After an absence of nearly 14 years, I will be returning to JAMAICA sometime in Spring
2009. Because of I am not really fond of tourist traps, I will probably spend a minimal amount of time in the popular North Coast resort meccas of Montego Bay (somewhat honky tonk and frayed around the edges), Ocho Rios (very tropical but too fabricated) and Negril (beautiful beach, a lively reggae music scene but too much BS). Of the three resorts areas, Negril is more my cup of tea, because of the beach and the musical scene but there is a certain drawback in hanging around Negril for too long - an aura of laziness hangs in the air probably due to the copious amounts of ganja smoke being exhaled into the atmosphere.

I know you’re probably wondering where will I spend most of time in Jamaica on my next trip? I love the rural countryside and the wild, rugged beauty of the Cockpit Country in Northwestern Jamaica as well as the small beach towns, the picturesque fishing villages and the natural beauty of Jamaica’s Southwest Coast. Although this part of Jamaica has been discovered for sometime now, the volume of tourists staying in this area is relatively light compared to the North Coast. Most of the tourists that you encounter in this area – between Savannah la Mar on the southwestern end and Treasure Beach/Milk River Bath (sort of mid center on the South Coast) - are day-trippers from the North Coast. Popular attractions in this area include the Black River Safari, an excursion by motorboat through the wild mangroves of the Black River, which at 44 miles long is Jamaica’s longest river, and the 120 foot high YS Falls, a spectacular waterfall with seven cascades located not far from the coast – unlike the overly commercialized Dunn’s River Falls near Ocho Rios, YS Falls is still relatively unspoiled and pristine.

From Sav-La Mar to Treasure Beach, a distance of 50 miles and about 90 minutes by car, there are several small fishing villages/beach communities – Bluefields, Belmont and Whitehouse - where the locals far outnumber the tourists. Along the way, you’ll pass by a number of small roadside cafes that specialize in roasted breadfruit and Bammie with Fish, a popular Jamaican dish consisting of spicy fried fish and roasted cassava. If there is anything that remotely resembles a resort area, it has to be the small tourist enclave near Treasure Beach, where there are a handful of hotels, villas, beach cottages, inexpensive guesthouses and quaint hillside villa resorts. In Spring 1995, I stayed at the venerable Treasure Beach Hotel, the oldest hotel in the area - since that time, it has expanded to 38 rooms which also makes it the largest hotel in Treasure Beach as well. A relative newcomer to the scene is Jake’s - a rustic and hip bungalow style resort consisting of only 12 units. The long brown sand beach here is pretty nice but pales in comparison to the spectacular white sand beaches of Negril.

Other recent developments include the new Sandals Resort, a sprawling 258-room all-inclusive resort, which opened up in 2001. Located near the village of Whitehouse (just west of the town of Black River), this new Mediterranean style resort is situated on its own private white sand beach and like all Sandals properties, it is “a couples only resort”. I understand that it has been well received by oversea tourists and it is currently one of the most popular Sandals resorts. Thank G_d, the South Coast has been spared any further major development as that would spoil the beauty and character of the area as well as disrupting the traditional lifestyle and culture of the local populace.

Tags: Jamaica's South Coast

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 11th, 2008 at 12:57 pm and is filed under Commentary, Jamaica, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.