A private beach owned by the Jamaica Inn has a private 700-foot beach that is seldom crowded. (Tom Uhlenbrock/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT)
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica -- It was one of those moments that every traveler longs for -- a memory of a particular place that defines it and will remain etched in the mind forever. I was sitting on the terrace of Montego Bay's Half Moon Hotel, sipping that most famous of the island's frothy concoctions, the yellow bird, when a steel band struck up the song of the same name. Suddenly -- and I'm not making this up -- I noticed a tiny, buttercup-yellow bird extracting its own cocktail from deep within the folds of a scarlet hibiscus. I waited for the director to yell "Cut!" at any moment.
When Harry Belafonte first crooned, "This is my island in the sun," he made sultry, saucy calypso a colorful stitch in the fabric of American music. His song of Jamaica had another lasting effect -- it made his island everyone's island in the sun. Thanks to its awe-inspiring natural beauty, sun-kissed beaches, verdant forests, azure seas and kaleidoscope of tropical blooms, Jamaica first became the winter getaway of choice for a generation of European royalty, movie stars and international jet-setters -- everyone from swashbuckling film star Errol Flynn to writers Noel Coward and Ian Fleming.
I have to confess that I consider much of the Caribbean to be homogeneous. Plant a palm tree on a beach somewhere, and I have trouble distinguishing one island from another. Jamaica -- with its own culture, its own music, its own food, its own art and its vibrant history -- is an exception. It's a real country, not just another generic island.
Bustling with excitement, Mo Bay (as the locals call Montego Bay) has plenty of enticements. For starters, the gleaming stretch of sand called Doctor's Cave Beach has lured sunbathers since the early 1900s, when word got out that its waters cured almost any ailment. Its restorative powers have proven more fiction than fact, but there's nothing fictitious about the shimmering sand and crayon-colored surf.
If you prefer something more active than basking on a beach, there's golf (most notably, at Half Moon Resort, Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall and the Tryall Club), rafting on the Martha Brae River and horseback riding -- for the latter, head to Good Hope Plantation, where miles of trails wind through lush, rolling countryside, dappled with purple jacaranda and flame-colored African tulip tree blossoms.
Shopping is quite possibly Mo Bay's most popular sport, with a tempting cornucopia of merchandise -- from baskets, batiks and wood carvings at the Craft Market on Harbour Street to Scottish cashmere, English china and French perfumes at duty-free shops.
Whatever else you do, you must visit two of the island's most famous plantation great houses, remnants of its British Colonial past: Greenwood and Rose Hall. The former, furnished with elegant period antiques, was built by a cousin of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and although visitors might be enchanted by the love story of Elizabeth and her husband, fellow poet Robert Browning, they are positively intrigued by Rose Hall, a haunting (and supposedly haunted) testament to an altogether different kind of passion. In the 1700s, it was home to Annie Palmer, the "white witch" who ended three honeymoons shortly after they began by disposing of each husband in the same upstairs bedroom. She poisoned the first, stabbed the second, and with the help of her plantation overseer, strangled the third.
More than 500 years ago, Christopher Columbus landed on the beach below the north coast's fern-clad cliffs and proclaimed Jamaica "the fairest island ever beheld ... where the mountains seem to touch the sky." To this day, brilliant blue bays, hidden coves, tiny fishing villages, lush mountains -- even a drive-through rainforest, Fern Gully -- come together in a breathtaking tapestry. At the heart of it all is Ocho Rios (eight rivers), another of the island's playgrounds.
The premier attraction here is Dunn's River Falls. Starting at beach level, visitors (be sure to wear your swimsuit) carefully negotiate their way up limestone tiers to the 600-foot summit, stopping along the way to bathe in small pools and cool off beneath the rushing white spray (millions of gallons of water plummeting to the sea below). FYI: For the best experience, go in the morning, before cruise ship passengers take it over in the afternoon.
If you crave a more out-of-the-way slice of paradise, head for nearby Port Maria and take the winding road up to Firefly, the former home of English playwright Noel Coward, and now a museum chronicling his life and career. After touring the house, stroll across the sloping lawns to marvel at the vista of sea, sky and mountains that many consider the best view in Jamaica.
The nearby home of another writer, 007 creator Ian Fleming, is now a luxurious hotel, Goldeneye, where the villas are set on (naturally) James Bond Beach.
To see Jamaica as it looked half a century ago, head for Port Antonio, a sleepy fishing village cradled by the Blue Mountains, on the northeast coast. In the 1950s, because of its remote location and laid-back lifestyle, film star Errol Flynn called this favorite haunt the most beautiful woman he had ever seen -- and he had surely seen his share.
Today, Port Antonio remains a peaceful reminder of paradise unblemished. Most visitors head straight to the Blue Lagoon near San San Beach. The 200-foot-deep hole, with its electric-blue color, is surrounded by groves of coconut palms, and it is the perfect spot for swimming or taking one of the ubiquitous raft rides. Once used as a means of transporting bananas to market, the rafts, each poled by a lone boatman, now transport tourists up and down the lagoon.
Port Antonio continues to slumber, but Negril was jolted out of a similar sleep in the 1970s by the arrival of sun and fun seekers.
Now Jamaica's undisputed capital of cool, it has a split personality: There is the boisterous beach end, with 7 miles of sugary sand hugging the sea, and the more subdued cliff end, stretching to the landmark Negril Lighthouse and peppered with hidden grottoes and caves.
Perhaps the patois word irie best sums up Negril, but even its loose translation -- "everything is all right" -- seems an understatement. By day at the beach end, sunbathers, intent on applying an extra layer of tan to already cocoa-colored bodies, rule the sands. After dark, however, the scene shifts and springs to life at oceanside clubs such as Kuyaba and Alfred's Ocean Palace, where you can kick back, sip a cold Red Stripe and listen to the pulsating rhythm of reggae, the island's heartbeat.
The cliff end has its own delights. There's snorkeling in the crystalline water, sunset catamaran cruises, and for the truly indulgent, massages done right on the cliffs. The cliff end might have an even more lively night life than the beach end -- at least a more active one. At the Pickled Parrot, you can swing on a rope suspended over the sea before enjoying a rum punch to toast the setting sun, or if you prefer, take part in the amateur cliff-diving competition at Rick's Cafe, another spot to enjoy the spectacular sunsets.
Over the years, I've explored Jamaica, from its lively north coast to the pristine south coast, and I have come to agree with Belafonte that this is "my island in the sun."
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IF YOU GO:
Where to stay: Half Moon Resort, Montego Bay. Considered one of the finest resorts in the Caribbean, its guest list reads like a who's-who of the rich and famous: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, John and Jacqueline Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. ... Accommodations range from Superior rooms to seven-bedroom villas; dining options include the Seagrape Terrace, Il Giardino and the impossibly romantic Sugar Mill. There is also a Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course, a natural dolphin lagoon and the world-class Fern Tree Spa. It is very expensive in season (winter) but some deals can be found off-season, especially in the summer. 1-888-830-5974, www.halfmoon.com.
Goldeneye, Oracabessa. The former home of James Bond creator Ian Fleming is now a luxurious hotel near Ocho Rios. Guests can stay in the three-bedroom house where Fleming wrote 17 of the Bond books, or in one of the villas named for Bond girls (Domino, Solitaire, Vesper, etc.). Rates range from $660 a night (villas that can sleep two) to $2,500 a night (villas that can sleep as many as six). www.islandoutpost.com.
Jamaica Inn, Ocho Rios. This small hotel (47 suites) is consistently ranked one of the best in the Caribbean by U.S. travel magazines and satisfied customers alike. Situated on a private crescent beach, all rooms overlook the beach, the sea or both. Very expensive, although you might be able to scout out some deals in the off-season. The atmospheric bar was a favorite meeting place of the island's elite in the 1950s, including Ian Fleming, Noel Coward and Errol Flynn. 1-800-837-4608, www.jamaicainn.com.
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Learn more: www.visitjamaica.com.
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© 2009, Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.).
Visit the World Wide Web site of the Herald-Leader at http://www.kentucky.com
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
When Harry Belafonte first crooned, "This is my island in the sun," he made sultry, saucy calypso a colorful stitch in the fabric of American music. His song of Jamaica had another lasting effect -- it made his island everyone's island in the sun. Thanks to its awe-inspiring natural beauty, sun-kissed beaches, verdant forests, azure seas and kaleidoscope of tropical blooms, Jamaica first became the winter getaway of choice for a generation of European royalty, movie stars and international jet-setters -- everyone from swashbuckling film star Errol Flynn to writers Noel Coward and Ian Fleming.
I have to confess that I consider much of the Caribbean to be homogeneous. Plant a palm tree on a beach somewhere, and I have trouble distinguishing one island from another. Jamaica -- with its own culture, its own music, its own food, its own art and its vibrant history -- is an exception. It's a real country, not just another generic island.
MONTEGO BAY: GATEWAY TO JAMAICA'S CHARMS
Bustling with excitement, Mo Bay (as the locals call Montego Bay) has plenty of enticements. For starters, the gleaming stretch of sand called Doctor's Cave Beach has lured sunbathers since the early 1900s, when word got out that its waters cured almost any ailment. Its restorative powers have proven more fiction than fact, but there's nothing fictitious about the shimmering sand and crayon-colored surf.
If you prefer something more active than basking on a beach, there's golf (most notably, at Half Moon Resort, Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall and the Tryall Club), rafting on the Martha Brae River and horseback riding -- for the latter, head to Good Hope Plantation, where miles of trails wind through lush, rolling countryside, dappled with purple jacaranda and flame-colored African tulip tree blossoms.
Shopping is quite possibly Mo Bay's most popular sport, with a tempting cornucopia of merchandise -- from baskets, batiks and wood carvings at the Craft Market on Harbour Street to Scottish cashmere, English china and French perfumes at duty-free shops.
Whatever else you do, you must visit two of the island's most famous plantation great houses, remnants of its British Colonial past: Greenwood and Rose Hall. The former, furnished with elegant period antiques, was built by a cousin of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and although visitors might be enchanted by the love story of Elizabeth and her husband, fellow poet Robert Browning, they are positively intrigued by Rose Hall, a haunting (and supposedly haunted) testament to an altogether different kind of passion. In the 1700s, it was home to Annie Palmer, the "white witch" who ended three honeymoons shortly after they began by disposing of each husband in the same upstairs bedroom. She poisoned the first, stabbed the second, and with the help of her plantation overseer, strangled the third.
More than 500 years ago, Christopher Columbus landed on the beach below the north coast's fern-clad cliffs and proclaimed Jamaica "the fairest island ever beheld ... where the mountains seem to touch the sky." To this day, brilliant blue bays, hidden coves, tiny fishing villages, lush mountains -- even a drive-through rainforest, Fern Gully -- come together in a breathtaking tapestry. At the heart of it all is Ocho Rios (eight rivers), another of the island's playgrounds.
The premier attraction here is Dunn's River Falls. Starting at beach level, visitors (be sure to wear your swimsuit) carefully negotiate their way up limestone tiers to the 600-foot summit, stopping along the way to bathe in small pools and cool off beneath the rushing white spray (millions of gallons of water plummeting to the sea below). FYI: For the best experience, go in the morning, before cruise ship passengers take it over in the afternoon.
If you crave a more out-of-the-way slice of paradise, head for nearby Port Maria and take the winding road up to Firefly, the former home of English playwright Noel Coward, and now a museum chronicling his life and career. After touring the house, stroll across the sloping lawns to marvel at the vista of sea, sky and mountains that many consider the best view in Jamaica.
The nearby home of another writer, 007 creator Ian Fleming, is now a luxurious hotel, Goldeneye, where the villas are set on (naturally) James Bond Beach.
To see Jamaica as it looked half a century ago, head for Port Antonio, a sleepy fishing village cradled by the Blue Mountains, on the northeast coast. In the 1950s, because of its remote location and laid-back lifestyle, film star Errol Flynn called this favorite haunt the most beautiful woman he had ever seen -- and he had surely seen his share.
Today, Port Antonio remains a peaceful reminder of paradise unblemished. Most visitors head straight to the Blue Lagoon near San San Beach. The 200-foot-deep hole, with its electric-blue color, is surrounded by groves of coconut palms, and it is the perfect spot for swimming or taking one of the ubiquitous raft rides. Once used as a means of transporting bananas to market, the rafts, each poled by a lone boatman, now transport tourists up and down the lagoon.
Port Antonio continues to slumber, but Negril was jolted out of a similar sleep in the 1970s by the arrival of sun and fun seekers.
Now Jamaica's undisputed capital of cool, it has a split personality: There is the boisterous beach end, with 7 miles of sugary sand hugging the sea, and the more subdued cliff end, stretching to the landmark Negril Lighthouse and peppered with hidden grottoes and caves.
Perhaps the patois word irie best sums up Negril, but even its loose translation -- "everything is all right" -- seems an understatement. By day at the beach end, sunbathers, intent on applying an extra layer of tan to already cocoa-colored bodies, rule the sands. After dark, however, the scene shifts and springs to life at oceanside clubs such as Kuyaba and Alfred's Ocean Palace, where you can kick back, sip a cold Red Stripe and listen to the pulsating rhythm of reggae, the island's heartbeat.
The cliff end has its own delights. There's snorkeling in the crystalline water, sunset catamaran cruises, and for the truly indulgent, massages done right on the cliffs. The cliff end might have an even more lively night life than the beach end -- at least a more active one. At the Pickled Parrot, you can swing on a rope suspended over the sea before enjoying a rum punch to toast the setting sun, or if you prefer, take part in the amateur cliff-diving competition at Rick's Cafe, another spot to enjoy the spectacular sunsets.
Over the years, I've explored Jamaica, from its lively north coast to the pristine south coast, and I have come to agree with Belafonte that this is "my island in the sun."
------
IF YOU GO:
Where to stay: Half Moon Resort, Montego Bay. Considered one of the finest resorts in the Caribbean, its guest list reads like a who's-who of the rich and famous: Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, John and Jacqueline Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. ... Accommodations range from Superior rooms to seven-bedroom villas; dining options include the Seagrape Terrace, Il Giardino and the impossibly romantic Sugar Mill. There is also a Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course, a natural dolphin lagoon and the world-class Fern Tree Spa. It is very expensive in season (winter) but some deals can be found off-season, especially in the summer. 1-888-830-5974, www.halfmoon.com.
Goldeneye, Oracabessa. The former home of James Bond creator Ian Fleming is now a luxurious hotel near Ocho Rios. Guests can stay in the three-bedroom house where Fleming wrote 17 of the Bond books, or in one of the villas named for Bond girls (Domino, Solitaire, Vesper, etc.). Rates range from $660 a night (villas that can sleep two) to $2,500 a night (villas that can sleep as many as six). www.islandoutpost.com.
Jamaica Inn, Ocho Rios. This small hotel (47 suites) is consistently ranked one of the best in the Caribbean by U.S. travel magazines and satisfied customers alike. Situated on a private crescent beach, all rooms overlook the beach, the sea or both. Very expensive, although you might be able to scout out some deals in the off-season. The atmospheric bar was a favorite meeting place of the island's elite in the 1950s, including Ian Fleming, Noel Coward and Errol Flynn. 1-800-837-4608, www.jamaicainn.com.
------
Learn more: www.visitjamaica.com.
------
© 2009, Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.).
Visit the World Wide Web site of the Herald-Leader at http://www.kentucky.com
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
