Xperience Jamaica

Jamaica, beyond the obvious.

Discover the places, food, experiences and moments worth adding to your Jamaica trip.

Explore JamaicaPlanning a trip? Tell us where you're going

Or start with a destination:Montego Bay Negril

A swimmer surfacing in clear turquoise water below the cliffs at Negril's West End
Photo: Simson Petrol · CC0
Montego Bay waterfront with yachts moored in turquoise marina water, low buildings and palms along the shore, and two towers against the open sea beyond
Photo: Gail Frederick · CC BY 2.0 · cropped
Montego Bay

48 Hours in Montego Bay

Two days, no rental car, and nothing that needs booking months ahead.

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Our take

If you only have two days, do not spend one of them driving. Montego Bay rewards staying put more than most of Jamaica does, and the Martha Brae is the one trip out that earns the transfer.

  1. 01

    Day one, morning

    Swim before you unpack

    Doctor's Cave Beach sits on Gloucester Avenue, the stretch most people call the Hip Strip, roughly two miles by road from Sangster International. If you land early, a first swim can happen before check in does.

  2. 02

    Day one, afternoon

    Eat jerk before you eat anything else

    Jerk in Jamaica is a cooking method, not a sauce, and the version done over pimento wood at a roadside pan is a different thing to the version on a hotel menu.

  3. 03

    Day one, evening

    Stay on Gloucester Avenue

    The Hip Strip runs along the water and holds most of the bars and restaurants that are walkable from each other, which matters on a first night when you have no car and no bearings.

  4. 04

    Day two, morning

    Raft the Martha Brae

    The rafting starts about three miles inland from Falmouth, roughly forty minutes east of Montego Bay. Bamboo rafts, one boatman, slow water. It is the easiest half day out of the city.

  5. 05

    Day two, afternoon

    Get in the marine park

    Doctor's Cave sits inside the Montego Bay Marine Park, so the reef is reachable from the same beach you started on rather than from a boat trip you have to book.

Negril or Montego Bay? Worth leaving the resort for

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