Product Description

With complete coverage of Kingston, the Blue Mountains, the Back River, and all the major resorts at Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril, "The Rough Guide to Jamaica" is an ideal travel companion on any trip to this most welcoming island. Included are detailed sections covering Jamaica's culture, history, politics, music, and food and comprehensive listings revealing the best places to stay, dine, and catch the funkiest reggae.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2058544 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Amazon.com
Jamaica is a small but complex island. Famous for her beaches and music, there is an abundance of stretches of white sand bedecked by palm trees and lapped by turquoise waters. Reggae, Jamaica's other celebrated quality, is alive and happening. It is necessary to have a good guide to find your way to the Blue Mountains and Back River, check out the wildlife, and understand the island's culture--as well as to navigate your way through Kingston to the best reggae haunts, drinking holes, and Jamaican food stands. Jamaica: The Rough Guide does justice to all the major resorts and beaches, and to Jamaica's lesser-known charms.

Ingram
With complete coverage of Kingston as well as all the major resorts at Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril, this "Rough Guide" is the perfect complement to both independent travel and all-inclusive package tours. Comprehensive listings reveal the best places to stay, dine, and catch the funkiest reggae of color maps & photos.

Excerpt
WHERE TO GO Most of Jamaica’s tourist business is concentrated in the "big three" resorts of Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril which, between them, pull hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Probably the most evocative name in the Caribbean, Montego Bay is a busy, commercial city with hotels lined up along its main strip, a stone’s throw from a couple of Jamaica’s most famous beaches. Though "MoBay" has lost some of its old lustre, the place retains an appealing vitality, with a busy street life and a great entertainment scene, most obvious during the annual Reggae Sumfest festival. West of here, its low-rise hotels slung along seven miles of fantastic white sand and two miles of dramatic cliffs, Negril is a different type of resort – younger, more laid-back, and with a longstanding reputation for unbridled hedonism that still carries a hint of the truth. East of MoBay, and the least individualistic of the big three, Ocho Rios embodies high-impact tourism – purpose-built in the 1960s to provide the ultimate package of sun, sand and sea. It’s not an overly attractive place, and the beaches don’t compare favourably with Negril and MoBay, but tourist infrastructure is undeniably strong – the place is packed with shops, restaurants, bars and watersports – and you’re right by some of Jamaica’s leading attractions, including the famous Dunn’s River waterfall, dramatic Fern Gully and the lovely botanical gardens at Shaw Park. Away from these resorts, you’ll have to look a bit harder to find your entertainment – Jamaica’s quieter east and south coasts offer a far less packaged product – but there are plenty of real gems worth hunting out, particularly if you’re keen to escape the crowds. In the island’s east, lush, rain-fed, sleepy Port Antonio, and it’s increasingly popular neighbour, Long Bay, provide gateways to some of Jamaica’s greatest natural attractions, like the cascading waterfalls at Reach and Somerset, and outdoor activities such as rafting on the majestic Rio Grande, and hiking through the dense rainforest of the John Crow Mountains. The south coast offers different pleasures, from gentle beach action at the terminally easy-going Treasure Beach – the perfect base for exploring local delights like the YS waterfalls and the gorgeous lagoon and beach at Gut River – to boat safaris in search of local wildlife on the Black River. Last, but in no way least, Kingston is the true heart of Jamaica, a thrilling place, pulsating with energy and spirit, that is home to more than a third of the island’s 2.5 million population. This is not just the nation’s political capital but the focus of its art, theatre and music scenes, with top-class hotels, restaurants and shopping, a clubbing scene that is second to none and legendary fried fish on offer at the fabulous Hellshire beach. A stunning backdrop to the city, the cool Blue Mountains are a captivating, gentle antidote, with plenty of marvellous hiking possibilities, while the nearby fishing village of Port Royal, once a great pirate city, and the former capital of Spanish Town, with its grand Georgian buildings, provide more historic diversions.

WHEN TO GO For many visitors, Jamaica’s tropical climate is its leading attraction – hot and sunny all year. The weather is at its most appealing during the peak tourist season, which runs from mid-December to mid-April, when rainfall is lowest and the heat is tempered by cooling trade winds, known locally as the "Doctor Breeze". Things can get noticeably hotter during the summer and, particularly in September and October, the humidity can become oppressive. September is also the most threatening month of the annual hurricane season, which runs officially from June 1 to October 31, though it’s worth bearing in mind that, on average, the big blows only hit about once a decade. As you’d expect, prices and crowds are at their highest during peak season, when the main attractions and beaches can get pretty busy. Outside this period – from Easter to early December – everywhere is quieter and, though the main resorts throb with life pretty much year-round, quieter tourist areas like Port Antonio and Treasure Beach can feel a little lifeless. The good news is that hotel prices everywhere fall by up to 25 percent, there are more bargains to be had in every field of activity, and a number of festivals – including the massive annual Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay – inject some summertime zip.