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Introducing Port Antonio
Cupping an unruffled bay while backing into the sleepy Rio Grande Valley, Port Antonio is the perfect capital for Portland. The parish’s only sizable town is largely untarnished by the duty-free, tourist orientation of Ocho Rios or Montego Bay, its streets, squares, quayside and market inviting leisurely strolls – invitations freely accepted by the town’s dog and goat populaces. Wandering away from the bustle past the dilapidated houses lining the potholed streets of Titchfield Peninsula, it’s very easy to think you’ve roamed onto the set of some quaint colonial ghost town.
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Ironic, then, that the tentacles of Jamaican tourism first found purchase in Port Antonio. The town came to prominence as the island’s major banana port, and its prosperity began luring visitors at the turn of the 20th century. Celebrity visitors, led by cinematic and real-life swashbuckler Errol Flynn, descended on the town in the 1930s. And when the tourist attentions moved on to the west of the island, Port Antonio went back to bananas.
Rumors of the town’s development are rife. In 2004 a state-of-the-art marina was built with the aim of luring cruise ships, and while they have yet to appear, hope has not been abandoned. Plans for Navy Island, former home and playground of Flynn and his Hollywood guests, range from an ecological theme park to a casino, but nothing’s made it to the blueprint stage. Talk of enlarging Ken Jones Aerodrome to receive international flights remains just that.
All of which will suit you just fine if you seek a low-key Jamaican port town and an ideal base for setting out to discover some of Portland’s hidden treasures.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
