The Best Beaches

Doctor's Cave Beach (Montego Bay): This 5-mile stretch of white sand made "Mo Bay" a tourist destination. Waters are placid and crystal clear, and there are changing rooms and a beach bar. This one is a family favorite.

Cornwall Beach (Montego Bay): Although it's often too crowded, this beach is covered with soft, white, sugary sand that's deep enough to really sink your toes into. The water is clean and warm, and it's a place to take your family. The admission charge entitles you not only to swim and sunbathe but also to use the changing room. The beach is near the main tourist strip and close to the popular and larger Doctor's Cave Beach. The "higglers" -- as local vendors are called -- will seek you out and try to sell you everything from

Seven Mile Beach (Negril): On the island's west coast, this beach stretches for 7 miles along the sea. It was once the haunt of the Caribbean's most notorious pirates. In the background are some of the most hedonistic resorts in the Caribbean, mixed in with a few family favorites. Many strips of these golden sands are fine for families, although there are several nudist patches where guests bare all. The nude-beach areas are sectioned off, even though some new oceanfront resorts have Peeping Tom views of these areas.

Booby Cay (Negril): Although it's X-rated, the aptly named Booby Cay is the haunt of snorkelers as well as nude sunbathers. Many folks come here from Hedonism II, Jamaica's answer to Club Med. Once they've landed by motor launch or even by kayak, bathers in the buff -- mainly male/female couples -- disperse to seek out their own little white-sand patch of private heaven.

Treasure Beach (South Coast): Tired of fighting the crowds for your place in the sun? Head for Treasure Beach on Jamaica's dry, sunny, and isolated South Coast, a real hideaway that's a secret among young Jamaicans. There are drawbacks here: The undertow can be dangerous, so swimming is a bit tricky. These secluded sands are gray, and waves crash into the shore. It's one of the most dramatic beachscapes in Jamaica.

Boston Beach (Port Antonio): It's known not only for its white sands, but for its jerk pork stands. You can enjoy your unique beach barbecue while gazing out upon the incredibly clear waters of the bay. The beach has the biggest waves in Jamaica, and young men will rent you surfboards and even give you lessons.

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The Best Water-Sports Outfitters

Seaworld Resorts (Montego Bay; [tel] 876/953-2180): Offering the best scuba diving in Montego Bay, the staff of qualified instructors here will take you to some intriguing dive sites where you can swim among some of the most spectacular offshore coral reefs in the Caribbean.

Negril Scuba Centre (Negril; [tel] 800/818-2963 in the U.S. or 876/957-9641): This is the best-equipped dive facility in this popular resort area. It has one of the most professional staffs on the island, all certified instructors. They'll take you for dives into a bay once frequented by some of the most notorious pirates (male and female) in the West Indies.

Buccaneer Scuba Club (Port Royal; [tel] 876/967-8061): Based at Morgan's Harbour Hotel and Beach Club, this operator is unique in the Caribbean. It offers the widest range of dive sites in Jamaica, including the Texas wreck, an American naval ship that sank in 1944. Other sites include South East Cays, a reef that runs alongside the south of Jamaica, and Sandra's Buoy, one of the largest reefs and filled with marine life, including coral growth. You can spot turtles, dolphins, and rays.

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The Best Golf Courses

Wyndham Rose Hall Golf & Beach Resort (Montego Bay; [tel] 876/953-2650): Wyndham has been called one of the top-five courses in the world. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it is an unusual and challenging seaside and mountain course. The 10th fairway abuts the family burial grounds of the Barretts of Wimpole Street, and the 14th passes the vacation home of singer Johnny Cash. The 300-foot-high 13th tee offers a rare panoramic view of the sea and the roof of the hotel, and the 15th green is next to a 40-foot waterfall, once featured in a James Bond movie.

Tryall Golf, Tennis & Beach Club (Montego Bay; [tel] 876/956-5660): Jamaica's finest course, Tryall is the site of the annual Johnnie Walker World Championship. A par-71, 6,680-yard course, it crosses hills and dales on what was once sugarcane farmland. Some ruins, including an old waterwheel, remain. Wind direction can change suddenly, making the course more intriguing. One golfer whom we interviewed confessed he's played the course 50 times, and "each game was different."

Half Moon Golf, Tennis & Beach Club (Montego Bay; [tel] 800/626-0592 in the U.S. or 876/953-2211): This, the island's second championship course, was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. in 1961. Played by the likes of former U.S. President George Bush, the course has manicured and diversely shaped greens, but it's not as challenging as the one at Tryall.

Sandals Golf & Country Club (Ocho Rios; [tel] 876/975-0119): This 6,500-yard course is known for its panoramic vistas. Rolling terrain, lush vegetation, and flowers and fruit trees dominate the 120-acre course where Sandals guests play for free. Others are welcome for a fee.

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The Best Tennis Facilities

Half Moon Golf, Tennis & Beach Club (Montego Bay; [tel] 800/626-0592 in the U.S. or 876/953-2211): Half Moon has Jamaica's best tennis -- 13 state-of-the-art courts, 7 of which are lit for night games. The head pro offers a clinic with a video playback.

Wyndham Rose Hall Golf & Beach Resort (Montego Bay; [tel] 876/953-2650): Wyndham Rose Hall features six hard-surface courts, each lit for night games. Hotel guests play for free; others must pay a fee. There's also a resident pro on hand to offer lessons.

Tryall Golf, Tennis & Beach Club (Montego Bay; [tel] 876/956-5660): Tryall is rivaled in Jamaica only by the Half Moon Club. It has nine hard-surface courts, three of which are lit for night games. Four pros on-site can help you improve your skills.

Ciboney Ocho Rios (Ocho Rios; [tel] 800/333-3333 in the U.S. or 876/974-1027): This Radisson franchise offers three clay courts and three hard-surface courts, all lit for nighttime play. There's a lot of emphasis here on tennis, including Pan-Caribbean competitions and even pan-parish tournaments. Twice-a-day clinics are sponsored, for both beginners and more-advanced players.

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The Best Natural Attractions

Martha Brae's Rafters Village (Montego Bay; [tel] 876/952-0889): Martha Brae's Rafters Village offers the best river-rafting experience in and around this popular resort. You sit on a raised dais on bamboo logs and watch the river scenery unfold before you.

The Black River (South Coast): You can explore what feels like real Tarzan country, with mangrove trees and crocodiles in the wild, on an outing with South Coast Safaris ([tel] 876/965-2513). At the mouths of the Broad and Black rivers, saltwater meets freshwater, and extensive red mangroves are formed with aerial roots of some 40 feet. Lots of wild things grow in these swamps. Birders: Look for ring-necked ducks, whistling ducks, herons, egrets, and even the blue-winged teal.

Dunn's River Falls (Ocho Rios): A favorite of cruise-ship passengers, these 600 feet of clear, cold mountain waters race over a series of stone steps. Visitors (and we mean lots of visitors) splash in the waters at the bottom of the falls or drop into the cool pools higher up between cascades of water. It's the best way to cool off on a hot day in Jamaica. Visitors hold hands climbing the falls and trust that the human chain won't have a weak link!

Somerset Falls (Port Antonio): This sun-dappled spot is not as touristy as Dunn's River. The waters from Daniels River race down a deep gorge split through a rain forest. Flowering vines, waterfalls, and foaming cascades form the lush backdrop. You can swim in the deep rock pools.

Rafting on the Rio Grande (Port Antonio; [tel] 876/993-5778): Shades of Errol Flynn. This is the grandest rafting experience in Jamaica. Popularized by the late movie star, the rafts propelled by bamboo poles take you through Jungle Jim country on a soft adventure.

Exploring the Blue Mountains (outside Kingston; [tel] 876/920-8348): Sprawled across 192,000 acres, the Blue Mountain-John Crow Mountain National Park is one of the wildest and most lush in the Caribbean, ideal for exploring. You must hike 5 to 6 hours through thick vegetation and an amazing amount of bird life to reach the summit at about 3,000 feet above sea level. It's a heavy-duty trek, but well worth it if you have the stamina.

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours ([tel] 800/328-8368) offers weeklong birding trips to Jamaica, costing from U.S.$1,995 per person. Jamaica is home to some 30 species of birds found nowhere else in the world. Trips are conducted by a Jamaican ornithologist. Visits are to the Blue Mountains (north of Kingston, the capital) and to the ponds and lagoons of Mandeville in the southwest.

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Deep-Sea Fishing

The waters off north Jamaica are world-renowned for game fish, including dolphinfish, kingfish, wahoo, blue and white marlin, sailfish, tarpon, Allison tuna, barracuda, and bonito. The Port Antonio International Fishing Tournament lures fishers from around the world every October. Most major hotels from Port Antonio to Montego Bay offer deep-sea fishing, and there are many charter boats.

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Horseback Riding

The best riding is on the north shore. Jamaica's most complete equestrian center is Chukka Cove Polo Club ([tel] 876/972-2771), at Richmond Llandovery, less than 4 miles east of Runaway Bay. The best ride here is a 3-hour jaunt to the sea, where you can unpack your horse and swim in the surf.

Another good program is offered at the Rocky Point Riding Stables ([tel] 876/953-2286), Half Moon Club, Rose Hall, Montego Bay, which is housed in the most beautiful barn and stables in Jamaica.

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Scuba Diving

Diving is sometimes offered as part of all-inclusive packages by the island's major hotels. There are also well-maintained facilities independent of the hotels.

Jamaica boasts some of the finest waters for diving in the world, with depths averaging 35 to 95 feet. Visibility is usually 60 to 120 feet. Most diving is on coral reefs, which are protected as underwater parks. Fish, shells, coral, and sponges are plentiful on them. Experienced divers can also see wrecks, hedges, caves, drop-offs, and tunnels.

Near Montego Bay, Seaworld Resorts ([tel] 876/953-2180), at the Cariblue Hotel, Rose Hall Main Road, offers scuba-diving excursions to offshore coral reefs that are among the most spectacular in the Caribbean. There are also PAIC-certified dive guides, one dive boat, and all necessary equipment for either inexperienced or certified divers.

Outside Kingston, the Buccaneer Scuba Club, Morgan's Harbour, Port Royal ([tel] 876/967-8061), is one of Jamaica's leading dive and water-sports operators. It offers a wide range of dive sites to accommodate various divers' tastes -- from the incredible Texas shipwreck to the unspoiled beauty of the Turtle Reef.

Negril is a hotbed of diving. Negril Scuba Centre ([tel] 800/818-2963 or 876/957-9641), in the Negril Beach Club Hotel, Norman Manley Boulevard, is the area's most modern, best-equipped scuba facility. Equally as good is Marine Life Divers, a PADI-approved five-star dive shop located at the Drumville Cove Hotel ([tel] 876/957-6290).

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Tennis

All-Jamaica Hardcourt Championships are played in August at the Manchester Country Club, Brumalia Road, P.O. Box 17, Mandeville ([tel] 876/962-2403). The courts are open for general play during the rest of the year.

Ciboney Ocho Rios, Main Street, Ocho Rios ([tel] 876/974-1027), focuses more on tennis than does any other resort in the area. It offers three clay-surface and three hard-surface courts, all lit for nighttime play. Residents play free either day or night, but nonresidents must call and make arrangements with the manager.

In Montego Bay, you'll find excellent tennis facilities at Wyndham Rose Hall Golf & Beach Resort, at Rose Hall ([tel] 876/953-2650); Half Moon Golf, Tennis & Beach Club ([tel] 876/953-2211); and Tryall Golf, Tennis & Beach Club, St. James ([tel] 876/956-5660).

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Montego Bay Attractions

Rocklands Wildlife Station. It's a unique experience to have a Jamaican doctor bird perch on your finger to drink syrup, to feed small doves and finches millet from your hand, and to watch dozens of other birds flying in for their evening meal. Don't take children 5 and under to this sanctuary, as they tend to bother the birds. Rocklands is about a mile outside Anchovy on the road from Montego Bay. Anchovy, St. James. [tel] 876/952-2009. Admission $8.55. Daily 2:30-5pm.

Barnett Estates and Belfield Great House. Once a totally private estate sprawled across 50,000 acres, a 15-minute drive west of Montego Bay, this great house has hosted everybody from John F. Kennedy to Winston Churchill and even Queen Elizabeth II over the years. Now anybody who pays the entrance fee can come in and take a look. The domain of the Kerr-Jarret family during 300 years of high society, this was once the seat of a massive sugar plantation. At its center is the 18th-century Belfield Great House. Restored in 1994, it is a grand example of Georgian architecture, though not as ornate as Rose Hall (see below). Guides in costumes offer narrated tours of the property. After the tour, drop in at the old Sugar Mill Bar for a tall rum punch. Barnett Estates. [tel] 876/952-2382. Admission $10. Daily 9:30am-5pm.

Greenwood Great House. Some people find the 15-room Greenwood even more interesting than Rose Hall because it's less restored and has more literary associations. Erected on its hillside perch between 1780 and 1800, the Georgian-style building was the residence of Richard Barrett, cousin of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Elizabeth Barrett Browning herself never visited Jamaica, but her family used to be one of the largest landholders here. An absentee planter who lived in England, her father once owned 84,000 acres and some 3,000 slaves. On display is the original library of the Barrett family, with rare books dating from 1697 (including the H. G. deLisser book White Witch of Rose Hall) along with oil paintings of the family, Wedgwood china, rare musical instruments, and a fine collection of antique furniture. The house was built by John Palmer, a wealthy British planter, during the years 1778 to 1790. At its peak, this was a 6,600-acre plantation, with more than 2,000 slaves. However, it was Annie Palmer, wife of the builder's grandnephew, who became the focal point of fiction and fact. Called "Infamous Annie," she was said to have dabbled in witchcraft. She took slaves as lovers and then killed them off when they bored her. Servants called her "the Obeah woman" (Obeah is Jamaican for voodoo). Annie was said to have murdered several of her husbands while they slept and eventually suffered the same fate herself. Long in ruins, the house has now been restored and can be visited by the public. Annie's Pub is on the ground floor. On Rte. A1, 14 miles east of Montego Bay. [tel] 876/953-1077. Admission $12 adults, $6 children under 12. Daily 9am-6pm.

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Ocho Rios Attractions

Brimmer Hall Estate. Some 21 miles east of Ocho Rios, in the hills 2 miles from Port Maria, this 1817 estate is an ideal place to spend a day. You can relax beside the pool and sample a wide variety of brews and concoctions. The Plantation Tour Eating House offers typical Jamaican dishes for lunch, and there's a souvenir shop with a good selection of ceramics, art, straw goods, wood carvings, rums, liqueurs, and cigars. All this is on a working plantation where you're driven around in a tractor-drawn jitney to see the tropical fruit trees and coffee plants; the knowledgeable guides will explain the various processes necessary to produce the fine fruits of the island. This is a far more interesting and entertaining experience than the trip to Croydon Plantation in Montego Bay. So, if you're visiting both resorts and have time for only one plantation, make it Brimmer Hall. Port Maria, St. Mary's. [tel] 876/994-2309. Tours $15. Tours Mon-Fri at 11am, 1:30pm, and 3pm.

Coyaba Botanical Gardens and Museum. A mile south of the center of Ocho Rios, at a breezy elevation of 420 feet, this is a well-known botanical garden that's set within what were originally conceived as the gardens of a since-demolished resort built in 1923, the Shaw Park. Its steeply sloping land is artfully bisected with rushing spin-offs from the Milford River, each of which has been channeled into carefully engineered stone-sided canals. Don't expect the sweaty tropics here, as the site's high elevation and frequent breezes keep the place cool, calm, and verdant, factors that keep flowers and shrubs flourishing on virtually every side. On the premises is a museum devoted to the nostalgia of the Shaw Park and its role as the first hotel on Jamaica's north coast. There are also artifacts from the Arawak Indian, Spanish, and English colonial eras in Jamaica. Shaw Park Rd. [tel] 876/974-6235. Admission $4.50 adults, free for children under 13. Daily 8am-5pm.

Cranbrook Flower Forest. Centered on a much-restored water mill that was originally built by a British planter around 200 years ago, this 130-acre commercial nursery welcomes visitors who stroll amid formal lawns, fountains, lakes, and ponds. If you're a devoted botanist, you'll appreciate its diversity of plants. Many Jamaicans value the site as a temporary escape from their apartments, choosing the site for picnics, barbecues, and in some cases, wedding ceremonies. If you opt for a visit, don't miss the view of the open-sided greenhouse whose plants are shaded with cloth mesh from too direct an exposure to the streaming tropical sunlight. Laughland's P.O., Llandovery, near St. Ann's Bay. [tel] 876/770-8071. Admission $5.70, $2.85 children under 15. Daily 8:30am-6pm.

Dunn's River Falls. For a fee, you can relax on the beach or climb with a guide to the top of the 600-foot falls. You can splash in the waters at the bottom of the falls or drop into the cool pools higher up between the cascades of water. The beach restaurant provides snacks and drinks, and dressing rooms are available. If you're planning to climb the falls, wear old tennis shoes to protect your feet from the sharp rocks and to prevent slipping. Climbing the falls is a chance to experience some 610 feet of cold -- but clear -- mountain water. In contrast to the heat swirling around you, the splashing water hitting your face and bare legs is quite exhilarating. The problem here is slipping and falling, especially if you're joined to a chain of hands linking body to body. In spite of the slight danger, there seem to be few accidents. The falls aren't exactly a wilderness experience, however; all the tour buses carrying cruise-ship passengers stop here, so at times the place becomes overrun. Rte. A3. [tel] 876/974-2857. Admission $6 adults, $3 children 2-11, free for children under 2. Daily 8:30am-5pm (8am-5pm on cruise-ship arrival days).

Firefly. Firefly was the home of Sir Noel Coward and his longtime companion, Graham Payn, who, as executor of Coward's estate, donated it to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. The recently restored house is more or less as it was on the day Sir Noel died in 1973. His Hawaiian-print shirts still hang in the closet of his austere bedroom, with its mahogany four-poster bed. The library contains a collection of his books, and the living room is warm and comfortable, with big armchairs and two grand pianos (where he composed several famous tunes). When the Queen Mother was entertained here, the lobster mousse Coward planned on serving melted, so, with a style and flair that was the stuff of legend, he opened a can of pea soup instead. Grants Pen, in St. Mary, 20 miles east of Ocho Rios above Oracabessa. [tel] 876/997-7201. Admission $10. Daily 8:30am-5:30pm.

Harmony Hall. Harmony Hall was built near the end of the 19th century as the centerpiece of a sugar plantation. Today, it has been restored and is now the focal point of an art gallery and restaurant that showcase the painting and sculpture of Jamaican artists as well as a tasteful array of arts and crafts. Among the featured gift items are Sharon McConnell's Starfish Oils, which contain natural additives harvested in Jamaica. Tower Isles on Rte. A3, 4 miles east of Ocho Rios. [tel] 876/975-4222. Free admission. Gallery Mon-Sat 10am-11pm; restaurant/cafe daily 10am-10pm.

Prospect Plantation. This working plantation adjoins the 18-hole Prospect Mini Golf Course. A visit to this property is an educational, relaxing, and enjoyable experience. On your leisurely ride by covered jitney through the scenic beauty of Prospect, you'll readily see why this section of Jamaica is called "the garden parish of the island." You can view the many trees planted by such visitors as Winston Churchill, Henry Kissinger, Charlie Chaplin, Pierre Trudeau, Noel Coward, and many others. You'll learn about and observe pimento (allspice), bananas, cassava, sugarcane, coffee, cocoa, coconut, pineapple, and the famous leucaena "Tree of Life." You'll see Jamaica's first hydroelectric plant and sample some of the exotic fruit and drinks. Horseback riding is available on three scenic trails at Prospect. The rides vary from 1 hour to 2 hours and 15 minutes. Rte. A3, 3 miles east of Ocho Rios, in St. Ann. [tel] 876/994-1058. Tours $12 adults, free for children 12 and under; 1-hour horseback ride $20. Tours Mon-Sat at 10:30am, 2pm, and 3:30pm; Sun at 11am, 1:30pm, and 3pm.

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Port Antonio Attractions

Athenry Gardens and Cave of Nonsuch. Twenty minutes from Port Antonio, it's an easy drive and an easy walk to see the stalagmites, stalactites, fossilized marine life, and evidence of Arawak civilization in Nonsuch. The cave is 1.5 million years old, and you can explore its underground beauty by following railed stairways and concrete walkways on a 30-minute walk. The place is dramatically lit. Although the U.S. and Europe have far-greater cave experiences, this is as good as it gets in Jamaica. From the Athenry Gardens, there are panoramic views over the island and the sea. The gardens are filled with coconut palms, flowers, and trees, and complete guided tours are given. Portland. [tel] 876/993-3740. Admission (including guide for gardens and cave) $5 adults, $2.50 children 11 and under. Daily 10am-4pm.

Somerset Falls. Here, the waters of the Daniels River pour down a deep gorge through a rain forest, with waterfalls and foaming cascades. You can take a short ride in an electric gondola to the hidden falls. A stop on the daily Grand Jamaica Tour from Ocho Rios, this is one of Jamaica's most historic sites; the falls were used by the Spanish before the English captured the island. At the falls, you can change into a swimsuit and enjoy the deep rock pools and buy sandwiches, light meals, soft drinks, beer, and liquor at the snack bar. The guided tour includes the gondola ride and a visit to both a cave and a freshwater fish farm. 8 miles west of Port Antonio, just past Hope Bay on Rte. A4. [tel] 876/913-0108. Tour $4. Daily 9am-5pm.

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