Jamaica - OutboundHolidays

Popular Resorts and Hotels in Jamaica

Jamaica has become a cultural and tropical holiday hot spot for couples. Whether it’s for your honeymoon, a romantic weekend, or just a pleasant holiday with your partner, Jamaica presents the perfect island getaway to truly spend that quality time you’ve been looking for. And more often than not, holidaying as a couple is the best way to get the full island experience while still maintaining a budget. Below are some sources that offer exceptional value as all inclusive Jamaica resort packages that will make your time in paradise perfect.

However, if you’re travelling to Jamaica for commercial purposes and will be spending your time in the city, you might want to read our guide to Kingston.

Popular Resorts in Jamaica

Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa
Moxons Beach Club Boscobel
Bahia Principe Grand Jamaica Runaway Bay

Sandals Resorts – Sandals has taken the “love vacation” to the next level. For couples only, Sandals guests will experience the very pinnacle of all-inclusive excellence. Sandals delights couples in love with supremely luxurious accommodations, gourmet candlelit dining for two, gorgeous tropical settings and some of the most exquisite beaches in Jamaica.

Sandals Royal Caribbean Montego Bay
Sandals South Coast Whitehouse

SuperClubs – Being for-adults-only Breezes Super Inclusive Resorts is where anything goes. Also under the SuperClubs brand are two more anything-goes adults only resorts which are Hedonism Resort and (2x) Rooms Resorts (not all inclusive) for the budget conscious traveller, Super-Inclusive isn’t just about more, it’s about better – Jamaican owned and Jamaican in flavour taste and ambiance.

Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa – The Rose Hall Resort and Spa is a Hilton Resort located just outside Montego Bay – a short ten minute ride from Montego Bay International Airport. You could be on the beach or on Rose Hall’s Cinnamon Hill Golf Course within minutes after landing. Situated along the pristine shores that once served as the site of an 18th century sugar plantation, this Caribbean haven exudes an unforgettable ambiance in a stunning tropical setting. All inclusive plans are optional but recommended.

Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa Montego Bay (See offers)

Half Moon Royal Villas Resort, Montego Bay – Nestled in 400 acres of tropical landscape gardens, sandy crescent shaped beach features colonial-style villas & rooms with an optional all inclusive plan. The resort boasts a full service spa, championship golf course, adjacent shopping centre with boutique restaurants and shops. The all inclusive plan is optional but recommended.

Rose Hall Villas by Half Moon Montego Bay (see offers)

Round Hill Hotel and Villas, Montego Bay – One of the most beautiful and elegant boutique resorts in the Caribbean today, where understated glamour, discreet impeccable service, attention to detail, and warm Jamaican hospitality define the experience. Profuse gardens, secluded golden sand beaches, a world-class spa in an 18th century great house at the edge of the sea and award winning cuisine add up to low-key luxury and timeless splendour. The all inclusive plan is optional but again recommended.

Round Hill Hotel and Villas, Montego Bay (see offers)

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Jamaica tourism facing uncertain times amidst crumbling global economy

Sections of the recently released World Economic Outlook Report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) read ominously:

“The global economy is in a dangerous new phase. Global activity has weakened and become more uneven, confidence has fallen sharply recently, and downside risks are growing … . At the same time, the handover from public to private demand in the US economy stalled, the euro area encountered major financial turbulence, global markets suffered a major sell-off of risky assets, and there are growing signs of spillovers to the real economy. The structural problems facing the crisis-hit advanced economies have proven even more intractable than expected, and the process of devising and implementing reforms even more complicated. The outlook for these economies is thus for a continuing, but weak and bumpy, expansion.”

This is not good news for Jamaica. The shaky economies of our major trading partners to our north, the lingering effects of a devastating global economic crisis, an inherently and structurally weak economy and deep-seated social problems all converge to put serious doubt on our economic prospects.

It is amazing, though, that despite the overwhelming challenges, the Jamaican economy has managed to stabilise with the necessary macroeconomic indicators for growth and development looking increasingly better. And to this day, good news abounds from various sectors of the economy.

TOURISM BOOM

The tourism sector is by far the most impressive. Over the last two weeks we have seen a flurry of positive news emanating from the sector. Amazingly, despite the inherited challenges, the global economic crisis, oil crisis, the Dudus West Kingston saga, and persistent image challenges, the industry, though not devoid of problems, has seen commendable growth rates that far outpace countries throughout the region. It certainly speaks to expert leadership by Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett and effective management from the Jamaica Tourist Board.

Probably the biggest news story of the week was buried by the happenings of the People’s National Party annual conference, particularly the yet-to-be-detailed and now highly doubtful populist Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) announced by PNP President Portia Simpson Miller.

The minister of tourism announced, amid the entire political clamour, that for the first eight months of 2011, Jamaica has grossed almost US$1.5 billion in record earnings, representing a 3.4 per cent increase. Added to that is 2.1 million tourists visiting the island up to August 31, representing a 5.7 per cent increase in visitor arrivals which includes a whopping 13.6 per cent increase in cruise arrivals. Director of Tourism John Lynch pointed out separately that they have secured 1.05 million airlift seats into the island for the upcoming winter tourist season which begins December 15. All reported on but lost in the sensational political clamour.

Jamaica may be a naturally popular brand with many positives, but it has just as many negatives. To market this destination requires exceptional marketing and public-relations efforts, coupled with clear-minded vision and leadership. That aggressive marketing and leadership from the government end is done with limited financial resources.

Fortunately, Jamaica has maintained moderately good visibility and has sought to keep its product dynamic as best as it possibly can. This may, in part, explain Jamaica’s hotel and resort bookings success with an eight per cent increase in revenues and average daily rate rise by 12 per cent as pointed out by Expedia, the very popular and world’s largest online travel company. Dynamism in the use of the World Wide Web and its surging social media certainly factor and, thankfully, can certainly save money that we simply don’t have as a country to pour into huge advertising campaigns that still have immense value.

DIVERSIFY NOW

With the bleak outlook for the economies of the United States and Europe that combined account for well over 80 per cent of tourist arrivals, there is now a need to diversify our product and reach out to new and emerging markets. Aggressive moves then to access the Latin American market represent a major step in the right direction. The IMF report was clear as to where growth will remain reasonably strong and where there may be major challenges in South America and the Caribbean.

Any delay in moving to quickly diversify our tourism market will only hurt us. The IMF warning to the Caribbean and Central America countries was clear: “A sharper slowdown in advanced economies, notably the United States, would dampen growth, particularly in economies dependent on trade, tourism spending, and remittances.” With Jamaica’s two largest earners of foreign exchange being tourism and remittance, we find ourselves in a dubious position.

The minister of tourism and his team appears to have long gone around the curve. In May, the Jamaican Government and, more specifically, Edmund Bartlett, headed a team to South America with the ultimate aim of boosting seat support between Jamaica and the continent. Already 10,000 new airline seats, mainly from Brazil, Chile and Colombia, have been secured.

At the Jamaica Product Exchange, the largest ever, there was a strong turnout of representatives from new markets such as Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Costa Rica. This is tied in with Copa Airlines’ – a huge Latin American carrier – new non-stop service between Panama City and Montego Bay that will open up the tourist markets from several South and Central American countries. This will eliminate the usual connection through Miami or other major American cities to get to Jamaica. By doing this, one more of several hurdles is cleared as transit visas and other hassles turn away potential visitors.

The potential for Jamaica to attract travellers from South America is impeded, though, by bureaucratic visa woes that the Government has commendably sought to address expeditiously, while seeking to balance, as best as possible, national security and immigration concerns. Additionally, our fiscal constraints and high-risk averseness continue to impede our enormous potential.

Many still argue that the tourist industry only benefits a few. This is untrue. If the industry was to have collapsed overnight, it would spell doom for Jamaica. There is, however, a need to spread the benefits of tourism to people throughout Jamaica. We have seen the effort of tourism stakeholders, Government and others to further develop community tourism and strengthen linkages with agriculture, manufacturing and other areas. We cannot negate the fact, though, that tourism’s contribution to the economy is far more than the general consumption tax or direct taxes it generates. After all, the foreign exchange it brings in, the more than 280,000 direct and indirect employees, and the demand for goods and services remain highly beneficial.

Author Delano Seiveright is president of Generation 2000, the young-professional affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party.

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The social impact of tourism on Jamaica

Jamaica is primarily a ‘sun, sea and sand’ destination and, therefore, the primary recreational activities of visitors include sun and sea bathing on the beaches. Tourists who visit Jamaica are, therefore, primarily involved in activities such as going to the beach, snorkelling, scuba diving and glass-bottom boating.

Jamaica’s tourism product is dependent on the coral reefs and their associated ecosystems such as seagrass beds and mangroves. These ecosystems are, however, threatened by natural causes and human behaviour such as coastal pollution, rapid coastal development, over-fishing and global warming.

All parties involved (the citizens, the tourism industry and the visitors) have a vested interest in the management of the environmental resource base and an obligation to do their part to support this management. If the environment is degraded all parties stand to lose – visitors will fail to come (or will be willing to pay less) and the countries will lose an important source of economic benefit. In other words the environment will produce reduced economic, ecological, and amenity benefits.

BOOK HOTELS ACROSS JAMAICA – ALL BUDGETS

Microeconomic theory is essentially the study of the equitable distribution of scarce goods or benefits. In this example the scarce benefit is the Jamaican beach tourism product. The economic theory provides approaches to making the demand and supply of these scarce benefits more efficient. Demand of the ‘good’ in this case is the ‘beach-lust’ (sun, sand, sea) tourism of Jamaica. This is in contrast to the ‘wonder-lust tourism’ such as safaris, mountain climbing, cultural and heritage tourism that is observed in other parts of the world. The ‘good’ is supplied at a cost which would include the traditional costs of, labour and capital etc. However when the cost of the provision of the good does not take into account negative externalities such as environmental damage, this results in market failure. If this market failure is not corrected it will result in a loss in social welfare (dead-weight loss).

Jamaica’s current tourism model is based on the construction of mega super inclusive resorts, which often require engineering solutions such as dredging, groyne construction and limestone blasting in order to create swimming beaches, and construct buildings a few meters away from the high water mark. Construction and operation of tourist facilities such as hotels and other attractions also result in significant alterations to the terrestrial environment, trees, insects, birds etc. Operation of these entities also results in the diversion of resources such as water and electricity which could have been used elsewhere in the society.

MARKET FAILURE

Increased construction activity in the coast provides relatively short term and low-skilled employment. The intermittent demand for this pool of labour often results in the proliferation of unplanned settlements and squatter communities that are established close to the resort areas. These settlements are typically located in the hills and mountains above the coast. The creation of these communities results in the destruction of the watershed in these areas as well as inadequate sewage treatment and solid waste management. All of which contribute to reduced environmental quality; for example, reduced water quality as a result of increased nutrients and turbidity in the coastal waters.

The simple economic analysis of Jamaica’s tourism model outlined above suggests that market failure exists. The fundamental reason for the market failure associated with Jamaica’s tourism model is the fact that the economic ‘rent’ associated with the natural environment is not captured by the people of Jamaica.

‘Economic rent’ is an excess return on an asset, a profit above normal market rates of return. Rents usually arise from assets that are scarce and fixed in supply. Beachfront property is a very good example of the type of assets that will yield economic rent. Or another example is the higher property costs in Coopers Hill or Beverly Hills when compared to Havendale or Mona, the economic rent (or value added) in this case being a view of the city. It can be argued that economic rents such as the beauty and natural environment should accrue to the people of Jamaica and not to foreign tourists or tourism operators. Rents are essentially a type of payment for the use of the resource. So the first reason for market failure is that there is no real capture of economic rents.

BOOK HOTELS ACROSS JAMAICA – ALL BUDGETS

A second example of market failure is that these tourism entities that are currently gaining all of the rents are also not accounting for the negative externalities of their activities. For example, hotels do not pay for the true costs of pollution and negative impacts associated with the use and operation of their facilities. However the problem of market failure does not stop here. As with several other Caribbean nations, the development of the tourism industry is heavily subsidised by the Jamaican government. Hotels and attractions are given tax holidays (e.g. no taxes for 10, 15, 20 years), duty is waived on imports of construction materials among other things.

Additionally, the Government’s facilitation such as fast-tracking permit requirements and their suspected role in circumventing environmental and planning regulations can reduce costs to investors and also be viewed as a subsidy. So in addition to the non-capture of rent and ignoring negative externalities, government subsidies to the tourism industry through tax holidays and other waivers also exacerbate the problem of market failure. This in turn means that the welfare of the society i.e. the Jamaican people is even more reduced.

POSSIBLE REMEDIES

As was highlighted above correcting market failures can be achieved through the implementation of taxes. In the case of Jamaica’s coastal tourism this would mean that investors are forced to internalise environmental costs. This would theoretically lead to better environmental management and sustainable development of the tourism industry. However, given the current political climate in Jamaica and the influence of the tourism industry players this suggestion is likely to be received with hostility.

Given this fact a more feasible way of capturing some of the economic rent is to capture a small portion of the benefits that accrue to the visitors to the island. This would be through the use of the existing system of arrivals taxes from cruise and stopover visitors to the island. However, unlike the current system where the charges are often hidden in room surcharges or airline tickets the additional environmental tax should be explicitly identified.

HIDDEN COSTS

There are, of course, wider questions of the true economic contribution of tourism. Clearly tourism is very important to Jamaica’s economic sustainability. The Jamaican tourism industry accounts for 32 per cent of total employment and 36 per cent of the country’s GDP according to many studies. However, based on some of the market failures described above, are there more costs that are not being considered? Tourism has many hidden costs, which can have unfavourable economic effects on host countries such as Jamaica.

The direct income for a country is the amount of tourist expenditure that remains after taxes, profits, and wages are paid and after imports are purchased; these subtracted amounts are called leakage.

For the all-inclusive tourism model, studies show that about 80 per cent of travellers’ expenditures go to the airlines, hotels and other international companies, and not to local businesses or workers. In addition, significant amounts of income actually retained at the destination level can leave again through leakage. For example, the profits gained by foreign-owned tour operators, airlines, hotels, are repatriated to their home countries. Estimates made for Third World countries range from 80 per cent in the Caribbean to 40 per cent in India. In layman’s term, on average, of each US$100 spent on a vacation tour by a tourist from a developed country, only about US$5 actually stays in the developing-country destination’s economy.

The current tensions between local craft vendors, restaurants and other service industries and large resort chains are all too common and point to the problem of leakage. Super inclusive hotels do not encourage guests to venture outside the walls of the hotel and so most of the tourist’s experience is limited to the entertainment as well as the sun, sea and sand activities available at that location. One could say that Jamaica the country is not the destination, it is actually the ‘resort’ that is the destination. More comprehensive studies on this issue are urgently required by our academic institutions in the region. Caribbean researchers have a responsibility to provide balanced information that can enrich the discourse between all the relevant stakeholders. Much of the discourse is driven by short sightedness and politics on one side and passionate advocacy on the other. Too often the arguments of the contending parties (developers versus environmental advocates) are not supported by balanced information.

BOOK HOTELS ACROSS JAMAICA – ALL BUDGETS

Summary

It is my opinion that Jamaica’s current tourism model has an overall negative impact on the island. It is inherently unsustainable because the negative externalities associated with the industry are not internalised by the main actors. The current market failure and the inability to truly integrate local tourism into the overall package will continue to result in a reduction of social welfare of Jamaicans. Many solutions abound and there is no need to reinvent the wheel. There is sustainable tourism master plan that has some limitations but can be used as a template for the diversification of the nation’s tourism product.

Peter E.T. Edwards is a marine scientists and environmental economist who has worked as an environmental consultant and coral reef scientist at UWI, Mona. He is now a PhD candidate at the Marine Policy College of Earth and Marine Studies, University of Delaware, USA.

Westmoreland, Jamaica – Travel Guide

(by Margaret Morris) – The journey from Negril to Savanna-la-Mar takes less than half an hour – easy driving through a lush alluvial basin cultivated in cane. Nowhere else is it more obvious that the island’s history, its present and its destiny are inextricably linked with sugar – an industry that employs at least 50,000 persons.

The exit road past the Shell Gas Station and Police Station is normally crowded with an assortment of traffic and littered higgedlly piggedly with mechanic yards, tyre shops, cafes, bars, shacks and other enterprises including R Country Western Riding stables and L Paradise Yard restaurant, creators of Rasta Pasta and other indigenous specialties like Paradise johnnycakes.

The neat village of Sheffield is becoming a suburb of Negril. Here you will find L Negril Hills Golf Club with a gaudy clubhouse overlooking the Great Morass, Royal Palm forest and the abortive Nature Park built by government and now leased to the operators of Negril Cabins. The Nature Park has boardwalks and birdwatching towers in the swamp. Check Negril Cabins to arrange access.

Negril Spots, is a cattle and coconut estate belonging to the Jackson family, owners of Tree House and Golden Nugget in Negril. At the junction, a detour R leads to the villages of Revival, Homers Cove and Little Bay where there is accommodation, Run by the Sun for the adventurous. Canefields border the road and the view L is towards a tiny church in a sea of cane. Salabie’s Lumber Yard specializes in a local housing solutions: readymade board houses, small enough to be transported by truck or even mule cart.

Little London, a dormitory village for workers in Negril and Frome is heavily populated with East Indians. Their forbears were brought to Jamaica as indentured labourers shortly after the abolition of slavery when many of the ex-slaves migrated away from the sugar estates creating a shortage of labour. Living and working conditions for the Indians were very bad and many died. A number of Commissions of Enquiry did little to improve things and in 1914 the Indian government finally prohibited further migration of labourers to the West Indies. An early champion of the East Indians was an Anglican minister Rev. Henry Clarke whose protest about the conditions of the working classes and outspoken criticisms of the establishment made him extremely unpopular with the hierarchy. (A relative of his, Robert Clarke, was the father of Bustamante who used to warn “My name is Clarke but don’t call me so”). The Indian labourers were the first to introduce seeds of ganja (marijuana) into Jamaica. The descendants of the East Indian labourers (called “Coolies”) are still concentrated in the sugar belts. Much of their Hindu heritage has been maintained and aspects of it have been assimilated into local “grass-roots” culture. More recently a small group of higher caste “Bombay merchants” arrived in Jamaica and control the lucrative in-bond trade.

A detour from Little London takes you through canefields to the farming centre of Grange Hill and then to Frome Sugar Factory where there is a monument commemorating Labour leader Bustamante and the workers for their courageous fight in 1938 on behalf of the working people of Jamaica. The Frome factory was built in 1939 by the West Indies Sugar Co, a subsid-iary of the British corporation Tate & Lyle which owned 16 sugar estates in the area. The large central factory at Frome replaced 7 smaller ones which had become antiquated and uneconomical. Just before the opening of the new factory, Frome was the scene of labour disturbances initiated by a strike for more pay (at the time women were being paid 10 cents per day and men 15 cents per day). There were also fears that the new centralized system would cause unemployment. Canefield fires and rioting provoked police action resulting in four deaths.

Alexander Bustamante, who had recently emerged as the champion of the working man, rushed to the scene and attempted to mediate. A Commission of Inquiry into conditions in the sugar industry was appointed and Busta went on to found the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union and ultimately the Jamaica Labour Party.

During the 1960s, when the West Indies Sugar Co. was threatening to scale down its operation in Jamaica, the government bought them out. Thereafter the government-owned factories lost money steadily for almost two decades. Recently all the government sugar assets were ‘privatized’ and Frome, Moneymusk and Bernard Lodge were all sold to a private consortium that includes J Wray and Nephew and Booker-Tate (formerly Tate & Lyle). Their intention is to spend US$40 million on refurbishing the factories and increasing production.

Frome processes all the cane grown in the parishes of Hanover and Westmoreland and dominates the economy of the parishes. Originally this area was a patchwork of individually owned sugar estates, many with fascinating histories. Bulstrode was the property of Bulstrode Whitelocke, a Roundhead who helped to draw up the charges that brought King Charles I to the executioner’s block. Banbury was owned by Colonel John Guthrie the man who negotiated with Cudjoe the treaty that ended the first Maroon War. Cornwall was owned by Monk Lewis, a celebrated nineteenth century author and friend of Lord Byron. Lewis’s humane treatment of his slaves astonished and annoyed his neighbours. His Journal of a West Indian Proprietor published in 1843 remains a valuable source book for historians. This detour will take you past George’s Plain into Sav.

Back on the Negril to Sav main road the swampy land around Meylersfield is a rice growing area. The second bridge spanning the Cabaritta is known far and wide as Big Bridge. The Cabaritta is the largest river in the parish and rises near Cascade in Hanover. Crocodiles have long since disappeared from its banks but the river offers good fishing and is noted for a small fish called “Godame”. Legend says that it was the last of all creatures to be named and when the Creator called out “Who is left ? Who is that out there?” the fish replied, “God it’s me” (“God, a me” in Jamaican). Godames can live out of water for several hours, even days, if kept in a cool damp place. Crayfish (otherwise called “janga”) are found here too: boiled and heavily seasoned they are transformed into Pepper Shrimps – a Jamaican delicacy. Pollution caused by effluent from the Frome sugar factory frequently affects this river.

SAVANNA LA MAR (the plain by the sea), otherwise know as “Sav” is capital of the parish of Westmoreland. Founded in 1730, the town has been inundated three times during hurricanes. In 1780 “the sea rose and left two ships and a schooner stranded among trees,” and in 1912 the schooner Lationia ended up in the middle of town. Great George Street is the broadest and longest main street in the island stretching one mile to the seafront and a market, ruined fort and erstwhile sugar pier. The fort was never completed and had started to collapse into the sea by 1755. Today it is a swimming hole. Midway to the sea is the Courthouse which boasts a filigree cast iron fountain donated by a civic-minded planter in 1887. Perennially dry, it hardly warrants the warning inscribed on all four sides: “keep the pavements dry”. The town’s diversified economic base comprising sugar, tourism in Negril, and marijuana has fuelled steady growth. Several mini-shopping plazas have blossomed. Fast-food outlets, video stores, discos, banks and furniture stores are in good supply.

Places of historic interest in Sav include Mannings High School which was founded in 1738 with a bequest of land, 13 slaves and cattle from Thomas Manning.

Jamaica National Building Society was originally the Westmoreland Building Society, founded in 1888 by the Rev. Henry Clarke, as part of his campaign to assist the “small man”. In 1971 it merged with other rural building societies to form Jamaica National. Currently one of the two largest home loan institutions in the Caribbean, JN now has its own merchant bank and real estate company and is a major shareholder in the island’s largest bank.

Places to stay: Hendon House on the edge of town, an eighteenth-century great house with gleaming wooden floors, a spiral mahogany staircase, modest rates and meals on request. Lochiel Guest House is set in lush pastures about a mile along the Ferris road. Formerly known as Heaven Below it is a tall eighteenth-century estate house of brick and timber. It has a lush garden and comfortable modern wing, modest rates and meals on request. Slightly more upscale is Orchard, a mile along the Petersfield road: a sprawling, cut stone guest house in a rural setting with a restaurant, bar, and swimming pool. It is owned by the legendary Mother Segre (one of Negril’s pioneer hoteliers) and run by her grandchildren.

Heading north out of Sav you come to a fork in the road known as Dunbar’s Crossing. Four miles along the L fork is the village of Petersfield which was named after Peter Beckford a rambunctious horse trader who arrived in the island in 1660, and broke his neck 50 years later trying to quell a riot in the Jamaica House of Assembly. He died leaving 24 estates and 4000 slaves. One of the original Beckford properties, Shrewsbury, is the source of the Roaring River where Freedom Village, a living museum in the making is well worth a visit. Turn L by St Peter’s Anglican and drive nearly 1 mile to a cross roads where water gushes from an old aqueduct, bear R and just before you reach the bridge turn R again. You’ll know you’re there by the group of guides, snack vendors and villagers at the approach to another small stone bridge. Just above here one source of the river surfaces quite abruptly beside the road, joins another stream and flows beneath the aqueduct to a filtration plant. The majestic Silk Cotton tree by the pool is at least 300 years old. Steps lead up a steep hillside to the mouth of a cave which tunnels into the cliff face. Admission fee for the cave covers the services of a guide. It is lighted, has many chambers and a spring. The journal of William Beckford, a descendant of Peter’s and founder of England’s Academy of Art, reveals that he used to escape from the wild parties up at the great house and come here for spooky meditations. Craft workshops and a restaurant in a meadow by the stream may be open by the time you read this. Among the craftsmen here is a personable Rastafarian artist called ‘Shaper’. Another source of the Roaring River lies 1.25 miles away via a well nigh impassable parochial road. Here you will find a large blue hole where the water bubbles up from subterranean caverns. It is encircled by the I-tal Herb and Spice Farm belonging to Ed Kritzler, a refugee from the New York advertising rat race. Cottages and campsites are available for rent and there is an I-tal restaurant specializing in herb teas.

At Dunbar’s crossing, the road R to Ferris is bordered by pastures and giant Guango trees. You will pass the Grace meat processing wazzu factory L and R Paradise Club at the top of a driveway lined with Royal Palms. It is available by reservation for weddings and other functions.

East of Ferris Cross there is a succession of fishing villages. Many of the boats are the traditional cotton tree canoes first used by the Arawaks. In contrast to the barren northcoast seas, fish are still plentiful off the southcoast although the fishermen have to go further and further out to maintain their catches. Goods offered for sale along the coast road include fresh fish, boiled lobster, limes, hammocks and fruit. At Cave the main road crosses over a pretty mountain and there is a fine view west towards Sav.

Bluefields is believed to be the site of Oristan, the earliest Spanish settlement. It is a matter of recorded history that a group of colonists was landed here by Juan de la Costa, a pilot and map maker who sailed with Columbus on his earliest voyages, and that the settlement on the southcoast predated Sevilla la Nueva. In the age of the buccaneers the safe anchorage and never failing stream at Bluefields made it a refuge and supply base for ships. It was here, in 1670 that Henry Morgan mustered his fleet and sailed off to sack Panama.

Climbing the hill towards Bluefields bay there is L a photogenic small church and R three luxury seafront villas available for rent. The long narrow Bluefields beach is always crowded on weekends and holidays. There are a variety of snack and craft stalls but minimal sanitary facilities. Bluefields House a short distance L of the main road opposite the Police station is still closed as we go to press. In 1844 Philip Henry Gosse, the famous British naturalist made his base here to research the books Birds of the West Indies and A Naturalist’s Sojourn in Jamaica. Further up the same road a former great house, Oristana, is the home of British artist William Fielding, known for his elegant water colours of Jamaica’s architectural heritage. On the same headland and advertised opposite the police station, Shafston Great House is approximately 2 miles inland with a stunning view and wild woodland setting. Road access is almost impossible and unless its format has changed recently, this hostelry is not for anyone with any pretensions to respectability.

Approaching Belmont and beside the Ocean Edge pub and restaurant is the headquarters of the vibrant Bluefields People’s Co-operative Association created by Terry Williams with the support of a ‘core’ group of local leaders. Terry, a former football star and sportsmaster in London is a repatriated Jamaican and committed environmentalist. The B.C.P.A. has attracted foreign funding and its next project centres around a model farm and agro forestry. B.C.P.A.ís mangrove nature trail is open to visitors.

Belmont has a fishing beach, cottages and rooms for rent and a brand new Inn called Closer to Nature. Jah Calo’s roadside craft shop advises Walk, Ride and Drive with Care and offers hand-painted T-Shirts and interesting woodcarvings. Friendly Jah Calo is a Rastafarian member of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. He can also arrange snorkeling, birdwatching and boat tours to Black River with his friend Errol .

Auchindown, a cattle and pimento estate is owned by popular talk-show host Ronnie Thwaites, a man of many parts: lawyer, Catholic deacon, coffee and livestock farmer, deep sea fishing entrepreneur and embryonic tourism investor with plans for a restaurant and golf course, beach park and villa hotel. Archaeological treasures at Auchindown include the ruined seventeenth century castle and an Arawak midden. The beach and wetland opposite Auchindown is scheduled for a large hotel to be called Beaches to be developed by Sandals magnate Butch Stewart. As we went to press the project appeared to be on hold – much to the disappointment of local landowners but also to the relief of environmentalists and local fishermen who fear the impact of mass tourism.

In the nearby village of Culloden, Natania’s Guest House on Parker’s Bay is a small jewel: verdant garden, pristine seafront, airy architecture, and pleasant restaurant. The owner, Peter Probst, a ‘refugee’ from New York via Negril is still a partner in Rickís Cafe. He is also in partnership with Ronnie Thwaites to create a 7 acre beach park on the east of Parkers Bay plus a hotel and villa complex and ‘affordable’ town expansion on the hills overlooking it.

Whitehouse, a thriving village with a seaside housing scheme began to boom with rumours of impending tourism development. Traditionally, its economic base is fishing. The fishing beach here is the largest on the island and has more than 60 boats. The best fishing grounds are 80 miles offshore at the Pedro Banks. The beach hums with activity every morning as wives, children and higglers await the return of the fishermen or bargain in the adjoining market. Sad to say, the National Resources Conservation Authority and the Fisheries Department appear to be fighting a losing battle to control the overfishing and reckless harvesting of conch and lobster on the Pedro Cays.

South Sea park is a residential subdivision dotted with ornate homes many sporting the ultimate status symbol – a satellite dish. Accommodation options here include South Sea View guest house on the water’s edge.

Scott’s Cove is the place to buy fish and bammy. Bammy is a large thick pancake made from cassava. Soaked in milk and then fried, it is the traditional accompaniment for highly seasoned fried fish. Cassava was the main food crop of the Arawaks and bammy is one of their few legacies. The young vendors do not believe in the soft sell but rush the car thrusting their wares through the window and jabbering at you. Don’t be scared; they are friendly. The women stay on the beach and do the cooking. Cold drinks are on sale. The cove itself is hidden from the sea and almost landlocked. It is here that Spanish ships used to unload supplies for Ysassi and the few Spanish colonists who remained to fight the British.

Scott’s Cove marks the boundary between the parishes of Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth (see Mandeville section).

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Kingston, Jamaica – Travel Guide

(by Don Philpott) Kingston is the capital and the commercial, administrative and cultural heart of Jamaica. It is the largest English-speaking city in the Caribbean, has the seventh largest natural harbor in the world, and lies on a wide plain with the sea to the south and the St. Andrew Mountain as its backdrop to the north. It was founded in 1692 after an earthquake devastated the capital Port Royal.

The survivors moved to what is now Kingston and were able to plan a new city from scratch. It was laid out in a grid pattern, which remains today and makes it very easy to get around, especially in the downtown area. It became the capital in 1872, and considerable rebuilding was needed after an earthquake and fire on 14 January 1907 that killed almost 1,500 people.

It is now a modern, bustling, sprawling city that never seems to sleep. It is the seat of Government, has an international airport, busy port and modern cruise ship facilities as well as a wealth of tourist facilities from accommodation to restaurants and gift shops to galleries.

The town was built on the waterfront but has gradually spread inland over the Liguanea Plains, with new business and shopping districts. New Kingston has emerged as he commercial heart of the capital and with its skyscrapers, is like a mini-Manhattan in New York. A major renewal scheme is underway to revitalize the former downtown area. The downtown area also houses many banking, commercial and government institutions.

Residential Kingston is a charming mix of old and new, with wonderful traditional gingerbread homes with their elaborate balconies and fretwork, classic eighteenth century Georgian mansions, and modern houses and apartment blocks. It has to be added, however, that while Kingston has many fine old buildings and some hugely expensive new ones, it also has appalling slums, especially in western Kingston. While the downtown area, close to the waterfront, is the place to explore, the heart of Kingston is now in New Kingston, a triangular area to the north, largely bordered by Half Way Tree Road, Old Hope Road and Hope Road.

Exploring Kingston on Foot

Start your walking tour by the cruise ship piers in front of Ocean Boulevard, although cruise ships no longer call at Kingston. The area just inshore, between Princess Street and Duke Street which both run inland parallel with each other contain a number of interesting buildings. The Oceana often hosts live conferences, and the main post office is on Temple Lane.

Kingston Mall runs between Princess Street and King Street parallel with and one block in from Ocean Boulevard. The National Art Gallery – 922-1561, is between Orange Street and King Street. Open from 10am to 5pm daily, it is in the Roy West Building with exhibits about Jamaica’s art history and featuring many of the island’s most talented artists. There is a fantastic bronze statue of Bob Marley on the ground floor, and upstairs there are works by Intuitive artists John Dunkley, David Miller and Sidney McLaren, sculptures Edna Manley and modern pieces by Tina Matkovic, Colin Garland and Mallico Reynolds, known as Kapo, and regarded as one of Jamaica’s modern artistic geniuses. The annual exhibition, featuring the island’s best artists, is held from December to January.

Off Ocean Boulevard between Church St. and Duke Street is the Jamaica Conference Center with its ultra-modern convention hall. It is open on Thursday only between 11am and 2 pm – Tel: 922-9160. It has on-site restaurants, gardens, offices and in-bond and souvenir shops that are open daily.

On the other side of Duke Street are the headquarters of the Bank of Jamaica . The Coin and Notes Museum is in the Bank of Jamaica building and exhibits the history of Jamaican tokens, coins, and paper money. It is open 8:30 am to 2 pm, Monday to Friday: 922-0750.

Head inland up Duke Street, turn right into Tower Street and continue just past the junction with East Street. On your right is the Institute of Jamaica: 922-0620. The Institute is noted for its collection of historic documents about the Caribbean, and the National Library next door has the largest collection of books, articles and prints in the West Indies. The Institute also houses the Natural History Museum, formerly the Science Museum. It is the oldest museum in Jamaica and exhibits the preserved animals and plants found on the island. The Herbarium (where dried plants are stored) contains over 125,000 specimens and is the best in the Caribbean. It is open from 8:30 am to 5 pm, Monday to Thursday.

Keep right to Georges Lane, turn right into Duke Lane which has many fine old building, including the St. Andrew Scots Kirk Church Tel: 9221818.

Kings House, the gleaming white Governor General’s official residence is set in 200 landscaped acres (80 hectares) at Vale Royal on Montrose Road which lies between Hope Road and Old Hope Road, and the gardens are open to the public daily. The Prime Minister’s office is in Jamaica House, built in the 1960s and originally the official residence. Continue over the junction with Charles Street to visit Kingston Synagogue on the right. The United Congregation of Israelites is the island’s only synagogue.

William Grant Park – Retrace your steps to Charles Stret, turn right and then left into Love Street and head for William Grant Park. Just before the Park which is in the heart of downtown Kingston is the 1,000-seat Ward Theatre. There has been theater, both indoor and open air, of one kind or another on this site for more than 200 years. The present theater, rebuilt after the 1907 earthquake, is now most famous for its unique Jamaican pantomime season which opens each year on 26 December, although there are musical and theatrical events throughout the year: 922-0453.

The park is more often referred to as the parade, so called because it is used to house military barracks before these were moved to Up Park Camp in the middle of the eighteenth century. Today, the Parade and adjacent streets, especially to the east bustle with activity during the day. There is the Coronation produce market with its hagglers (street vendors), and it is not unusual to see street musicians or religious temperance groups. The Parade also boasts a bandstand, fountains and open-air theater. It is also the terminal for many of the town’s buses.

Cross over the park at Kingston Parish Church on South Parade. The church was rebuilt in 1909, two years after being destroyed in the earthquake. Buses for the airport leave from across the junction of North Parade and West Queen Street. If you continue westwards along South Parade and then Beckford Street, you reach its junction with Pechon Street where many of the buses leave for areas outside Kingston, and the railway station is off Barry Street that runs off Pechon Street.

Shopping Area – From the parish church head south on King Street, the main shopping street, with as many stalls and vendors on the street as there are in the shoops. The Post office is just beyond the junction with Barry Street. Continue south, andthen turn right into Harbour Street, and left into Pechon Street to visit the Victoria Crafts Market on the waterfront that caters for the tourist hunting souvenirs. It offers woodcarving, woven goods, linen and silk batiks and other island crafts.

Other Things To See And Do In And Around Kingston

The African Museum is in the gleaming white Devon House complex on the corner of Hope Road and Waterloo Road. It was established in 1971. It contains artifacts relating to Jamaica’s African Heritage.

Devon House, a national monument, is an elegant white three story Georgian-style Great House built in 1881 by George Stiebel, the Caribbean’s first black millionaire. It has been beautifully restored by the National Trust. It contains one of the world’s finest collections of antique mahogany furniture. A large shaded verandah runs round the ground floor, and there are balconies on the first floor with great views over the gardens and surrounding countryside. In the landscaped grounds with towering palms and lush vegetation, are a Port Royal-style grog shop, Norma’s on the Terrace restaurant specializing in Jamaican cuisine, craft shop, souvenir shop, and a ice cream shop where you can try deliciaous tropical fruit tasting ices. It is open from 10 am to pm, Tuesday to Saturday: 929-7029.

The Bob Marley Museum is further along at 56 Hope Road on the corner with Marley Road. It opened in 1986 and was formerly Bob Marley’s residence and the site of the Tuff Gong recording studio. It contains an increcdible mural ‘The Journey of Bob Marley Superstar’, painted by Everald Brown, and has a collection of Marley memorabilia depicting the life and career of the late reggae superstar. No photography is allowed. It is open 9:30 am to 5 pm, Monday, tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 12:30 pm to 6 pm o Wednesday, Sturday and public holidays – 927-9152.

Caymanas Park offers horse racing every Wednesday, Saturday, and on public holidays. 12:30 pm to 6:00 pm. The course is in Waterford to the west of Kingston and is best reached by taking the Causeway from Marcus Garvey Drive in the city center.

The Folk Musical Instrument Exhibition opened as a teaching aid to Jamaica School of Music in 1981 , and contains unusual musical instruments collected between 1966 and 1981. The Geology museum exhibits rocks and mineral s of Jamaica and collections from other countries, many of them rare.

The Hope Botanical Gardens are on Old Hope Road past Jamaica College and next to the College of Arts, Science and Technology. Founded in 1881, it is the largest botanical gardens in the West Indies, covering 200 acres (80 hectares). The huge lawns are surrounded by towering royal palms. It is open daily from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm – 927-1257.

The Jamaica Defense Force Museum (Military Museum) is in Up Park camp, off South Camp Road. There are fascinating plans of the many forts built around Kingston in the eighteenth century, as well as information, weapons, medals and uniforms of the West Indies Regiment and the Jamaica Infantry Militia tht existed from 1662 to 1906. It is open from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, and visits are by appointment.

Liguanea is north of New Kingston and site of the Sovereign Centre, the capital’s newest shopping complex, with cinemas, banks and a food hall.

Lime Cay is a glorious sunspot off Kingston’s shore. South of The Palisadoes the uninhabited island can be reached by boat and it is great for swimming and snorkeling. It is open all day, daily.

The National Arena and National Stadium are side by side off State Road that runs off Mountain View Avenue on the eastern side of town. The arena is used for a wide range of activities from trade exhibitions to the Caribbean’s largest flower show, the National Festival Song Competititon andthe Festival King and Queen Costume – 929-4970. Close by the arena is another fine bronze of Bob Marley.

Port Henderson lies to the south west of the capial connected to it by a causeway that runs from Kingston waterfront across Hunts Bay to Portmore. When Spanish Town was the island capital, Port Henderson was the main harbor and protected by two forts – Fort Clarence and fort Augusta, and it became a fashionable nineteenth century spa resort. The town was badly damaed by the 1951 hurricane and is now a small coastal community opposite Port Royal.

It is worth visiting as a number of its older buildings have been restored or their ruins uncovered by the National Trust. These include the ruins of Green Castle Great House and Bullock’s Lodge and the Longhouse, which was an inn until the end of the ninetenth century. Fort Clarence stood at the end of an arid promontory to the south of Port Hendersonand guards the harbor approaches. Today you can enjoy a swim off Fort Clarence Beach or Hellshire Beach to the South. The Arawaks were early settlers in this area and there are petroglyphs in Two Sisters Cave at Hellshire Beach.

It is a small white sand beach with nearby steps that lead down to the 200,000 year-old cave below sea level. The area also has interesting vegetation and wildlife adapted to the very dry conditions, including some iguana.

The Rockfort Mineral Baths are in a natural mineral spa on the coast on Windward Road that runs east out of Kinston 938-5055.

Sabina Park on South Camp Road is where you go if you want to experience a West Indies cricket match.

The University of the West Indies is off Old Hope Road on the eastern outskirts of town. Turn off on to Mona Road, past the Mona Reservoir to reach the university campus, originally part of the Mona Sugar Estate. You can stroll around the campus where there are old aqueducts, machinery and other reminders of its agricultural past alongside modern murals. The chapel close to the entrance used to be a sugar warehouse on the Gales Valley Estate in Trelawny. It was taken down brick by brick and rebuilt on its present site. Under the roof you can make out the name of the original owner and the date when it was first built. The university is open from 9am to 5 pm, Monday to Saturday.

The Zoology Museum, operated by the University of the West Indies houses exhibits similar to those at the Natural History Museum, but contains many more animals. The marine and entomology collections are considered the best in the West Indies.

The University’s Creative Arts Centre has a varied program of student productions. The University Carvial is held during February.

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