Puerto Seco beach park — Attraction in Jamaica

OMG!!. My 11 year old daughter summed up our visit today in one sentence: "This beach trip sucked!" What a disappointment!! All because of the lifeguard "supervisor" (Denito or Benito....Im not quite sure of the spelling). This guy is a straight up colourist! I can't call him a racist because he's a native black Jamaican. But this man, in front of my very eyes, outfitted all the white and brown tourist kids with life jackets (which everyone going on the obstacle course must wear) in preparation for the visit, and left my dark skinned daughter standing there without. Additionally, he offered a vest to brown adult male (who looked so uncomfortable with the situation that I actually felt sorry for him), while simultaneously explaining to me that my daughter can go with the next group. This "supervisor" wasn't even smart enough to undercover discriminate! We are Jamaicans living in Georgia, so believe me, I know discrimination when I see it. His initial explanation was that he had to limit the group size to 10, so my daughter could not be included in the first group. When I pointed out that I counted 12 people in that group, he switched gears and said, oh, he needed to get a vest to fit her. My daughter is an average size kid, just like the rest of the kids. I argued with him for a while because I wanted to let him know how sickening his behaviour was, but you really cant argue with a jackass. I reported him to the manager Mr Baugh, who promised to deal with sir "supervisor". I must say that all the other lifeguards were super, and quite upset with how we were treated. they spent a lot of time trying to make amends. Very nice guys. But our trip was ruined. My adult daughter refused to get in the water after that, and we left shortly after because we certainly were not going to spend another dime having lunch there. Shame on you! Even in Georgia, the discrimination is most times subtle. Here it...

HAVE TO PAY EXTRA TO USE THE BEACH CHAIRS ($500JMD) AND UMBRELLAS ($500JMD), IF YOU CAN GET ONE: Similar to a lot of other beaches...EXCEPT MOST BEACHES DON'T PROHIBIT YOU BRINGING YOUR OWN CHAIR...EPIC FAIL!!! So the place is full...all the chairs and umbrellas are sold out and I have my perfectly good beach chair outside in my car and I can't use it because they don't allow it. So I'm left standing in the hot sun burning up. This was my biggest problem.

LONG/SLOW FOOD LINES: Other reviews would have highlighted this. Wouldn't have been a problem if I was allowed to bring my own food...EPIC FAIL!!!

KINDA PRICEY: $400JMD Beer, $10 to $15USD (Roughly $1300 to $1900JMD) Food etc. I probably would have worked with the drink price and drowned my sorrows but not on an empty stomach (since food line is a problem).

BATHROOMS ARE NICE ENOUGH BUT WILL BE EXTREMELY DIRTY BY END OF DAY: Doesn't seem like they're cleaning/wiping it throughout the day. If they are, its not frequent enough.

LOTS OF PEOPLE: To the credit of the establishment they've been getting a bumper crowd. So, if you like to relax and chill out then it might not be your cup of tea. If you love going to the beach on a public holiday, then Puerto Seco is your kinda place. Its worse if they have a large group or company already securing parts of the facility.

I think the entrance fee of $1000JMD is reasonable because there is a pool and the facilities are decent...its like an all inclusive hotel beach area. But if you're going to try to milk every dollar from patrons by prohibiting beach chairs and food then you should at least do them properly.

So maybe if you catch them on an off day when the crowd isn't so big and you have the $4000 to $5000JMD minimum to spend per person then you might have an...

Puerto Seco beach is a beautiful beach, but very very full, no doubt because of how nice it is. The beach itself is decent sized, there are cabanas and beach chairs available for rent, with spaces to just throw down a beach towel and relax. The water is clean, clear and blue, with no sargassum in sight. There's no food allowed on the beach, so you'd have purchase food, or bring a lot of snacks with you.

The obstacle course is $1000 for 1 hour and you get a life vest, and lifeguards are on the course to help you. It is extremely fun and very tiring - the physically unfit, be warned. I had to get help to pass obstacles from the lifeguards because it was just not in my capabilities to finish it. Very friendly and reliable lifeguards. The hour is more than enough for you to do the entire course, and even time to relax.

Here is where the downfall was, the restaurant. I went on a regular weekend - not a holiday weekend. The beach was ram-packed, and the restaurant was no exception. While I expected the wait for the food to be a while, I did not expect it to be 2 full hours. And they seemed to prioritize others, not on a first come first serve basis. I don't know what their criteria was, but groups who had tables and that consisted of 9 orders or so were coming out of the kitchen on a regular. Meanwhile the individual patrons who were actually standing and waiting by the counter, were forgotten. So after a horrible 2 hours of waiting, we got our burgers and drinks. I didn't like either - but what can you expect from beach food?

All in all, both the beach and restaurant facilities were beautiful, with plenty of activities or amenities to rent; the service and food were horrible. While I would go back to this beach, I would not patronize the...