Along western Jamaica's B8
During last week’s press trip to Jamaica‘s all-inclusive Couples Resorts, we had a day to ourselves — and went rogue.
Creating our own itinerary at the Swept Away tour desk, we hired a small van and driver to take us through a swath of the island’s interior: a winding, lush and hilly journey from Negril to Montego Bay.
For about two minutes, we considered renting our own vehicle (for roughly $40-50 US) for the day.
But a few things gave us pause:
1) In Jamaica, a former colony of England, driving is a left side of the road affair.
2) Jamaica’s no Rarotonga. Adam drove this way for the first time on our recent trip to the Cook Islands, but please compare:
- Rarotonga = 31 sq. km, approx. pop. 9000
- Jamaica = 10,990 sq. km, approx. pop. 2.7 million
3) Goats, cows and human beings tend to traipse in and out of traffic without warning.
4) In Jamaica, everything’s farther away than you think. If you stick to the island’s main ring road, it takes about 1 ½ hours each way to drive from Negril to Montego Bay. Head into the interior, and you add an hour each way…and that’s if you know where you’re going.
If you have more gumption, skill and time than we, go forth and rent. However, now that we’ve seen the interior’s low-banked roads, close-to-the-bumper driving and narrow-miss, high-speed passing, I’d recommend a sturdy SUV or Jeep rather than a tiny little car.
Because we wanted to relax and see rather than stay on alert and navigate, we went to the helpful tour desk at Couples Swept Away and booked a ride with one of the resort’s drivers, Wilbert Waite. We paired our journey along the B8 and the main ring road with a river excursion and lunch; the ride portion by itself would have cost about $50.
With humor, skill and some local knowledge, Wilbert showed us a Jamaica we hadn’t seen before…and in pictures, I’ll share it with you.
Just outside the town of Sheffield
The Cabarita River
Bright paint on your house is a sign of pride
Some villages seem to be carved out of limestone cliffs and corrugated metal
At an elevation of almost 2000 feet
Downtown Whithorn
In some places, sugarcane simply grows wild
In other places, vegetation is so thick it's impossible to know what's underneath
Just outside Montego Bay, the main road is being (slowly) widened from two lanes to four
The main craft market in downtown Montego Bay
Montego Bay itself
See related posts
Off to Jamaica, Take Two
Jamaica: Swept Along at Swept Away
Jamaica: Notes on an Island
TWT Travel Binder: Jamaica
Gotta love that pink house!!
Looks like a great experience. Thanks for sharing. We love Jamaica but haven’t ventured off resort yet. One year we’ll plan to do that. This Dec. we go back to Couples Swept Away and will be participating in the Reggae Marathon (1/2 marathon).
It’s good to see that my brother, Wilbert Waite, is still the best tour guide the Island nation has.
Lavern, I’d agree — your brother was truly wonderful. Thanks to him, we learned so much about modern-day life in Jamaica…and what to order at Scotchie’s in Montego Bay!