After reading all the notes to the right of this column, I do hope it gets printed even though some may not believe what you are reading.

My wife and I were celebrating our honeymoon at Sandals Negril and we took a booze cruise over to Rick's. She and I are both excellent swimmers under normal circumstances but after the boat ride, lots of sun and cocktails the 100 meters swim was very challenging. In the middle of the swim, my wife said she wasn't going to make it. We did in fact make it to the first deck just above the water. We got there only to find someone from our boat had a heart attack.

We were disgusted to find that the locals didn't care as they stepped over the man receiving CPR from the people from the boat, NOT Rick's. When asked, Rick's staff had no oxygen to offer, no backboard to get this man to medical assiatance and we were told the hospital was 90 miles away so there was no need to call for an ambulance as he wouldn't make it anyway. They did send down a 2 X 12 piece of lumber and the unresponsive man was carried up to a waiting cab.

This gentleman who was on holiday for his daughter's wedding died in front of his daughter, wife, family & friends as the locals begged for cash from us to get them to jump.

In as much as our trip was booked through Sandals Entertainment office, we are contacting Mr. Gordon "Butch" Stewart, Chairman of Sandals Resorts directly for a refund.

My advice to any person from North America is to stay away from Rick's. It's very obvious that they are only interested in your American dollars.

Like I read in one review, the view from the hotel was better if not the same. We got back from our honeymoon Oct 17/05. Yes we just missed Wilma. We went to Ricks on the Sunday. I was expecting this happening place with music and packed with people enjoying the sunset and watching the divers. Although the divers were fun to watch, they wont jump from the trees until they have collected at least $10US in "tips" The waves at the cafe that night were spectacular, I will say that much and the view..well its the ocean!! The lighthouse is nearby and that is a nice pic to take. Now lets get to the service at Ricks. My wife and I were feeling a little hungry. We figured we have been eating at the hotel for the last two weeks lets spend some money on a nice meal. So we go upstairs to the open patio. There are no lights, at least not until about 8 pm or so. The young lady that escorted us told us someone would be with us shortly. Well if 20 min is shortly I think its time for a new watch. Oh by the way, we never did get served and because of that went downstairs to the bar. The bar was quiet maybe 10 people MAX and 3 bartenders. He said just a minute. Again another 10 min before we got served and paid $30US for 2 dixie cup style drinks and the "appetizer sampler" which left us even hungrier. Go if you must to say I went to Ricks but dont expect anything spectacular. Go to Margheritaville, lots more fun and you can swim on the beach there. And get filled up on drinks and GOOD food for cheap: "Volcanic Nachos with Chilli" Yummmmmm.

I loved Rick's Cafe. First let me preface this with two things--one, I was there in October, which I'm sure is a significantly less busy time, and two, I did not pay for most of my own drinks since I was there with a business group.

I thought Rick's was a nice place to get a drink. The view is gorgeous--it's located up on the cliffs of Negril, so you can see for miles--especially at sunset. They do have cliffs to jump from; there is a 33ft. ledge and a much smaller ledge at the bottom (where you climb back up). I personally jumped from the 33ft ledge. I did put 200 Jamaican dollars (just over $3 USD) in the tip box when I jumped, just because I felt like I shouldn't take the lifeguards for granted in case I needed them later. Despite my worrying, the jump was wonderfully exhilirating, I wish I'd done it twice! For the record, I was stone sober at the time, the first one in my group to jump. It's really not as dangerous as it seems--the platform extends beyond the cliffs a ways, so there's little chance of falling backwards into the rocks, and the ocean is deep below. Also, because you're jumping into the sea, the salt water is really quite buoyant. I come from the Midwest, where we have a lot of freshwater lakes, and I was expecting to have to swim back up to the surface, but after I jumped from the cliff into the water, I was back up at the top with absolutely no effort.

The professional cliff divers were thrilling to watch--they jumped from a (allegedly) 90ft platform in a tree, and did flips and tricks on the way down. They did come around to ask for money before each trick, but in no way did I feel pressured to contribute.

Rick's also has a pool available for anyone who would like to swim, but not jump from the cliffs.

The drinks were good--I had one of the best Strawberry Daquiris of my life. The band plays all kinds of reggae hits, including a lot of Bob Marley songs, which, I'll admit, is right up my alley. Some girlfriends and I danced in the sand and the lead singer dedicated songs to us and also took requests.

In the end, Rick's may be a kind of touristy place, but let's be honest: Jamaica is a third world country, and if you're not camping out on the beach or staying in a shack, chances are you're a tourist anyway. Enjoy it, and don't be stingy with your tips--Jamaicans make a living off of tourism.

We did not dive, we are not that stupid! But its good fun watching others dive, especially the 2 guys who charge $10 from jumping out of a tree, needs to be seen. The sunset is lovely with the group playing most of B Marleys hits, they were good too. Drinks on the expensive side but given that most are in all inclusive its about time they got there had in their pockets! It is worth a visit