• Blue Mountains and Portland
• East of Kingston
• Kingston
• Ocho Rios and around
• South coast
• Western Jamaica
BLUE MOUNTAINS AND PORTLAND
Towering behind Kingston, the Blue Mountains - named for the mists
that colour them from a distance - are an unbroken, undulating spine
across Jamaica's easternmost parishes. At 28 miles, the mountains form
one of the longest continuous ranges in the Caribbean, and their cool,
fragrant woodlands, dotted with coffee plantations, offer some of the
best hiking on the island. The most popular hike is to Blue Mountain
Peak - at 7402ft, the highest point in Jamaica - but there are dozens of
other trekking possibilities such as the marked trails within the
gorgeous Hollywell Recreational Park. Otherwise, coffee is the chief
interest is here, and you can visit several of the estates producing
some of the most expensive - and delicious - beans on earth.
On the other side of the Blue Mountains (here officially known as the
John Crow range), the northeastern parish of Portland is justifiably
touted as one of the most beautiful parts of Jamaica, with jungle-smothered
hillsides cascading down to a postcard-perfect Caribbean shoreline. If
you stay in parish capital Port Antonio , you'll be close to the lovely
Reach waterfalls and fabulous swimming at the magical Blue Lagoon .
Inland, you can hike in pristine tropical rainforest or take a gentle
rafting trip on the Rio Grande .
EAST OF KINGSTON
The main route east out of Kingston, Windward Road, follows the
coastline. It scythes through an industrial zone of oil tanks and a
cement works that towers over the ruined defensive bastion of Fort Rock
- now the Rockfort Mineral Baths , where you can take a therapeutic soak
for J$700. A mile or so further on, turning right at the roundabout
takes you on to the Palisadoes , a narrow ten-mile spit of land that
leads out past the international airport to the ancient city of Port
Royal , from where it's a short hop to the tiny island of Lime Cay .
KINGSTON
Fast, furious and fascinating, KINGSTON is unlike anywhere else in
the Caribbean. Given its troubled reputation, it's hardly surprising
that few tourists visit, and though the scare stories are absurdly
exaggerated, Jamaica's capital is not a place for the faint-hearted.
With a population fast approaching one million, the city seethes with
life, noise and activity; it's a side of Jamaica that couldn't be more
different from the resorts. The live-for-today vitality of the place is
tempered by a cool elegance and a strong sense of national history. In
addition to being the seat of government and the island's administrative
centre, Kingston is Jamaica's cultural heart, the city that spawned Bob
Marley, Buju Banton, Beenie Man and countless other reggae stars, and
it's the place to experience the best of local art, theatre and dance.
Though undeniable, the crime and violence in Kingston is largely
confined to the ghettos, and as these are positively not places for
casual sightseeing, you're actually no more at risk here than in any
other big city. Take the usual precautions - don't walk the downtown
streets alone, take cabs after dark, keep jewellery and valuables out of
sight - and you're unlikely to run into any problems. If you do decide
to visit, you'll find that not only is it easy to steer clear of the
troubled areas, but that there's little of the persistent harassment
that bedevils parts of the north coast.
A handful of interesting museums, galleries and churches can easily fill
a couple of days of sightseeing; the island's best clubs, theatres and
some great restaurants will take care of the evenings. In addition to
the lovely Blue Mountains, plenty of other attractions surround the city.
The area is littered with historic sites, such as the forts of the
English buccaneers in atmospheric Port Royal , while white-sand
Hellshire and Lime Cay beaches are the perfect places for a dip in the
ocean.
The City
Kingston's main sights are divided between the area known as "downtown",
which stretches north from the waterfront to the busy traffic junction
of Cross Roads, and "uptown", spreading up into the ritzy suburbs at the
base of the mountains. Downtown is the industrial centre, its factories
and all-important port providing most of Kingston's blue-collar
employment. You may be surprised at how attractive and easy-going Uptown
feels. Most of Kingston's hotels, restaurants, clubs and shopping
centres are here, and it's where you'll spend most of your time. Some of
the residential districts are simply beautiful, while the central high-rises
suggest a modern city anywhere in North America.
OCHO RIOS AND AROUND
With its high-rise blocks, buzzing jet skis and duty-free stores,
the classic resort town of Ocho Rios typifies the commercial feel of
Jamaica's north coast. Home to a wealth of managed attractions - from
the famous Dunn's River Falls to Dolphin Cove and a couple of lovely
botanical gardens - the town is geared to the needs of cruise shippers
and beach vacationers. East of town, the quiet coastal villages of
Oracabessa and Port Maria boast a funky beach club and Noel Coward's
former home, while west of town hotels line the shore at the resort-oriented
coastal sprawls of Runaway Bay and Discovery Bay . The lush St Ann hills
hold one of Jamaica's major draws, the Bob Marley Mausoleum at the
singer's birthplace, Nine Mile.
SOUTH COAST
If you want to catch a glimpse of Jamaica as it was before the
tourist boom, head south . Mass tourism has yet to reach the southern
parishes - none of the all-conquering all-inclusives has opened here yet,
and the beaches aren't packed with sun-ripened bodies - but there are
some fantastic places to stay and great off-the-beaten-track places to
visit. It takes a bit of extra effort to get here, but it's definitely
worth it. The parishes that make up south-central Jamaica are immensely
varied; the landscape includes mountains, cactus-strewn desert, lush
jungle and rolling fields. To the west, in the beautiful parish of St
Elizabeth, Treasure Beach - an extremely laid-back place with decent
beaches and some lovely accommodation options - is the area's main draw.
If you want to do some sightseeing, you can visit the rum factory at
Appleton or the fabulous YS waterfall , or drive around the tiny
villages of the attractive Santa Cruz Mountains. Black River is the main
town - an important nineteenth-century port that today offers popular
river safaris and a handful of attractive colonial-era buildings. New
roads have opened up large parts of the south coast in the last few
years and it's now possible to drive along large stretches of it without
losing sight of the sea. The scenery is often wild and unspoilt down
here, though you'll need a car to see most of it; buses and minibuses
tend to stick to the main, inland roads, making side-trips down to
coastal villages as required.
WESTERN JAMAICA
Home to two of the island's busiest resorts, western Jamaica is
firmly on the tourist track. Montego Bay , once Jamaica's tourist
capital, is losing out a bit to the hedonistic pleasures of Negril at
the extreme western tip. In many ways, though, MoBay, as it's usually
called, still delivers. Sitting pretty in a sweeping natural harbour and
hemmed in by a dazzling labyrinth of protected offshore reefs, it
remains the grand dame of Jamaican resorts and is particularly lively
during its world-renowned summer reggae festival. Sybaritic Negril,
boasting the longest continuous stretch of white sand in Jamaica and a
front-row sunset seat, has a geographical remoteness that lends it a
uniquely insouciant ambience. "Discovered" by wealthy hippies in the
1970s, it is still immensely popular with those who favour fast living
and corporeal indulgence, and is easily the best place outside Kingston
for live reggae and nightclubs . There are plenty of natural attractions
around Negril, too, including the pleasant river walk at Mayfield Falls
and the blue hole at Roaring River .
|
