A traveler's guide to Jamaica
If the beach is the week, sleep in Negril. Use Montego Bay as the door, not as the whole trip, unless you meant to stay there.
Jamaica's famous sand is Negril's seven-mile beach, a west-coast shelf of calm water and low hotels. The cliffs at the west end are a different evening. Montego Bay is the airport and a beach of its own. The island is larger than a wristband.
When to go
Winter is drier. Summer and autumn are greener and more likely to interrupt a boat day. The west coast is the calm coast either way.
The beach
Negril's long beach is public, with hotels and bars along a road that is also the promenade. The water stays waist-deep for a long walk. The cliffs are for sunset and for swimming only where the ladders are.
In the water
The west is sheltered. A glass-bottom or a snorkel boat is the easy day. Reef shoes help off the rocky bits near the cliffs. The north coast has more wave as you go east.
If you only remember this
- The drive from Montego Bay to Negril is about ninety minutes and not a straight line.
- Agree taxi fares before the bags go in.
- All-inclusives and the public beach are neighbors. You can do either.
- Ask before you photograph people. The beach is also a neighborhood.