season. About 20% of those tropical waves have the combination of initial energy and favorable conditions for growth to form a tropical depression. Beryl had both and became Tropical Depression 2 early on 28 June. Not every tropical depression that forms becomes a tropical storm, but Tropical Depression 2 did, and it became Tropical Storm Beryl later in the day on 28 June. And not every tropical storm intensifies into a hurricane, but Beryl did and it was declared a Category 1 hurricane on 29 June.
No storm has ever formed so early in the season and intensified as fast as Hurricane Beryl. Forecasts aren’t usually accurate more than about 36 hours out into the future, further narrowing our decision window. And when we looked at coordinating our plans to ensure we remained on Jamaica until our kids were safely on their way home, our decision window was impossibly narrow. As of 29 June, Beryl was forecast to continue its rapid track across the Atlantic Ocean and reach Jamaica during the day on 3 July. Anybody wanting to leave the island would have to fly out on 2 July, before the government closed the airports. By then, all flights were booked.
On 30 June the National Hurricane Center’s forecast showed Beryl passing to the south of Jamaica during the afternoon of 3 July. At that point we checked again to see if we could get out early, after our kids’ flights had departed, but again found nothing.
Its not like I ignored the weather forecast. Well, initially I did, but once Beryl became a tropical storm I poured over every update from the National Hurricane Center. Prior to 2 July it looked like Beryl would pass safely to the south of Jamaica and we would not be impacted. On 2 July the forecast showed a more northerly track for the storm, still staying just off the southern coast of Jamaica, but coming close enough that we would feel hurricane force winds even up north in Montego Bay.
In the end, Beryl hit Jamaica as a Category 4 storm and weakening to Category 3 as it passed just a few miles off the southern coast, running along the entire southern coast of Jamaica. The track resulted in more widespread damage because it affected the entire country, and since the core of the hurricane remained over water, the storm’s intensity was unabated.
It is now Friday, two days post-Beryl, and from our view here at Sandals Montego Bay, you wouldn’t know a Category 4 hurricane hit the island. Clean-up crews on the resort have done an amazing job of getting life back to “normal” or at least as close to it as they can. Large swaths of Montego Bay have lost power and won’t be getting it back anytime soon. Employees have to endure long detours around multiple road closures to get to work. All of that is transparent to us here on the resort. Their dedication is admirable.
As Janet and I enjoy the last day of our trip, under clear skies with lots of Jamaican sunshine and cooling breezes, I can only be grateful things turned out the way they did for us. The Jamaican people have a long recovery ahead of them, but they are resilient. Thankfully, the damage has been limited to things that can be repaired and rebuilt. Jamaica’s airports are open, flights are again arriving with tourists eager to experience all this beautiful island has to offer, and we wish the people of Jamaica well.
We've booked our next trip to Jamaica during this one, after Hurricane Beryl. "Come Back To Jamaica" is more than a marketing slogan for us. It's where it all began!
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