As everyone has probably heard, Jamaica got hit really bad by Hurricane Melissa on 28 October 2025. It was a category 5 hurricane, the strongest to ever hit Jamaica and it cut right across the western side of the island from south to north. There was, and still is, extensive damage to the island, peoples’ homes and businesses, infrastructure, and of course, resorts.

Although several of Sandals’ resorts weren’t damaged much, Sandals decided to keep ALL of their resorts in Jamaica closed. The latest plan that we’ve heard is that Sandals is going to reopen Beaches Negril, and Sandals Negril, Dunn’s River, Royal Plantation, and Ocho Rios on 10 December 2025. The remaining 3, Sandals Montego Bay, South Coast, and Royal Caribbeam, the three hardest hit by the hurricane, won’t reopen until 30 May 2026. This will give them time to do all the repairs needed and supposedly even some updates and improvements that may have already been in the planning stages. Although some are anxious to get back to Jamaica, there is always the possibility that the repairs will take longer than planned. Mother Nature may have hidden some damage that they haven’t discovered yet and may take longer to repair than expected. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that that doesn’t happen.

In the meantime, all Sandals workers are still collecting their pay, maintaining their pension and medical insurance, and even getting “care” packages of food and water from Sandals.