Sights in Negril
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Firefly
Set amid wide lawns high atop a hill 5km east of Oracabessa and 5km west of Port Maria, Firefly was the home of Sir Noel Coward, the English playwright, songwriter, actor and wit. When he died in 1973, Coward left the estate to his partner Graham Payn, who gifted it to the nation. Today the house is a museum, looking just as it did on Sunday, February 28, 1965, the day the Queen Mother visited. Your guide will lead you to Coward’s art studio, where he was schooled in oil painting by Winston Churchill. The studio displays Coward’s original paintings and photographs of himself and a coterie of famous friends. The upper lounge features a glassless window that offers one o…
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Abba Jahnehoy’s Garden
Seemingly a world away from the Negril strip, Abba Jahnehoy’s Garden is a three-story meditation and learning center that is poised on a hill, and offers a splendid panoramic view extending down to the sea. Solar powered and surrounded by a vegetable and root garden, the octagonal building is the work of Janhoi Jaja. He’s a gracious Rasta who is more than happy to discuss the ins and outs of Rastafarianism, or reggae or Negril’s development or the finer points of numerology (or all of the above) over bowls of his excellent homemade soup that is made from his garden’s produce. Getting there is half the fun, as the garden’s located at the end of a series of unmarked dirt …
reviewed
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A
Royal Palm Reserve
The easiest way to get a sense of the Great Morass is at the Royal Palm Reserve. Wooden boardwalks make a 1.5km loop around the reserve. Three distinct swamp forest types are present – the royal palm forest, buttonwood forest and bull thatch forest. They’re all home to butterflies galore as well as doctorbirds, herons, egrets, endangered black parakeets, Jamaican woodpeckers and countless other birds. Two observation towers provide views over the tangled mangroves.
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B
Negril Lighthouse
The gleaming white, 20m-tall Negril Lighthouse, 5km south of Negril Village, illuminates the westernmost point of Jamaica, at 18° 15’ north, 78° 23’ west. The lighthouse, erected in 1894 with a prism made in Paris and originally powered by kerosene, is now solar powered and flashes every two seconds. Wilson Johnson, the superintendent, will gladly lead the way up the 103 stairs for a bird’s-eye view of the coast.
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C
Booby Cay
Booby Cay is a small coral island 1km offshore from Rutland Point, which was used as a South Seas setting in the Walt Disney movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The island is named for the seabirds - 'boobies' in local parlance - that nest here. Water-sports concessionaires can arrange boats for about around US$25 roundtrip.
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D
Whitehall Great House
The only other site of note in the hills is Whitehall Great House, in ruins following a fire in 1985. The surrounding plantation grounds provide a stage for horseback rides. Don't be fooled into paying around US$5 for a tour by the locals who hang out and attempt to attach themselves as self-ascribed 'guides.'
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E
Bloody Bay Beach
Another splendid Negril beach is Bloody Bay Beach, with no facilities and few people, save for a few savvy travelers and a smattering of locals enjoying some repose away from the hubbub. There's a jerk shack selling snacks and drinks.
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F
Long Bay Beach Park
Long Bay Beach Park is more peaceful and far less crowded than Seven Mile Beach to the south, here you'll find more sugary sand and picnic tables plus changing rooms.
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