Island has unique groove
Beautiful Jamaica comes with its own soundtrack.
Jamaica is the Caribbean country that comes with its own soundtrack. Groove to its singular rhythm as you explore beyond the beaches and all-inclusives.
Jah’s Garden
Even in a region as crammed with jewels as the Caribbean, Jamaica is a powerfully beautiful island. Jamaica begins with crystalline waters flowing over gardens of coral, lapping onto soft sandy beaches, then rises past red soil and lush banana groves into sheer mountains. Rushing waterfalls seem to erupt out of nowhere.
Jamaican culture can be a daunting subject for foreigners to understand, but ultimately it’s a matter of appreciating this great green garden of a land and how its cyclical rhythms set the pace of so much island life.
Adventure playground
While Jamaica’s beaches are certainly alluring, this is a country to dive into, literally and figuratively. Beneath the waves there’s great scuba diving and snorkelling, and you can float on the water too with lazy bamboo-raft trips (let someone else pole).
The adventurous can go caving, or get their hiking boots on to explore the remote crags and forests of this crumpled landscape. You don’t even need to be as fit as Usain Bolt to enjoy the hike through lush mountains to the top of Blue Mountain Peak.
Island riddims
With Bob Marley, Jamaica gifted us the first global superstar from the developing world. But he didn’t spring from nowhere – this tiny island has musical roots that reach back to the folk songs of West Africa and forward to the electronic beats of contemporary dancehall.
Simply put, Jamaica is a musical powerhouse, a fact reflected not just in the bass of the omnipresent sound systems, but in the lyricism of the patois language and the gospel sounds from the island’s many churches. Music is life in Jamaica, and you’ll soon find yourself swaying along with it.
Caribbean flavours
Like many aspects of Jamaican culture, the food is a creole, born somewhere between the Old and New Worlds. African spice rubs have evolved into delicious jerk, while yam, rice and plantain form the basis of rich stews, and fish abound in local waters. Throw in the astounding array of tropical fruits that seem to drip from the trees, washed down with a shot of rum, and you can see (and taste) how the Jamaican cultural story retains its original voice while adapting to the setting – and of course, rhythms – of the Caribbean.
Jamaica’s Top 10
1. Best beaches
Jamaica’s beach experiences are as varied as the island’s topography. The tiny, delicate Lime Cay, only reachable by boat from Port Royal, is perfect for snorkelling and picnics. Hellshire Beach heaves with Kingstonians and reverberates with loud music, its wooden shacks doing a roaring trade in fried fish. The north coast’s Winnifred Beach draws the locals with its azure waters and weekend parties, while Negril’s Seven Mile Beach is crisscrossed by Jet Ski riders, and its long crescent of white sand lined with the bodies of sun worshippers.
2. Reggae grooves
If there’s any cultural trend that defines Jamaica to the rest of the world, it’s reggae music – quite literally the soundtrack of the island. The reggae calendar is dominated by two huge events that celebrate the country’s love of ‘‘riddims,’’ both worth planning your trip around – Rebel Salute, held every January in St Ann, and then Reggae Sumfest, held in Montego Bay in the middle of the broiling Jamaican summer. Break out a sweat amid the throbbing mass of bodies and the nonstop dancing.
3. Rafting the Rio Grande
No less a celebrity than Errol Flynn started the habit of sending discerning tourists on romantic, moonlit rafting trips through the Rio Grande Valley, from Berridale to Rafter’s Rest at St Margaret’s Bay. These days the experience isn’t quite as exclusive as it was when Mr Flynn was running the show – the Rio Grande rafting trips are actually quite affordable as Jamaican tourism activities go – but if the moon is full, you can still pole onto the waters, which turn silver and unspeakably romantic.
4. Kingston nightlife
Whether you’re attending a nightclub or a street dance, expect a sweaty, lively, no-holds-barred event. Dress up to the nines and follow the locals’ lead. At a street dance, two giant speakers are placed facing each other, the street pounding with the bass, while nightclubs provide a similar experience indoors. Expect to be pulled into the melee as the locals will want to see how well you can dance, and bump and grind to some dancehall riddims or slowy skank to the deepest dub.
5. Negril
So you’ve walked on the snowy sands of Negril’s Seven Mile Beach, wandered past the nude sunbathers, seen the sun sink behind the horizon in a fiery ball, plunged into the ocean to scrub your soul and fended off all the hustlers. How about topping off all of those experiences by snorkelling or scuba diving in the cerulean waters that lap against the cliffs, and then rocking out to reggae or dancehall at one of Negril’s many music nights?
6. Climbing Blue Mountain Peak
A night hike to reach Jamaica’s highest point by sunrise, your path lit by the sparks of myriad fireflies, is an experience unlike any other. As you climb, the vegetation becomes less and less tropical, until you’re hiking amid stunted trees draped with lichen, and giant ferns. In the pre-dawn cold at the summit, you wait in rapt silence as the first rays of the sun wash over the densely forested mountain peaks all around you, illuminating the distant coffee plantations and Cuba beyond.
7. Escape to Brighton
With its empty, quiet beaches and somnolent pace of life, the fishing community of Brighton exudes a certain timelessness that has long disappeared from Jamaica’s other coastal areas. Here you can plunge into the Blue Hole cenote (sinkhole), chill with the fishers or simply switch off and let yourself be hypnotised by the lapping waves.
8. Perfect retreats in Treasure Beach
The most interesting varieties of accommodations in Jamaica are found in Treasure Beach, on the south coast.
Here, instead of huge allinclusive resorts, you’ll find quiet, friendly guesthouses; artsy enclaves dreamed up by theatre-set designers; Rasta retreats favoured by budget backpackers; and private villas that are some of the classiest, luxury residences in the country.
Some places offer extras such as cooking classes, rooftop yoga, farm-to-table banquets and movie nights. 9. Swimming in the Blue Lagoon
From the forested cliffs that surround it, the Blue Lagoon, named after the film starring the teenage Brooke Shields, is a seemingly bottomless pool of turquoise water, nestled in a protected cove – intensely picturesque and perfect for a dip.
Fed by several underground streams coming down from the mountains, its waters are a refreshing mixture of warm tidal waves and cool freshwater currents. If you’re a diver, you can plumb the lagoon’s depths, which reach 55m at its deepest point.
10. Diving Montego Bay
You might find the resorts of Montego Bay to be crowded with people, but wait till you dive in the surrounding waters. They’re crowded, yes, although not with human beings – just multicoloured fish and swaying sponges.
For all the tropical pastels and cool blue hues, this is a subdued seascape, a silent and delicate marine ecosystem that is one of the island’s unique natural resources. The best sea walls are to be found at the Point, while more advanced divers should explore the ominous (and gorgeous) Widowmakers Cave.