Slow Jamaica: Get The Most From A Trip To The Caribbean Jewel

Even among the many extraordinary islands and countries that make up the Caribbean, Jamaica stands out. Its beaches are a dream. Its food is a point of national pride. Its forests and rivers are exotic and otherworldly. And its cultural influence on the world stage far outweighs its diminutive size, from Rastafarianism to Reggae, Bob Marley to Usain Bolt, Sensimilla to Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Despite its global renown, you’ll never get the true beat of its rhythm until you visit.

Approach your stay right and you can make the most of its coastal and inland treasures. Peak season is mid-December until early April, when you can expect long, sunny days with little rain and just-right temperatures. If you’re heading to the west side of the island, here’s how to do it right.

Stay: at the Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa

Jamaica has some of the best all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean. It’s an island where it makes a lot of sense to go all-inclusive, as many of the best resorts are set on lovely, quiet stretches of coastline. Access to local restaurants and bars isn’t always convenient.

The five-star Grand Palladium is no shrinking violet. A 40-minute drive from Montego Bay airport, across its 9.5 hectares sit more than 500 suites of varying sizes, views and facilities, arranged in grand colonial style buildings connected by long, covered walkways. A huge, sprawling property, it throbs with energy and carries a distinctly “no problem” Jamaican vibe that betrays its many facilities. Wandering to and from your room, you’ll inevitably be greeted by smiles and “Wah Gwaans” from the many staff tending to the property at their own unique pace. They give everything a veneer of relaxed warmth which feels entirely appropriate.

Guests are spoiled for choice. Eleven restaurants traverse the world’s cuisines from Jamaican Jerk to classic Indian curries. There are even more bars, 15 to be exact, of every possible persuasion, from swim-up to lounge and American sports bars. Regular events pop off – raucous beach parties with fire dancers and DJs, silent discos on the huge main terrace, impromptu musical performances be it dawn or dusk.

Daytimes are spent lounging by beaches and pools, including what is rumored to be Jamaica’s largest. A vast arch of water, it wraps around the resort’s always-busy central hub and giant Infinity bar and terrace. Below, the Blue Lagoon swim-up bar buzzes with revelers fueled on the lethal house punch. On either side, faux Tuscan columns emerge from the water like some throwback to an ancient civilization.

The beaches are more tranquil. The main beach is busiest but the adults-only coral pool and beach are quieter. The pick has to be sunset beach with its funky beach bar, authentic jerk chicken shack and watersports center where stand up paddle boards and kayaks are free to borrow, and where SCUBA and sailing expeditions depart. The name gives it a way, but it’s the perfect spot for pre-dinner sundowners with sand between your toes.

All-inclusive Garden View Junior Suites at Grand Palladium Jamaica Resort & Spa start at £269 per night per person and Super Junior Suite Beachside with Private Bool begins from around £620

Do: escape your resort into Jamaica proper

Just because you’re staying all-inclusive, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get a real taste of what Jamaica actually is. That means leaving your resort and exploring – you can book taxis or speak to the hotel about getting a local driver for the day.

At the wonderful Montego Bay Cultural Center, the “Rastafari” exhibition has been telling the story of Rastafarianism since 2015, with a focus on the Coral Gardens incident in St James in 1963 that drove a rift between Jamaican and Rastafarian communities. Not far away is the Rose Hall Great House where the “white witch” Annie Palmer turned her architectural masterpiece of a plantation into a hell house of murder. Today it has been restored to its original grandeur.

For something a little more relaxing, few experiences beat floating on a raft down the Martha Brae river in Cockpit Country. Setting off from Rafter’s Village, you’ll be guided for a gentle hour down a three-mile stretch of the slow-moving Martha Brae aboard extraordinary bamboo rafts. Each is 30 feet long, set with a comfy bench at the rear for passengers and a runway for the pilot to traverse as they punt and navigate their way downstream. En route you can pick up handmade souvenirs and lethal rum punches from local riverbank entrepreneurs. If you’re feeling hot under the collar, the Martha Brae’s waters are bracing and the currents easy enough to float in.

Eat: jerk at Scotchies

A rite of passage for any meat eater visiting Jamaica is to test their taste buds against the fire of jerked chicken and pork. There’s no better place to try it than Scotchies Montego Bay, where rustic wooden tables are piled high with smokey mounds of fire-flamed wings, ribs and sausages, roasted fishes and, if you’re there on the right day, the fantastic conch soup.

Atop each table you’ll find innocent looking plastic bottles filled with sauces of varying levels of heat, from skin-melting to soul destroying. Make sure you try them all! I suggest lining up a Red Stripe or two, to help relieve the fiery disco in your mouth.

Drink: in the sunsets and cocktails at Rick’s

Find yourself on what many would call Jamaica’s finest beach at Negril, and it would be remiss not to take in the superlative sunsets from Rick’s Cafe on the cliffs above. A legendary bar on the fringes of laidback Negril, it’s a bit of a tourist hotspot but is still a spellbinding place to watch the day end, bucket of Red Stripes in hand. Look out over the cliffs to see spectacular high-divers plunging into the warm seas below in a daily show of bravado.