Things To Do in Port Antonio

Port Antonio is not a shopping bazaar like Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. Most activity centers around Musgrave Market, on West Street, in the center of town. This is one of our favorite markets in all of Jamaica. It evokes a movie set on which the director is about to call, "Lights, camera, action!" The most active market day is Saturday. To see the market at its most frenzied, go any day of the week from 8am to noon.

The sprawling Fort George Village Shopping Arcade, which opened in 1997 to immediate denunciations, is not a mirage. To call it an architectural monstrosity would be too kind; this three-floor structure looks like some of the world's major architectural ideas, thrown into a blender -- baroque, English Tudor, French Gothic, with hints of Syria and Iraq thrown in for spice -- and spat out. In theory, at least, the arcade was designed to represent various architectures from around the world.

Regardless of what you think of its design, the arcade is fun for a shopping jaunt, thanks to outlets for jewelry, antiques/junk, CDs, computers, and more. the center of town across from the courthouse, en route to Titchfield Hill.

On Harbour Street, you'll come to the City Centre Plaza, but it's rather dull. As for its crafts, we've seen better. Still, it might come in handy for souvenirs and those things visitors always need: postcards for the ones you left behind, suntan lotion, and that Nora Roberts paperback for the beach.

At the Gallery Carriacou, on the grounds of Hotel Mocking Bird Hill, on Mocking Bird Hill (tel. 876/993-7267), you can view the sensuous and evocative paintings and sculptures of Barbara Walker, who is one of the partners in the hotel. Her works, and those of other noted Jamaican artists, make up the finest collection of art for sale in the area. Walker also conducts classes, on request, in sculpture and painting.

At the Errol Flynn Marina, you'll find space for up to 32 different shops and boutiques, even though only some of those spaces will be occupied by the time of your visit. The most appealing of the lot is Things Jamaican (tel. 876/715-5347), where gift items, fashion accessories, and housewares -- each made in or pertaining to Jamaica -- are lined up for easy-on-the-eyes shopping.

Go at your own risk to the infamous Roof Club, 11 West St. (tel. 876/715-5281). The most crowded and animated nightclub in Port Antonio, it lies one floor above street level in a boxy-looking industrial building in the heart of town. Inside, the venue is earthy, raunchy, crowded, and boozy, with enough secondhand ganja smoke to get virtually anyone high. Recorded (and more rarely, live) reggae and soca music blares at high volumes.

Expect a neo-psychedelic decor of mirrors, UV lighting, and free-form Day-Glo artwork. A visit here is not for the squeamish or the faint-hearted, and it's a good idea to come with a friend and/or ally. It's open nightly from around 6pm, but most of the genuine hanging out and crowding happens after 11pm, especially from Thursday through Sunday.

Less formalized and much more free-form would involve a hike along Port Antonio's eastern waterfront, Folly Road, known locally as the town's "Folly Strip." Here, a battered and mud-splattered row of rum shacks and jerk stands, each painted long ago in once-bright colors, play recorded music and try to show a foreign visitor a good time. A culinary "highlight" of the Folly Strip is Oliver's Vegetarian Restaurant (no phone), whose presentation might be nominally a bit more solid than some of its neighbors. If you opt for a visit to this strip, we recommend that you wrap up your evening by around 10pm.

The Tree Bar, on the grounds of Goblin Hill Villas at San San (tel. 876/925-8108), stands high on a hill commanding a panoramic view of 4 hectares (12 acres). The aptly named bar is wrapped around huge ficus trees, whose mammoth aerial roots dangle over the drinking area. Giant-leafed pothos vines climb down the trunks. It's the sort of eco-adventure place that should prove increasingly popular.