Go Jamaica:As the sun goes down, producing a spectacular sunset, and a reggae band start to play, you really wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world, writes JIM CARROLL
IT’S ALL GO at Montego Bay airport as another planeful of jet-lagged tourists stroll towards passport control. If you want a snapshot of who heads to Jamaica for their holidays, look no further than those now queuing impatiently to get their passports stamped before hitting the Caribbean.
You can count Yanks by the score, attracted to the island by its proximity to the US and the huge number of all-inclusive resorts around Negril and Ocho Rios. You’ll spot a cluster of reggae fans in their Bob Marley T-shirts, whose pilgrimage will probably take them to Kingston to walk in his footsteps.
You have the honeymooners, easily identifiable by very shiny wedding rings. You have long-haul veterans, keen to get stuck into what the area’s luxurious hotels have to offer. Meanwhile, in the fast-track queue, you’ll find some well-heeled island residents and rich list regulars who’ll soon be whisked away to glorious villas and private estates.
All are chomping at the bit for sunshine and good times. That’s what Jamaica promises and delivers in spades. Sure, there’s sights to see, cultural experiences to be had and adventure pursuits galore, but Jamaica’s most valuable tourism currency is what comes naturally – that sun and those good vibes.
For the majority of those arriving in Montego Bay, it’s straight onto the resort. These all-inclusive, self-contained mega-hotels have been a part of Jamaican tourism for a few decades now and range from cheap and cheerful to high-end and uber-exclusive. Where you choose to stay comes down to the size of your wallet and what you’re after. Some are couples-only joints, while others welcome families with kids, so you know what you’re getting into from the start.
The resorts seek to outdo each other with the volume, quality and opulence of their restaurants, bars, nightclubs, entertainment options, kids areas, swimming pools, sports facilities and expansive beachfronts. Some will even feel the need to allocate several paragraphs of elaborate waffle in their brochures to the quality of the bed-linen.
Many of those who arrive at Montego Bay outposts such as Sandals, Secrets or Breezes will probably not venture beyond the compound gates until it’s time to check out for the flight home a week or fortnight later. Given what’s to hand, it’s easy to see why many choose to take this easy option and turn off and tune out under blue skies for the duration of the holiday – especially when the price of the package usually includes room, food, drink and most activities.
We’re lodging at Round Hill, a 100-acre former sugar plantation about 11km west of Montego Bay. It has been waving guests through its gates since well-connected hotelier John Pringle took over the place in the early 1950s.
Back then, Round Hill was a hideaway for American and European playboys, artists and socialites such as Clark Gable, Noel Coward, Grace Kelly, Ian Fleming and Alfred Hitchcock. John F Kennedy and his bride Jackie honeymooned here. All came to relax far from the public gaze.
Some guests, though, managed to get work done while in residence: Oscar and Dorothy Hammerstein wrote the score for The Sound Of Music in one of the hotel’s villas. The walls in the hotel’s wood-panelled bar are filled with frame after frame of smiling, high-profile holidaymakers from the halcyon days of high-society celebrity.
Pringle also persuaded some of these high-rollers to build villas in the grounds. These days, Round Hill’s cottages – spacious, expansive gaffs, with private pools and beautifully manicured gardens – are available to rent when the owners are away.
If you’re out of luck when it comes to snagging a villa for your stay, you can always take a room in Pineapple House, where the interiors have been designed by Ralph Lauren who owns a property on the spread.
While the quality of the accommodation is five-star, the best thing about Round Hill is the overall vibe of laid-back Caribbean luxury which permeates the place. The lush, tropical grounds, picture-perfect private beach and stunning views over the bay really do put you in the right mind for some premier league chilling.
Surely no-one would mind if you retired to a hammock for the rest of the week, with a good book, a cold drink and a soundtrack of chirping hummingbirds for company? But that would mean missing out on what’s to see and do beyond Round Hill.
Montego Bay is at the heart of the island’s tourist infrastructure and there’s a rake of other attractions beyond the hotels and resorts for those looking for something to do other than relax by the pool. Such activities encourage visitors to get out and about to enjoy traditional Jamaican hospitality, meet the locals and see a different side to the island.
You could try swimming in a lagoon alongside a couple of frisky well-mannered bottlenose dolphins at Dolphin Cove or, if you prefer a different class of mammal, ride into the sea on a horse who is going for a swim at Sandy Bay. For an up-close look at Jamaica’s forests, a zipline canopy tour will take you along the treetops at breakneck speed.
You may even hanker an urge to check out Montego Bay’s “hip strip” on Gloucester Avenue, crowded with bars, cafes and shops flogging every manner of tat under the sun. Most of the trinkets and T-shirts in these emporiums feature Bob Marley’s face as a sales pitch. It can only be a matter of time until Usain Bolt joins him on everything from towels to basecap caps.
Those seeking a glimpse of what Jamaica may have been like in the years before tourism was worth $2 billion (€1.4 billion) annually to the island’s economy should pay a visit to Rose Hall Great House. This former sugar plantation mansion was once one of 700 such houses on the island. While it did fall into disrepair over the years, the house and estate has been painstakingly restored to a pristine state by its new American owners.
The big house is now a museum dedicated to its most infamous former inhabitant, a white witch called Annie Palmer. Born in Haiti, the 18-year-old arrived in Jamaica in 1820 where she married Rose Hall owner John Palmer, the first of her three husbands to die in mysterious circumstances in the house.
Conveniently for those who give the guided tours and tell tales involving voodoo, slaves and murders, Annie murdered each husband in a different bedroom. Naturally, she herself also came to a grisly end and her tomb is in the grounds of the house.
Johnny Cash, who used to own a house at nearby Cinnamon Hill, was so enamoured with the story that he wrote Ballad of Annie Palmerfor his Any Old Wind That Blowsalbum about the mistress of Rose Hall. The tour ends with the guide singing Cash's tune by the tomb, just to keep the spook factor high.
There are a few places around the bay where visitors who’ve absconded from their luxury compounds go to mingle with the local characters.
Chief amongst those is Rick’s Café in Negril where both worlds collide with a rambunctious splash here most evenings around sunset.
A shabby-chic fixture on the coast since 1974 (though it had to be rebuilt after Hurricane Gilbert and Hurricane Ivan blew through and relocated the cafe to the other side of the road), Rick’s is a lively bar blessed with an unique location at the West End Cliffs.
It’s these cliffs which pull in the punters as much as the sunset views. As the evening pro- gresses, more and more people clamber up to dive off the platforms around the bar into the crystal-clear waters below.
The more spectacular the dive, the louder the applause and the bigger the tips for the local divers. But even those amateur visitors who make a mess of the dive (and remind people that they’re diving at their own risk) get a cheer.
As the sun goes down over Montego Bay, producing a spectacular sunset for Rick’s patrons to enjoy, the house reggae band start to play. You really wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Get there: Virgin Atlantic (virgin- atlantic.com) fly direct to Montego Bay from London Gatwick
Jamaica where to . . .
Stay
Round Hill, John Pringle Drive, Montego Bay, 00-1-876-956-7050, roundhilljamaica.com. Superb boutique resort with beautiful villas if you want to push the boat out or elegant rooms in Pineapple House. Rooms from $410 (€290) per night.
Breezes, Norman Manley Blvd, Negril, 00-1-876-957-5010, breezes.com. Located along miles of beachfront, Breezes is one of Montego Bay's long-standing favourite all-inclusive resorts. All-inclusive packages from $480 (€340) per night.
Secrets St James, Freeport, Montego Bay, 00-1-876-953-6600, secretsresorts.com. Hugging a private beach, Secrets has seven gourmet restaurants to choose from, so you can have dinner in a different spot every night. All-inclusive packages from $402 (€285) per night.
Eat
The Houseboat Grill, Freeport, Montego Bay, 00-1-876-979-8845, thehouseboatgrill.com. High-end, top-class international restaurant with seasonal menu. Dinner with wine from $30 (€21).
Pork Pit, Gloucester Avenue, Montego Bay, 00-1-876-940-3008. Down-home and laid-back eating joint where you can fill up on jerk chicken, rice and beans, yams, fish and other local plates. Lunch from $10 (€7).
Scotchies, Falmouth Road, Montego Bay, 00-1-876-953-8041. The place to go for award-winning jerk pork, chicken, fish and other classic Jamaican dishes. Lunch for $10 (€7).
Go
Luminous Lagoon. Thanks to the millions of dinoflagellates (tiny organisms) who call this Falmouth lagoon home, it sparkles and glistens with a green glow at night.
Rose Hall Great House. Voodoo, witchcraft and the story of Annie Palmer combine for a spooky morning in the old sugar plantation big house.
Rastafari Indigenous Village, Porto Bello, Montego Bay. A guide to Rastafari history, philosophy, culture and crafts. See rastavillage.com.
Jim Carroll travelled to Montego Bay as a guest of the Jamaican Tourist Board. See jamaica.com. For details on accommodation at Round Hill, see roundhill jamaica.com.
