Activities in Jamaica
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FEATURED
Jamaica ATV Off-Road Adventure to Sandy Bay
2 hours (Departs Montego Bay or Negril, Jamaica)
by Viator
Go 4-wheeling in Jamaica! Weave your way through a working citrus plantation while exploring an amazing Jamaican ATV site! Try some traditional chicken jerk and…Not LP reviewed
from USD$98.99 - All activities
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Stanley’s Deep Sea Fishing
The waters off Negril – teeming with tuna, blue marlin, wahoo and sailfish – provide some excellent action for sport-fishing enthusiasts. Stanley’s Deep Sea Fishing offers custom fishing-trip charters (US$400/600/800 per half/three-quarter/full day for up to four people; for additional passengers add US$50/75/100 per head).
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Clive’s Transport Service
Offers reliable, comfortable tours islandwide and airport transfers (one to three people US$50) in a nine-passenger minivan.
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Milk River Spa
This well-known spa, 23km southwest of May Pen, is fed from a saline mineral hot spring that bubbles up at the foot of Round Hill, 3km from the sea. The waters are a near-constant 33°C (92°F). Immersion is said to cure an array of ailments ranging from gout and lumbago to rheumatism and nervous conditions. These are the most radioactive spa waters in the world; they’re 50 times more so than Vichy in France and three times those of Karlsbad in Austria. Hence, bathers are limited to only 15 minutes, though you are allowed three baths a day. Imbibing the waters is also recommended by the spa staff as a stirring tonic. Kingstonians flock on weekends seeking treatments.…
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Doctor’s Cave Beach Club
Founded as a bathing club in 1906, this world-famous stretch of sand with a perpetual party vibe is now owned by Doctor’s Cave Beach Club. It can get ridiculously crowded during the winter months, so if you’re going to make a day of it, arrive early to stake out your turf. Facilities include a food court, grill bar, internet cafe and water sports, plus changing rooms. You can rent shade umbrellas and inflatable air mattresses (lilos) for US$5, snorkel gear for US$5 and chairs for US$4.
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Nature Village Farm
Driving west to the small village of Lethe, about 3km from the B8, you’ll arrive at a Y-junction. The fork to the left leads to Lethe; the one to the right leads to Nature Village Farm, a farm turned family resort and restaurant that offers fishing and other attractions.
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Negril Scuba Centre
In Negril, most all-inclusive resorts have scuba facilities. Negril Scuba Centre has locations at Mariner’s Negril Beach Club, Negril Escape Resort & Spa and Sunset @ the Palms, and offers PADI certification and introductory ‘resort courses’.
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Lady G’diver
Located at the new marina, Lady G’Diver is a full-service dive shop; dive boats leave at 11am and 2pm daily. It has a retail store, PADI instruction and equipment rentals.
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Damian’s Adventure Tours
Damian’s Adventure Tours offers mountain biking locally, as well as hiking, snorkeling and overnight camping trips.
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Goshen Wilderness Resort
A sign outside this lakeside ‘ wilderness resort, 6km east of Walkerswood, happily proclaims: ‘You catch it, we cook it.’ Its prime attraction is 42 large ponds stocked with tilapia just waiting for you to yank them out of the water. Attractions include an aviary, a petting zoo, volleyball, paddleboats and kayaks, nature trails and horseback rides (per hour US$40). A one-hour ATV tour of the plantation and nearby hills costs US$45; there’s a longer tour to Spanish Bridge and a lovely swimming spot on the White River (US$80). A fishing package (adult/child US$21/14) includes a drink, tackle and a guide. The chef will prepare your fish with bammy (pancake-shaped…
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Seven Mile Beach
Sometimes called Negril Beach, this beach was initially touted on tourism posters as ‘seven miles of nothing but you and the sea.’ But the once-peaceful place that drew all those blissed-out sensualists in the early 1970s is now only a happy memory. As before, topless sunbathers lie half submerged on lounge chairs in the gentle surf, and the sweet smell of ganja smoke still perfumes the breeze, but otherwise the beach has changed in nearly every way. Today it’s a much livelier place with scores of restaurants, bars and nightspots and every conceivable water sport on offer. The swaying palms, clear waters and nearby coral reefs mean that the beach is still beautiful to…
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Accompong Maroon Festival
The traditional Accompong Maroon Festival held each January 6 marks the signing of the 1739 peace treaty between war hero Captain Cudjoe of the Maroons with representatives of the King of England. The provisions of the treaty guaranteed the Maroons significant land holdings and personal freedom. In 2007 more than 15,000 visitors flocked to the small rural village for the festival, which features traditional dancing, drumming, mento bands and a wide variety of tonics and herbs.
The festival culminates with a traditional march to the revered Kindah Tree, where a specially prepared Maroon dish of unsalted and unseasoned pork is consumed with yams, but a loud sound-system…
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Manfred’s Jamaican Mountain Bike Tours
Based at Apple Valley Park, Manfred’s Jamaican Mountain Bike Tours offers week-long tours of the south coast each week in January and February, with daily excursions geared to moderate riders. A support vehicle is provided. Over the week, you’ll pedal 18km to 42km each day through glorious south-coast scenery to some of the region’s most notable attractions, including YS Falls, Treasure Beach, Oxford Cave, Appleton Rum Estate and the Black River mangroves. Trips are offered in midwinter only and the cost excludes airfare but includes transfers, gratuity and accommodations. You can rent a bike (US$25/100 per day/week).
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Mountain Valley Rafting
Mountain Valley Rafting, headquartered at Lethe Estate, offers tranquil one-hour river trips on the Great River from Lethe. You’re piloted 3km downstream aboard long, narrow bamboo rafts poled by an expert rafter, who waxes poetic about the birds, flora and fauna as you glide along. Trips cost US$80 for two passengers (children under 12 are half price), including lunch and transfers. For an extra US$15 per person, you’ll get lunch, a plantation tour and a fresh piña colada at the end of the excursion. If you show up under your own steam, you’ll pay US$40 for the raft trip alone.
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Rockfort Mineral Baths
Providing respite from the urban environment, these baths, 5km east of downtown Kingston, are fed by a cold spring that made its first appearance following the earthquake of 1907. There’s a large public pool – a rarity in Kingston – and 11 private pools of varying sizes, all with whirlpools and wheelchair access. The slightly saline and radioactive water is said to have therapeutic properties. One hour is the maximum allowed in a bath. There’s a cafeteria and juice bar, plus changing rooms and lockers. Massage is offered.
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Garfield Diving Station
Virtually the entire shoreline east of Ocho Rios to Galina Point is fringed by a reef, and it’s great for snorkeling and scuba diving. One of the best sections is Devil’s Reef, a pinnacle that drops more than 60m. Nurse sharks are abundant at Caverns, a shallow reef about 1km east of the White River estuary; it has many tunnels plus an ex-minesweeper, the Kathryn. You can arrange dives and snorkeling at the Garfield Diving Station. Most resorts have their own scuba facilities.
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Rocky Point Stables
For horseback trail rides, you can’t do better than Rocky Point Stables just west of Half Moon Village. This full-blown equestrian center leads excursions into the mountains rising from the Rose Hall Estate and a classic bareback beach ride during which you and your horse splash straight into the turquoise sea. For the kiddies there’s also a pony ride. Riding lessons cost US$50 per 45 minutes. Transportation from your hotel can be arranged.
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Water Sports Enterprise
For an extensive range of water sports and touring opportunities, Water Sports Enterprise offers activities including glass-bottom boat rides (US$30), snorkeling at Marine Garden (US$25) or Paradise Reef (US$30), windsurfing (US$30), sunfish sailing (US$80), jet ski (US$60/100 per half/full hour), scuba diving (1-/2-/4-tank dives US$45/70/140) or lessons (US$20), and parasailing (single/tandem US$50/100). Beach chairs, umbrellas and lockers are available to rent (US$5 each).
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Canoe Tours
For a less regimented (and a more authentic) experience, you can easily hire a guide to take you upriver by canoe or boat. Ask near the bridge in town. Or, if you're continuing on to Treasure Beach, you can hire a boat there for a round-trip tour that includes a stop at the Pelican Bar and a journey up the Black River.
Midday tours are best for spotting crocodiles; early and later tours are better for birding. Take a shade hat and some mosquito repellent.
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Rusty’s X-Cellent Adventures
Rusty’s X-Cellent Adventures offers high-quality two- to four-hour mountain-bike tours into the Negril Hills. Exciting single-track routes follow goat paths to high ridges with awesome views; your guide provides casual instruction and commentary along the way. All equipment – bikes, helmets, water and accessories – is included. Tours begin and end at Treetops, where gnarly bikers can also find lodging. Reservations are required.
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Montego Bay Marine Park Trust
You can hire canoes or set out with a guide to spot herons, egrets, pelicans and waterfowl, while swimming and crawling below are barracudas, tarpon, snapper, crabs and lobsters. Request a guide two days in advance; there’s no charge but donations are gladly accepted. Authority is vested in the Montego Bay Marine Park Trust. MBMPT maintains a meager resource centre with a library on the vital ecosystem.
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Hooves
There are several options for horseback riding tours. Prospect Plantation offers guided tours (US$58) through a gorgeous working plantation. Hooves offers guided horseback tours in three categories: beach, mountain and rain-forest trails. Reservations are required. The ‘rain-forest honeymoon ride, ’ for experienced riders, is the most expensive (recent matrimony not required).
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Reggae Beach
Located east of Harmony Hall on the A3, this vibe-filled yellow sand beach is popular with locals and savvy travelers alike. It’s the perfect place to while away an afternoon imbibing roots tonic under shady almond trees. Kayaks are available for rent, and jerk chicken and fish are readily available. Raucous sound-system parties are held here now and then; you’ll see posters plastered all over Ocho Rios.
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Maroon Attraction Tours
Maroon Town lies 5km to the southeast of Kensington, on the edge of the rugged Cockpit Country. Guides will tout themselves to lead you to caves and supposed battle sites from the Maroon Wars, but there’s little to see. Maroon Attraction Tours offers a ‘cultural, educational, and historic tour’ to Maroon Town on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (US$55, 8am to 3:30pm).
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Chukka Caribbean Adventures
This former polo field west of Priory is now the home of Chukka Caribbean Adventures, which offers an ever-growing list of guided excursions and adventures. The trips are sometimes a mite crowded, but the quality of service and expertise of the guides is high. Most of the offerings can be booked through a hotel including transfer; rates quoted below are for those arriving on their own steam.
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All Nations Carriage Tours
All Nations Carriage Tours offers 40-minute, horse-drawn carriage tours to many MoBay historic sites spread between Gloucester Ave and the old town (US$15/25/35 per child/adult/couple). You can even arrange to have a carriage pick you up at the airport. If you don’t have a reservation, you can find the carriages parked by the Fantasy Craft Market on the ‘hip strip, ’ or across from Sandals Inn.
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