Attractions

Bluefields & Belmont

Just off the A2 at Belmont, you can visit the Peter Tosh Museum, in a small green-and-gold building, open daily from 9am to 5pm. Technically, no admission is charged but you'll be asked for a donation. The Bob Marley Centre & Mausoleum at Nine Mile, reached from Ocho Rios, is more interesting, unless you liked reggae star Tosh's music better.

Bluefields was also the home of Philip Gosse (1810-88), an English naturalist who lived here for 18 months beginning in 1844 and wrote two books. His former abode is now privately owned and in poor condition, but you can walk by it, as it lies adjacent to the police station in Bluefields. In the gardens of the house grows a breadfruit tree said to have been planted as a seedling by Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame.

Snorkeling is good right off the shoreline. You can often get the owner of a local boat to take you over to nearby Moor Reef for US$35 (£18) per hour. Some of the boats hold as many as six snorkelers.

Black River

Exploring The Area -- Reached along the A2 directly south of Whitehouse, going via South Sea Park, is Scott's Cove, a deep inlet that forms the frontier between the parishes of Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth. Here you'll find several fish and bammy stalls with vendors hawking their wares. (Bammy, for the uninitiated, is fried pancake-shaped cassava bread.)

Immediately to the southeast stands the 1,274-hectare (3,150-acre) Font Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, strung along 3km (1 3/4 miles) of seafront. Birders from all over the world flock here to see herons, egrets, and much rarer species such as blue-winged teals. Listen for the sound of the whistling duck. This is also a habitat for the ground dove, the smallest bird of that species. Give wide berth to the dozens of crocodiles that still inhabit the district.

You can follow a dirt trail here down to Font Hill Beach, a small strip of white sands set against a backdrop of sea grapes. The swimming is good here, as the waters are clear, which invites snorkelers to the offshore reefs. This is one of the ideal places for a picnic with supplies you picked up at Scott's Cove.

Exploring The Town -- Come here for a glimpse of old Jamaica before it disappears completely. Because the town appears to be in decay during the day, we prefer it under the kind, rosy glow of sunset while walking along its waterfront. You might also walk along High Street (the main street), taking in old colonial buildings, some in the West Indian gingerbread style and others mere rip-offs of Georgian architecture.

At the east end of High Street sits the Hendricks Building, site of the tourist office . This battered old structure dates from 1813. Also on "The High," you can see the old courthouse with its porticoes and the town hall with its pillared facade opening onto a mammoth banyan tree. Nearby you'll spot the Parish Church of St. John the Evangelist, dating from 1837.

Black River & The Great Morass

Most visitors come here for a so-called "safari" adventure along the Black River and into the Great Morass. However, it's also possible to see many land-based sights, especially if you take the A2 north and east to Mandeville.

YS Falls -- Among the most spectacular falls in the West Indies, rivaled only by the tourist-trodden Dunn's River Falls at Ocho Rios, these eight falls drop a panoramic 36m (120 ft.) in majestic tiers separated by beautiful pools ideal for swimming. The lush setting is framed by limestone cliffs and junglelike growth. A crew of engineers dug a basin out of the riverbank, thereby creating a large and beautiful freshwater swimming pool whose waters are constantly replenished by the swift-flowing waters. The falls lie on the privately owned YS Estate, 6km (3 3/4 miles) to the north of the A2 highway; the turnoff is signposted 2km (1 1/4 miles) east after you leave the village of Middle Quarters, about 13km (8 miles) north of Middle Quarters.

Kids love this estate, which includes a playground and tractor rides. It's open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 3:30pm, charging an admission of US$14 (£7). There's a little thatched dining hut on-site serving chicken and burgers, if you didn't pack a lunch. For more information, call tel. 876/997-6360.

In the hamlet of Middle Quarters, women stand along the roadside hawking peppery shellfish. Fiery hot, these crayfish (locally called "swimps") are caught in the river and then cooked at little open-air roadside grills.

Bamboo Avenue -- Middle Quarters, along the A2 north from Black River, marks the beginning of Bamboo Avenue -- the most beautiful drive in the West Indies. Lying between Middle Quarters and Lacovia, this 4km (2 1/2-mile) stretch of bamboo trees is a grand scenic treat. Planted in the early 20th century to provide a respite from the hot sun for sugar cane workers, the bamboo trees stretch across the road, linking to form a canopy over the road, which narrows to a kind of tunnel that flutters in the trade winds. It's a dramatic sight, and along the road hawkers of coconuts and peanuts ply their trades. Stop anywhere along the way for a snack and a refreshing drink of coconut water.

Santa Cruz -- The last town of any importance you'll pass after Bamboo Avenue en route to Mandeville is Santa Cruz, a thriving market town supported in part by a large factory. The best stopover is at Hind's Restaurant & Bakery, Santa Cruz Plaza (tel. 876/966-2234), serving Jamaican cuisine daily from 7am to 6pm (until 7pm Friday to Saturday, closed on Sunday). Main courses cost J$310 to J$420 (US$4.35-US$5.90/£2.15-£2.95). Many locals come here for breakfast, the favorite dish being ackee and salt fish. Main meals include such hair-on-your-chest dishes as stewed oxtail, tripe and beans, and curried goat. The faint-of-heart can order baked goods such as a rum cake. No credit cards are accepted.

Appleton Rum Estate -- This estate is the oldest rum producer in the English-speaking West Indies. The estate has been producing award-winning rums since 1749. At the end of a tour, in which you're shown how cane is turned into rum, you're treated to complimentary samples of cane juice, called "high wine," and all the flavorful rums they can produce. The tour takes 45 minutes to 1 hour and is available Monday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm, costing US$15 (£7.50) per person. Call tel. 876/963-9215.

Treasure Beach -- Departing from the main A2 at Black River, a secondary road dips to the southeast taking you to Treasure Beach. This section is very different from the rest of Jamaica, evoking at times the more arid parts of Arizona. Sheltered by the Santa Cruz Mountains to the north, it doesn't get the heavy rainfall that showers over the lusher parts of the island. You are more likely to encounter towering cacti instead of junglelike growth.

Since the opening of Jake's, which Vogue dubbed the "chicest shack in the Caribbean," more and more international tourists are drawn to this remote part of Jamaica.