Lauren Taylor
Why Northwest Jamaica, and Montego Bay’s Grand Palladium Resort and Spa, is ideal for a winter sun escape... By
Aprofessional diver balances on his toes on a 35ft high ledge. With his back to the ocean, he takes a sharp breath in and executes a perfect reverse pike dive into the cove of bright turquoise water below. This picturesque, lifeguarded spot in Negril, northwest Jamaica, is Instagramfamous for cliff jumping — although most people don’t attempt the highest spot. I gingerly jump from the five-foot platform before watching the pros — and the brave — from a table at Rick’s Cafe, with Negril Lighthouse blinking in the distance.
This part of Jamaica is perhaps best known for its seven-mile beach lined with laidback beach clubs serving cocktails and fresh coconut water straight from the shell.
The waters are shallow and as clear as they come, the sand is a perfect pale yellow, and sellers offer up the most random of things as they make their way down the shoreline. Live lobster anyone?
Jamaica’s beaches really are the stuff of legends. Further east, at the head of Montego Bay in an area known as ‘the Hip Strip’, is Doctor’s Cave Beach, once owned by Dr Alexander Mccatty.
The (then) tiny beach was entered into via a cave and in the early 1920s a British osteopath declared that the waters cured ailments and that a dip here transformed his health — kicking off the area’s tourist trade.
In 1932, a hurricane destroyed the cave and blew the beach wide open, and now the Doctor’s Cave Bathing Club (€7 entry for adults, €4 for children) is a picturesque spot to spend an afternoon.
We order rum punch (naturally) and wade into the balmy Jamaican sea.
The waters here are said to stay between 22 and 28 degrees celsius, and it’s really noticeable — I’ve never swam in sea so warm.
Jamaica is hot and humid year-round, with highs of 31C and lows of 22C over December and January, making it ideal for a winter sun break. (You’ll likely see some rain in October and May, but tropical showers clear quickly.)
It would be all too easy to never leave the all-inclusive Grand Palladium Resort and Spa, where I’m staying. At Sunset Cove, pale sand wraps a large cove of shallow water making it an epic place to swim.
There’s a shack serving up freshly BBQ’D jerk chicken right on the beach — some of the best food in the hotel — and a bar. I spend whole days here, reading under the shade of palm trees and swimming late into the evening.
There are four beaches within the five-star hotel (which shares all facilities with sister hotel Lady Marmalade), including a small, secluded adults’ only one hidden behind an over-18s pool and bar.
The pool has a certain amount of majesty too, curving around the grand pillars of the entire main building, boosting a whooping 4,500 square metres of water.
It’s vying for the title of the country’s biggest pool and holiday-makers would be hard-pressed to find a better one.
The shallow waters around the edge are dotted with sunken loungers in front of picture-perfect palm trees against the deep blue sky.
A £20 million renovation of the