Every aspect of life in Jamaica is imbued with a sense of pride for
the island and its people. There’s that common search for
"everything being irie," which is more than just a phrase to
describe being relaxed and content. It sums up that feeling when
people come together to create a work of harmony that someone could
only discover in Jamaica’s peaceful paradise.
Every aspect of life in
Jamaica is imbued with a sense of pride for the island and its people.
There’s that common search for "everything being irie," which is more than
just a phrase to describe being relaxed and content. It sums up that feeling
when people come together to create a work of harmony that someone could
only discover in Jamaica’s peaceful paradise. Holding a dish of jerk chicken
while listening to live reggae next to a placid turquoise sea seems to do
the trick.
That singular sense of rhythm
and joy is a major reason for so many vacations booked to Jamaica. All that
reggae-inspired dancin’ and romancin’ is a positive reminder of the island’s
national motto: "out of many, one people."
Montego Bay
Accessibility and convenience
have always been one of Montego Bay’s best selling points because of
Sangster International Airport and Jamaica’s largest stable
of beachfront resorts a mere
10-15 minute cab ride away. Another major selling point is that within the
last few years, the region has developed into a world-class golfer’s
playground with four championship golf courses featuring postcard perfect
fairways bordering the sea.
All of the courses are either almost brand new or have been recently
modernized.
These include a Robert Trent
Jones layout at Half Moon Montego Bay; the 18 spectacular holes cascading
down the hillside surrounding The Tryall Club; the completely revamped
Cinnamon Hill at Wyndham Rose Hall Resort & Country Club; and the lushly
landscaped new White Witch links at The Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall designed by
Robert von Hagge. The area hotels can put together value-filled packages
with guaranteed tee times where visitors can play two or more courses during
one stay.
Anchoring the Wyndham and
Ritz-Carlton golf courses is Rose Hall, one of the Caribbean’s most dramatic
sugar plantation homes, or "Great Houses." Perched atop a verdant hillside,
the elegantly restored home overlooks 400 acres of lush lawns sloping down
to the sea. Likewise, the Greenwood Great House was constructed in 1790 by a
cousin of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Ocho Rios
It was in Ocho Rios where mass tourism first took off in Jamaica during the
advent of the jet age. The region has built up over the years a wealth of
cultural activities, outdoor excursions and interesting shopping that set
Ocho Rios apart as a resort area offering much more than sun, sea and sand.
Dunn’s River Falls is easily
Jamaica’s most well known attraction and for good reason. Visitors come from
all over the island to traverse the boulders and falling water as they make
their way up into the jungle. Other spectacular natural settings include a
variety of gardens where visitors can wander through acres of bougainvillea,
ginger lilies, heliconias, anthuriums, orchids and massive banyan trees.
Spots to visit are Shaw Park Botanical Gardens; Coyaba River Garden &
Museum; Cranbrook Flower Forest; and Fern Gully with over 500 varieties of
ferns planted since the 1880s.
For art lovers, Wassi Art is a
little known commune high up in the mountains where resident artists create
exquisite clay pottery and sculpture. This is a must for shoppers also,
because it has the best variety and pricing compared to the cruise ship
docks. It’s fun to buy the local wares from where they were designed, and
tourists have the benefit of seeing the clay-making process firsthand while
the artisans work their magic on the pottery wheel.
A must-see diversion for all
stripes of visitors, Island Village is an expansive shopping, dining and
entertainment complex owned by Chris Blackwell, the legendary producer of
Bob Marley. The open-air and lushly landscaped attraction is home to various
restaurants including Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, plus colorful shops
selling both designer labels and local Jamaican wares. A highlight is the
ReggaeXplosion museum dedicated to reggae and its many fans. Make sure to
check out the dance floor inside designed for the hearing impaired. Below
the floor are high powered speakers that make the floor reverberate so
people can feel the reggae beat as it emanates up through their bodies,
while they watch classic reggae concerts on the large video screen.
Negril
Negril is one of the
Caribbean’s most laid back destinations for a large-scale resort setting, so
much so it’s earned a reputation as "the capital of casual." The selling
point here is simple. Visitors have direct access to seven miles of
uninterrupted, pure white beach fronting an unbelievably calm blue-green
ocean. This is what the postcard promised and this is what Negril delivers.
No hotel is more than three stories tall, and much of the beach is home to
an array of funky beach bars and restaurants with most of their tourist
clientele barefoot and grinning. Every year, it seems another small and
colorful inn-style resort opens up where visitors feel like they’re staying
with a Jamaican family and their cute, well-manicured gingerbread home.
Bordering the main beach is
seven more miles of seaside cliffs and grottos first popularized by visiting
hippies in the 1960s. Dotting the cliffs are a series of open-air
restaurants and bars that cater to hundreds of tourists nightly who migrate
here to watch the nightly sunsets over the Caribbean Sea. As the dying sun
lights up the waters, the reggae bands start pumping out their hip-swayin’
beat while everyone knifes into their spicy Jerk chicken and sips on
Jamaica’s Red Stripe beer. One special event during sunset on the cliffs are
the professional cliff divers at Rick’s Café who perform graceful acrobatics
from 60 feet above the warm crystalline waters.
Most importantly in Negril,
the region has the highest number of hotels in the Caribbean certified by
Great Britain’s Green Globe environmental organization. The local government
is adamant about keeping the destination in its pristine ecological state,
meaning no cruise ships or heavy industry.
Port Antonio
Situated between two idyllic
harbors, the town of Port Antonio is one of the most verdant landscapes in
all of Jamaica because it’s nestled at the foot of the mist-covered Blue
Mountains. The narrow roads twisting through the countryside are literally
swathed in cascading bougainvillea, tall royal and traveler’s palms, and
jungle vines straight out of
Tarzan. Far away from any tourist hordes, the region is popular for romantic
couples and ecotourists who come for the Garden of Eden atmosphere.
Accommodations offer a choice
of full-service properties directly on the beach or more homey environs
higher up in the hills with breathtaking views and loads of old Jamaican
charm. There is not much in the way of man-made attractions in Port Antonio,
but there’s enough of that throughout the rest of Jamaica. Instead, visitors
tend to hang out at their hotels and breathe the fresh Blue Mountain air
while sipping on the world-famous Blue Mountain coffee. The most famous
attractions are Blue Lagoon and the bamboo raft tours down the mighty Rio
Grande River that winds through the palm-strewn hills.
Other activities include
Athenry Gardens, the ancient stalagmites and stalactites inside Nonesuch
Caves, swimming under the Somerset Waterfalls, and hiking/horseback riding
through Rio Grande Valley.
South Coast
The southern coast of
Jamaica is the next big thing in terms of tourism, with Sandals Resorts
opening a new property this winter. The selling point here is life in the
Caribbean as Jamaicans know it—authentic and supremely peaceful. The "quiet
side" of Jamaica is highlighted by the breezy hill town of Mandeville
sitting 2,000 ft. above sea level, and the Treasure Beach area with its
empty beaches and spectacular villa rentals around Bluefields Bay.
The genteel British
heritage and cooler climate of Mandeville make it attractive to Caribbean
travelers seeking something new to discover beyond the beach. Highlights
include garden tours led by the local horticultural society and golf at the
Manchester Club, which opened the first golf course in the Caribbean way
back in 1868.
Around Treasure Beach,
there are three once-in-a-lifetime opportunities no visitor should miss if
they’re in the region. YS Falls is a magical escape with waterfalls emptying
into a series of pools for swimming and swinging on ropes. For rum
aficionados, there’s a fun tour and free tasting at the historic Appleton
Estate sugar factory and rum distillery. And whatever one does in the south
coast of Jamaica, a pontoon ride up the Black River to see the wild
alligators up close is a must. Sitting in silence a couple of miles up the
river among the mangroves and vines is as pure a Jamaican event as any
tourist will ever discover.
