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Montego Bay

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Overview

Montego Bay has two distinct faces: there’s the smooth tourist countenance that grins contentedly from the pages of a thousand glossy Caribbean brochures; and there’s MoBay proper, a pretty gritty city, second only to Kingston in terms of status and chaos. Most of the big all-inclusive resorts are located well outside the urban core in the fancy suburb of Ironshore. Stay in the city, however, and you’re faced with an entirely different proposition – a riot of cacophonous car horns and bustling humanity that offers an unscripted and uncensored slice of Jamaican life, warts and all.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • National Museum West

    National Museum West

    Montego Bay

    This well-curated, revamped museum, peppered with period objects, takes you through the history of western Jamaica, from the Cohaba ceremonies of the…

  • Doctors Cave Beach in Jamaica

    Doctor’s Cave Beach

    Montego Bay

    It may sound like a rocky hole inhabited by lab-coated troglodytes, but this is actually Montego Bay’s most famous beach and the one with the most…

  • Indigenous Rastafarian Village

    Indigenous Rastafarian Village

    Montego Bay

    If you want to learn about the Rastafarian movement, come out to this…hmmm...‘theme park’ is definitely not the right description. How about ‘living…

  • Montego Bay Marine Park & Bogue Lagoon

    Montego Bay Marine Park & Bogue Lagoon

    Montego Bay

    The waters of Montego Bay are gorgeous to behold both above and below the surface, but they have long been compromised by the effects of fishing, water…

  • St James Parish Church

    St James Parish Church

    Montego Bay

    Regarded as the finest church on the island, it was originally built between 1775 and 1782, but was so damaged by the earthquake of March 1, 1957, that it…

  • Bellefield Great House

    Bellefield Great House

    Montego Bay

    Built in 1735, the restored Bellefield showcases 18th-century colonial living and Jamaican culinary history. You get to see the local gardens with…

  • Walter Fletcher Beach & Aquasol Theme Park

    Walter Fletcher Beach & Aquasol Theme Park

    Montego Bay

    While the theme-park moniker is pushing it (the kid-orientated facilities consist of some blow-up water slides and a go-cart circuit), this place on…

  • Sam Sharpe Square

    Sam Sharpe Square

    Montego Bay

    This bustling, cobbled square is named for Samuel Sharpe (1801–32), national hero and leader of the 1831 Christmas Rebellion; it is also where he was…

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