SANDALS SOUTH COAST JAMAICA: Overwater Bungalow Guide
“Get ready to be spoiled in paradise at Sandals South Coast Jamaica”.
When Sandals Resorts invited us to stay in their over-the-water bungalows earlier this year, we expected an epic experience. Visiting these elusive vacation treasures was the perfect way to celebrate our recent engagement.
Rather than spending most of the day traveling to Tahiti or Bora Bora, we got to have this experience a short four-hour flight away from our home base of Toronto. After our stay at Sandals South Coast, we can confidently say that it exceeded our expectations of service, dining, and luxury. Watch our detailed video review below to see an Overwater Honeymoon Butler Bungalow inside and out.
The Property
The resort has 372 suites divided into the overwater bungalows and three different sections of European-style Villages, reflecting French, Italian, and Dutch. It had breathtaking views of lush jungle and mountains in the distance and is actually on a 500-acre nature reserve. You can find the resort on the South Coast of Jamaica, which gives you a lot more seclusion than other frequented Northern resort areas on the island.
Butler Elite Service
You’re asked to share your personal preferences with your Butler before arrival with to ensure your stay is customized to all your needs. They ask your preference of premium spirits, wine, food restrictions, health considerations, activities, and if you’re celebrating a special occasion. Butlers here are trained to give you individual touches that can’t be found in any manual. As you can see, their service is quite comprehensive, so what follows are the details from our trip from arrival to checkout.
Arrival at Sandals South Coast Jamaica
Each step of your experience is carefully thought-out to ensure a smooth process. Our private luxury Sandals transfer was waiting for us at the airport with cold drinks and gourmet snacks. After the 90-minute drive to the resort, we were greeted by cold, refreshing towels and citrus cocktails.
After a short tour of the property, we took the ocean view walkway to our new home away from home, our private bungalow.
Check-In
Once we arrived at our bungalow, we got a brief overview and comfortably completed our check-in experience on an iPad. The Butler Elite services were explained to us so we could begin taking advantage of them as soon as possible. Our butler offered to unpack our luggage and press our outfits for later in the day. He also left us a tasty welcome treat in our private kitchen area of the bungalow.
You’re given a cell phone that’s a direct line to your butlers for 24-hour service. Over the next few days, our butlers learned our preferences well and actually anticipated what we wanted to do and eat each day.
The Bungalow
The overwater bungalows are organized into four separate areas, the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and patio. For a detailed run-down of each of these areas watch our Bungalow Video Tour. We rarely wanted to leave our bungalow as it had everything we needed. It was like having a luxury condo, but the see-through glass floor panel and patio view quickly reminded us of where we were, in paradise.
What We Loved
Each day we would have all of our mini-bar drinks restocked, and our favorite drinks delivered to us wherever we were on the property.
We found the bed incredibly comfortable and although we rarely sleep-in, we indulged and enjoyed some mornings of rest, letting the morning light slowly wake us up.
The spa-style bathroom made us feel like royalty and made getting ready a very enjoyable experience. Hello amazing natural lighting!
Having an outdoor tub and shower was something new for us and was quite liberating too. We had water activities to enjoy right from our patio with the provided snorkeling equipment and life jackets. You could also enjoy stand-up paddleboards, hobie cats and kayaking at no extra cost, as part of Sandals’ comprehensive watersports program.
We opted to lounge on the patio most days, enjoying our spectacular view and on-going culinary treats from our butlers.
The Food at Sandals South Coast Jamaica
There are nine different restaurants to choose from which cover a wide variety of cuisine from around the world with Sandals 5-Star Global Gourmet. Our favorite restaurants included Sushi on the Sand, Eleanor’s with Pan-Caribbean cuisine, and Neptune’s with a Mediterranean Seafood focus.
We love a good room service breakfast and enjoyed our sweet and savory dishes served with prime ocean views from our patio.
The Perks
The butler elite service includes escorting you to dinners with incredibly decorated tables in prime locations. While you’re enjoying your dinner, your Butler ensures your room attendants complete turndown service in time for your return.
With Butler Elite Service you can order absolutely anything from each of their restaurant menus and have it delivered to your room. The only exception to this rule is for orders from Sushi on the Sand. We recommend attending this restaurant early in your stay as you’ll likely want to return.
Another fantastic food feature was the daily treats you’ll find in your room throughout the day and night. We enjoyed fresh baked cookies and milk a few nights well-after dinner, it’s like our butlers were reading our minds.
Extras Included
Guests staying in an overwater bungalow receive extra perks to make their vacations extra special. You receive a dedicated private cabana on the beach with full butler service. You don’t need to reserve a cabana as the private beach area includes one for each of the bungalows. However, if there’s a particular cabana that you want, you can request it from your butler to have it reserved.
Transportation around the resort is a breeze as you can hop on a cart with your butler with a quick call. This service is for Bungalow guests only and ensures you can get around swiftly and arrive at your dinner reservations promptly.
Pamper Yourself at Sandals South Coast Jamaica
Everything comes with your Sandals Resorts stay, including your food, activities, and tips, but sometimes you need some extra indulgence. We received an incredible day of pampering with upgrades at the resort to celebrate our recent engagement. We indulged in a couple’s massage at Red Lane Spa and let our worries melt away. Our masseuses made us feel incredibly comfortable in our beachfront setting and helped us in and out of our beds with ease. You receive two complimentary aromatherapy candles to take home that burn during your session. It was a treat to light them once we returned home and have the smell take us back to those relaxing spa moments.
After we let our worries melt away we kicked our tummies into high gear as we walked to the beach to enjoy a private romantic dinner. We made all of our course selections the day prior and looked forward to our intimate oceanside dining experience. The privacy of our Romantic Dinner location was incredible and far from other rooms. Our waiter made sure to both give us privacy and keep our glasses full.
Must-Do’s
There are a few places on the property you won’t want to miss during your stay. The main, zero-entry, pool is the largest in Jamaica; go early to have it all to yourself. There are lots of available floats and chairs around this pool with swim-up bar.
The overwater bar, Latitudes, allowed us to choose from the privacy of a hammock or the enjoyment of meeting new friends around the bar. You really couldn’t beat the views and the service was friendly and prompt. We loved grabbing a cold mojito and snuggling up in a hammock to watch the sunset.
After strolling the 2-mile stretch of beach we noticed the incredible overwater chapel with see-through floor panels. The setting felt intimate and special, a perfect place to pronounce your love for each other in front of friends and family.
If you’re a lover of a good walk like we are, this is the place to be. You have the choice of a beachfront stroll or a walk along their paths which wind through a garden or beach view. Both of these routes hold fun surprises along the way, including a super-sized chess set, and fun kissing walkway.
Up Next
Before you leave the resort your butler schedules your return transportation, baggage pick-up, and escorts you to the butler lounge to complete check-out. We made such incredible memories at Sandals South Coast Jamaica. We can’t wait to embark on our next Sandals resort adventure! Our first Sandals Resort experience at Sandals Royal Barbados was unforgettable, especially our Suite. And we loved our experience in Saint Lucia at Sandals Regency La Toc. We’re looking forward to making more warm Caribbean memories with Sandals in the future.
We hope you enjoyed our run-down of our Sandals South Coast Jamaica experience in an overwater bungalow. Have you visited a Sandals Resort before? What’s your favorite part of an all-inclusive vacation?
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Sandals Resorts. As always, all opinions are our own.
Like it? PIN IT!
Share this post
Looks like you had tons of fun! That outdoor tub and shower are goaaaaals! I’m saving this as a reference when we visit Jamaica. Thanks Kristin and Shadi for sharing this!
So glad to hear that you’ve found it helpful Katie! I totally agree, the outdoor bathroom is GOALS haha Please feel free to ask us any question you may have before or during your Jamaica trip. Enjoy!