You need spend no more than an hour touring the center of raffish Port Antonio -- there's not that much to see. Another hour can be spent visiting the markets. After that, it's either back to your resort to lie on the beach or, if you're adventurous, you can drive along the coast or dip into the hinterlands south of Port Antonio.
The newest major improvement to the infrastructure of Port Antonio, the Port Antonio Marina (tel. 876/993-3209), opened in stages beginning in 2003. It takes the form of a fenced-in compound dotted with shops, gazebos, and waterfront diversions specifically built with cruise ship passengers in mind. At press time, there was dock and wharf space for small and medium-sized cruise ships, berths for up to 32 private yachts, a restaurant (Norma's at the Marina; see "Where to Dine"), a scattering of lawns and ornamental gazebos, an outdoor swimming pool reserved for use by yacht owners and cruise ship passengers, and a very limited handful of boutiques. Completed in 2005 at an overall cost of $50 million, and with ambitions of filling up some of its empty storefronts during the lifetime of this edition, its aim was to increase the visibility of Port Antonio as a colorful option for cruise ship stopovers.
