MONTEGO BAY

Enclosed by a cradle of hills with stunning views of the western coastline, Montego Bay’s lovely beaches are the main reason for its enduring popularity. A favorite stopover for cruise ships and the destination for most international flights to Jamaica, it is a busy place, with the center of activity concentrated along the length of Gloucester Avenue, rechristened the Hip Strip. Working south to north, the first point of interest along the Strip is Aquasol Beach , a handsome crescent popular with locals, with a go-kart track, excellent watersports facilities, and tennis courts.

Bars, restaurants, and gift shops line most of the avenue between Aquasol and the Strip’s only green space, a grassy park with great views down the coast. Past the tacky façades of the Margaritaville and Coral Cliff bars is the entrance to the famed white sand and crystal-clear water of Doctor’s Cave Beach  and, some 720 ft (220 m) beyond, Cornwall Beach.

The Strip tails off where Gloucester Avenue becomes Kent Avenue, and the seafront is once again visible; there is a fine slip of beach and great snorkeling offshore. Downtown Montego Bay provides a refreshing antidote to the schmaltz of Gloucester Avenue, and though most visitors do not venture past the southern end of the avenue, there are a couple of sights to look out for. Across the road at the end of the Strip is Fort Street, which threads past the chaotic Gully fruit and vegetable market to Sam Sharpe Square, named after one of Jamaica’s national heroes and distinguished by its central fountain. In the northwest corner, next to the cut-stone Cage built by the British as a lock-up for runaway slaves, is a sculpture of Sam Sharpe preaching to his followers. Just around the corner the Montego Bay Civic Centre  houses a small museum on local history, which has more information about Sam Sharpe.


AQUASOL BEACH

 





DOCTOR’S CAVE BEACH

 





Doctor's Cave Beach, Montego Bay



MONTEGO BAY CIVIC CENTRE

 



  • St. James Street.
  • Tel: 876 952 5500.

  • 9am–5pm Tue–Fri, 10am–3pm Sat, noon–5pm Sun.


SAM SHARPE AND THE CHRISTMAS REBELLION

The Christmas Rebellion of December 1831 was perhaps the most significant uprising of African slaves in Jamaica’s history. Though the slave trade had been outlawed in 1807, plantation culture still held sway here, with thousands of Africans working in the sugar estates quite unaware of the legislation. It was in the planters’ interests to maintain this ignorance and they made great efforts to suppress the inevitability of emancipation. However, Sam Sharpe, a house slave working in Montego Bay who had taught himself to read by way of his position as deacon of a Baptist church, learned of the activities of abolitionists in Britain, and preached in his sermons that freedom was close. The news spread like wildfire, and talk of insurrection intensified as Christmas approached. By December 27, non-violent protests had developed into full-scale rebellion, with western Jamaica ablaze as some 160 estates were razed to the ground. The British response was brutal, with 1,000 slaves shot dead and another 300 – including Sharpe – hanged by the neck. The death-knell of slavery had been sounded, however, and the uprising was the first step on the road to complete abolition in 1838.