I was a little cautious the first time I took my son to Negril, based on the resort town's hedonistic reputation. But every locale we visited was family friendly, and we felt safe walking the beach and the main drag night and day. I even took Dylan to an early evening reggae concert on the beach.

The pushy beach vendors can be annoying. They would often try to put a bracelet on Dylan's wrist and then try the guilt tactic to get me to buy something. Some locals offered an unsolicited ''guiding service'' to the local grocery store, then try to charge for it.

We found it easy to join in pick-up soccer games on the beach, and our mini travel-size football and Frisbee helped us develop easy friendships with locals and other tourist families. We've always found UNO to be an international game, making it easy to invite local kids to join in. It's also a great tool for teaching kids some basic words for colors and numbers in another language (although English is the language of Jamaica).