Close your eyes, take a deep breath and picture Jamaica.
Are clear blue skies and a blazing sun materializing in your mind?
Or crystal clear waters and pristine golden sands?
And perhaps you feel a cool breeze whispering across your face and hear a faint reggae baseline pulsating away in the distance?
If you’ve never been to Jamdown before, you’ll find all of the above elements in abundance, but you don’t yet have the full picture of what truly makes the place unique.
To fill in the gaps, here are three hidden Jamaican highlights you’ll absolutely love.
- Kingston & St Andrew
As you can guess, this Jamaican parish is home to capital Kingston, and its delights are well-documented.
But if you’re willing to venture a little off the beaten track, head along to the Palisadoes Peninsula until you reach historic Port Royal.
It’s presently a sleepy fishing village, but was once the world’s wildest pirate capital, dubbed the ‘wickedest city on Earth’ and home to notorious privateer Captain Henry Morgan.
There are delights for film buffs here too – Sean Connery beat up bad guys and charmed a few ladies at the Grand Port Royal Marina in Dr No, and if you charter a boat to Lime Cay, you can relive Jimmy Cliff’s shootout finale from cult gangster flick The Harder They Come.
- Portland
Some locals will tell you that subtropical Portland is Jamaica’s most beautiful parish.
Before Ocho Rios and Montego Bay became the nation’s designated tourist towns, parish capital Port Antonio was one of the most glamorous places on the planet, mainly because of notorious cad Errol Flynn, who declared this area ‘more beautiful than any woman I’ve ever met’ and attracted a host of Hollywood stars to party here.
If you prefer the chilled side of Portland, Frenchman’s Cove is a picture-postcard perfect horseshoe beach where you can bathe in warm waters – and if you have a little more energy, climb up the rock staircase inside stunning Reach Falls and dive off the top into the natural plunge pool below.
- St Mary
St Mary is one of Jamaica’s smallest parishes, but it punches above its diminutive weight with a host of wonderful attractions.
It boasts some of Jamaica’s most unspoiled scenery and plays another starring role in James Bond heritage since it’s home to Goldeneye, where author Ian Fleming spent many a happy year battering away at his typewriter between sinking vodka martinis (shaken, not stirred, naturally).
Meanwhile, Reggae Beach, Tower Isle is another top pick if you want to dance the night away with locals and tourists alike, and for something slightly more relaxed but brilliantly cathartic, try tropical bird watching at gorgeous Green Castle in Robin’s Bay.
Try this hattrick of hidden Jamaican highlights in 2020 and we guarantee you’ll fall in love – you can thank us later!
So ends our list, but please share your own Jamaican recommendations in the comments section!