Transfer from CSS to CSA

[rachelb]

This year, we have decided to do a split stay, so we are going to CSS for 5 days for Christmas, then transfering over to beautiful CSA for 7 days over New Year's. I sent a rates request to both TimAir and AirLink and I just got a quote of 734$ - 868$ from Ocho to Negril. Really??? Last year we flew from Negril to MBay and the cost was way cheaper, by more than half. I do understand the Negril-MBay is a shorter flight, however I find this quite high.... I can fly from T.O to MBay for that price! Anybody else have experienced theses high charter prices? I don't think I can justify paying that much to save a few hours, but TH is against the 3 hours driving time from one resort to the other. For anybody who have done the transfer, is the ride really long, or do they stop along the way to get some Red Stripe to make the drive go faster??? I am even considering changing our split from CSS to CN, to avoid the long transfer ride...Need some opinions from experienced travelers please!! We have only visited CSA, so want to visit a different resort before heading back to CSA.

[NJ_Yinzer]

In 2006, on our first trip to Jamaica we did a CSA/CSS split stay. Big D at CSA hooked us up with a private driver to take us. It cost about $200 with tip for the driver as I recall and the ride was about 3 hours. To break up the trip and make it more of a tour of the island than just a ground transfer from CSA to CSS, we stopped at Rose Hall and toured the Great House and stopped at one of the little roadside jerk stands for a delicious authentic lunch along the way. The driver was super friendly and pointed out many other sights along the way and told us many stories about the island and life there. We had a great time and felt like we made the most of the time and the trip! Have fun!

[FF204]

Changing your transfer from CSS to CN instead of CSA will literally only save you 5 to 10 minutes, tops. CSA is definately worth the extra few minutes. We have been thinking about doing a split stay as well, and the drive time would be terrible, so we also wanted to fly. Not for those prices though. Let us know what you finally end up doing, many of us have the same issue as you, whether to fly or bus.

[Northern gal]

I would also be interested in any info anyone has on this topic. Our 2013 trip is already booked to go back to CSA but we are seriously considering a CSS/CSA split for 2014 so we can visit another Couples resort and see the other side of the island. We figure the transfer woul be about 3 hours. Is this correct?

[meganfritz]

We used the free transfer last year also from CSS to CSA. We enjoyed it since it was another chance to see some of the countryside, hear more stories, etc. We didn't stop along the way, but I'm sure that you could if you wanted. I think we actually made it in about 2 1/2 hours. (He was [I]really[I] cruising!) To us the ride was part of our "adventure" so we didn't mind it at all, but I understand how lots of people would prefer a shorter option. It was also wonderful to visit two completely different resorts in one trip! We LOVED it!!!

Let me know if you have CSS specific questions. We can't wait to return there next year.

[sasky]

We have done the transfer twice, by road. It isn't really that bad. Just ask when the best time to leave is, so you miss MoBay rush traffic. Both times we transferred, we were the only people going. Once we were in a mini bus and the other was in a car. Grab some beers from your mini bar and talk to your driver and the trip goes fast. They will stop for bathroom breaks etc.

[starfish2]

CN and CSA are only minutes apart ; see no saving there.

[Susan Smith Jones]

I can't comment on the price of the flight cause we flew from MB to Negril not from OR. But don't change from CSA because of it since Negril and Swept Away aren't really that far apart. If you want to visit CSA it's worth the extra ten minutes or whatever it is. That seems like alot of money to fly.....I thought we only paid about $84 per person to fly from MB to Negril?.

Let us know how this work we are planning on doing a split trip next fall, we are looking at staying at TI and SA.

Happy a merry Christmas in paradise!!

[lalaillinois]

We are doing the same as you for our next trip in March: CSS for the first time for a few nights and then transferring to CSA, our "home", for 7 nights. When contemplating the split stay, I searched the previous threads on the message board for information and also contacted TimAir for a quote. They quoted me similar to you which I think is ridiculous. While there wasn't a lot of info in the archived threads, most people said that the Couples provided transfer between the resorts was just fine and it was best to leave fairly early in the morning and that it takes 2.5-3 hours. So I think we are going to try and leave around 7am (we're early risers)which would put us to CSA by 10am. Just around the time we'd normally get to the beach anyway. Personally, I wouldn't switch to CN just because of the prospect of a couple hour ride. I'm looking forward to seeing CSS and the other side of the island too much to do that. We did the day trip to CN on one of our CSA trips and while it also is very nice, it isn't *that* much different from CSA in the sense of the Negril side. CSS looks to be very different which is appealing to us.

I hope you figure out what works best for you! If you do the Couples transfer between CSS and CSA, it would be great if you could post your experience and opinion afterward. Good luck!

[sasky]

I forgot to say that the transfer from CSA to CSS was free of charge.

[grayturtless]

We have done that split from Ocho to Negril and it only took 2 1/2 hours. We left on a Monday around 10:30 and arrived in Negril around 1:00. I sugust you keep your plans and see both sides of the island, instead of sticking to Negril. CSS is so beautiful and different from CSA, and your so lucky to be able to do both. We had a very interesting driver and talked the entire time. We were there before we knew it. Good luck, and have fun.

[rachelb]

Thank you all for your great feedback. We have decided to stick to our original plan and do the CSS/CSA split.
FF204, & starfish2 : I guess I didn't really explain myself properly, I was going to change CSS to CN, so do a CN/CSA split, as I know CN is only a few min. away from CSA...oops..
I looked again at photos and videos of both CSS and CN. While CN looks very nice, it's not "calling" our name like CSS. CSS looks sooo romantic with it's jungle surroundings, and we are even talking about trying SSB...and we really want to experience that side of the island. To smooth the process, we will probably leave the resort really early in the AM (around 7) to be able to miss traffic and enjoy the great beach of CSA, and also bring some good'ol Caribe for the trip (for later in the morning...but who's looking at the time when your in Jamaica!). Who knows, we might not even want to leave CSS....but I can't imagine going to Jamaica without going "home" to CSA in beautiful Negril. We are very blessed and fortunate to be able to experience 2 resorts in 1 trip, and spend some time with the wonderful Couples family. 47 days to go! I will definitely post my thoughts and experience on the resort transfer when we come back.

[MrCrabs]

You could take the free shuttle from CSS back to MBJ and then TimAir to Negril. Should be way cheaper. I kind of agree with the other here; the ride probably won't be that bad and if the driver can get around any traffic in MoBay that would be even better. You'll be in the middle of your vacation so hopefully not stressed out that you're leaving and having to go to the airport, etc. We like the ride to the resort, but dread the ride back to the airport on the last day!.

We did fly TimAir from MBJ to Negril but that was back before the new road was complete. It was fun flying over the mountains and our pilot was really cool.

[Allisirie]

We did a split from The Mountains, near Kingston, to CTI two years ago. Hired a private driver, and took the mountain paths! It was one of the best experiences. We ate lunch from a small village, where we had chicken foot soup, and vegetable. Talked with the children, saw water falls you would never imagine! Saw the Jamaica from the interior. I would highly recommend it.
Gives you a great appreciation for the wonderful people on the island.
Irie.
Barb

[grayturtless]

Thank you all for your great feedback. We have decided to stick to our original plan and do the CSS/CSA split.
FF204, & starfish2 : I guess I didn't really explain myself properly, I was going to change CSS to CN, so do a CN/CSA split, as I know CN is only a few min. away from CSA...oops..
I looked again at photos and videos of both CSS and CN. While CN looks very nice, it's not "calling" our name like CSS. CSS looks sooo romantic with it's jungle surroundings, and we are even talking about trying SSB...and we really want to experience that side of the island. To smooth the process, we will probably leave the resort really early in the AM (around 7) to be able to miss traffic and enjoy the great beach of CSA, and also bring some good'ol Caribe for the trip (for later in the morning...but who's looking at the time when your in Jamaica!). Who knows, we might not even want to leave CSS....but I can't imagine going to Jamaica without going "home" to CSA in beautiful Negril. We are very blessed and fortunate to be able to experience 2 resorts in 1 trip, and spend some time with the wonderful Couples family. 47 days to go! I will definitely post my thoughts and experience on the resort transfer when we come back.

I am glad to hear that you are keeping your plans, and happier to hear that you want to try SSB. After a few hours you will feel so free and thank ful that you tried it. Bring water shoes if your planning on swimming at SSB, becasue sometimes the bottom can be rocky getting in and out. It changes from season to season. The two resorts are so different and beautiful. Have a wonderful time.

[rachelb]

Here is my review of our CSS/CSA split which inlcuded land transfer. Our trip was one of the most memorable yet, all thanks to the COUPLES staff!!! (might be a bit long)
CSS : We arrived at CSS on a saturday (late afternoon) since we had a 1.5 hrs wait through customs : lots of planes landed at the same time. I think we might try the MoBay club next time (if we arrive on a saturday)...We were greeted by the most amazing staff with big smiles, we felt welcomed right away. We had a beachfront suite and we requested a ground floor which suit us great. The room was very spacious & clean (no it's not modern, but we weren't expecting it to be either). We really liked it, again we love tropical feeling resorts. The mini bar was filled a few hours after check in and they included all the requested liquor we did on the pre check-in. We had no issues with the re-stocking, we would call before getting ready for dinner, and never waited more than 10-15 minutes for them to re-stock it. The grounds here are sooooo lush, sooo amazing to walk through the property and find all sorts of romantic corners. We knew not to expect a Negril beach, but the beach is very small, we did swim in the ocean a few times, but, well, it's not Negril's beach...The sport's team was amazing, we enjoyed beach volley ball on most afternoons and met a lot of great couples. The beach bar was awsome for pre-dinner drinks and of course of few BoB Marley shots! Cheers to Anthoy! What a great energenic guy! The restaurants were all very good, but very few choices, again we new this going there, so it wasn't an issue for us. We had a couples massage in one of the hide away huts....soooo relaxing and very worth it! We did Dunn's River falls, very fun experience, glad we did it, but I don't think I would go out of my way to do it again, just our opinion. All in all a great stay at CSS, very romantic, quiet and quaint resort with AWSOME staff! Another thing we noticed was the weather difference between Ocho and Negril. During our 5 days, we had one sunny afternoon, but the rest was mainly cloudy and not as warm as we're used to in Negril. We're glad we visited, but for us, our home remains CSA and it's beautiful beach. After 5 days, we were ready to go home to CSA.
Transfer :We had asked to leave early morning to avoid traffic. The day before departure, we received our departure notice and our shuttle was scheduled to leave at 11am. We saw and spoke to guest services and without any problems, they arranged to have a shuttle driver for us at 8am. Our ride from CSS to CSA took exactly 2.5 hours. Our driver was fantastic and very knowledgabe of the area, so we learned quite a few things on the way to Negril. It really wasn't that bad, it went by faster than we had thought. We arrived at the resort at 10:30 AM, did our check-in and enjoyed the beach until our room was ready at 3pm. Would we do the transfer again? Probably not, since we enjoy Negril sooo much!
CSA : I think about it, and I miss it sooo, miss the staff, miss the weather, the beach, the food, the relaxation, etc.... I'm ready to go back...I think this says alot about how we feel about CSA. We were in a beachfront verandah suite, first floor, and loved our room location. We had the bamboo bar right in front of our verandah, how convenient! Again, the grounds are very lush, well kept, not one complaint! Our room was kept clean everyday, our mini bar stocked each day with Red Stripe. I can say that we found the service to be better than our last visit, the staff was on top of things, very welcoming and alot remembered us from last year. Michelle at the bamboo bar was great! There were a few trainnees that were REALLY on Jamaican time, but I'm sure they'll learn from the best and imrpove in no time...hopefully! The beach was still as beautiful as I remember from last year, we loved flotting in the water, to refresh, to relax, ahhh! The vendors were still stroling up and down the beach, but we really got to know some of them and all I can saw is WOW! Jamaicans are so nice! They were not pushy at all, a simple "no thanks" did the trick, and security was always present. The food was again excellent! We ate at Feather's on lobster night, oh what a treat! Sherry-Ann, our server was the best! All restaurants are excellent! Entertainment was good, we really enjoyed the steel drum band at the Palm's. Last year, we had missed the beach party, but this year, we got to experience it. We didn't really enjoy the setup, very crowded, and the music was not very good (again based on our opinions). This was the only negative I can think of during our trip, which of course we only see positive when at CSA in beautiful Negril. We did the One Love Pub Crawl with Lenbert. Awsome tour to experience a bit of local culture. I would definitly recommend! We were there for New Year's and the night was just as memorable as last year! Excellent food, awsome music, wonderful staff, a great time! The catamaran tour was also very fun, the crew was funny and entertaining, again an awsome time! We did snorkeling, hubby got PADi certified and he is so glad he did it! I went to the spa, got a peppermint wrap and a facial, a real treat! Used the complex facilites a few times, which I love. The weather was gorgeous! I can't believe the difference between Ocho and Negril!! We had one afternoon of clouds (rained for 15 min.) when we left on the catamaran tour, then the sun was shinning and it was hot for the rest of our trip. We had another memorable trip at CSA, left with sadness, but smiled because we know we'll be back!