|
|
Travel Destination Guide - Montego Bay
Montego Bay (Jamaica) 
Montego Bay Information
Slideshow of Photos
|
Montego Bay has drawn tourists to its sandy beaches for decades. Jamaica's second largest city and the capital of St James province, Mo'Bay, as its affectionately known, offers a vast array of hotels, from basic to ultra-luxurious, an international airport and a wealth of historical attractions. Montego Bay's main beach, Doctor's Cave Beach, is located immediately to the south of the town and is owned by Doctor's Cave Bathing Club. As you would expect, there are a range of watersports and bars on offer.
Montego Bay attracts a mixed, though mainly young, middlemarket couples and singles who enjoy the sea and water sports. There are some quiet, inexpensive properties in the hills behind the beach strip may suit families with children, while Round Hill, Tryall and Half Moon are definitely upmarket areas.
The accommodation here is mainly middle-of-the-road properties, with an assortment of larger, more expensive all-inclusive operations in the surrounding area. Accommodation in the more pleasant, wooded hilly area behind the town is generally a quieter alternative to that along the main road below and near the airport.
Cornwall Beach, a 100-yard wide white sand beach just behind St James Shopping Plaza, draws a trendy young crowd of jet-set tourists. A central focus is the Bird Watchers Bar, which is built around a massive oak tree. Nearby snack bars serve sandwiches, steamed fish fillets and fish and chips. If you wish to do a tad more than just eat your fill and laze in the sun, try your hand at water sports or volleyball.
Less glitzy and far less touristy is the Walter Fletcher Beach. Largely the preserve of locals, this is a place to soak in the sun, flex your muscles playing netball or tennis, or whizz around the small go-cart track.
Locality:
Montego Bay can be found towards the west end of the north coast of Jamaica (120 mls NW of the capital Kingston, 2½ mls S of Sir Donald Sangster international airport). Montego Bay faces west overlooking the bay, which rises quite steeply to wooded hills at the rear.
|
The beaches in the central area get heavy usage, the most popular ones being Doctor's Cave (entrance charge but a good range of facilities) and Walter Fletcher Beach, both of which offer water sports; these are better than the main narrow public beach that runs alongside Kent Avenue.
There are modern shopping areas in the centre and E of Montego Bay at Ironshore provide a wide variety of goods, from crafts and souvenirs to duty-free perfumes, jewellery, porcelain and crystal. Good casual shopping is found along the beach strip, a crafts market is on the other side of town. Most hotels have their own boutiques and shops.
During the daytime there are a wide range of water sports including water-skiing, pedalloes, parasailing and jet-skis. Other activities are scuba diving (including a number of dive schools), several 18-hole golf courses, horse riding, tennis, and go-karting at Aguasol theme park.
The nightlife here is mainly centred at the hotels and all-inclusive properties, it is quite expensive in town where there are a range of bars and a couple of discos. The "Bob Marley Experience", is based at the Bob Marley Centre.
There is a wide choice of restaurants, offering Caribbean flavours abound. There is also a number of international fast-food options.
|
Population: 2.731.800
Languages: English, Jamaican Creole
Currency: Jamaican dollar
Currency code: JMD
Local Times:
Jamaica - Kingston
Country Dialling Code: +1809
Voltage: 110V 50Hz
Electrical plugs:
 
|
|
It is easy to wax lyrical about the island of Jamaica in the north of the Caribbean. The glorious glow of its sunsets, the unique and engaging ways of its people, the alluring white sandy beaches and lush green mountains, the sparkling waterfalls. All can inspire the poet in anyone.
The beauty of this island paradise has drawn visitors for centuries: first it was the wealthy few who were privileged to enjoy the unspoilt tropical delights of Jamaica. Today the northern and western coastlines of the island bristle with tourist resorts and 'all-inclusive' hotels, and natural attractions have been commercialised to cope with the crowds and make the most out of the tourists.
Somehow the commercialisation has not spoiled Jamaica, however. It still presents a magnificent kaleidoscope of colour and beauty that makes holidaymakers sad to leave, and vow to return.
The name Jamaica originates from the pre-colonial native inhabitants, the Arawak Indians, to whom 'Xaymaca' meant 'land of wood and water'. There is little left of the Indian culture: after being discovered by Columbus in 1494 Jamaica was ruled by the Spanish for 150 years, and then by the British for the next 300 years. Independence came in 1962 to the Jamaican people who are now a warm blend of different cultures and nationalities, though significantly African based because of the influence of the imported slaves, who endeavoured to keep their tribal traditions alive while being forced to labour on the island plantations.
There is, however, a little trouble in paradise: the Jamaican people on the whole are poor, and very reliant on tourism for their living. Some visitors object to being harassed by vendors, unlicensed taxi drivers, hair braiders and the like. Crime is also a problem. These minor irritations however should not keep anyone away from savouring the spirit of Jamaica, which is as rich as the lilt of the local patois and the rhythms of the reggae music for which the island is famous.
Jamaica provokes strong reactions. For some it is vibrant and compelling, for others it's relentless and too intense. People tend to love or hate it.
On the map, Jamaica looks like a turtle, surfacing to draw breath as it swims west to the Yucatan.It is certainly a fantastically beautiful place - one of the most scenic islands of the Caribbean.The rivers, rainforests and high mountains are magnificent and when the sun shines - which it does often - the sea is a surreal shade of blue.
Thanks to all the rivers and the rainfall, Jamaica is lush and green - as you travel around the countryside you will see swathes of banana and sugar-cane plantations and the small plots belonging to local farmers.And of course the shoreline has some classic beaches, mostly white sand, from the near-endless stretch at Negril in the west to the tiny, idyllic coves in the east.
Jamaica sounds fantastic. Reggae music is played everywhere, all day long (as are ska and dancehall, which were also invented here). Even if you don't usually like it, when you're actually in Jamaica it seems to belong - like a well-matched soundtrack.Touring through the lovely countryside with the car stereo tuned to Irie FM (105.5 and 107.7 FM) is a great feeling.
As a tourist you are extremely unlikely to come across any trouble, though you won't be able to avoid being hassled in the main tourist towns. You could avoid this by never stepping outside the confines of your hotel compound, but that would be to miss out on one of the most extraordinary countries in the Caribbean.
Beyond the coastal fringe of massive package hotels you will find plenty of unexpectedly refined and charming smaller hotels. |
|
Montego Bay Travel Awards
Local Area Weather
Montego Bay, JAMAICA |
 |
Partly Cloudy |
28°C
Feels like: 30°C |
| |
Day |
Night |
| Thu |
 N/A |
 Showers Early |
| Fri |
 Isolated T-Storms |
 Isolated T-Storms |
| Sat |
Isolated T-Storms |
Isolated T-Storms |
| Sun |
 Partly Cloudy |
 Partly Cloudy |
| Mon |
 Scattered Showers |
Partly Cloudy |
|
