Montego Bay Jamaica
Montego Bay is the second city in Jamaica, both in size and importance, and sometimes being the second city is not always easy. It’s like being in the middle of not being first but not being last as well, not everything gets fixed in time and some roads and infrastructures need repair. However, Montego Bay Jamaica has always been the Tourism Capital of Jamaica and has maintained that reputation all through the years. Montegonians call their city “The Republic” and “The Friendly City” and have always been proud people differentiating themselves from the “Big City” people, the Kingstonians.
Montego Bay Jamaica is divided into three rather different parts, the main city itself with crowded and bustling streets, the “hotel area” which is a mile-and-a-half strip that runs from the city past the famous Doctor’s Cave Beach and out to the Dead End Bar, and the third division are the outlying hotels and villas on the hillside or beach.
The streets of the city are lively, colorful, and crowded. From the locals who flock to the city to visit markets, shops and banks, to guests from hotels and cruise ships who find their way to craft markets and in-bond shops, to office women, housewives, market hagglers, round bar-front discussion groups, and even sidewalk dominos. Montego Bay Jamaica bustles with everyone and everything, it’s no “Palm Beach” and most visitors enjoy its lively, noisy, messy Caribbean charm.
Montego Bay Jamaica is a mixture of last-century ‘gingerbread’ wooden houses architecture sprinkled with modern buildings, a lot of which complement each other as Georgian facades was never really outdated. A nice cobble-stoned hub of activity, the Sam Sharpe Square, is more or less the centre of the town where a formerly jail for runaway slaves stands, the Cage. Ruins of the Courthouse built in 1804 and damaged by fire about twenty years ago, can also be found in this area.
In true Jamaican tradition, the city center is not the center of the city, but the centre of in-bond shopping where every single one of the major in-bond stores are gathered. The Crafts market can be found on Harbour Street but two smaller ones can be found in the hotel area. A number of shopping arcades in Montego Bay Jamaica where tourists can shop for souvenirs include Montego Bay Plaza, Bay West Plaza, St. James, Fantasy Plaza, Freeport Shopping Centre, and Blue Diamond Plaza.
Montego Bay Jamaica also takes pride in many luxurious hotel accommodations, from the older well-established hotels to the newer all-inclusive hotels, many small intimate places, as well as villas for those who want get away from all the hectic streets. This city also has a lot of transportation facilities, and boasts of its being an international holiday center that offers a wide array of amenities.
Experience a different Jamaica, from the Montegonians friendly hospitality to Montego Bay’s diverse city experience and get a taste of the real Jamaican spirit.