We stayed at SDR August 5 - 10, 2008 and renewed our vows on the 7th and all I can say is wow! This place is completely unbelievable! I read tons of reviews and looked at hundreds of pictures during the time I was planning this trip and, personally, I feel that this place was better than I could have imagined. Once we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted with the famous cold, scented towels that everyone raves about. We did not even give anyone at the hotel our names but somehow they knew to separate us from the rest of the guests arriving with us and directed us to the concierge lounge where we were given some ice cold champagne.

We booked the Genoa Penthouse Honeymoon Concierge Room. The room was just as pictured on Sandals website. The room had great ocean, pool, and mountain views. There was also a fridge stocked with champagne, wine, water and all types of juices. There were also full bottles of rum, vodka and other liquors. The room was cleaned twice a day and we were surprised with some type of treat in our room just about every night. We weren’t in our room 15 minutes before someone delivered a cake with the words ‘Happy Anniversary’ on it. I would definitely book a concierge room. Not only were the guys in concierge (Neil and Israel) super friendly, they were a great help throughout our entire stay. There were also special events and treats for concierge guests while we were there.

We ate at all of the restaurants except Il Capitano, the Italian one. The food ranged from good to excellent. We never had a bad meal the entire time. Our favorite was Marco Polo. The dinner at this restaurant was great and the open-air atmosphere and the views of the waterfall pool and the beautiful Caribbean Sea were amazing. We also opted for the candlelight dinner and it was well worth the money. The service was over the top and the lobster was the best! They set up our dinner on the pier and it couldn’t have been more romantic.

The day before our vow renewal, we met with the wedding coordinators (Sharleen & Tia-Marsha), who were so accommodating. I told the Sharleen that I really wanted to be married on the pier. Although it wasn’t one of the normal wedding locations, she made sure we could have the ceremony there. Our ceremony was absolutely perfect! The minister was great. He even mentioned our children’s names during the ceremony. Sandals gave us a beautiful reception with cake, champagne and light hors d’oeuvres. We brought a CD of our own music and were able to dance to the same song we danced to at our first wedding. The pictures and the video came out so perfectly. We only paid for 12 pictures and they ended up taking 155. Of course, we couldn’t narrow it down to 12 so we ended up buying a lot more. To top things off, our video was delivered to us on the plane right before we took off for home. Talk about service!

There was always something to do. They even had events planned until 2am. We did the ATV and shopping tours. We also did the Dunns River Falls party cruise, which was awesome! Johnny in the Water Sports department even volunteered to take us out on the Hobie Cats, which was spectacular.Even being from Florida, I’d never seen water so clear and blue. The beach was never crowded and there were always plenty of chairs in the shade or the sun.

Overall, this place was great and I miss it already. SDR is great for all types of people, younger and older, active or laid back. I am eagerly awaiting the day I will be able to return to Sandals. Because of their awesome service, Sandals has won customers for life.

ok this is a long review but hope it helps...
arriving at the airport was fine... I recommend going straight down to pass threw customs as fast as possible instead of stopping for a bathroom break.. we went ahead of alot of people and didnt have to wait too long in line. Make sure you fill your customs form out completely or they move you to the side and you have to wait longer. The Sandals lounge was nice, we were only there long enough to grab a beer and use the bathroom. The guy who brings your bags on the bus will stand at the door pretty much forcing you to tip him before you get on. Make sure you bring small bills and have them in a side pocket so you dont pull out your wallet showing all of your cash. that way you can tip him $1 or $2 and be done with it. The ride to the resort wasnt too bag... of course your anxious to get there but its nice to see some of the area. You stop for like 10 minutes to use the bathroom and get a beer if you want. so overall the ride was right at 1.5 hours. the check in process was quick and easy... you sit in the lobby and they come to you with a little paperwork and a quick orientation and then you get to go to your rooms. They bring yous bags for you so you just can get up there and a few minutes later your bags will come up. Everyone at the resort was really friendly and helpful. The entertainment staff was nice and you can play alot of games to try to win bottles of rum and other prizes. We ate mostly at the grill and that was good-jerk chicken, burgers, nachos, fries...etc...
we ate at Kimonos and it was good but definitely different than the Japanese steakhouses that I am used to. You get a small appetizer, and then choice of soup... then you get a combination dinner... shrimp, tuna, chicken.. i think that was it.. then you have adessert. the server was nice and the food was very good... just different... it is hot in there so try to wear something cool-but you still have to somewhat dress up. the monday and thursday nights buffets were ok.. nothing great but not bad... the monday night one is on the beach and it was dark and hard to see what food we were putting on our plates. the resort is beautiful and kept very clean. We didnt visit the other sandals but met alot of people who were staying there and they all by far liked the Dunns river resort much better. we did 5 different tours so here are those reviews:
the horseback riding was alot of fun. you should bring a bathing suit and either wear tennis shoes, water shoes, or sandals that have straps. if you wear shorts bring a towel to sit on so you dont get chaffed. you should bring a regular camera and a waterproof camera. You can bring a bookbag and put stuff in-I suggest putting some canned drinks in there so you dont have to buy $2 canned drinks when you stop for the break. they do have water there for free.you dont bring your bag but the driver brings it to your break spot and then brings it back to the beginning for you. You can buy pictures 8 for $25-we didnt because we got brought our camera and took alot of shots.. they didnt pressure us and they didnt ask for tips on that tour (that was the only tour they didnt ask for tips) we were sore the next day but it was a lot of fun. you go really fast in the water and we almost fell off. it was definitley worth the money. I think you can weigh up to like 260 to ride. you ride about 30 minutes then stop for a break and then get on and do the swim for a little bit and then you take another short break to clean up and then ride back.
the canopy tour... that was fun too. you can bring a bag and they will hold it for you. you can bring a camera (waterproof cameras dont work too well on this because you need a flash or they are too dark) the ride up the mountains was pretty rough and scary but you can get some good pictures being so high up. wear comfy shoes because you do alot of walking! we bought the cd for $25 that had all of the pictures they took plus a bunch of nature shots and a video with the different "swings" or whatever you call them. that was worth the $25 to me. dont wear real short shorts or the harness might be uncomfortable. we really liked it but I was scared at first. I think you do 9 different stations. you really get to see alot of jamacia going into the mountains.
the party boat tour to dunns river... a little high priced ($80pp) it was fun on the boat but not as long of a ride as I thought... we were really close to the falls. you really need water shoes for this. you can bring your waterproof and regular camera. the waterproof didnt take good shots because you really need a flash since it is shady. The guides will offer to take pictures with your camera... we let our guide use our regular camera and got a few good shots... the tour was ok but you really dont need to take a tour.. it would have been more fun to be able to spend more time at the falls instead of going up and then leaving... both tour guides try to shake you down for tips... i tipped the guy who took our pictures but I wasnt going to tip everyone... it gets kinda of crazy how many people think they deserve tips... they try to sell you a dvd of the walk up the falls for $40! alot of people got it... we didnt want it and said no but when we got ready to leave the guide came to make a special deal.. haha.. .we got it for $20 while everyone else paid $40... it still wasnt worth $20... the video cuts half of us off and was alot of [---] shots! haha... i am very glad we had our nice camera to get a few good shots. DO NOT BRING anything extra in your pockets or wear your wedding rings... one guy dropped his prescription glasses and they got broke and he cant see without them.. another lost his wedding band but the locals have mask waiting in the water for you to lose things.. .they found his ring and charged him $20 to get it back...
anyways... I would recommend taking a taxi or the bus tour($40pp) instead of paying so much for this tour... on the way back you do drink and dance and snorkle... but you can snorkle for free at sandals....
the dune buggys... by far our favorite tour... you can bring your regular camera but keep it in the case because you get COMPLETELY covered in mud...it was really dangerous but a ton of fun.. you can get 4 seaters too.... wear sturdy shoes, closed toes if you can because it gets slippery with all of the mud... wear your swim suit and bring a towel. afterwards you get to jump off a 15 foot cliff into 20 foot deep water to wash off.. that was neat and you can get nice pictures...you get to go really fast and its a lot of fun... my husband wanted me to drive first up the hills and then switch off for him to drive down.... well there was a big hill about 65 degrees steep and pretty high and i hit the gas to get up and as soon as we got to the very top my buggy cut off! it was too steep for the breaks to work and we rolled all the way back down... the buggy behind us was hitting the gas to get up the hill too and almost hit us as we came back down... they missed us but we rolled into the woods and into a tree (we were lucky not to have flipped over)i was only an inch away from a HUGE sticker bush (the spikes on the bush were like an inch long) and if we wouldnt have stopped I would have gotten sliced up.... anyways, they pulled us out but the buggy was pretty beat up from hitting the tree... after that we kept going and we did have a lot of fun... you could really haul tail through there and get some air! that is pretty dangerous though... bring your Drivers License there or you cant drive. they took some pictures but we never even saw them... so make sure you have your camera to get some shots and cover it up during parts so you dont get it muddy. they ask for tips then too..
the river tubing was nice but not what i thought...i thought is would be rough water but it was mainly relaxing and floating down the river with only 3 little rough parts.. .the water is FREEZING-like 70 degrees. but it was nice... bring water shoes... you can leave your bag in the truck.. they ask for tips too...
the tipping thing was a little annoying because your driver would ask for tips plust your tour guides and you are already paying alot so its kind of crazy...
alot of people didnt have small bills and got ripped off.. they stand at the bus door when you get picked up at the airport and dont let you in unless you give them money...... and they wont make change... then when they pick you up at sandals they bring you back to the airport and stand at the door to get off and wait for tips... plus of course the guys who get your bags want tips too so we are happy we brought $100 in just ones and would roll up $1-$2 and keep it in one pocket, then we didnt pull out piles of cash...
definitely bring a waterproof case for your money, credit cards and room key... we got one at dicks sporting goods or you might get one at walmart during the right season. My husband kept that in his pocket at all times... we rolled small bills in there too...
Definitley buy waterproof cameras in the states because they sell them for $18 each at the gift shop which is like 3 times the price... we used 3 waterproof cameras and could have used another if we had it... so bring 2-4 depending on the tours your doing. waterproof shoes are a must... also alot of guys forgot dress shoes so they couldnt eat in the nice resturants.
bring several bathing suits so you dont have to put wet ones on, you can rotate them...
we went over to the shanty village next to the resort and got some souviners... they are a little annoying but its not bad... always plan to pay half of what they say they are charging...
be ready to play the "hard to get" game and start walking away and they will offere some better deals. they have a lot of nice hand made crafts... and of course a ton of weed
you can also rent jet skis over there and those prices can be negotiated too.

We had an absolutely fabulous time in Sandals Dunn's River. It was our first time at an all inclusive and we were a little hesitant to try it. We were pleasantly surprised. Everyone at this resort goes out of their way to make your stay pleasant. The quality of the food and service in the restaurants especially the Marco Polo was excellent. We are divers and the dive boat and dive masters were fabulous. They made you feel extremely comfortable. There was continuous activities to do at all times of the day for all types of couples. We hope to return to another Sandals location next summer.

We went to SDR for our honeymoon on June 23-29. I will just highlight a few things that might help if you are trying to choose a resort for a vacation.

The Good –

• The Resort is beautiful and extremely well kept.
• The pools are huge and the swim up bars are great.
• The food is very good. The restaurants are closed Monday and Thursday nights but there are outdoor buffets in place and they are also very good. I enjoyed eating on the beach so it wasn’t a big deal to us. Make sure you eat at the Italian restaurant and sit outside, the view is amazing and so isn’t the food!
• We booked the lowest category room and it was nice. We ended up in the Rialto wing (which isn’t the room we booked). The only thing we did not like is that we didn’t have a balcony, but we weren’t in the room enough to even notice after the first day. We loved that we had a fridge stocked with juice, water, and soda that was included with the room!
• The Dunn’s River Falls tour and the Canopy Tour are musts if you are going to do excursions.
• We loved the private candlelight dinner on the beach. Definitely worth the extra.
• We knew pretty much exactly how much the trip was going to cost before we went and did not spend anymore than that! Everything is all –inclusive like they say except for excursions and souvenirs at the gift shop.
• There are lots of water activities that you can do that are included. I can’t comment too much on these because the winds were to strong during our stay so we never got to use any of them.
• Everyone is so nice and make sure you have an excellent time! The don’t ask for tips either (at least Sandals employees don’t, see below).

The Bad-
• Customs was not fun to get through in a non air-conditioned section of the airport but this isn’t Sandals fault. We were in line for about an hour. So just be prepared for that if you are coming at a busy time.
• There are the locals on one side of the beach that try to sell you things. It makes you not want to go on that side of the beach since the yell at the guests all day long.
• The beach is not extremely big and is blocked on one side by a fence and the other by a boardwalk, so you cannot take long walks. However, the beach is big enough that there was always enough chairs and plenty of space for lounging and swimming in the ocean.
• If you don’t get out to the beach or pool in the morning, they run out of towels. This really wasn’t a big deal though but I thought I would mention it.
• If you do any excursions and while being transported to and from the airport, they will pretty much demand a tip. So also come just expecting this.

Overall we had a perfect honeymoon and would love to go back to SDR! We will probably try a different Sandals resort first though just to try something different. There are so many more things I could say but I will leave it at that. I hope that helps someone!