Port Antonio today is like going back to another era. Sumptuous villas dot the
hillsides and unique hotels and inns please many distinctive tastes. It's a
made for romance place where lovers' dreams come true. This quiet harbor town
might well be the setting for a West Indies operetta. The open sea, towering
mountains and roadsides framed with wild orchids, bananas, tree ferns and
palms serve as a 
backdrop.
Ride a bamboo raft down the Rio Grande River and imagine the days of Errol
Flynn. Explore the bottomless Blue Lagoon and a beach called Boston. Swim in
ponds of cool, crystal clear water beneath Somerset Falls. Fish for tuna,
kingfish, wahoo, bonito and blue marlin. Visit caves called Nonsuch that have
awaited your arrival for a million years. In Port Antonio, you'll be
overwhelmed by unparalleled scenery, densely green mountains, pristine
beaches, colorful birds and friendly people.
For
Detailed Information on Resorts in Port Antonio Click on Hotel Names
More About Port Antonio...
Errol Flynn called Port Antonio heaven on earth--a description
echoed by subsequent visitors who have found this island Eden to be, quite
simply, the ultimate vacation destination. We call it Jamaica’s heart and soul
retreat.
Nestled between twin harbors on the island’s northeast curve, where
mist-shrouded mountains drop down to the sea, Port Antonio more than lives up to
its reputation as "the most exquisite port on earth."
Orchids,
bananas and palm trees grow in profusion. Waterfalls drop into fern-edged pools.
And some of the island’s most elegant villas and charming small hotels are
tucked into hillsides overlooking secluded azure coves.
Founded in 1723, Port Antonio was Jamaica’s most important center for banana
growth and export in the late 1800s. One of the island’s first hotels was
built here in 1905, and it soon became a vacation mecca for the rich and famous
of the day.
Hollywood’s elite arrived in the 1950s, a few years after Errol Flynn sought
shelter in the harbor on his yacht and decided not to leave: He eventually
bought several properties in the area, including a still-thriving plantation.
Today, Port Antonio’s unrivalled beauty makes it popular for movies and
fashion shoots, while its resorts and villas continue to provide inspiration for
celebrities, writers, royalty, and captains of industry, commerce and politics.
From the Romanesque ruins of the Folly, a mansion unwisely built of concrete and
seawater, to Fort George, an 18th-century British stronghold whose cannons still
point out to sea, the past is only a heartbeat away in Port Antonio.
Maybe that’s why life moves at a slower pace then it does elsewhere, so
there’s more time to enjoy swimming, snorkeling or scuba-diving in the
shimmering Blue Lagoon, which is fed by freshwater springs and said to reach a
depth of 200 feet.
A bamboo raft ride down the Rio Grande River or a dip in the refreshing pool at
the base of Somerset Falls are other popular activities. Strolling through
tropical Athenry Gardens and exploring the ancient stalagmites and stalactites
of Nonsuch Caves, where rare fossils and Indian relics have been found, another.
Even the most active vacationer will be fulfilled by the leisurely hiking and
horseback riding trips through the Rio Grande Valley which are offered by Valley
Hikes, an award-winning eco-tour organization that also offers excursions to the
historic Maroon settlement of Moore Town.
Basking on the smooth sand of Frenchman’s Cove or any of Port Antonio’s
idyllic beaches could be the best choice of all--unless fishing is a passion.
Port Antonio has some of the best deep-sea fishing in Jamaica, with marlin,
tuna, kingfish and dolphin in abundance, and hosts the annual International
Marlin Tournament in October.
Jamaica’s mouth-tingling "jerk"-style pork and chicken is a local
specialty — and some of the island’s best can be found at Boston Beach, the
"birthplace" of jerk cuisine in Jamaica, just east of town.
Accommodations in Port Antonio span the upscale elegance of villas and the
luxurious resort hotels, to the hillside charm of moderately priced small hotels
and inns.
Navy Island, set between Port Antonio’s two harbors and reached by ferry, was
once owned by Errol Flynn and renowned for wild Hollywood parties. Today the
island is far quieter—and a favorite for picnics and daytrips.
Picture-perfect, Port Antonio is a panorama of nature’s finest work. Errol
Flynn said this place was more beautiful than any woman he’d ever seen. Others
say it is simply enchanting. Come and experience the graciousness of another era
set against the verdant beauty of nature. Port Antonio, naturally.
The South Coast
Orchids and blue lilies bloom in Mandeville, a breezy hill town that was founded
in 1816 and named for the son of Jamaica’s longest-serving colonial governor,
the Duke of Manchester. This is Jamaica’s other side; a side not to be missed
if you really want to know the true heart of Jamaica.
At 2,000 feet above sea level, with a village green bordered by a 19th-century
church and courthouse, Mandeville’s cool climate, gardens and genteel British
heritage have long made it a favorite weekend destination for Jamaicans as well
as discerning visitors.
Hiking
and horseback riding through a rolling countryside rich in orange and tangerine
groves (Jamaica’s ortanique, a blend of both, was developed here in the 1920s)
are popular. So are the garden tours offered by the local horticultural society
-- and golf at the Manchester Club, which was founded in 1868 and boasts the
country’s oldest (nine-hole) course.
Birdwatchers and hikers, meanwhile, can flock (by appointment) to Marshall’s
Pen, a 300-acre cattle farm with a well-kept 18th-century Great House, beautiful
gardens and a renowned bird sanctuary.
About thirty miles southeast of Mandeville, the tranquil South Coast beckons
with the Milk River Bath, a spa that dates back to 1794 and boasts curative
waters fifty times more potent than those of Vichy or Baden-Baden.
This "quiet side" of Jamaica also boasts numerous natural attractions
and wildlife refuges, including the Long Bay Morass, near the fishing village of
Alligator Pond, a swampy refuge for the rare, protected manatee as well as
crocodiles. (Unlike those found elsewhere in the world, Jamaica’s crocodiles
are a docile bunch that feed mainly on fish.)
At Black River, further west, accommodations are available at historic
Invercauld Great House and Hotel. Boat trips take visitors along Jamaica’s
longest river into another freshwater swamp filled with herons, snowy egrets and
more of the island’s crocodiles--many of which are so familiar to guides
they’ve been given names like George and Fred.
The main road between Mandeville and Black River passes through Bamboo Avenue, a
translucent, two-mile-long green tunnel formed by century-old bamboo groves.
Detours along the way lead to the famous Appleton Estate’s sugar factory and
rum distillery, as well as to YS Falls, where a series of pools provide ideal
swimming.
The Treasure Beach area, between Black River and Alligator Pond, is another
excellent spot for swimming and is fast becoming Jamaica’s most desirable
out-of-the-way vacation spot.
A few miles from Treasure Beach, where the Santa Cruz Mountains meet the sea, a
lookout point 1,500 feet above the water is known as Lover’s Leap. Legend says
that two young slaves secretly met nearby and pledged their undying love. When
their owner decided to sell one of them, the desperate couple jumped off the
cliff hand-in-hand -- but were saved by a golden net cast by the moon.
From the verdant mountains to the craggy coastline, you’ll find the South
Coast of Jamaica is not just another shore. Come. Here is where you’ll
discover another world.
