Adam Karlin - Lonely Planet Jamaica

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Jamaica packs in extremes. Flat beaches twinned to green mountains; relaxed resorts and ghettos; sweet reggae and slack dancehall. Its a complicated national soundtrack and its impossible not to dance to it.

Ask any Jamaican in a cold suburb of Toronto or New York or London what they miss about their island, and the answer is inevitably the island itself, the great green garden and natural landscape that constitutes one of the most beautiful islands of the Caribbean. Jamaicas lovely landscape begins with crystalline waters flowing over gardens of coral, lapping onto sand as soft as yellow butter, as dark as ash and white as rice, then rising past red soil and lush banana groves into sheer mountains. This is powerfully beautiful country, captivating to the eyes and soul, and as such, the subject of many Jamaican poems, songs and deep wells of nostalgia. Jamaican culture can be a daunting subject for foreigners to understand, but ultimately its a matter of appreciating this land and how its cyclical rhythms set the pace of so much island life.

Jamaica cries out to be explored, be it underwater, on hikes, river-bound with a raft, underground with a lamp on your head, or on the road by car or bicycle. You are welcome to spend the entirety of your trip on the beach or in a jerk shack, and we wouldnt blame you for following that instinct. But if you access the Jamaican outdoors youll be seeing sides of this island many tourists miss. We want to stress: outdoor activities in Jamaica hardly require you to be as fit as Usain Bolt. Theres no physical effort involved when you raft (someone else poles), and even folks in moderate health can accomplish the countrys most famous hike: to Blue Mountain peak, to see the sunset and, if youre lucky, Cuba in the distance.

More than any other island in the Caribbean, Jamaica has one foot (and sometimes, it feels, one foot and four toes) planted in West Africa. When you hear the lyricism of the local patois language, or feel the drumbeat behind young men singing along to dancehall, or see the way women sip cups of peanut porridge in the morning, its hard not to be struck by how strong the bond between the Old and the New World is. Yet this is still the New World, and the ways it has evolved from Africa are as interesting as its connections to the mother continent. From the evolution of African folk music into reggae, or the shifting of African spice rubs into delicious jerk, its rewarding to see how the Jamaican cultural story retains its original voice whilst adapting it to the setting and of course, rhythms of the Caribbean.

The azure waters and rocky beach at Bluefields ()
JERRY ALEXANDER/LONELY PLANET IMAGES

Jamaicas beach experiences are as varied as the islands topography. The tiny, delicate Lime Cay ( ) is criss-crossed by jet-ski riders, and its long crescent of white sand lined with the bodies of sun worshippers.

Seven Mile Beach, Negril
RICHARD BROADWELL/ALAMY

Climbing Blue Mountain Peak

A night hike to reach Jamaicas highest point ( ) by sunrise, your path lit by the sparks of myriad fireflies, is an experience unlike any other. As you climb, the vegetation becomes less and less tropical, until youre hiking amid stunted trees draped with old mans beard (lichen) and giant ferns. In the pre-dawn cold at the summit, you wait in rapt silence as the first rays of the sun wash over the densely forested mountain peaks all around you, illuminating the distant coffee plantations and Cuba beyond.

IAN CUMMING/PHOTOLIBRARY

Kingston Nightlife

Whether youre attending a nightclub or a street dance, expect a sweaty, lively, no-holds-barred event ( ). Dress up to the nines and follow the locals lead. At a street dance, two giant speakers are placed facing each other, the street pounding with the bass, while nightclubs provide a similar indoor experience. Expect to be pulled into the melee as the locals will want to see how well you can dance, and bump and grind the best you can; the dancing will be some of the most explicit youll ever see.

EVERYNIGHT IMAGES/ALAMY

Negril

So youve walked on the snowy sands of Negrils Long Beach, wandered past the nude sunbathers, seen the sun sink behind the cliffs, plunged into the ocean to scrub your soul and fended off all the hustlers. How about topping off all of these experiences by donning some scuba gear ( ), getting PADI-certified and watching sea turtles dance their slow ballet in the cerulean waters of Jamaicas westernmost resort? If a full aqualung isnt your thing, just get your snorkel on amid the darting rainbow-colored fish.

MICHAEL LAWRENCE/LONELY PLANET IMAGES

Boston Bay

The best experiences in Jamaica are extremely sensory affairs, but Boston Bay ( ) may be the only one that is more defined by smell than sight or sound. Well, smell and taste: Boston Bay is the supposed birthplace of jerk, the spice rub that is Jamaicas most famous contribution to the culinary arts. The turnoff to Boston Bay (itself a lovely beach) is lined with jerk stalls that produce smoked meats that redefine what heat and sweet can do as complementary gastronomic qualities. In plain English: it tastes freaking amazing.

NIK WHEELER/ALAMY

Reggae Sumfest

If theres any cultural trend that defines Jamaica to the rest of the world, its reggae music quite literally the soundtrack of the island. And there is no bigger celebration of the islands riddims then Reggae Sumfest ( ), held in Montego Bay in the middle of the broiling Jamaican summer. To be fair, the ocean breezes do cool things down, but youll still be sweating from the fires spewing out of homemade aerosol flamethrowers (that means a song is good), the throbbing mass of bodies and the nonstop dancing.