Is the CSA shopping trip really worth it ??

[markandjannett]

We will be at CSA again in three weeks and in past years have thought about going on the shopping trip offered. Is it really worth the time away from the beach ??

We will have plenty of resort credit to spend on coffee, rum, etc. at the gift shops and we usually buy a couple of small wood carvings or jewelry items from the vendors at the resort. Other than just getting out and seeing more of Jamaica, what can we expect to see or find that we might miss otherwise ??

[RobnMaria]

We went on the shopping trip last year and we didnt think it was worth it. They bring you 2 1 place which is sorta like a mini mall with little shops like that all see the same thing ( t-shirts rum all that stuff) but there are a few jewelry shops there. then they bring you to the center of negril which sorta has the same typs of places. We are going to CSA again in Oct and we will not be going on the shopping trip again..... Most likely spend that time with a day trip to Hedo 2... Likely more fun I am sure

[pharm30]

We will be at CSA again in three weeks and in past years have thought about going on the shopping trip offered. Is it really worth the time away from the beach ??

We will have plenty of resort credit to spend on coffee, rum, etc. at the gift shops and we usually buy a couple of small wood carvings or jewelry items from the vendors at the resort. Other than just getting out and seeing more of Jamaica, what can we expect to see or find that we might miss otherwise ??

IMO, no. We just went yesterday from CN.
All the stores (10-12 ?) had basically the same merchandise.
I looked at the resort store and I could've got almost all of it on resort.

[Coloradojuli]

The shopping trip takes you to an outdoor style mall. Pretty much most of the stores have the same thing, the prices are different. The further down the mall you go the better the price. The one thing I have found at the mall is they have fantastic prices on T-shirts and have a larger variety than the resort does. The coffee prices are better, but if you have a ton of resort credit and need to find ways to spend it, then it doesn't matter to you.

The mall also has lots of fine jewelry stores if you are looking for anything special. Otherwise you will find everything at the resort. We do go on the shopping trip because we've always found some trinket that we decide to get. One year it was toe rings, one year key chains, stuff like that. Remember you can also find that stuff walking the beach.

[Caznsi]

Waste of an afternoon imho...

[Patricia]

At CSA you can walk to more than enough shops,including Margaritaville. As others have said, it's not worth taking the time away from the resort. I posted pictures of several shops on page 5 of my photo gallery.
http://www.funbeaches.com/couples-swept-away.html