Things to do in Southern Jamaica
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Pelican Bar
Built on a submerged sandbar 1km out to sea, this thatch-roofedeatery on stilts provides Jamaica’s – and perhaps the planet’s – most enjoyable spot for a drink. Getting there is half the fun: hire a local boat captain (you can book passage from Jake’s for US$30). The clientele is a mix of enchanted travelers and repeat-business fishermen who while away the hours playing dominoes, talking on their cell phones, checking the cricket scores or exchanging pleasantries with the self-satisfied owner. In between Red Stripes, or perhaps before your meal of lobster, shrimp or fish, feel free to slip into the salubrious waters for a dip.
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Marshall's Pen Great House
This impressive stone-and-timber great house, built in 1795, stands among beautifully landscaped gardens on a former coffee plantation turned cattle-breeding property on the northwest side of town. The 120-hectare property is owned by Jamaica’s leading ornithologist, Robert Sutton, and Anne Sutton, an environmental scientist. Robert can trace his ancestry to the first child born to English parents in Jamaica in 1655. The Suttons’ home has wood-paneled rooms brimming with antiques, leather-bound books, artwork and many other museum-quality pieces. You can tour the mini-museum by appointment only. Marshall’s Pen is splendid for birding: more than 100 species have b…
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Ripon Nature Park
Ripon Nature Park, dating to 1730, in Mile Gully, produces citrus, flowers, coffee and cocoa and is being developed into a bird sanctuary, wild garden and ecopark by Derek O’Connor, owner of Kariba Holidays & Leisure Tours in Mandeville. The 5-hectare garden has more than 500 endemic species, including orchids. A palm-lined driveway leads to the vast and varied garden, accessible by trails and open for picnics. Fruit trees include giant plums. The hillsides are carpeted in ferns, and feature benches for quiet contemplation. Meditate among the fern-carpeted hillsides or check out the new hummingbird and butterfly garden, then cool off in the pool. A children’s play park …
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Bloomfield Great House
This immaculate historic home stands atop a hill southwest of the town center. The two-story structure built in traditional Caribbean vernacular gleams after a fine renovation. It is about 170 years old (the exact date is uncertain) and began life as the center of a coffee estate and, later, a citrus plantation. It’s now one of Jamaica’s finest art galleries and a premier restaurant. The art galleries feature works by many of Jamaica’s leading artists, as well as an international repertoire. There are five arts-and-crafts studios and stores in the arcade downstairs. The entrance is 200m south of Manchester College, on the opposite side of the road at the crossroads.…
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Gourie Forest Reserve
This forest reserve of pines, mahogany and mahoe growing atop and betwixt dramatic cockpits is 3km northwest of the Christiana, near Coleyville. The park is laced with hiking trails. Gourie is most noteworthy for having Jamaica's longest cave system. Two spelunking routes have been explored. One of the routes is easy; the other is difficult and made more so by the presence of an icy river. Rubber-soled shoes are required and a guide is essential.
To get to Gourie from Christiana, turn uphill (southwest) at the radio tower immediately south of the junction that leads west for Coleyville and Troy. Immediately take the left at a Y-fork, then right at the next Y-fork and foll…
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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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Huntingdon Summit Mansion
The extravagant Huntingdon Summit mansion in May Day, about 3km southeast of the town center, forms the yang to Bloomfield Great House’s yin. The octagonal home is of palatial proportions, with wraparound plate-glass windows and artificial cascades that tumble into a swimming pool, from where waters feed into a pond in the lounge. The ostentatious furnishings reflect the catholic tastes of its owner, Cecil Charlton, a millionaire farmer, politician and self-promoter who served as the mayor of Mandeville during the 1970s and 1980s.
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Cecil Charlton Park
Cecil Charlton Park is a tiny English-style 'green', also known as Mandeville Sq, which lends a charming village feel to the town center. On the north side is the Mandeville Courthouse, of cut limestone with a horseshoe staircase and a raised portico supported by Doric columns. The Rectory, the oldest home in town, adjoins the courthouse. Both it and the courthouse were completed in 1820. On the south side is a produce market, and a cenotaph commemorating Jamaica's dead from the two world wars.
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Jack Sprat Café
An excellent barefoot beachside eatery affiliated with Jake’s, this appealing joint features vintage reggae posters and an old jukebox as well as a lively bar scene that spills onto the tree-shaded patio. Jack Sprat warms to any crowd or time of day, and offers a diverse menu of sandwiches, salads, crabcakes, smoked marlin and lobster as well as excellent jerk or garlic shrimp. A superb array of pizzas is available at night, and every meal should end with some of the superb ice cream.
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Apple Valley Park
Open only by appointment, this 169-hectare family nature park, east of Maggotty, surrounds an 18th-century great house. It has two small lakes and offers fishing and a variety of touristy activities that appeal to Jamaicans. There are paddleboat rides, go-karts, and kayaking on the Black River. Much of the park is a forest reserve good for birding. The owners also operate a tractor-pulled jitney from the old train station in Maggotty.
reviewed
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Mrs Stephenson's Garden
This well-manicured garden has been planned and planted, and pruned and mulched, by a stalwart who is a real artist. Carmen Stephenson’s garden is a riot of color, a drunkenness of scents, difficult to dampen in even the wettest of weather. Keen amateur gardeners descend year-round to admire the layout or gasp at the collection that includes orchids and ortaniques. Casual visitors are welcome during daylight hours.
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Christiana Bottom
This beautiful riverside spot, in a valley bottom below the town, has a waterfall plus picnic spots framed by bamboo. Two sinkholes full of crystal-clear water offer refreshing dips. You can hike from the center of town, though the going at the lower reaches can be muddy and slippery. Take the road that leads east from the National Commercial Bank; it's 3km from here. Take the first left and then the second left.
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Manchester Club
For golf, check out the Manchester Club, the oldest golf club in the Caribbean. Located off Brumalia Rd, northwest of the town center, it has a nine-hole golf course that was laid out in the 1860s. A round costs US$25 and caddies are compulsory (US$15). The club also has three night-lit tennis courts and squash courts (both US$5 per hour).
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Grand Market Night
On Christmas Eve the streets here have traditionally been closed and farming families have poured in for a centuries-old Jonkanoo celebration called Grand Market Night, with men on stilts and general festivity in the streets. The festivities are sometimes cancelled; call Sherryl McDowell or Audrey Brown at Hotel Villa Bella (964-2243) for updates.
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Shirley Genus
For something different, Shirley Genus offers a traditional Jamaican herbal steam bath and massage at Ital Rest. Here, weary travelers can get the road rubbed out of them with a healing 'vibeful' massage in a hut filled with aromatic steam emanating from an herbal cauldron bubbling with fever grass, mint, eucalyptus and pimento (allspice).
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New Den
In the former home of a colonial family with an affinity for wickerwork, this refined Jamaican eatery serves up excellent fish and chips as well as curried or barbecued chicken. If you’re especially hungry, try the mixed grill, which lets you pick any three grilled meat or fish dishes on the menu.
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Bethany Moravian Church
The Bethany road climbs sharply and delivers you at the Bethany Moravian Church - a simple gray stone building dating to 1835, dramatically perched four-square midway up the hill with fantastic valley views. The church is rather dour close up but the simple interior boasts a resplendent organ.
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Jack Spratt Beach
The most visited beach is the folksy Jack Spratt Beach, at the western edge of Jake's Place. Large and brightly painted wooden fishing boats are pulled up on the sand, and there is invariably a fisherman or two on hand tending the nets. This is the safest beach for swimming.
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Villa Bella Tours
Villa Bella Tours offers excursions to the Oxford and Gourie Caves (US$40 for three hours), Quashie River sink cave and bush hike (US$55, minimum five persons), Lorimar Coffee Estate and the Moravian churches, plus bird-watching trips to the Cockpit Country.
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Frenchman's Beach
The next beach west is Frenchman's Beach, watched over by a landmark 'buttonwood' tree that has long attracted the attention of poets, painters and woodcarvers who ply their wares. This is also a great place to arrange trips to the Pelican Bar or Black River.
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Manchester Arms Pub & Restaurant
A broad menu of Jamaican and continental dishes is served here. It has a poolside barbecue each Wednesday night. Jamaican night is held on the last Wednesday of every month, with Jamaican food and entertainment, including a live mento band.
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Fisherman’s Nightclub
Fisherman’s Nightclub, up a dirt road behind Tiffany’s, is the oldest nightclub in town and the domain of local youth (mostly male) skanking to sounds from a selector (DJ); a pool hall and bar are at the back.
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Dennis Abrahams
From Frenchman's Beach, boat captain and fisher Dennis Abrahams offers a sunset cruise by motorboat to Great Pedro Bluff and Billy's Bay, as well as fishing and on-demand trips to the Pelican Bar and Black River Great Morass.
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Potsnapper Restaurant
With a steady supply of fresh fish from the morning’s catch, this pleasant roadside eatery serves ackee and saltfish and porridge for breakfast, and seafood, pizza, curried goat and pepper steak for lunch and dinner.
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Country Fresh
With an emphasis on the authentic, this hotel-based restaurant grows much of its produce in a private garden. A set meal is offered; lunch and dinner can be made to order. Sandwiches and snacks cost US$2.
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