Call or email for assistance planning your trip: +1 (212) 203-0064 | reservations@moonjamaica.com
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).
Half Moon Beach Bar & Grill (7 a.m.-10 p.m or until the last person leaves the bar) serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a laid-back beach shack setting, with typical Jamaican favorites as well as creative international fusion like shrimp with pineapple, sweet pepper kabob, seafood crepes, and lobster (US$5-18).
Rhodes Hall Plantation (tel. 876/957-6883 or 876/957-6422, rhodesresort@comcast.net, www.rhodesresort.com, US$95\340) sits on a 223-hectare estate adjacent to Orange Bay.
Along the route from Negril to Savanna-la-Mar, the hills open up a few kilometers east from the beach to vast alluvial plains along Cabarita River that sustain Jamaica's largest sugarcane crop, processed at Frome. Small communities like Negril Spot and Little London dot the route and offer little excuse to stop.
About 1.5 kilometers farther east from Homer's Cove is Little Bay, another rootsy fishing village relatively untouched by the outside world. Little Bay was a cherished retreat for Bob Marley, who would come to escape the pressures of Kingston and his burgeoning career.
Purple Rain Guest House (call Cug, pronounced "Cudge," cell tel. 876/425-5386, or book through Donna Gill Colestock at U.S. tel. 508/816-6923, greenbiscuit03@hotmail.com) is a small cottage set back from the beach owned by Livingston "Cug" Drummond.
Tansobak Seaside Cottage (U.S. tel. 608/873-9391 or 608/873-8195, mmoushey55@aol.com, www.littlebaycottages.com) is a tastefully appointed accommodation a few meters from the water's edge in Little Bay.
Coral Cove Beach Resort & Spa (from US$179) is a secluded family-owned and operated boutique resort on the sea, with tasteful bamboo furniture and wood frame beds. The 17 beach houses and cottages are naturally ventilated with louvered windows and ceiling fans, with A/C also available.
Tiki's Guinep Tree Restaurant & Bar (in front of Uncle Sam's, tel. 876/438-3496, 10 a.m.\9 p.m, US$3.50\5), run by Vernon "Tiki" Johnson, is a favorite with locals. It serves dishes like stewed conch, fried fish, fried chicken, and jerk pork, accompanied with rice and peas or french fries.
Uncle Sam's Garden Park (next to sea, tel. 876/867-2897, US$13), run by Tiki's uncle, Samuel "Uncle Sam" Clayton, serves fried chicken, fried fish, and conch soup.
