Moon Author's Review
Blue Hole is also commonly known as the Blue Lagoon thanks to a 1980 Randal Kleiser adventure film of the same name starring a teenage Brooke Shields. This Blue Lagoon has no relation to the film, though locals will make the connection erroneously. Portland’s Blue Hole is Jamaica’s largest underground spring-fed lagoon, of which there are many smaller ones scattered across the island. The Blue Lagoon is made all the more unique by its location in a 55-meter-deep protected cove along the coast, where warm tidal waters gently mix with fresh water welling up from the depths. Some claim Blue Hole has no bottom. At one time, Robin Moore, the author of The French Connection, owned much of the land surrounding the lagoon; today his cottages lie in ruins. A restaurant and bar with a deck overhanging the lagoon has been closed for several years. In 2006 Michael Lee Chin, National Commercial Bank (NCB) chairman and one of Jamaica’s richest men, took over the lease for the land bordering the western edge of the lagoon. A handful of craft vendors line the beach waiting patiently to make a sale. The restaurant was dilapidated and falling into the water, but Geejam co-owner and Trident Hotel manager Jon Baker is understood to be taking over management of the attraction.
Blue Hole is located east of San San Beach and Pellew Island, just past the well-marked turnoff for Goblin Hill heading east. Turn onto the lane off the main road along the Blue Lagoon Villas and continue down to a small parking area along the beach.
