Call or email for assistance planning your trip: +1 (212) 203-0064 | reservations@moonjamaica.com
Paradise Park (US$5 admission to park, US$40 horseback riding) is one of the best places in Jamaica for down-to-earth small-group (up to 10 at a time) rides on an expansive seaside ranch a few kilometers east of Savanna-la-Mar in Ferris Cross. Riders are led through beautiful countryside to a river park and private beach for a 1.5-hour loop.
Fort Charlotte houses the Hanover Museum (admission US$5), located on the western point of Lucea Harbor. It's the most intact fort in western Jamaica, with three cannons in good condition sitting on the battlements. It was built by the British in 1756, with 23 cannon openings to defend their colony from any challenge from the sea.
Kenilworth is one of Jamaica's most impressive great houses, located on the former Maggoty Estate. Currently the property is home to the HEART Academy, a training skills institute.
Dolphin Head Mountain and the Dolphin Head Forest Reserve contain some of Jamaica's few remaining pockets of biodiversity and high endemism. A Nature Trail and Living Botanical Museum were developed over the past several years and are currently maintained by Jamaica's Forestry Department
Half Moon Beach located between Orange Bay and Green Island is a great little stretch of sand to enjoy as a more low-key alternative to Negril's oft-crowded Seven-Mile Beach. The property is owned by Andrew Bauwen, who, along with his wife Tania, rents cabins and runs a bar and restaurant serving fish, chicken and lobster dishes (US$8-20).
Ten minutes from Savanna-la-Mar off of the B8, Roaring River make for a good day trip from Negril or Bluefields. The Roaring River cave guided tour costs US$5 per person. Expect to be aggressively approached as soon as you near the main building for the site. Tipping the guide is also expected.
Bluefields Beach is a popular local hangout and sees very few tourists. It has fine white sand and is lined with vendors. Music is often blasted on weekends when the beach fills up.
Bluefields Great House, located about 0.4 kilometer inland from the police station, on the road to Brighton, was the home of many of the area's most distinguished temporary inhabitants, including Philip Henry Goss, an English ornithologist who resided in Jamaica 1844-1846, subsequently completing the work Birds of Jamaica, a Naturalist's Sojourn in Jam
The Peter Tosh Memorial Garden, where the remains of this original Wailer lie, is worth a quick stop, if only to pause amid the ganja seedlings to remember one of the world's greatest reggae artists. An entrance fee is assessed (US$5) when there's someone around to collect it. Otherwise the gate is unlocked and a quick visit usually goes unnoticed.
Whether or not you choose to stay at this well situated hilltop property, a sunset cocktail from the beautiful poolside terrace will remain a romantic memory indefinitely.
