Beaches Runaway Bay - the new Jamaican family resort from Beaches

What we know so far about Beaches new resort in Jamaica

Back in 2021, we wrote on this blog about plans for Beaches new resort called Beaches Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Around the same time, they announced plans for a fifth Beaches resort called Beaches Runaway Bay, coming to Jamaica. You can read the latest official announcement here.

There's been very little information since then, but here's what we know so far.

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Where will Beaches Runaway Bay be located?

Beaches Runaway Bay Resort will be on Jamaica's northern coast. It was already operating as a resort called Jewel Runaway Bay Beach Resort & Waterpark but it was bought by the company that owns Beaches in 2020. 

In 2021, they revealed plans to redevelop the site to create an 'all-new resort'.

According to Travel Week that will include '400 one, two, three and four-bedroom suites'.

The current Beaches Resorts have between 180 and 750 rooms (see our comparison of the three resorts here). The two Jamaican Beaches resorts are much smaller than the Beaches Turks and Caicos resort so this new resort will probably be popular with people who want to visit Jamaica but want a larger resort. My hunch is that will have more swimming pools and restaurants than Beaches Negril and Beaches Ochos Rios, simply because it will have a larger number of suites.

The new resort will be about 40 minutes drive west of Beaches Ochos Rios and about two hours East of Beaches Negril. It will be about one hour drive from Montego Bay airport.

One of the pictures released by Beaches of plans for Beaches Runaway Bay

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What facilities and activities will be available at Beaches Runaway Bay?

So far we know that Beaches Runaway Bay 'will feature dedicated wellness areas and exciting new activities such as skateboarding, bike trails, a climbable treehouse, access to 18-hole championship Runaway Bay Golf Club, and much more' (that's from the official Sandals website).

We also know that the resort will 'feature innovative designs that bring guests closer to nature, as well as new restaurants concepts with an organic farm-to-table approach' (also from the official website).

An image released by Beaches of plans for Beaches Runaway Bay

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When will Beaches Runaway Bay open?

We don't have an opening date but we do have a few breadcrumbs of information. 

Back in 2021 it was clear that the redevelopment was part of a bigger plan, which involved reopening two Sandals resorts. 

The first resort to re-open was Sandals Dunns River. This was due to happen in late 2022 but it actually opened in May 2023.

An article in Travel Weekly said that this was going to be followed by Sandals Royal Dunns River in 2023, but that hasn't opened yet.

The article wasn't quite clear on whether the Runaway Bay redevelopment was meant to happen after Sandals Royal Dunns River or concurrently.

We then found a snippet of information in response to a Twitter question in June 2022 in which the company said that updates would be on their website.

Since then, we haven't heard much else.

There is a forum on TripAdvisor where members of public gave their own updates - but we have no way of knowing if these are accurate.

One person said they were visiting Sandals Dunns River and were told that (Beaches Runaway Bay) "is still in the works to be opened. No date announced".

There's also a Facebook page using the name 'Beaches Runaway Bay Resort' but it's obviously not official (and doesn't claim to be) and hasn't been active since 2021.

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Which is the best Beaches resort? Find out what we think here