Montego Bay Shore Excursion Reviews

Popular Things to Do in Montego Bay

Montego Bay is one of the most popular destinations on the Caribbean island of Jamaica, thanks to its accessibility and lively beaches. It's the second-largest city on the island and a hub for both locals and tourists. The city boasts a bustling market center, many large hotel chains and restaurants, musical venues, duty-free shops and beaches. However, many of the beaches are private, so cruisers should do their research before heading out or book a beach-centric shore excursion to avoid wandering around in search of an accessible beach. From "MoBay," visitors can head out on an excursion to some of Jamaica's most famous attractions, including Dunn's River Falls, Seven Mile Beach and the Great Houses.

Montego Bay has a tropical climate that is hot, humid and wet in the summer, susceptible to hurricanes from June through November. Weather is more temperate and dry during the winter, making it a popular destination for people looking to escape cold weather elsewhere. English is commonly spoken in Jamaica, though thickly accented and stylized. While Jamaica does have its own dollar, U.S. dollars are widely accepted.

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Montego Bay Cruise Tips, Activities, and Overview

Food and Drink in Montego Bay

Jamaica's most famous cooking method is the process called jerking, wherein meats are marinated with dry or wet rubs made of a concoction of spices that might include pimento (all spice), sugar and scotch bonnet peppers. The meats are then cooked over wood coals. Don't leave Montego Bay without trying it, and wash it down the way the locals do -- with a cold Red Stripe Beer.

While there are a few restaurants along the road from the port to the town of MoBay, your best bet for the most varied dining options is the area in and around the Hip Strip. From laid-back restaurants where smoke from the jerk pits clouds the air to the more refined atmosphere of resort restaurants, there's a lunch niche for everyone. Here are some suggestions:

For something authentic and cheap, pop into one of the Jamaican patty shops (like the Tastee chain) for a hot, meat-filled dough pocket that goes for less than a buck.

Right on Doctor's Cave Beach, the Groovy Grouper is your quintessential island-style lunch spot, with things like jerked calamari, escovitch fish, bammy (cassava flatbread) and conch fritters. (Gloucester Avenue; open all day for lunch)

The Pelican Bar & Grill, across from the ocean at the start of the Hip Strip, is a great place to try Jamaican fare like steamed snapper with pineapple ginger sauce, curried goat and fried johnnycakes. There are American standards like pork chops and roast beef on the menu, too. (Gloucester Avenue; open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.)

The Pork Pit, near Aquasol, has the best jerk chicken and pork in town. The restaurant is open-air, with lots of picnic tables set up around it and various bottles of hot sauce at the ready. (open all day from 11 a.m.)

Head to Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville on the Hip Strip for grilled fish, fajitas, cheeseburgers in paradise and Key lime pie, along with 52 flavors of margaritas. There's a water trampoline, rooftop hot tub and monster slide that plunges 110 feet into the Caribbean. (Facilities open from 10 a.m. daily, and lunch is served from 11 a.m.)

At The Native, a gourmet, open-air restaurant with ocean views, Jamaican fare is elegantly rendered in dishes like smoked marlin, grilled lobster and jerked seafood and meat. (Gloucester Avenue; it's open for lunch from 11 a.m.)

Best Cocktail in Montego Bay

Try Jamaican Rum Punch, a blend of juices from seasonal fruits (which might include locally grown pineapple, oranges and limes) and Tia Maria, the island-produced coffee liqueur.

Beaches in Montego Bay

Best Party Beach: Doctor's Cave Beach, on the Hip Strip and a stone's throw from party central hotpot Margaritaville, is the most happening party beach in MoBay. It's also the go-to destination for families and couples looking to lounge on the beach with amenities -- showers, food, and chair and umbrella rentals -- at the ready. And, locals claim the waters there have healing powers (all the better reason to spend your day splashing). It's a 10-minute and $5 taxi ride from the port to the beach. There's a nominal entry fee, and you'd be wise to bring towels from the ship.

Best Beach for the Dedicated Beach Bum: Seawind Beach is a private club, a short walk (or ride) from the port, fronting an immaculately maintained if small stretch of sand that's dotted with lounge chairs and catamarans. With your entrance fee, you'll get access to the pool, too, and there's an on-site restaurant, as well. The shallow, protected beach there is great for families, and there are catamarans and other watercrafts available for rent.

Best Beach for Active Types: Formerly known as Walter Fletcher Beach, the beach now called Aquasol is an oceanfront theme park of sorts. There's a water park, go carts and a nice stretch of sand where you can rent jet skis and pedal boats and go on banana boat rides.

Best Secluded Beach: Cornwall Beach, on a crescent bay not far from the Hip Strip, has lots of room so you can wander off and find a quiet stretch of sand for spreading out your beach towel. You can rent lounge chairs there, too.

Don't Miss in Montego Bay

Duty-free Shopping: Montego Bay's duty-free shopping in the City Centre shopping area stretches along one block downtown; there, you'll find gold, timepieces, perfumes, crystal, leather goods, souvenirs and boutique clothing.

MoBay's most upscale shopping center is located at Half Moon Shopping Village in the Rose Hall area, featuring fine duty-free shops, souvenir shops, clothing, restaurants and a post office in case you want to send some stuff home. You can buy everything from designer lingerie to Cuban cigars there. (Just smoke them before you head back to the U.S.) Nearby, a new upscale shopping center is in the works at Whitter Village Centre.

Arts and Crafts: For sourcing everything from hand-carved wooden statues of eagles and sea turtles to rasta-themed baby clothes and those ubiquitous coconut-shell purses, set your sights on MoBay's two bustling craft markets. The Harbour Street Craft Market has the largest selection, and it's a good place to buy straw hats and bags and to meet the Montegonians who carve the wood sculptures onsite. The Old Fort Craft Park, next to the old fort, is a collection of wooden stalls with some good local wares, too. Just bring your bargaining skills to the table!

Golfing: Montego Bay has five championship courses within a short ride of the cruise port. If you only play one MoBay-area course, however, it's got to be the Tryall Club. Consistently ranked among the best in the Caribbean, the course has remnants of a historic 1800s estate incorporated into the holes, including an aqueduct at the seventh hole. The White Witch Golf Course, a par-71 course designed by Robert Van Hagge and Rick Baril, is spread on 600 acres and has panoramic ocean views from the 17th hole. Cinnamon Hill Golf Course at Rose Hall Resort underwent a redesign in 2001 and has a very challenging back nine overlooking a great house that was Johnny and June Cash's former home. SuperClubs Ironshore course is known for its challenging layout -- it's a par-72 and 6,633 yards long. And, the Robert Trent Jones-designed Half Moon Golf Course is a hit for its gorgeous ocean views and challenging drives.

Mystic Mountain: Ochos Rios' Mystic Mountain is a rainforest adventure park that's great for kids and adults and home to some very unique outdoor activities. The adventure begins with a ride on the Sky Explorer, a chairlift that soars 700 feet over the lush landscape below. Once at the top, travelers can opt to try the park's signature Bobsled Jamaica ride, the Zip-Line Canopy tour or a twisty slide that ends up in the mountaintop swimming pool. Have lunch, and take in the view from Lookout Tower before making your way back down the mountain on the chairlift.

Margaritaville: It's a Caribbean cliche, but high on the list of must-dos for many visitors to MoBay. Smack dab on the Hip Strip, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville us the spot to down a boatdrink (Buffettspeak for a fruity cocktail) and cheeseburger in paradise while watching people bounce on the trampolines in the ocean and fly down the waterslide that drops dead into the sea.

Hip Strip: A stroll along the Hip Strip (also known as Gloucester Avenue), past bars and shops in MoBay's most bustling tourist district, which fronts the beach, is a must-do for every new arrival. Margaritaville is the hub of the Hip Strip action, but in the blocks nearby, you'll find other fun bars and hangout spots like the Jamaican Bobsled Cafe, Blue Beat jazz and blues bar and shops selling everything from swimwear to souvenir T-shirts.

Dunn's River Falls: It takes about an hour and a half by taxi to get from Montego Bay to Dunn's River Falls, these most famous of Jamaica's cascades near Ocho Rios, where you can climb 600 feet up from the base of the falls or retreat to the beach where the rushing water exits into the ocean.

Dolphin Cove: With Dolphin Cove locations both in Negril and Montego Bay, this marine theme park of sorts is the place to have encounters with dolphins in a controlled lagoon, pose with parrots and interact with stingrays and other marine animals.

Great Houses of Montego Bay: Tour the great houses near Montego Bay, including the magnificently restored 1760 Rose Hall Great House, Jamaica's most famed great house, which is said to be haunted by the ghost of Annie Palmer, also known as the "The White Witch." Also in Montego Bay, the Greenwood Great House is more than 200 years old and was owned by the family of Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, the famous English poet. Other great houses in the area include Bellefield Great House and Hampden Great House, home to a rum distillery and factory tour.

Richmond Hill Inn: Hire a taxi for the short ride (10 to 15 minutes from the port) to Richmond Hill Inn, where you can sit on the terrace and sip a cold beverage while taking in amazing vistas. Perched high over Montego Bay, you'll have views of the city and of your cruise ship, too.

YS Falls: Hire a taxi for the roughly 50-mile ride southwest to YS Falls, a seven-tiered waterfall in Jamaica's rugged Cockpit Country in St. Elizabeth parish, where you can swim in a setting with far fewer crowds than what you'd find on any given day at Dunn's River Falls.

Rocklands Bird Feeding Station and Sanctuary:: Spend the day at the Rocklands Bird Feeding Station and Sanctuary in the town of Anchovy (20 minutes by taxi from Montego Bay), where you can stroll a nature trail and hand-feed the friendly birds on property (and hopefully encounter a few of Jamaica's more than 20 endemic species, too).


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